Plan the meals, pick up the ingredients, prepare the dishes, put them away, and then clean up. It’s a process that for some, may not be the most conducive for their schedule. In a world where working moms and stay at home moms alike struggle to keep up with “all of the things” that need to be done, it’s often at the sacrifice of one of the most important pieces of our lifestyle – nutrition. That’s where outsourcing meal prep comes into play.
While it might be arguable that we can prioritize our daily lives and adjust habits to make time for preparing healthy meals, it doesn’t always fit into our schedule. Or for every season of life. There are important things that happen each day that must get done and in the grand scheme of things, it just needs to get done, agreed?
We all consider outsourcing help when it comes to renovations, house cleaning, and even to help us on our fitness journey. We make sure these things get done by qualified individuals and we do them because they are most important to us and we entrust them to people who can do them effectively. So it begs the question, why should your nutrition be any different?
Meet Laura.
A former working mom of two toddlers turned stay at home mom during one of the busiest times of her life. From a move across the country, to a husband who’s work hours are unique and require long stretches of work. All while building a home and becoming the front runner of maintaining the house to make it feel warm and welcoming.
Not to mention scheduling all of the appointments for the children, house contractors, installers, and even caring for their senior dog. Master Juggler seems to be the title of at least one season of every mom’s life and for Laura, this is it.
This is the time where adding more to the “to do list” takes away from all of the other more (yet somehow equally) important things, especially attending to the children while adjusting to a new hometown.
Now, insert the working mom, which compounds with all the other at home items that need to get done, taking time to exercise, spend time with the children, OH AND have healthy meals readily available.
And then there are some who might find meal prepping on the weekends attainable, some even find it enjoyable but right now you’ve got a lot going on and could use the extra hands.
When we all have the same amount of time in the day and not everything can get done, it is no surprise that many different types of lifestyles may need to consider outsourcing meal prep.
Poor nutrition doesn’t play favorites.
Prioritizing nutrition becomes even more crucial when you may be responsible for other members in the family. Eating healthy really should be up there on the list with your other items. So if you’re in a season that cannot do it, someone needs to!
No matter your situation, my entire mantra has been, finding what works for you and your family is key. It should be something you can sustain and something that is the most effective of your time and effort.
To that end, you may find that you are in the exact same place Laura is. A time where outsourcing meal prep to qualified help is 100% the right choice to gain back your freedom, spend time with your children, and maximize efforts to attend to all the other things that require attention during this busy season. Nutrition is key to living a healthy lifestyle and should be held in high regard when we talk about prioritizing what matters in the long run.
If you can relate, this is for you. And even if you find this isn’t for you, gather the information anyway. Maybe one day you’ll find yourself searching to eliminate the heavy lifting and it’s time to hire qualified help.
Below are some questions I asked Laura about her experience with outsourcing meal prep and how you can too!
PLUS, some other strategies at the end if outsourcing meal prep doesn’t make sense for you right now.
1. What made you decide to outsource meal prepping to a professional?
We decided to outsource meal prepping because we identified that we were in a really busy season of life and didn’t have time to prepare healthy meals ourselves. We had just completed a cross country move and were trying to make it all work with two young children.
2. Where did you find this company/person?
We found our amazing chef through a simple Google search.
3. Did you try other options before deciding on a meal prep chef?
Prior to hiring a chef, we tried two different at home meal delivery services. One provided microwave-ready meals and the other required you to unbox the ingredients and cook the meals yourself with the help of a recipe card.
4. Once you determined the chef, what were the next steps?
In our area, there were waitlists for almost every chef, so we picked the only chef that was available immediately. She is great! The intake process involved a simple form where our family got to weigh in on our nutritional goals, what types of food we enjoy, and any food allergies or aversions we wanted the chef to take note of.
5. What’s your favorite thing about having the meals prepared by the chef?
Our favorite aspect of having a chef is the time savings. It takes about one full business day to prepare a week of lunch and dinners for a family of four. I feel like that’s one whole day of my life each week that I get back and can pour into the things I love.
6. What’s your least favorite about having the meals prepared by the chef?
For us, the fact that I lose access to my kitchen for almost a full day can be tricky. However, I have heard of chefs who prepare the meals in their own homes and deliver them to you.
7. What was the onboarding process and how long did it take until the chef was preparing your first set of meals?
Since we opted for a chef that didn’t have a waitlist, onboarding us was relatively seamless. It took us about a week to find a chef, a week to complete the initial phone call and intake form, and the following week the chef was in our home cooking.
8. Do you get to determine the meals or are you picking from a catalog?
Based on our intake form, health goals, and our weekly feedback forms, our chef presents us with a list of options for the upcoming week. We select four meals per week and if we have any special requests, our chef gladly accepts those. We’ve even had her bake lactation cookies and provide fruit salad in addition to our usual meals.
9. What is a range that one should expect to pay per meal?
For at home meal services that get delivered to your door, the price is usually lower, ranging from $9 to $11 per meal. Having a chef prepare the meals for you is about double the price.
10. If you had to “sell” a meal prep chef to yourself, what are the top three points you’d touch on and why did you select those?
While the sticker price may seem steep, it’s important to remember you’re getting a lot more than just the meal. Our chef drives to the grocery store, combs the aisles for food, brings the food into our home, unloads her own cooking supplies and utensils, cooks the meals, and then cleans up and takes the trash out. For us it came down to time savings, ease of use, and nutrition. It is so much easier for us to eat healthy when nutritional meals are within arm’s reach.
11. Any additional feedback, opinions, or thoughts you'd like to share?
For us, I had sticker shock when I learned what the price per meal would cost us for having a chef prepare meals. I thought to myself, there is a health food restaurant in town that charges about $13 per meal and this is even more than that! But upon hiring our chef, I immediately saw so many benefits for convenience. We aren’t rushing out the door to drive to a health food restaurant and stand in line for takeout. We aren’t in the drive thru line for fast food as frequently as we used to be, and it makes me feel good to know we are putting healthy, nutritional food in our family’s system. Once our kids are school-aged and I have more time at home, this might not be for us. But right now, it is perfect.
Outsourcing meal prep isn’t for you? Here are some other options to consider when prioritizing your nutrition.
Meal Services: There are many meal prep services out there that will either compile the ingredients for you and all you have to do is cook, or some that are already done for you all you have to do is cook it up or heat it up. Here are some examples:
Nutritional Weight Loss Apps: App based services which help the user identify and adjust habits based on systems. Whether this be tracking systems (points) or categorizing foods to offer the best balance for the user. The latter is what Noom is all about. This app is psychology based to help the user change their habits to selecting foods and meals that best suit their goals. Rather than focusing on numbers, this app is geared towards placing foods into a color system and helps you build a plan around how much to each of those categories. For those who are interested in formulating a well rounded diet, you may find this strategy to be effective. Find more about the Noom app here.
Beginner Meal Prep: When making changes in your life, it doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul of your current lifestyle. Start small (and easy) and build from there. If you find that you have 1-2 hours at the start of your week or weekend, try meal prepping to see if you can do it. To get started, check out my Simple Meal Prep Guide, which includes a meal builder, sample meal plan recipes, and a grocery list for planning purposes.
Looking for free resources to get you started on your healthy and fitness journey? Head over to my free resources page to find downloadable guides, workout plans, and more.
