Packaged Meals and Clinics - Nutrisystem, Medifast, Jenny Craig, EtcFor support and questions about diet meal delivery programs, or weight loss clinics that offer prepackaged meals and products.
Jen weekly total was 169.95 + shipping for 7 days + Snacks (there was no My Day on this plan). Even though the food was the same I am wondering if the difference was how the menus were structured and if it was lower in net carbs for this plan. If I end up doing the normal Bistro Plan I will compare the two and see. I kept most of the Nutrition Info to jot it down at some point to have a better understanding of each plan i am doing.
Ohh forgot to mention I checked the fedex tracking this morning and my stuff is slated to be deliverd on Fri instead of Thu. So it sounds like they had some issues going on at Bistro to get the items out on time. Since the issue was ono their end they should have at least sent it out overnight. Oh well word of advice to anyone wanting to start Bistro. When you get your first shipment don't start the next day in case you have weeks were things are delayed. I always got my box on Thu and started on Sat. This allowed thinigs to arrive and defrost in time, as well as wiggle room for issues such as this.
They will never overnight you food unless you received a damaged or defrosted package (or you are willing to pay the additional $100.00 per week). I just went through that whole thing with them a few weeks ago. The order I had that came totally defrosted, arrived on a Friday so it was too late for them to ship out a replacement that week. They shipped out a replacement package to me overnight that following Monday, which was very nice of them (Adrian is a doll). My order came totally defrosted and warm on a Friday, so it was too late for them to do anything for me until the weekend was over. I am a two day shipping lane away. My food is sitting in hot warehouses, trucks and loading docks for two days (Fedex and UPS do not have air conditioned warehouses or trucks as you probably know unless you pay for a very expensive and special service that almost no one uses). Then it sits in a hot truck that third day, until Fed Ex delivers to my home. That's usually the deal breaker. If Fed ex gets here early, I have a fighting chance. If they put it on another route that gets here in the evening, I am in trouble (because now that's three days in the blazing sun). That's what happened three weeks ago. The food came warm, slushy and totally unusable. It's hard to fault Fed Ex because as they say, they fulfilled their obligation, and got it to me on the scheduled date of delivery. The problem is with shipping perishables ground service during the hot summer months. Not a good idea. It's a crap shoot. Sometimes it's fine. Other times it's not so fine. That and not getting a firm and regular delivery day each week, almost kept me from even trying this diet.
Bistro did not have a delay. This is the part that makes me crazy. If you were to call them right now and ask, they will probably tell you that your food was not delayed by them (unless you are saying that Fedex themselves is having an actual delay, and you are getting it a day later than Fedex usually takes for your area from Bistro's center). Bistro can ship it on any day of the week just as long as they know that you will get it by Friday. They have made this very clear to me on more than one occasion. The only thing they can even remotely guarantee is that I will get my shipments by Friday. I just got my weekly delivery 20 minutes ago, and it came fully frozen with lots of extra dry ice (thank you God). They shipped out on Tuesday, and I got my tracking number late Tuesday night.
They choose what days is most convenient for them to ship your food out. I don't know what state you are in or what your shipping lane is away from their center, but with me being two days away, they can ship out my food either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. It's very frustrating because again it's hard to make a dental appointment or things of that nature three days out of 5. You can't just call up a physician or dentist and say hey, I just got my tracking number, can you fit me in tomorrow! I would even pay a little extra just to have a regular delivery day each week!
It's so random now that my head is spinning. The shipment before last week was sent Monday (that was very surprising as they had never shipped on a Monday before). I received it on Wednesday as I am two days away (never received a shipment that early before). Then last week it was shipped out on Tuesday, and I got it Thursday, and today the same thing. I know I can't count on any of this because sometimes they wait to ship it out on Wednesday, and then I won't get it till Friday! That's three days I am hostage in what I can do, because I never get a regular delivery day. Sore spot for me. They tell you that as long as you get it by Friday, they have done their job. I have tried to ask if there is any way to regulate this, but they say that they can't.
If Fedex themselves are having a delay, they will probably make you wait to see if things are still frozen or not before discussing replacement packages. So far, I have had no Fedex delays, but I have had issues with the food defrosting (although they packed this one with so much extra dry ice, that everything was very solidly frozen)! And Fedex came early which helped!
