Your health is really the most important thing you have, and taking good care of it is important for your overall quality of life. You realize this, and have been looking for a way to become healthier and maybe even lose a few of the extra pounds you’ve been carrying around (thanks, Covid). In this comparison of Diet to Go Vs. BistroMD, we hope to solve this problem for you.
There are a lot of weight loss programs out there. Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem are just two examples, but these don’t work for everyone. Diet to Go and Bistro MD are two meal delivery companies that cater to dietary and weight loss goals.
Here, we’ve looked at both of them to compare all the nitty-gritty details like plan choices, flavor, ingredient quality, customer care, and more. Read on to find out which one comes out the winner.
Diet To Go
Pros
- Robust, flavorful meals
- Steep discount when subscribing to larger plans
- Satisfying portions – good for keto and paleo diets
- Commitment to organic, non-GMO, and sustainable ingredients
Cons
- Not as much weekly selection as BistroMD
- Cost more than the average meal delivery service
- Fewer options for special dietary needs than Freshly
BistroMD
Pros
- More than three dozen menu options each week
- One of the more economical heat & eat meal delivery options
- Accommodates a wider range of special dietary needs and preferences
- Wellness experts available to answer questions
Cons
- It doesn’t guarantee non-GMO or organic ingredients
- The flavors of some meals can be underwhelming
Dietary Options
Diet To Go
Bistro MD
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Both Diet to Go and BistroMD develop their menu with special diets in mind. They both focus mainly on weight loss, diabetes control, and simple healthy eating. Still, each person is different, and it’s important to look at the special dietary choices offered by each company, especially if there are food allergies or sensitivities involved.
BistroMD’s six different plans cater to specific dietary goals. Both of the plans for men and women offer meals created by a team of dieticians and chefs for maximum nutritional quality and taste. They also offer programs for diabetes control, heart health, menopausal nutrition, and gluten-free diets. This leads us directly into the next topic of food sensitivities.
BistroMD is a company that offers an entire program devoted to health and losing weight while eating gluten-free. They do offer vegetarian meals, but only a few of the vegan. If you have a dairy allergy, the selections of meals for you to choose from are going to be limited, and there’s a risk of cross-contamination with their food prep. That said, they do frequently swipe for traces of the allergens they claim their facility is free from.
Diet to Go has a Balance program for calorically-controlled healthy eating and a plan designed for diabetes control. Currently, they do not have a specific gluten-free plan.
On their website, Diet to Go specifically states that people with celiac disease should not order meals from the because of the risk of cross-contamination, even in meals that appear gluten-free. If you’re simply avoiding gluten, then you can find a few meal selections, but that number is somewhat small.
Diet to Go also has a vegetarian plan. If you’re eating a vegan or plant-based diet, it’s important to know that their vegetarian plan is octo-lacto and that some meals in the plan also contain fish/seafood.
Dietary Options Winner
BistroMD wins big points in this comparison for their dedicated gluten-free plan. While there aren’t many, they also offer a few truly vegetarian selections on their large weekly menu.
Meal Prep & Variety
Diet To Go
- 21/Week
- 5 Days (2 Meals/Day)
Bistro MD
check - 100 +
- 5 Days (2 Meals/Day)
Sticking to any plan for health and weight goals can be challenging. A big part of this is that it’s so easy to get stuck in a rut, letting boredom with your meals creep in and sabotage all your efforts. Healthy meal delivery can help with this, but only if they offer the variety of meal choices you’re looking for.
For variety, there are few meal delivery services out there that compare to Bistro MD. There are more than 100 meals on their lunch and dinner menu alone. Add to that more than three dozen breakfast options, plus nearly 40 snack options, and it’s hard to see where boredom would ever be an issue with BistroMD.
A few examples of popular meals included in Bistro MD’s programs are Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Marsala, Chipotle Pineapple Smoked Pork Street Tacos, Uncured Ham, and Cheese Frittata, Ricotta Crepe with Berry Compote, and Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake. It’s difficult to believe that these meals are part of a healthy program.
