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Sure, they might have to take the occasional side trip to the store to pick up an extra loaf of bread or milk, but they only had to make the major shopping trip every so often. This type of meal planning was extremely cost-effective.

Today, most Americans do not create a week or months worth of meal plans. In fact, most Americans don't know, "what's for dinner" as late as 4pm in the afternoon. We spend more money than we need or want by eating out at restaurants, going through fast food drive-throughs, and by doing last-minute grocery shopping.

Our world is fast-paced and we are busy with both family and work commitments. Often, we think, "If there were only a way to devise our meal plans for the week and sit down together as a family to healthy, delicious meals."

Now there is. The newest innovation in meals and dining is having professional chefs prepared meals that can be delivered right to our homes. This eliminates the stress of meal planning, and allows us to eat healthy and sensibly.

There are many different types of meal plans for home delivery. Some companies specialize in healthy meal plans while others specialize in gourmet meal plans. No matter what you are looking for in meal plans, we are sure you will find a company and a plan to meet you and your family's needs.

Weight Loss Meal Plans

Going on a diet is difficult under the very best of circumstances. Unfortunately, many Americans do not know how to plan a healthy meal, much less a healthy, low-calorie meal. Weighing and measuring food can be a pain and be difficult. Luckily, there are several companies that can prepare and deliver diet meal plans directly to your home. This eliminates all the guesswork from preparing a meal plan for weight loss.

The meals on diet meal plans are perfectly portioned according to the number of calories you order. You never have to worry about exceeding your allotted number of calories in one meal. By choosing a meal plan for weight loss, you are saving yourself the trouble of counting calories, fat grams, and carbohydrates.

There are two different types of weight loss meal plans. Some companies, such as DineWise, offer both gourmet meals and weight loss meals, in addition to other types of meals that will be mentioned later.

There are meal delivery companies that only deliver low calories meal plans. They have made a niche in the weight loss business, and weight loss meal plans are the only types of prepared meal plans they have. These include the plans offered by companies such as:

History of Meal Plans

From the 1950s through the 1970s, housewives would sit down monthly or weekly and make a menu for the month or week. From the meal plan they devised, they would create their grocery list.

They would then look through the "weeklies" or sale papers, clip their coupons, and head out on their grocery shopping expedition. In this manner, they were able to save time and money throughout the week or month.

Meal Plans

"Thank you for the service you provide. These reviews have helped me find the meal plan for my tastes, and I was able to save some money too with free shipping!"

-GH, Atlanta

Most of these diet vendors will want you to commit to at least a seven day meal plan. Some such as NutriSystem do not deliver "fresh" foods, but instead deliver a low calorie meal plan that is stored in a pantry.

If you are interested in any of these types of diet meal plans, please check out our Weight Loss Meals page and reviews. You should then be able to determine which of the many prepared meal plans offer the best diet plan for you.

Prepared Meal Plans

Most meal delivery companies ship their foods frozen, in small coolers, so that your food arrives to you fresh and delicious. Many of these companies deliver gourmet meal plans to you. The gourmet meals have been prepared by a professional chef, using only the highest quality of ingredients.

Some of these companies, such as DineWise, not only offer gourmet meals, they also have off-shoots of their company that offer services for elderly meal plans, low sodium meal plans, and diabetic meal plans.

In addition, they also have an off-shoot called DineWise Diet that specializes in diet meals. Their low calories meal plan is generally more exotic and gourmet in nature than some of the meal delivery companies that only focus on diet meals. Remember to research each company so you can determine the best diet plan to fit both your lifestyle and your budget.

Besides DineWise, there are several other companies that have become popular for different reasons:

Artiko Chef- fairly new to the meal delivery business, they guarantee delivery to all 50 states.

Healthy Chef Creations- requires at least an order of their seven day meal plan, all food is certified organic.

Home Bistro- focuses on healthy meal plans for seniors. Many people choose to gift elderly friends and relatives with their senior meal plans.

Magic Kitchen- focuses on low sodium meal plans and elderly meal plans. Magic Kitchen also has a heavy emphasis on packages and meal plans.

Homestyle Direct- one of the few meal plans delivered to Medicaid patients, Homestyle Direct focuses on senior meal plans that can be ordered by either the senior or by a family member.

Each of these companies can accommodate you if you are searching for a low calorie meal plan, not to be confused with a diet meal plan, or a meal plan for a diabetic. For more information on any of these plans or if you are interested in having any of these or other meal plans delivered to your home, please read our Prepared Meals page.