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I have to say PFFS is moving up the ranks for me in customer service.
All told I have received 3 emails this week keeping me updated on my shipments, and the last one reminding me to update my meal plan before the cut off time.. They also sent me the FEDEX tracking number HURRAY.. so I can tell when the shipment will arrive....
I have had to called them 2 x and every time some pleasant person was on the phone.. and was very helpful.
So far very pleased.. will update following the arrival of my meal plan but if this is any evidence of their service I will be a pretty pleased customer..Renita
I have to say PFFS is moving up the ranks for me in customer service.
All told I have received 3 emails this week keeping me updated on my shipments, and the last one reminding me to update my meal plan before the cut off time.. They also sent me the FEDEX tracking number HURRAY.. so I can tell when the shipment will arrive....
I have had to called them 2 x and every time some pleasant person was on the phone.. and was very helpful.
So far very pleased.. will update following the arrival of my meal plan but if this is any evidence of their service I will be a pretty pleased customer..Renita
This is so great to read. Please continue to update us on their service, foods, and your results. I've been looking into their gluten-free plan, should I ever choose to leave BistroMD (not likely, right now, but you never know).
I just completed 6 weeks of PFFS - two rounds of the 3 week plan.
I am going to switch to another one just to see if I like it better. I'm actually going with a local 3-day a week home delivery M-F plan, so we'll see. It's more expensive, but not too much more, so we'll see if I do a better job eating the meals. I was extremely excited about the food when i first started, but then i got bored with the selection and found myself eating out more and more, and meals left over in my fridge.
For the most part, I like PFFS, but as others have noted there just isn't that much variety and I kind of got bored with it. The food itself is pretty tasty, and I like that nothing is ever frozen. I just got to a point where I was ordering the same stuff every week cause I didn't really care for the other stuff - more variety will definitely help. In the 6 weeks I did it, the menu NEVER changed, so i'd be interested to hear if they do start to add more stuff.
My faves ended up being:
Breakfast - the smoothies and southwestern skillet
Lunch - all the wraps, i usually don't like eating hot foods for lunch. grilled chicken chick pea salad, rubbed beef steak with quiona, tomato soup
dinner - the italian lasagne, basil chicken salad, chicken mung bean salad (i love spicy!), beef steak with mushrooms
The only one that i just couldn't eat was the one with the squash spaghetti - what on earth is that one all about?!? i found the portions to be pretty good, and the food remained fresh for about a week, after that, it did go down in quality - even though they say it will stay fresh for 2 weeks.
i guess it's just part of the whole food delivery service, but i really hated getting rid of all the packaging - huge box (i'm sure my fed ex guy will NOT miss carrying that!) and all that dry ice and foam - on the flip side, my food ALWAYS arrived fresh, ice still intact, etc etc. And they do a nice job of packaging, nothing ever crushed, everything labeled nicely, fruit is bubble wrapped. I figure much of the money goes to fedex delivery/packaging, so since i live in an area with lots of home delivery options i'd rather the money go in to the food, rather than shipping.
So, i would still totally recommend PFFS for their freshness and overall quality. I might even go back to them if current one doesn't live up to expectations (first delivery on monday) and/or if they improve the selection. Also, i haven't tried any other plans so i really have no basis for comparison.
I just completed 6 weeks of PFFS - two rounds of the 3 week plan.
I am going to switch to another one just to see if I like it better. I'm actually going with a local 3-day a week home delivery M-F plan, so we'll see. It's more expensive, but not too much more, so we'll see if I do a better job eating the meals. I was extremely excited about the food when i first started, but then i got bored with the selection and found myself eating out more and more, and meals left over in my fridge.
For the most part, I like PFFS, but as others have noted there just isn't that much variety and I kind of got bored with it. The food itself is pretty tasty, and I like that nothing is ever frozen. I just got to a point where I was ordering the same stuff every week cause I didn't really care for the other stuff - more variety will definitely help. In the 6 weeks I did it, the menu NEVER changed, so i'd be interested to hear if they do start to add more stuff.
My faves ended up being:
Breakfast - the smoothies and southwestern skillet
Lunch - all the wraps, i usually don't like eating hot foods for lunch. grilled chicken chick pea salad, rubbed beef steak with quiona, tomato soup
dinner - the italian lasagne, basil chicken salad, chicken mung bean salad (i love spicy!), beef steak with mushrooms
The only one that i just couldn't eat was the one with the squash spaghetti - what on earth is that one all about?!? i found the portions to be pretty good, and the food remained fresh for about a week, after that, it did go down in quality - even though they say it will stay fresh for 2 weeks.
i guess it's just part of the whole food delivery service, but i really hated getting rid of all the packaging - huge box (i'm sure my fed ex guy will NOT miss carrying that!) and all that dry ice and foam - on the flip side, my food ALWAYS arrived fresh, ice still intact, etc etc. And they do a nice job of packaging, nothing ever crushed, everything labeled nicely, fruit is bubble wrapped. I figure much of the money goes to fedex delivery/packaging, so since i live in an area with lots of home delivery options i'd rather the money go in to the food, rather than shipping.