Diet to Go isn’t lacking in meal choices either. When you choose one of their four plans, you can decide whether you want five or seven days’ worth of meals and if you want two or three meals per day. There are options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Your choices of Diet to Go meals depend on which of their plans you choose, but there are more than ample options to ensure you’re not eating the same meal more than once in a week unless you find a favorite that you crave repeatedly. For that matter, you can avoid eating the same meal more than once a month if you decide to stick with their weight loss program.
A few examples of Diet to Go’s meal selection across their four plans include their Sofrito Chicken Melt, Thai Turkey Tenderloin, Western Omelet, Mushroom Ravioli, and Chocolate Zucchini Bread.
Meal Variety Winner
Both companies offer a great variety of meal options, but in this category, BistroMD wins hands-down. Between the sheer variety of their choices, and the fact that they offer all three meals plus snacks (a category that also contains some sweet treats), it’s hard not to give them the accolades in this department.
Ingredients
Diet To Go
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- Non-GMO
grass Organic- Grass Fed
- Wild-Caught
Bistro MD
The quality of ingredients will either make or break the quality of the meal. This is especially true for meals designed with weight control in mind. Without all the added fats, sugars, sodium, and preservatives, the quality of ingredients is really going to shine through.
Given that both companies frozen meals that are heat & eat quality are also important because the integrity of the food needs to hold up during the freezing process. Neither are very forthcoming about where they source their foods, but they do provide some information about whether their ingredients are organic and non-GMO.
BistroMD uses certified organic ingredients whenever possible, and their ingredients are non-GMO. They take steps to use ingredients from responsible sources. This includes working with farms, ranchers, and fisheries that offer environmentally responsible seafood options, hormone-free poultry, and rBGH-free beef.
BistroMD also chooses to work with small, local farms whenever possible, although they don’t provide information about which farms they work with on their website. BistroMD also takes great care in their preparation to avoid cooking methods that would destroy the quality and integrity of the foods.
Diet to Go is similar in many ways. While they don’t use 100% organic ingredients where possible, they do choose organic options when they’re the best fit for the quality of their meals. This company is also a little elusive in providing information about where they source their ingredients and doesn’t have a ton of information on their site beyond their statement about their use of organic foods.
Ingredients Winner
These two companies are so similar in this department that the comparison is difficult to make. We give the award to BistroMD here because they make an effort to inform their customers about their commitment to sustainable, responsible sourcing of their ingredients and the overall food quality of their meals.
Taste & Sample Meals
Diet To Go
BistroMD
Choosing a meal delivery company is always an adventure into the unknown. Unless you personally know someone who has subscribed to their diet plan, and many even tasted the food for yourself, you never really know what you’re getting until you take your first bite.
BistroMD has such an incredible variety of meals per week, and they look delicious. The issue with premade meals for diets is that they can be a little bland and boring. BistroMD gets mixed reviews when it comes to the taste of their food.
According to some reviews, BistroMD meals can be a little bland. It isn’t that their food is of bad quality, but rather that some of the meals on their menu are just lacking a little something. In all fairness, these meals are designed to be health and weight loss solutions, so they aren’t packed with the fats, sugars, and sodium found in many frozen meals from the grocery store.
A simple solution would be to experiment a little with the meals from BistroMD and add a little health-friendly seasoning if needed. On the other side of the coin, BistroMD has plenty of reviews that rave about the quality and taste of their food, plus they have all these yummy snacks.
Diet to Go offers similar meal solutions for healthy eating and weight control diets. The one main difference here is that they have more favorable reviews about the taste of their meals. Diet to Go’s menu isn’t as expansive as BistroMD’s per week, but there is a good diversity of flavors and styles of food on the menu.
Taste Winner
Word of mouth and personal preferences are really important in this category. We all know that we might absolutely love a certain food, but that the next person will have a strong dislike for it. Diet to Go wins this comparison for the more overwhelmingly positive reviews about the yumminess of their menu items.
