If you’re trying to make healthier meal choices you may struggle to find the time and energy to prepare balanced meals each day.

Meal delivery services promise to save time and stress by taking all the meal prep out of dinners. They handle the recipe testing, planning, ingredient shopping, food preparation and cooking.

These services deliver meals each week that can be prepared in just a few minutes. The meals that aren’t needed can be kept frozen until you want to serve them.

As well as helping with mealtimes, some meal delivery services help with weightloss too.

They do this by offering meals that are tailored to fit a certain diet plan. These could be calorie controlled portions or meals created specifically for a weightloss philosophy, like Keto.

When looking at which service to choose, you want to be sure that the meals are genuinely healthy.

They shouldn’t have hidden sugars in them or other additives and preservatives. Otherwise the food could end up being less healthy than you expected and could even make weightloss harder to achieve.

Here we take a look at two of the best weightloss meal delivery services, bistroMD and Diet-to-Go.

Both use fresh, wholesome ingredients in their meals, and both keep them free from additives like MSG or harmful preservatives.

We compare what each one has to offer so you can see which is best for you.

Bistro MD vs Diet-to-Go Comparison Table

Daily meals offered	2 or 3 meals a day	2 or 3 meals a day
Number of days per week	5 or 7 days per week	5 or 7 days per week
Delivery frequency	Once per week	Once per week
Calories	1200 cal: women 1400 cal: men	1200 cal: women 1600 cal: men
Ingredient Quality	Natural ingredients	Premium quality Organic where possible
Free From	MSG Trans fats Aspartame Nitrates and many more	MSG Harmful preservatives and additives
Gluten Free Meals	Yes	No
Diabetes-Appropriate Meals	Yes	Yes
Keto or Atkins Meals	No	Yes
Vegetarian Options	No	Yes
How long do they take to cook?	5 mins	3 mins
Total Recipes	150	500
Price	From $98 a week	From $68 a week
Where do they deliver?	Contiguous US	Contiguous US
Shipping fees	$19.95	$19.98
Reviews	4 stars out of 5 from 473 reviews	4.4 stars from 55 reviews
Special Offers	25% off plus free shipping on your first week: bistroMD	$20 discount applied at checkout: Diet-to-Go

BistroMD Review

BistroMD was founded by Dr Caroline Cederquist and her husband in 2005.

Caroline is a board-certified bariatric physician and specializes in nutrition and metabolism. Her husband Ed is a self-confessed foodie and loves taste-testing the meals.

During her time working in clinics as a weight loss physician, Caroline saw that many people were gaining weight but didn’t realise how.

They also didn’t know how to fix the underlying metabolic factors that had made them gain weight in the first place.

She wanted to offer meals that helped heal the metabolism by providing the right balance of macronutrients. At the same time they had to taste great too.

The meals themselves had to be quick to prepare so that even the busiest of people could enjoy the diet plan.

To achieve all this, together with her husband they founded bistroMD. Their service sends healthy, flash frozen meals straight to your door each week. All meals take 5 minutes or less to prepare.

The recipes themselves are designed by their team of award-winning chefs and registered dieticians. So that they deliver on taste as well as on health.

What’s Great About BistroMD?

There are a number of diet meal delivery services out there, so what is it that makes bistroMD one of the best?

Here are some of the main features that they offer:

What Exactly Does BistroMD Offer?

BistroMD is a weightloss meal delivery service. They make fresh meals from scratch which have the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats and fiber to help you lose weight.

They also prioritize flavor with every recipe that they develop for the program so that their meals are varied, balanced and tasty.

The meals are handmade and then frozen and delivered to your door. They take only 5 minutes to prepare so that they can fit into the busiest of days.

Each week you can choose from a selection of 150 recipes for your main meals of the day. You can choose to receive only lunch and dinner meals or breakfast, lunch and dinner meals each day.

They also allow you to choose from a 5 or 7 day plan where you either get meals for all the days of the week or for just 5 days of the week.

If you have certain health concerns they also have some specialized diet plans. Their program options are:

Standard Program

This is a balanced diet using their healthy weight loss program which doesn’t have a specific dietary requirement.

Gluten Free Program

Here the meals are gluten free and without any wheat, rye or barley. They adhere to the FDA standard of 20 parts per million of gluten or less so they’re appropriate for celiacs.

Heart Healthy 

The meals in this program have less than 600mg of sodium in them as well as under 3.5 grams of saturated fats. The nutrients within each one are also designed with a focus on helping maintain a healthy heart.

Diebetic Friendly 

These meals are designed to help keep a stable blood sugar level. They have 25 grams or less of net carbs per serving.

Menopause Program

This plan is designed to keep blood sugar levels at a stable level, so that you can use energy better and burn fat.

Once you’ve made your selection you can move onto choosing from their range of 150 meals.

Explore the bistroMD menu: bistroMD meal options.