So, i would still totally recommend PFFS for their freshness and overall quality. I might even go back to them if current one doesn't live up to expectations (first delivery on monday) and/or if they improve the selection. Also, i haven't tried any other plans so i really have no basis for comparison.
This is a great report! Thank you!!
I've been looking at the PurFoods Gluten-Free program as an option for when/if I decide I'm finished with BistroMD (not yet... still loving it, so no reason to change yet). I've heard the portions are a wee bit small, so it's good to know that you felt fulfilled.
I agree about the downside of the home delivery stuff--packaging--and all that, but I figure I'm not getting in the car and driving to the market, not using up grocery bags that sit in a landfill or (hopefully) get recycled, so maybe it all balances out in the end. Certainly, there's less packaging in general if you think about all that it would take to make up those "dishes" (like, each veggie bought would be in a clear plastic veggie bag from the produce section; meats in styrofoam container with plastic wrap; eggs in a carton) and what you save in water from having to rinse your veggies, electricity to cook the food from scratch vs. just heating up what they've already done. And then there's NO packaging for fast foods at the drive-thru, since you're not doing that anymore, right?
I guess my point is, the carbon footprint LOOKS like a big deal, but actually it really does even out, I think.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experience, as it helps me as I'm looking at all of my options, down the line.
oh gessh. sad to say i really am not all that concerned about environmental footprints and such (!) i am a lazy bum and hate schleping all that packaging to the trash! LOL
I just completed 6 weeks of PFFS - two rounds of the 3 week plan.
I am going to switch to another one just to see if I like it better. I'm actually going with a local 3-day a week home delivery M-F plan, so we'll see. It's more expensive, but not too much more, so we'll see if I do a better job eating the meals. I was extremely excited about the food when i first started, but then i got bored with the selection and found myself eating out more and more, and meals left over in my fridge.
For the most part, I like PFFS, but as others have noted there just isn't that much variety and I kind of got bored with it. The food itself is pretty tasty, and I like that nothing is ever frozen. I just got to a point where I was ordering the same stuff every week cause I didn't really care for the other stuff - more variety will definitely help. In the 6 weeks I did it, the menu NEVER changed, so i'd be interested to hear if they do start to add more stuff.
My faves ended up being:
Breakfast - the smoothies and southwestern skillet
Lunch - all the wraps, i usually don't like eating hot foods for lunch. grilled chicken chick pea salad, rubbed beef steak with quiona, tomato soup
dinner - the italian lasagne, basil chicken salad, chicken mung bean salad (i love spicy!), beef steak with mushrooms
The only one that i just couldn't eat was the one with the squash spaghetti - what on earth is that one all about?!? i found the portions to be pretty good, and the food remained fresh for about a week, after that, it did go down in quality - even though they say it will stay fresh for 2 weeks.
i guess it's just part of the whole food delivery service, but i really hated getting rid of all the packaging - huge box (i'm sure my fed ex guy will NOT miss carrying that!) and all that dry ice and foam - on the flip side, my food ALWAYS arrived fresh, ice still intact, etc etc. And they do a nice job of packaging, nothing ever crushed, everything labeled nicely, fruit is bubble wrapped. I figure much of the money goes to fedex delivery/packaging, so since i live in an area with lots of home delivery options i'd rather the money go in to the food, rather than shipping.
So, i would still totally recommend PFFS for their freshness and overall quality. I might even go back to them if current one doesn't live up to expectations (first delivery on monday) and/or if they improve the selection. Also, i haven't tried any other plans so i really have no basis for comparison.
hi juanita,
thanks for your update on PFFS. did you lose some weight with the 6 weeks you stayed with the program? i was thinking of staying with it for 6 weeks as well. thanks
I agree about the variety and unfortunately, I wouldn't look to that changing any time soon. I was actually considering going back to ediets, but after reading people had an even worse experience with customer service than I did, I'm going to hold off.