Pricing
Diet To Go
WEEKLY PLAN PER WEEK | 10 MEALS | 14 MEALS | 15 MEALS | 21 MEALS |
Balance | $13.89 - $14.76 | $13.25 - $14.21 | $10,86 - $11.53 | $9.71 - $10.76 |
Balance-D | $13.89 | $13.26 | $10.86 | $9.71 |
Keto-Carb30 | $15.20 | $14.76 | $11.99 | $10.76 |
Mediterranean | $13.89 | $13.26 | $10.86 | $9.71 |
Vegetarian | $13.89 | $13.26 | $10.86 | $9.71 |
BistroMD
PLAN | # OF MEALS | PRICE PER PLAN | PRICE PER SERVING |
Full Program - 7 Days | 7 Breakfasts, 7 Lunches, 6 Dinners | $219.80 | $10.99 |
Full Program - 5 Days | 5 Breakfasts, 5 Lunches, 5 Dinners | $189.95 | $12.66 |
Lunches & Dinners - 7 Days | 7 Lunches, 7 Dinners | $189.95 | $13.56 |
Lunches & Dinners - 5 Days | 5 Lunches, 5 Dinners | $149.90 | $14.99 |
If losing weight and getting healthier was a one-size-fits-all process, life would be so much easier. But, it’s not, and finding the exact program that will help you succeed on your weight loss journey can be a challenge that includes lots of trial and error. BistroMD and Diet to Go both strive to make this an easier and more successful process for you with customized meal plans.
BistroMD offers six different meal plans that have been designed with the combined efforts of foodies with excellent tastes, nutritionists, and registered dieticians. The results are recipes that are appealing from both a taste and weight loss standpoint.
The six plans that Bistro MD offers include specialized plans for both women and men, along with a heart-healthy, diabetic-friendly, gluten-free, and menopause program. We really like that in addition to weight loss plans, Bistro MD also addresses a dietary approach to specific health concerns, like diabetes and the changing nutrition needs of women who are navigating menopause.
Bistro MD pricing is reasonable, especially when you consider that dieticians are taking care of the meal planning for you. You’re saving time by not agonizing over your food choices while grocery shopping.
Like most meal delivery companies, the cost of your meals changes based on how many you order per week, with a discount for choosing larger meal plans. Bistro MD has four different meal plan options to choose from:
Complete 7-Day Program – Includes 7 days of meals. 7 breakfast choices, 7 lunch choices, and 6 dinner choices so you can have one free night to splurge a little and eat whatever you want, or practice healthy eating habits without the structure of a weight loss meal plan.
Complete 5-Day Program – Choose 5 days worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals.
7-Day Lunch & Dinner Program – Choose 7 lunches and 7 dinners with great nutritional value to meet your dietary needs.
5-Day Lunch & Dinner – Like the 7-Day program, but instead choose 5 days worth of meals for your weight loss goals.
Prices of plans range from $129.95 to $189.95. Bistro MD frequently offers a discount incentive for new customers that take off up to 25% of the cost and eliminates the shipping fee.
Diet to Go offers four different meal plans to help their customers lose weight and regain their health. Like BistroMD, they have plans designed for specific dietary needs, but they also offer programs designed for a general, healthy eating lifestyle that features meals with incredible nutritional value.
Diet to Go’s meal delivery programs includes their most popular Balance option that is a great choice for helping you lose weight and for people with pre-diabetes who want to take control of their health. The meals included in the Balance plan are also heart-healthy and controlled for trans fat, sodium, and carbs.
There is also the Balance-Diabetes program that features foods that are perfect for people with type 2 diabetes. Dieters choose from meals that help them control their calorie intake while being controlled for carbs and heart healthiness. Diet to Go also offers a Keto-Carb30 and vegetarian program as customer options.
When choosing your plan, Diet to Go will ask you a few questions, including whether you wish to eliminate seafood from your menu options, whether you’re subscribing to a plan for men or women. The plan for men is generally more calorically dense, but not by much. You’ll then be asked how many days you want meals for (5 or 7) and if you want two or three meals per day. All of these choices factor into the cost of a Diet to Go plan.
On average, prices range from $8-$13 per meal. The Keto-Carb30 meals are generally higher in costs, as is choosing meals for men. Diet to Go charges a flat rate shipping cost of $19.98 per order.