By the way, if you go ala carte (meaning you drop the breakfasts like I did), you are paying per meal, and do not get a my night unless you want it that way. I don't want a my night, so I get 7 lunches and 7 dinners on Bistro per week.
question as I am about to run out the door so didn't read the last comment.....on the normal bistro plan are there meals with artichokes in them? I know one meal was on the Biggest Loser Meal Plan the California Wrap had a side dish of artichokes that I just replaced iit with my own veggies. Just curios if you found alot of them on the normal plan.....will check back later.
There are 3 or 4 of them that come to mind, but I can't remember all the names. They are all mainly side dishes though. I just don't eat that part of it (they give me heartburn). Just create a profile on BistroMD.Com, and put that in your profile (that you don't want any foods with artichokes in them, or that you are allergic, etc). They will figure it out for you, and simply not send you any meals that contain artichokes. I did this with lentils, and they stopped sending them to me. If you do this now, it won't be reflected in your next weeks shipment because you needed to make changes like this the Wednesday before next weeks shipment. If you create a profile, and put no artichokes please on your profile "likes and dislikes" section before next Wednesday, it will be reflected in the shipment following next weeks. Hope that makes sense.
Regarding the shipment the delay wasn't from FedEx. It hadn't left froom BistroMD and they confirmed they can't gaurantee shipment date other than it will leave some time Mon-Wed. All my shipments except this one all left out on Tue and arrived on Thu. This one I Ithink was a bit weired because I called them to ask for the FedEx # when I didn't see it and it appeared as if my order hadn't been processed yet. The odd thing is right after the email with the FedEx # I got an email from them saying that the Biggest Loser Meal Plan was cancelled and final shipments had already been sent out. So it may have just been concidental that things were going on with them for the transitiion.
Well I decided to stiick it out with Bistro to see what their regular plan looks like for a month. (found a discount coupon for 10% for a month) It is anticipated that eDiets is going to head up their Biggest Loser Meal Plan by Sept 1st. After a month on Bistro normal I will check their plan out. I figure variety is good to get a chance to try all the programs out for at least a month or more and see what works and what doesnt' for me. At the end of the day as long as Ii am eating healthy and working out I ishould see progress by Xmas.
So far I have lost
25lbs with Low Carb [Diet-To-Go] (10weeks)
5lbs with Biggest Loser Meal Plan [BistroMD] (5weeks)
If they started using dry ice, I might consider trying their new "Biggest Loser" version, but I would never accept food that's been shipped using regular gel packs ever (no matter what they tried to tell me). Who am I going to believe. Them or my lying eyes. I have seen food arrive here defrosted with my own eyes even when it was carefully shipped with extra dry ice in good coolers. I don't even want to think about that with regular gel packs in 100 degree heat over a three to four day period UPS ground no less (and it's not even frozen to begin with)! If food comes frozen, you know it's OK. Food does not defrost, and refreeze in transit. It's either frozen or it's not, so you know the integrity is still there. I won't know that with fresh food that's been shipped unfrozen using regular gel packs, until I either end up in the bathroom all night sick or not. Not worth it to me. Their packaging is a major deal breaker for me. I really do love Bistro, and they have bent over backwards to accommodate me. The food for me is just incredible. Maybe the food will be better with the new Biggest Loser version, but actually I found most of their meat to be very tough and gristly (and the carrot overload is just to much). The chicken was actually very good quality. I did their program in the winter, but I would never attempt this in the spring or summer with their packaging (just being honest).
If eDiets ever decides to ship thing more safely using dry ice, I would certainly be willing to give them another try one day. For now, no way......
In retrospect I take that back. They would need to flash freeze their food and use dry ice. I would not be comfortable with one or more of those things missing. Not when we are talking food that has to last a week in your refrigerator that was never frozen to begin with, and was already in transit for days ground.
Nah. I'll stick with Bistro. Hopefully I won't get sick of it before I lose all the weight. I've lost nearly 26 pounds since May. Hope to keep it going strong until I am all done!
The only programs I would ever switch back to would be Jenny Craig or Diet To Go (both were decent, and both were shipped overnight Fedex using plenty of dry ice). I was only a one day shipping lane away from DTG, so I got mine the next day, and JC only ships overnight. Those would be the only other programs i would be willing to switch back to if push comes to shove.
Thanks Lisa for the dry ice comment. Actually something to seriously think about during summer months. Also on the topic of dry ice the seem to be using smaller pieces lately. My shipment came in with no trace of ice left behind. Thank God food was still frozen...not rock solid but still was frozen. Will ask them to add more ice on next order to be 100% sure.
