By this time, new year diet fatigue may be creeping in on those who resolved to live more healthfully in 2019. The Lunar New Year brings a second chance, and if you find you can’t go it alone, several food-delivery services that initially catered to the fitness crowd have found a new audience among busy families and business professionals who simply want to eat better.
Meals are not sold as diet plans, but as gourmet-quality, convenient alternatives that often take into account the sugar, sodium, dairy, soy and gluten content of foods. For those on restrictive diets or who simply want to eliminate problematic ingredients, they take some of the guesswork out of cooking for oneself or going to a restaurant.
The services are not meant to be the sole source of meals, and are no substitute for being an active participant in ensuring that diet and nutrition needs are met. It’s important to consult a physician or nutritionist to make sure which foods are compatible with your health and activity level.
For instance, from my experience trying some of the meals, the usual serving of 6 or 7 ounces of protein per meal — though considered normal or small in a typical plate lunch — is high when compared with the 5.5-ounces per day suggested in the USDA Dietary Guidelines.
Higher portions of protein go into meals for those on paleo diets who work out heavily. Eating three such meals a day would deliver more protein than most people require. And those who eat three meals a day with these companies would still need to eat more fruits and vegetables in between meals.
The companies profiled here are a sampling of those available.
FIT4YOU
>> Sample food items: Kochujang chicken, Indian spice-rubbed salmon, Italian turkey burger with brown rice and vegetables, citrus herb steak (all with vegetables and rice or mixed grains)
>> Cost: About $8.25 to $14.10 per meal
>> Home delivery: Mondays and Thursdays for $7.50 weekly
>> Pick up: Mondays and Thursdays from Muscle Inc., Unyqe Fitness, Pro Flexx, Fit4You kitchen in Kalihi (with prior arrangement) and Ohana Hale Marketplace
>> Website: fit4youhi.com
Amelia Caravalho started her company in March 2016 because she saw the need for more healthful options on the culinary scene.
“My husband has been in the fitness industry for more than 20 years, and while helping people as a personal trainer, he found the downside for people trying to be fit was their diet. It isn’t enough to be going to the gym for hours. What really matters is all the other hours of the day.
“Meals are a tool. You have to learn to eat properly just as you go to a gym to learn to lift weights properly.”
Unfortunately, most people eat with their eyes and the lack of education in portion control causes people to eat until stuffed, rather than to maintain body function and balance (a portion of meat is 3 ounces, no bigger than a deck of cards).
“I had left my job in private aviation to put myself through culinary school, and we just decided to put our skills together to start this company,” Caravalho said. “We went from preparing meals for about 20 people to more than 200 pretty quickly. It started from wanting to bring something convenient to people and keeping it affordable.
“I start with the food people like and take out what’s bad, like the fatty parts, while still making it taste good. … I don’t use anything frozen, canned or processed.”
She makes five dishes available weekly. Have them delivered to your home for a fee, or pick them up at a partner gym or retail outlet.
“Our demographic isn’t athletes; the smallest part is the fit, athletic crowd. Our customers turned out to be young entrepreneurs, executives and moms. Hawaii is an expensive place to live so people work all the time. To have to shop for food, prep and cook every day is unrealistic for people, so if we can replace one or two of their meals a day, we feel like we’re contributing to people’s health and giving them some time back.”
GOOD CLEAN FOOD
>> Sample food items: Sweet potato and sausage quiche, curry-braised beef, green chili turkey meatloaf with kabocha and zucchini, spaghetti squash, meatballs and basil eggplant
>> Cost: $12.99 or $13.99 per meal
>> Delivery: Bishop Street, Kailua and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, at $5 per delivery
>> Pick up: CrossFit Oahu gyms
>> Website: gcfhawaii.com
It was all about gym envy. While eating their homemade lunches at a gym, other athletes couldn’t help but notice the beautiful meals Janelle Bremer — who at the time worked for Whole Foods Market — prepared for herself. A few offered to pay her to prepare an extra meal for them.
Pretty soon, her client list expanded to 20, and in 2012 she left her job to start Good Clean Food, making meals available at one Crossfit gym. She’s expanded to 26 Oahu gyms. No gym membership is required to pick up your meals at the one closest to you.
