Starting on The Fresh Diet

Hello everybody! I want to document my experience with The Fresh Diet meal delivery service. I actually found a very helpful blog discussing a variety of meal delivery services entitled Thin By Mail and I was inspired to put this blog together after viewing Noodlebean's. I really appreciated the photos posted of the actual food received through the meal delivery services as well as the "foodie" reviews on taste and full-ness factors. 

I realize starting a food delivery program is a big financial undertaking, and I certainly didn't want to jump into any pricey program blindfolded. In my process of choosing a service, I looked first at eDiets, then BistroMD, then Freshology, and I finally settled on The Fresh Diet. I made my decision based on numerous rave reviews about the food but also because TFD delivers fresh DAILY. Freshology's GetSlim program (my runner up) only delivers every 3-4 days. However, if you live in a certain area of CA they have more expensive programs that *do* daily meal delivery. I live in IL, so that was out of the question. 

I realize I chose to go with one of the more expensive meal delivery options priced at $34.99/day. I supposedly got a deal at that rate for the 21 day program along with the usually more expensive Premium Choice option (they allow you to choose each and every individual meal). It was a tough nut to swallow, but I felt that if I went with eDiets or BistroMD and I was dissatisfied with their food or poor customer service, the experience would leave a bitter taste in my mouth (pun intended) with regard to *all* meal delivery services. I wanted to start this dieting business out on the best foot that I could afford, and I wanted to make sure that I'm actually enjoying the food while I'm at it (less chance of sneaking in a bag of buttery popcorn that way ;) FYI I found an option for Freshology that was priced at $27.99/day as an introductory price, but because of the frequency of delivery, I went with TFD. 

So today will be my first meal delivery. It's scheduled to arrive some time between 7pm the night before and 6am the day of. I'm super-excited for it to arrive so I can try out that Cherry Vanilla muffin! So I've been going through and taking screenshots of my "member's only" area where I can pick out my menus, choose my food dislike options and update my miscellaneous profile information. I figure what I can do each day I receive my food is post the menu I chose along with all the other options I had for the day PLUS photos of the actual food before I eat it! I'm hoping my efforts will help you out if you're deciding between one program or another as I was. Here's my menu for today, 5/7/09: 

It's actually kind of a pain to get the photos to show up right on Blogger. I'm sorry that picture isn't appearing as large as it's supposed to be. Anyhow, as you can see, weekends are my non-delivery days since I'm out of town quite often. The little icons with the trucks on them mean that I've picked out all my meals for that day and they will be ready to be delivered when that day rolls around. The icons with the paper w/pencil writing on it means that the menu is in the works and I can't make my choices yet. If I had a meal that I had not yet chosen, the little yellow triangle with the ! in the middle would appear on that day meaning I need to choose my foods. Now, like I mentioned before, I am on the Premium Choice package meaning I actually get to choose and see each meal. The Chefs Choice plan doesn't allow you to do that. I'm assuming they just pick whichever meal is most convenient for them to make for you that day and that's what you're going to get. Here are the variety of options I had to choose from for 5/7/09: 

If you'll notice that it says "You cannot make changes for this date," that just means you need to have your menus picked out at the latest 72 hours in advance. My Customer Service rep told me that if it's an emergency change, I can call him directly within 48 hours prior to delivery and make my change. 

Ugh, there has got to be a better way to lay out pictures in Blogger. Anyhow, I think this post has gotten informative and long enough for now. Tomorrow hopefully I will find the time to put screenshots up of the Food Dislikes page so you can kind of get a feel for that as well. I'm going to be super busy tomorrow as we're doing a closing on a property in northern WI via Fed Ex so I have a feeling tomorrow will be full of surprises...and hopefully delicious gourmet food!