Also a follow up regarding my order....it is obvios they did in fact forget my order. In the box is an email to the packinig warehouse folks asking them to send the order out today (meaning wed). Email was sent 1:05pm and I had sent them an email at 12:45 asking for the tracking #. The email with the tracking # was sent to me at 1:10pm along with a comment that I wouldn't be able to track it till tomorrow. I sure wish folks were honest and just fessed up the missed my order. Anyway the rushed the order and didn't even bother to check that I had marked my account to not have mushrooms. So now I need to email them to include an extra Breakfast item next week so I can have something to eat.
question does your food come in pouches or trays? The sent me along with my order this week what appears to be the intro packet for Bistro MD ....I guess to encourage me to stay on with their normal plan...in the packet it talks about boiliing the pouches so was wondering if all your food is in pouches.
Yes, with regular Bistro, you get a mix of pouch and tray meals (and eventually you will notice that you really do get more selection, and different foods that were not offered to Biggest Loser members). Biggest loser members did not get pouch meals or the sirloin steak and other pricier meals like it. That was one of the big complaints from some of the Bistro old timers. They hated when Bistro went to tray meals instead of all packet meals. They seemed to feel that the packet meals were tastier, and better than the tray versions. As someone who gets both, I really don't see much of a difference at all. I honestly don't, but then again I was not impressed by the stone age method of boiling packets in a large pot of water. That may be tastier, but no thanks. It's just very impractical and inconvenient (at least for me). Not into making it more complicated than it needs to be. I cut the edges off each packet (there are usually three or 4 per meal because they package each side dish in it's own packet). I then put all packets on a microwaveable dish, and nuke at full power for 9 minutes. The plate will be wet underneath the packets from the condensation, but I simply transfer to a dry plate after CAREFULLY opening each packet (I always use scissors only to cut open the packets). I found that the cooking times they list are way off for microwaving packets (and trays as well). Thicker pieces of chicken, and stuff like that actually take 8 minutes, and not the 4-6 that they suggest (and I have a powerful microwave oven).
The only meals I have found that are OK at 4 minutes are the wraps (and probably the breakfasts though I do not do those anymore). As for the dry ice, I have gotten shipments like that even from Jenny Craig where the ice was completely melted, but the food was still frozen. You are fine if the food is still frozen however if you are nervous about this (and nobody understands this more than me), call and ask them to add more ice to your order. They are very accommodating. They had to add triple ice to mine because not only was my ice gone, but my food was arriving defrosted in really hot weather (and if you think its bad with dry ice, imagine that same shipment you got with regular gel packs)! That's why I find that whole thing totally spooky.
Just ask them to please put a note on your account that you would like more dry ice with your orders, and they will add more ice. I got triple ice this last week, and finally everything was frozen completely solid. I had to be super careful though. The ice was in such large blocks that I used three paper towels per hand to carefully lift each block, and place on the lid while I was unloading, so that the ice did not fall or touch my skin. It was so heavy, it sort of broke through the plastic bag it was in). Last thing you want is to have a large block drop, and break into a million fragments on your floor (especially if you have pets).
They told me that they are phasing out the packets, and that eventually everything will be in tray form, but you will get both for now. Just let them know you would like extra ice and that you are concerned, and felt that they almost forgot to send your order this week. They will place notes on your account, and pay special attention to your weekly orders. You just need to convey your concerns. I was worried that I might be a pain in the behind with all my calls, but they were very sweet and understanding. After all, we are spending a lot of money here. It may be that they are truly overwhelmed by this huge change with their biggest loser version. It's probably all they can do to keep up with the phone calls.
I wonder if Dr. Phil will still be endorsing BistroMD. I do know this much, I really have tried almost every other program out there, and the only food that even remotely comes close in quality was DTG's carb version, but I lost almost no weight on that one (and the chicken and pork all had the same gross seasoning to it no matter what the dish was called). I LOVED their breakfasts, and their salmon! This food at Bistro blows me away on every level. I actually look forward to my meals and usually with diets, they are just something to down and get over with.
In a perfect world, I would have DTG's Low carb breakfasts (not the quiches though), Bistro's lunches and dinners, and Jenny Craig's snacks and desserts! One can dream can't they (and God I miss JC's French Toast with Berries, Chicken Fajita's and Pot Stickers)! Mmmmmm.
On the pouch issue: I've been on Bistro for 4 weeks now and out of the 80 meals, I think 5 or 6 were in pouches. My last week had no pouches. I noticed no difference between the two - that may be because I still microwaved the pouches! I like the trays becasue I don't have to use a dish!
