Meal delivery options after sleeve gastrectomy

It’s safe to say 2020 was well and truly the year for meal delivery. From Uber Eats to YouFoodz, convenience is what everyone’s looking for. After a sleeve you may think those days are behind you but don’t fret, you still have options! In fact, there are more bariatric options than you might think! Now, I haven’t tried them all, but I would love to know if any of you try them – let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Full meals already prepared

Tiny Tummyz

Tiny Tummyz meals are specifically designed for weight loss surgery. They have meals to suit the post-op fluid, puree and soft phases along with long term maintenance options. Each meal is ~200 cal and 20g of protein per main meal which is a pretty good portion size. It will cost you ~$9 per meal and they stock BN Multi products as well! Regarding shipping, if you are in QLD you win but if you are anywhere else, they have a flat rate $35 shipping to NSW which hurts!

Bariatric Meals Australia.

Bariatric Meals Australia is relatively new. They claim to be developed by dietitians and chefs and have a good variety of options. Each meal is ~300g and 200-300cal per meal with approx 20g protein and 20g carbs per serve. Per meal it will cost you ~$10 (says subscription option coming soon) and they deliver once a week to most states in Aus.

Bari’s Menu 

Unfortunately only available to Orange, Wagga Wagga and Dubbo NSW, Bari’s menu is developed by a bariatric dietitian and is the cheapest option yet at ~$7 per meal. The meals all look balanced and are suitable for bariatric serves. 

Be Fit Food

Be Fit Food is quite expensive at $200-$400 for a weight loss specific 7 day program or $13 per meal. However, as it is not designed to be bariatric friendly so the portions are quite big with each meal around 500-600cals which is ~2 bariatric serve so you could make this work (and reduce the cost per serve by splitting the meals in half. They do have a lifestyle range that is lower carb and fits with the CSIRO low carb diet which would be my pick of the options. 

DietLicious

Again not bariatric friendly but DietLicious has several meal plan options such as Fast 800 & 1200 calorie which I would recommend. The Fast 800 (cals) will set you back $197 for 7 days and the 1200 calorie option costs ~$250 for 7 days. This works out to be $12-13 per individual meal but keep in mind the portion sizes will still be a little large so you could stretch this out over 14 days instead of 7 days and the price comes down as well. 

Out of those options I would recommend Tiny Tummyz but the shipping is expensive if you live outside of QLD, or Bariatric Meals Australia or Bari’s menu if you are in those specific NSW areas. If you prefer to cook your food at home, which is cheaper and more customisable, scroll on!

Meals kit options to cook at home

Hello Fresh, Dinnerly and Marley Spoon

Hello Fresh, Dinnerly, Marley Spoon and Pepper Leaf are all good meal delivery options however portions are not bariatric friendly. This means ordering a ‘serves 2 meal’ will often get you 3-4 bariatric serves. This does mean they are the most cost effective option, you just need to make sure you choose leftover/freezer friendly options.

They all have a wide variety of meal options and often have discounts going as well. You might need to adjust the portions a little, such as not cooking the carbohydrate portion or only serving yourself up a small amount. You can get 4 portions 3 times per week out of the Hello Fresh. So I think Hello Fresh is the most budget friendly option and has great reviews in the bariatric community.

The bottom line?

With all of these options you need to figure out what works for you and it takes a couple goes to find out which meals you like, which you don’t, how long you could stretch the meals out etc. Ideally if you can cook your meals in batches and freeze them that’s great but sometimes we want easy fast meals so these are some options for variety and convenience if you need them.