How to Order with BistroMD

You make 2 main selections in order to get started with bistroMD. First you choose your program type from the diets listed above.

Select Your Diet

They offer a Standard Plan, a Gluten-Free Plan, a Heart-Healthy Plan, a Diabetic Plan and a Menopause Plan.

Select the Number of Meals You Want

You then select the number of meals that you want. Here there are 2 main variables:

• Number of days per week: meals for either 5 or 7 days a week.
• Number of meals per day: lunches and dinners (2 meals a day) or breakfasts, lunches and dinners (3 meals a days).

Choose Your Meals (After Sign Up)

When you have signed up with bistroMD, you can select the meals you want for the following week.

They suggest selecting your meals right away but if you prefer to do it later you can.

The deadline for changing your meal choices is Wednesday 5pm of the week before your order is due.

BistroMD aim to have your meals delivered by the Saturday of every week. This means you’ll have your meals ready for the week ahead.

The meals come in BPA free recyclable trays and are stored in dry ice to keep them cool.

Skip or Pause Your Subscription Anytime

BistroMD is a weekly subscription which means that the meals from your chosen plan will arrive each week.

All you need to do is customize your meal choices from your online account.

You can also skip a week or pause the subscription anytime. This is helpful if you’re going on holiday, or want to cancel for a while. It’s quick and easy to do so online.

You can also manage your delivery schedule with their scheduling tool.

As long as you order by the cut-off point, your meals will be at your door the following week.

BistroMD Reviews

BistroMD scored 4 stars out of 5 from 473 reviews on Trustpilot. Users loved the:

• Quality and taste of the meals.
• Variety of meals.
• Helped meet weightloss goals.
• Helped with health conditions like diabetes.
• Good customer service.

Some users wished there were vegetarian or pescatarian options. There was the occasional problem with items ordered or meal selections but the majority of their customers loved the service.

Here are some examples of bistoMD’s online reviews from Trustpilot:

Does BistroMD really work?

BistroMD is a great option for weightloss as well as for leading a healthier lifestyle through food and diet.

They put a lot of emphasis on making their meals taste great as well as being healthy and nutritionally balanced.

They also aim to keep their meals free from additives like MSG and aspartame. This keeps their meals as natural as possible and free from potentially harmful preservatives.

BistroMD cater to specific health concerns with their 4 programs, such as diabetes or heart health.

You can also speak to their registered dieticians if you have health concerns that fall outside of their standard programs.

All their meals can be prepared in 5 minutes or less and arrive at your door every week.

BistroMD are a great solution for those who want to lose weight and eat healthier but don’t have the time or energy to prepare meals from scratch every day.

Diet-to-Go Review

Diet-to-Go was founded in 1991 by CEO Hilton Davis. Before starting Diet-to-Go she sold freshly prepared meals to major retailers.

She realized that healthy, balanced meals were still not an affordable option for many people. So she started Diet-to-Go to make healthy eating accessible to more people looking to lose weight.

Since then, Diet-to-Go has been providing healthy frozen meals across the US.

They work with top chefs to create easy, affordable meals, that are prepared in USDA certified kitchens.

They now offer 500 recipes across 4 different diet programs including a vegetarian program and a diabetes-friendly program.

What’s Great About Diet-to-Go?

There are a few things that really set Diet-to-Go apart from other weightloss meal plans.

What do they offer?

Diet-to-go send you freshly prepared meals once a week which can be frozen and used each day.

Although their most popular is the balance plan, they also have three others available. Their 4 plans on offer are:

Balance

A balanced diet designed for weightloss and pre-diabetics.

Balance-Diabetes

A balanced diet that’s diabetes-friendly and supports a stable blood sugar level.

Keto-Carb30

A Keto friendly diet that replaces carbs with fat. It’s suitable for those following Keto or Atkins diets.

Vegetarian

A meat and fish free version of the Balance diet.

After you have chosen your meal plan you’re presented with a 5 week meal schedule which has preselected meals for each day of the week.

If you want to swap out any meals on the schedule you can click on it and a list of substitutes comes up.

There can be over 30 substitutes to choose from so you can customize your meals however you like.

Each meal is shown online with their ingredients and nutritional values.

Ordering with Diet-to-Go

Diet-to-Go can be set up in 3 simple steps.

Check they Deliver to Your Area

First enter your ZIP code and check that they deliver to your area. They deliver to all of the contiguous US.

Your first box should arrive quite quickly after placing an order.

Here I went to place an order on the 4th December and the website gave me a 7th December shipment date with 1-3 days allowed for shipping.

So you could get your first meal box within a week of ordering.

Select Your Meal Plan and Preferences

Here you choose which of their 4 meal plans you want, Balance, Balance-Diabetes, Keto-Carb30 or Vegetarian.

You can also customize the meals to your gender, to exclude seafood and to specify how many meals you want each day.