As an athlete, Bremer’s initial menus were built around meals that were paleo- and Whole30-compliant. In a nutshell, these diets are based on whole, unprocessed foods presumed to have been eaten by Paleolithic humans, excluding dairy, grain products and processed food. She has since added dishes to suit those on a keto diet (low-carb and high-fat) and also offers Clean + Lean dishes that run 300 to 500 calories, versus 550 to 800 calories for a keto dish.
Dishes are the same for each plan, with minor adjustments to ingredients, sides and portioning to keep them compliant with each diet. Every item is carefully weighed for accuracy in the packing process.
That said, Bruce Ayres, sales and marketing director, said, “We don’t sell our meals as a weight-loss product. People who choose to eat with us can lose weight, but what we’re really doing is taking out the bad part of most diets. We’re 100 percent gluten-, soy-, dairy- and sugar-free and start with 100 percent fresh ingredients. We don’t use anything that’s been processed. We have a heavy vetting process and try to source locally as much as possible, and use organic ingredients as much as possible.
“You can train all day, but if you’re not eating healthfully, all that hard work goes to nothing.”
The only commercial products they use are curated items that go into a newly introduced snack box, created for people who demanded healthful snacks to munch on during the week. They’ve also partnered with Juic’d Life to offer cold-pressed juice six-packs and cleanse options.
Customers can cherry pick off a menu of about 15 items that change weekly.
“Our customers are busy professionals and working moms who want to eat healthfully but don’t have time to cook,” Ayers said. “If we can free people from cooking, they can have time to work out, come home to spend more quality time with family and find the energy to do it all.”
This month, the company starts providing meals at HMSA’s Keeaumoku Street location.
HAWAIIAN FITNESS MEALS
>> Sample food items: Chimichurri steak with herb potato medley and tomatoes, lemon-butter shrimp over angel hair pasta with broccoli, Greek salad with chicken, cauliflower pizza with turkey pepperoni
>> Cost: Five meals for $95 on a one-time purchase plan, five meals for $75 on a three week minimum weekly recurring subscription. Other options available.
>> Delivery: Mondays on Oahu, free. Tuesdays to neighbor islands, $3.95 via FedEx.
>> Pick up: Arkaios CrossFit, Waipahu
>> Website: hawaiianfitmeals.com
Shawn Erdman was head of his own advertising agency in San Diego when he got into the meal-prep industry with a friend.
For Erdman, it was a natural fit. His mother was a dietitian and taught him about eating right.
“My grandpa, uncle, cousins, and on down the line, were all very overweight and passed away much earlier than they should have due to their eating habits. That has always been a driving force for myself to stay moving, active, in shape and eating healthy. I truly believe that eating healthy, portioned meals, as well as working out, is the true fountain of youth.”
After moving to Hawaii Erdman saw there wasn’t a lot of competition in the healthy meal category, so in 2016 he launched Hawaiian Fit Meals. “Some of the stories I’ve heard are heart-wrenching. A lot of my clients are adult children who purchase meal subscriptions for their elderly parents who may be living alone. A lot of them have health issues. One daughter buys it for her dad who just suffered a heart attack, and she wants to make sure he eats healthfully.”
He also caters to travelers who want to maintain their healthy diets while here on vacation.
“I’ve always been on the go, so I’ve always had my own meals prepped to have something ready to go,” said Erdman, whose background also includes 27 years of managing and owning food businesses.
Rather than offer single meals, Hawaiian Fit starts with an introductory plan of a one-week, five-meal subscription, in part because getting in the habit of eating properly takes time.
“It takes 21 days to form a new habit,” Erdman said. “Anyone who is truly wanting to make a lifestyle change needs the accountability. The first three weeks are always the most challenging when making any lifestyle change. Once you make it that far, though, you are much more likely to continue down the path successfully.”
Once a plan is chosen, subscribers can make selections from about 30 dishes.
“All our dishes are under 500 calories, Erdman said. “We use all natural ingredients, sourcing from local farms and making everything ourselves. We don’t use any added sodium, so people on restricted diets don’t have to worry about salt, except in our pico de gallo, which is served on the side so people can control the amount they use.
“We always try to accommodate special requests as much as we can.”