On delivery: In case anybody is reading this trying to decide on Bistro, the shipping issues vary a lot depending on where you live. I live in a major suburb, so I'm super close to shipping access. My 4 boxes have all arrived exactly at the same time with a TON of dry ice left in the box. And it's HOT here in the summer. Don't let the shipping issue scare you off -- cause it might not be an issue for you!
For my money, this program is working great. I'm down 17 pounds in the last month, which I know is fast. I've been trying to add in good snacks - still working on getting a good balance. But really, I haven't really felt HUNGRY at all! A little here or there, but knowing I had a meal ready to eat made it easier to wait an hour to eat. I agree with Lisa, if BMD stops shipping, I'd totally freak out!
Another update. Bistro quickly responded to my email stating they would add additional ice to my order. That will definately help with this additional summer heat. I was lucky my food arrived still frozen since the dry ice had just started to disappear. It is better to be safe then sorry.
They are so wonderful that way. Very accommodating for those of us having to deal with the reality of this issue. That's what I find so redeeming in Bistro. That you can call them or email them about the shipping problems you are having, and they bend over backwards to help you. They really do give you personalized help, and that's a deal breaker for me when looking at meal plans. My center/hub is only 40 minutes away, but that means nothing because they can choose to deliver the food at any time of the day they want, depending on where you are on their route. It also depends on how hot it is, and what state lines they are crossing to get the food to you. Those states may also be extraordinary searing hot ones, and that plays a huge role as well. My Fed Ex driver usually delivers in the morning, and yet I have received completely defrosted food. Now that they are packing my orders with all this extra dry ice, I can stick with Bistro and my orders are arriving just fine again (knock on wood). The good news is that you can communicate with them about any problems you are having, and they really do whatever they can to help you. Huge positive for me!
Good luck to you my friend. Lets hope from here on out, we are in the clear with this! Just a couple more months to go and fall will be setting in! I can breathe easier during the fall and winter!
Yes Lisa they have been accomidating everytime to be honest that is why I choose to stick on with them. My FedEx driver delivers it usually by 11:30am but I am at work and I don't get to it till at least 5-6pm and it has been fine up till thiis past week....even with the big heat waves I had dry ice still when they were using the larger blocks. It was the smaller ones these last two weeks that I think they melt faster. Anyway I am now all clear.
Regarding the snacks I also noticed that on Amazon (some not all of) the Kay's Natural Snacks are for sale there for $12 for 12 pack. This is a total steal if anyone needs some extra snacks. I do because 1200 calories isn't enough for me. I work out 7 days a week and burn at least 500 calories at a minimum so need extra healthy snacks to up my calory count. My traiiner says I have to be up at least 2000 ....so trying to slowly increase it a bit to avoid staulinig my weight loss.
Thanks for the Amazon tip. I've actually been getting some amazing steals from them lately (and I love it when I get Super Saver Shipping)! I can't survive on 1200 calories either. I am actually doing quite well on my 1400-1500 per day. Major kudos for all the work outs! Wow! I wish I could do that, but my energy level is not so hot. Hopefully this will improve over time.
The block of ice I got last week was so huge, that I had to literally pad my hands with three paper towels per hand to carefully lift it up and out, and put it on the lid as I was unloading! It was a happy problem to have! That's usually a good sign that things are OK when you still see dry ice. They put in so much extra last week, that the box was heavy to drag in! I'm happy to do it, if it means I get things nice and frozen! I love that they work with you. If there is something you don't want to receive anymore, they will remove it no problem. That profile I filled out, has been a lifesaver! No more meatloafs, Greek inspired lentils or Philly cheese steak for me! Yay!!
I love love love love (did I mention love) those Zone bars! OMG! No after taste at all like I am used to with Atkins, and incredibly delectable and filling! They are about 170 to 180 calories each, but if you really want something filling with high protein, they can't be beat. They leave Atkins in the dust (and no stomach cramps)! They are so incredibly delicious that it's hard to believe you are not eating a straight on candy bar. The dark chocolate strawberry is to die for! They actually mix in real strawberries with the dark chocolate! The Mint chocolate is just incredible! That takes care of my serious chocolate cravings when I get them (that or some hot cocoa with fat free milk)! Also those bars keep me full for hours (Atkins bars never did that for me). They are nice and bulky, and really very filling.
I like to bake my own cheese for a nice no carb snack, and really love those Wasa crisp breads with strawberry cream cheese. Sometimes i will have some baked cheeze it's, but not very often (that's when I just have to splurge)! Anyway onto another week. Good luck everyone!
