Does eDiets Really Work?

Getting all the food you need delivered to your door from a service like eDiets sounds like a dream. No more wondering what to make for yourself, or wondering if you’ve got the portion sizes right. No more wandering through the grocery store being lured to all the junk food, with its bright attractive colors and pictures. Just reheat and eat, and you’re on the track to weight loss. Or are you?

Overview
Diet food delivery programs have been gaining in popularity in recent years and eDiets is one of the market leaders. The premise is that you’ll receive pre-packaged foods in the mail and all you have to do is eat the selected meals and snacks for the day, don’t cheat, drink your water, get some regular exercise, and you’re all set.

It’s not a very remarkable premise, as diet foods have been available in the frozen food section for decades. What makes this different is that unlike replacing one or two meals a week, you’re required to replace your entire diet for however long it takes you to lose weight. This can prove unsustainable to many.

The Claim
eDiets claims to have better tasting food compared to Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig. They refer to an article by Epicurious to give validation to this claim. However, the page they are referring to does not give a glowing review, and only mentions the other two programs in passing as having one meal that didn’t measure up.

The Hype
At the end of the day we’re talking about food that has been prepared well in advanced, packed with preservatives, and frozen. It’s not going to be the best quality food you’ve ever tasted, and when you rely on this entirely as your source of food, you’ll eventually get sick of reheating the same sort of low-grade food.

The Cost
eDiets will give you three free weeks of food just for signing up, but after that your cost per day will be about $22 per day which includes having it shipped to your door. For many people, this is actually an economical way to eat, since you don’t have to worry about going out to eat, shopping, spending time cooking and cleaning up, or wasting food.

The Commitment
You have to resolve yourself to eating from their prepared meals for all of your sustenance, day in and day out for as long as you stay on their program. You should also be sure to get the daily requirement of water into your system, as well as follow some sort of exercise program 3 times per week. Many people find it hard to eat these packaged foods for a long time, but others find it liberating to be free from fast food joints and supermarkets.

Evaluation
All diet delivery systems seem to take the same basic approach towards weight loss. If you eat lighter meals and eat more frequently throughout the day, you’ll have success, according to them. Of course they advise that you adhere to an exercise program and don’t supplement their meals with any extra food. This can be hard to do for any person, and requires a great deal of self control and willpower.

One good feature of this program is that unlike Nutrisystem they include the snack that you are allowed to eat each day. This reduces the likelihood of user error, as you won’t have to go to the store and be tempted by all the junk, and you won’t have any guesswork as to what you’re supposed to make for yourself.

Final eDiets Review

eDiets is definitely making a name for it in the food delivery arena. They may not spend as much on non-stop advertising like Nutrisystem does, but their food is just as good or better, and they allow you to customize all of your meals so that you’re not locked in to eating food you don’t really like, or sent food without seeing what it is first.

As to whether or not the program will help you lose weight, it’s hard to tell. In the short term you will probably notice a loss of pounds, because you’ll likely be eating less than you normally would and your body will adjust. But this is just basic caloric restriction, and will always produce results.

As far as long term results go, you’ll eventually have to reduce the amount of food you eat from eDiets and start to prepare meals for yourself again. If you can establish the habit of eating smaller portions, and you get an idea of the type of meals you should be eating, you can start to replicate the system using your own fresh ingredients. This would take a lot of wherewithal and not many people will be able to stick with it long enough to make it a new lifestyle, but it is possible.

Our Recommendation
If you’re going to go with a home delivery service for your dieting needs, eDiets is the way to go. The best feature is that they let you choose all of your meals, and don’t just send you a bulky package of food you didn’t choose individually.

What do you think? Does eDiets work or not?