I asked someone in Customer Service about why the ediets stuff wasn't available on their plan. After a bit of digging, I think it boils down to ediets doesn't want them offering the same meals. It makes sense for ediets, but it sucks for us. I love their customer service, but I don't know how long I can last eating the same few meals every week. I just don't like enough of their meals to mix it up much more than I already am.
I will say this: it's nice to be paying roughly what other people are paying for frozen meals. Fresh food is always better than frozen. I don't totally understand why someone would pay the same amount for frozen food. Can someone offer me insight into that?
I will say this: it's nice to be paying roughly what other people are paying for frozen meals. Fresh food is always better than frozen. I don't totally understand why someone would pay the same amount for frozen food. Can someone offer me insight into that?
Can only speak for myself, obviously, but I love the convenience of being able to toss a flash-frozen, vacuum-sealed bag of delicious food into a pot of boiling water and then, in under 15 minutes, having a meal that is fresh and delicious and tastes like someone just came into my home and cooked it for me.
I haven't tried the fresh-food home delivery plans, so I can't compare them first hand. What I've read from others, though, shows me that sometimes the lettuce is wilted or the fresh foods aren't staying fresh nearly as long as they're supposed to, based on the number of days' food you've ordered, etc. Again, no first-hand experience with this... just what I've read from others. (And of course, it's not always that way, I'm sure!)
I like the convenience of the frozen foods. I love how everything tastes, when it's prepared and on my plate...headed into my mouth.
So, I've got no complaints and the cost issue simply is a non-issue for me, meaning, if I'm loving the food and losing weight by eating it, and it basically costs the same as pretty much anything else (even not being on a plan at all, when you factor in dining out, grocery shopping, preparation, takeout, convenience foods, vending machines, etc., etc., etc.), what's not to love?
But maybe I just don't have a sophisticated enough sense of taste to be turned off by frozen food that comes out so yummy. I like it!
I've been looking at the PurFoods Gluten-Free program as an option for when/if I decide I'm finished with BistroMD (not yet... still loving it, so no reason to change yet). I've heard the portions are a wee bit small, so it's good to know that you felt fulfilled.
I agree about the downside of the home delivery stuff--packaging--and all that, but I figure I'm not getting in the car and driving to the market, not using up grocery bags that sit in a landfill or (hopefully) get recycled, so maybe it all balances out in the end. Certainly, there's less packaging in general if you think about all that it would take to make up those "dishes" (like, each veggie bought would be in a clear plastic veggie bag from the produce section; meats in styrofoam container with plastic wrap; eggs in a carton) and what you save in water from having to rinse your veggies, electricity to cook the food from scratch vs. just heating up what they've already done. And then there's NO packaging for fast foods at the drive-thru, since you're not doing that anymore, right?
I guess my point is, the carbon footprint LOOKS like a big deal, but actually it really does even out, I think.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experience, as it helps me as I'm looking at all of my options, down the line.
Hi, you seem to love Bistro MD, I am worried about their prices, is it worth it, what do you like about them so much. thanks
Hi, you seem to love Bistro MD, I am worried about their prices, is it worth it, what do you like about them so much. thanks
Hi Oseybaby,
Yes, I do love BistroMD. I start Week 8 tomorrow and I've lost 11.4 pounds, 3" in my waist, and I haven't done any major increase in my exercise (yet), haven't cut out drinking alcohol entirely (still have at least two nights a week of social cocktails with friends), or any of the stuff I have planned for when I'm really ready to see some progress.
Most of all, I love the convenience--and I guess that would be true no matter what company I chose. The reasons I *chose* BistroMD are spelled out in the first-ever post I made here at the 3FC message board, here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134490
I began to question my choice, when they were hit-or-miss on getting my weekly menu correct (I'm "special needs" with the whole gluten-free thing), but then read from other posters that the customer service and/or portion sizes with other companies were less than stellar.
Looks to me like, even when you do the "smaller packages" with some of these companies and have to supplement with snacks or items from the market to get your daily menu complete, you are looking at about $150 to $200 per week, no matter where you go. The only companies that are significantly lower than that are ones that offer gluten-filled foods (like Nutrisystem) and there's no way I could eat that menu. There are really only about a dozen items TOTAL from their company that don't contain wheat gluten.
But, anyway, with any of these, you're paying not only for the food itself and delivery, but also portion control, glycemic index balancing, carb/protein balancing, variety, preparation, and--best of all--knowing that every bite you eat is helping you reach your dietary goals.
So, for me, that's definitely worth the money.
And before my first delivery showed up, we kept a ledger sheet for two weeks of our standard diet (meals out, takeout, drive-thru, vending machines, lattes, popcorn at the movies, plus everything bought at the market), and honestly, the cost of BistroMD is almost identical to what we were averaging in those two weeks we surveyed, anyway. (But without the "every bite is sending me in the right direction" bonus.)