Pricing Winner
Honestly, both are good choices for affordable, diet meal delivery programs. BistroMD comes out ahead for being slightly more economical. Plus, Diet to Go’s higher shipping costs Vs. Bistro MD offering free shipping for new customers. That’s a considerable amount of savings per week.
Packaging & Recycling
Diet To Go
BistroMD
The packaging that meal delivery services use is important for at least two reasons. First, the quality of the packaging is key to keeping your meals fresh during shipment and once your delivery arrives until you’re able to unpack it. Both BistroMD and Diet to Go ship their meals frozen, so they must stay in that state until they arrive at your door.
The second important detail of packaging is how easily you can recycle or dispose of it. Ideally, a meal delivery company will find a way to minimize packaging, especially non-recyclable components, while being able to maintain the quality and freshness of your meals.
BistroMD packages each of their orders with dry ice to guarantee they stay frozen during transit. Each week your order is packed with the dry ice in a cooler that’s made with post-consumer and post-industrial materials. The cooler is also completely recyclable. BistroMD provides a video on their site that details how to reuse or recycle their packaging.
Diet to Go also packages their meals in dry ice to keep them frozen until they make their way to your freezer or refrigerator. The styrofoam cooler used for transporting your meals is good from a convenience standpoint but not so great for recycling or disposal. If you order any items that do not require refrigeration, like some of their nutritious snacks, those are packaged separately in a box.
Most other Diet to Go packaging can be recycled. This includes their meal trays that can be recycled anywhere that accepts most plastics. If you happen to live near a larger recycling facility that accepts styrofoam, the coolers can be brought there. Otherwise, you have to get more creative and either find ways to reuse them or dispose of them in the trash.
Packaging Winner
Both companies do an excellent job of ensuring their meal boxes stay at the proper temperature during shipping. BistroMD wins here because of their effort to use more eco-friendly materials in their meal boxes. If you’re getting a shipment of meals each week, disposing of or reusing Diet to Go’s styrofoam coolers could become a hassle.
Customer Service
Diet To Go
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play_circle Skip a Weekpause_circle Pausestop_circle Cancel
Bistro MD
There are a lot of different elements that go into good customer care. With any meal delivery service, most people want the ability to cancel or pause their subscriptions, and customization is also important.
Diet to Go and BistroMD are pretty similar in what their individual companies offer in these areas. Both allow you to switch plans, alter your order, pause, or cancel your order as long as you do so by a reasonable deadline before the order is shipped.
Both also claim to offer refunds in some instances. Customers can be issued refunds if their food arrives damaged or spoiled. If you’re not completely satisfied with the quality of your meals, both offer either a full money refund or a food credit toward future meal plan purchases.
Where the two tend to split from each other is in customer reviews. BistroMD has some less than stellar customer reviews about their level of customer care, to the point that some claim it’s non-existent. No meal delivery service is perfect, but Diet to Go has fewer online review complaints in this department.
Customer Service Winner
With both having such similar customer care policies, it comes down to what people say about them in reviews. Diet to Go customers, seem overall happier with the level of service they receive from the company’s customer care representatives. Also, Diet to Go is more responsive to complaints on customer review sites.
Winner
BistroMD
In this comparison of Diet to Go Vs. Bistro MD, it’s Bistro that comes out the winner. They win for their impressive selection of nutritional meals that are created by a team of dieticians and chefs. They offer more diet plans, more choices for special dietary preferences, and the price affordability of their meals.
Honestly, the bottom line is that both are excellent choices when you’re looking to control your weight, maintain your weight, or gain control of your health. It’s important to look at each one carefully and chose the one that works best for you and your lifestyle.
Choose Diet To Go if you:
- You’re tired of healthy food being bland and boring
- You’re looking for a program that offers simple solutions for each meal of the day
- The quality of customer care provided is an important factor
- You don’t mind dealing with non-recyclable packing materials.
Choose Bistro MD if you:
- Having a great variety of meal choices each week is important to you
- You like that BistroMD is a slightly more economical option
- You appreciate that they use completely recyclable packing materials
- GF plan choices are important to you
- You want more plan choices for your changing health requirement.