After Checkout You Can Select Your Meals

Once you’ve selected your plan and the number of meals you finalise the order by checking out.

You are then presented with a weekly meal menu. This has pre-selected meals in it for each day of the week which you can then adapt.

Customize Your Meal Plan for Up To 5 Weeks Ahead

You can go through the meals for each week and see if there are any you want to know more about or change.

If you click on any of the meals you’re shown their ingredients and nutritional value.

You’re also shown a list of alternatives that you can substitute them with. Select the meal you prefer from the list to add it to the weekly schedule.

Diet-to-Go Reviews

Diet-to-Go scored an average of 4.4 stars out of 5 from 55 reviews across 3 independent websites including Consumer Affairs.

The main pros reported by their customers were:

• Simple and easy ordering process.
• Easy to lose weight on the plans.
• Quick delivery times.
• Great customer service.

Some people didn’t like all the meals in their plan but the majority found them to be surprisingly tasty. They also loved the convenience of having fresh food delivered to their door.

Here are some examples of Diet-to-Go customer reviews:

Is Diet-to-Go a Good Meal Delivery Service?

Diet-to-Go is certainly one of the best meal delivery services which can also help with weightloss.

They put a big emphasis on the cleanliness of their facilities. They have a 4 step protocol during any meal preparation.

Their ingredients are fresh and their meals are all centred around eating healthier meals.

In addition to their Balance plan, they also offer meals for specialized diets through their Vegetarian plan, Keto-Carb30 plan and Diabetes friendly plan.

A number of customers on Diet-to-Go reported succeeding in losing weight while eating their meals. So if weight-loss is your primary goal, then Diet-to-Go is definitely an option to look at. It’s a convenient and quality meal delivery service.

Which is Better, BistroMD or Diet-to-Go?

BistroMD and Diet-to-Go are both great services that offer healthy meals delivered to your door. Their meals are prepared for you and frozen from fresh, so they only need a few minutes’ cooking to be ready.

Both services avoid using additives and preservatives, so that they’re healthier than many other ready meals on the market.

Instead they aim to offer nutritiously balanced meals that taste great too. It’s easier to lose weight if the food is never boring and yet always healthy.

Each have customers with successful weightloss stories having followed their programs, so either one could be a good diet plan to start.

The main difference between the two services is in the specialized diets that they offer.

BistroMD is more focussed on health concerns, such as diabetes, heart health and celiac disease with their plans.

Diet-to-Go on the other hand cater to vegetarians, those following low carb Keto or Atkins diets, as well as those with diabetes.

If you have a health concern or dietary requirement that falls into these categories, then the choice between the two services becomes easier.

Otherwise the differences between them are not that great.

Diet-to-Go seems to be more economical starting at $68 versus bistroMD’s $98, but this could vary depending on the meal plan you choose. It’s always best to get a quote from each one to be sure.

BistroMD has a very long list of additives and chemicals that it does not allow in its meals. So if artificial sweeteners and preservatives are a big concern, then they may be a safer choice for you.

They also offer access to their registered dieticians through their plan which is an added bonus.

Whichever service you go for, bistroMD or Diet-to-Go, you’ll get balanced, healthy meals delivered to your door each week. And either one can help support your weightloss plan and goals.

FAQs

Are Diet-to-Go meals frozen?

Yes, Diet-to-Go meals are frozen. The food is made fresh before freezing so your meal can be just as nutritious as it would have been fresh.

How do I cancel Diet-to-Go?

If you want to cancel your Diet-to-Go plan, you simply need to call them, or email service@diettogo.com. You can do this at any time, however the weekly deadline for cancellation is Friday noon EST. There is no cancellation fee.

Are bistroMD meals frozen?

Yes the meals are flash frozen from fresh to preserve nutrients. You can remove them from the freezer whenever you need to serve them.

How much does bistroMD cost?

The cost per meal depends on the number of meals per day and days per week you choose. The minimum cost is $97.64 per week, and the maximum is $142.46 per week ($189.95 without the discount applied).

Does bistroMD really work?

BistroMD has worked for many customers as you can see from some of the testimonials. Their meals are dedicated to being tasty as well as healthy and they offer a range of health-oriented meal programs.

Whether you are looking for weight-loss, improved health, a diet that supports menopause or want help managing diabetes, they have a plan that can suit you.

Can you lose weight on bistroMD?

Yes the bistroMD program has helped many of their customers lose weight. On average the members who follow their program lose between 1-2lbs per week. Everyone’s body is different though so you could lose more or less than this.

The bistroMD plans are designed to help anyone with weightloss, whether they want to lose 10lb or 100lbs.

The women’s meals consist of a daily average of 1200 calories a day, including three meals and two snacks.

The men’s plan has a daily average of 1400 calories, including three meals and two snacks.

Their meals are based on fresh, wholefoods and a healthy balance of carbohydrates, fats and protein to make the diet sustainable.