Anyway, that's it for me. I'm sure everyone has their reasons for their own favorite plans. This is working for me so far and I really have loved the customer service, the yummy food, and the results without effort. So far so good!
I hope this is helpful!
As for the ongoing updates to "why I like them so much," check my blog (linked below and in the left margin), as I try to keep up with it all.
The only one that i just couldn't eat was the one with the squash spaghetti - what on earth is that one all about?!?
Juanita, this made me chuckle because that meal was actually one of my faves! How funny!!
Quote:
I asked someone in Customer Service about why the ediets stuff wasn't available on their plan. After a bit of digging, I think it boils down to ediets doesn't want them offering the same meals. It makes sense for ediets, but it sucks for us. I love their customer service, but I don't know how long I can last eating the same few meals every week. I just don't like enough of their meals to mix it up much more than I already am.
And CK, I know; this issue is starting to come up for me too. I have a pretty decent mix, but I do tend to order the same 10-15 or so lunches and dinners, and I'm on the 5-day plan so there's only a little variation. There are a lot of yummy looking choices on 3-Hour Diet, but assuming when they start taking new folks again the plan will be the same, they only have muffins as a breakfast option in the less expensive plan, and I'm just not super down with that.
And finally, Ms. Full of Grace, MUCHO congrats on your success!!! I've been keeping up with you via your blog (as you know) and am thrilled to hear that things are looking back up again.
And finally, Ms. Full of Grace, MUCHO congrats on your success!!! I've been keeping up with you via your blog (as you know) and am thrilled to hear that things are looking back up again.
Thanks! My email-based CSR said, "Give me the chance to make this right and I promise you it will never be wrong again." I decided, when she said that, to stick with it through the Week 8 delivery (which would mean, technically, staying through Week 9 due to the timing of cancellation vs. delivery cut-off dates), and then the Week 7 delivery showed up 100% correct.
Week 8 shows up in a few hours and I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing. I'll blog about it, I'm sure. Either way!
Thanks for the support.
(I would love to have some squash spaghetti!! That stuff is YUMMY, generally. Oooooh... cravings!)
thanks so much, I was just worried about their prices. do you do the 5 day or 7 day, and is their snack option worth it? Do you add anything, or is everything included. Is there fresh vegetables and salad also. I know I am asking a lot, but how those Bistro MD compare to say a company like Diet to Go.
thanks so much, I was just worried about their prices. do you do the 5 day or 7 day, and is their snack option worth it? Do you add anything, or is everything included. Is there fresh vegetables and salad also. I know I am asking a lot, but how those Bistro MD compare to say a company like Diet to Go.
I don't know much about Diet To Go, simply because they're one of the companies that either ignored me or discouraged me when I made contact, asking about gluten-free options. So, I didn't really invest a lot of time trying to figure out what their plan was like, since they didn't seem to want my business too badly. :\
I don't know if the prices for "five-day vs. seven-day" or "snacks vs. no snacks" make any one of 'em better than others. I do the seven-day program with snacks, so I don't EVER have to step foot into a grocery store, hit a drive-thru, or "trust myself" to make good choices (when I might prefer to use the meal as a "freebie" to go off plan or something). Basically, it's worth it TO ME to pay for the "full deal" with them, simply because it means I don't have to think about ANYTHING. It's all mapped out for me. And right now, with my history, that's the kind of structure I needed.
Perhaps, as I get confident about my abilities to make good choices and still stay on plan, I will try shifting to five days without snacks... but no promises just yet. I'm a work in progress.
Sorry, I haven't done a cost analysis of what the individual items come out to, financially, so I don't know if it would cost more or less to buy snacks or weekend meals on my own. (I just worry it would "cost more" in the emotional/risk sense, y'know?)
No salads or fresh veggies on the gluten-free version of BistroMD. I think they may have some fresh-veggie wraps or lunches in the "whole" plan, but since I can't have many of the lunch items, they send me frozen dinner meals for lunch instead. So, I think NO is the answer, but I'm not sure.
Sorry... I know my experience is limited to the gluten-free realm... but I do really like it all so far. Hope this is somewhat helpful!!!
Good luck in your decision!
I know Noodlebean has a great blog comparing multiple programs she has tried. I don't think she's done BistroMD, but she might have the answers about the other programs you're looking for, in terms of comparison.
PFFS - is doing good so far
I have to say PFFS is moving up the ranks for me in customer service.
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