How To Eat Intuitively When You Use Meal Delivery Kits
Meal delivery kits are kinda antithetical to the who idea of intuitive eating, aka, listening to what your body wants to feel satisfied in that moment. The thing is, life is busy and taxing, and figuring out a delicious food menus 3 meals a day is exhausting. In the before times, we didn’t have time to cook without a premeditated plan- because it requires shopping and prep. In 2020, cooking all your meals has just gotten boring and stale.
Meal delivery kits are pretty great IMO, they save you time, and money (depending on what brand you go with), they eliminate food waste because you’re not buying food you don’t cook, and it’s an opportunity to eat new types of food that you may have never cooked for yourself. I don’t know about you, but cooking skills are definitely not something that were passed on to me, so when I use the type of meal kit where they just send you ingredients and a recipe- I’m getting to practice new cooking techniques too, which comes in handy when I’m not using them.
The thing is, like I said, if you’re choosing your meals way in advance, there is potential to feel stuck in your meal choices- and it might force you to ignore cravings and ultimately, your bodily intuition. This can be remedied, IMO with a simple mindset check.
How To Practice Intuitive Eating With A Meal Kit Box
1) Order a variety of foods
Most of these brands allow you to choose the menu you get each week, so you can opt to vary it as much as you want, which gives you room day to day to follow your actual desires- and not feel stuck with your meal
2) Don’t be afraid to modify the meals or enlarge them
You’re not stuck with your portion size. If someone else is pre-measuring your ingredients- they don’t have the ability to tailor it to your hunger level, they couldn’t possibly! Trust your own body when it asks for more food, not a stranger who doesn’t know anything about you. I often add rice, noodles, couscous etc; or stir fry whatever frozen veggies I have on hand and mix them in to make a base heartier and help me feel more satiated.
3) Make Your Emergency Plan
Whether its stress, fatigue, or just disinterest, there are inevitably times when you don’t feel the desire to eat, let alone cook. Having multiple choices for quick and easy meals for these times is a great way to nourish your body, even when it feels like a chore. There’s no reason to skip a meal when you have a gourmet situation that can be ready in 5 minutes. Even if you don’t do meal kits, make a list of your favorite nourishing snacks and ingredients for easy recipes that you can return to time and again with low effort (mine are always stir fries because frozen veggies last a long time in the freezer, and sandwiches, because we never don’t have a fresh baguette ready in our house).
4) Don’t stick to them
Probably a weird thing to hear from a wellness influencer but I am 10000% anti rigidity in food choices. In my eyes, meal kits are supplemental to your food choices, not a diet. You still need room to whip up a quarantine banana bread, order takeout from your favorite (probably struggling) local restaurant, or indulge at a socially distanced outdoor gathering when the craving strikes. Remember, depriving yourself of the food you actually want is just going to cost your body (and mental health). Make sure to think of these kits as a way to widen your food options, not limit them.
Conclusion And My Favorite Meal Delivery Kits
Pre quarantine, I was a big fan of Purple Carrot (a vegan box you cook yourself) and Hello Fresh (because it has a pescatarian option that was surprisingly difficult to find) because they taught me incredible new recipes. These days, though, especially since we’ve moved upstate and takeout is less feasible (requires driving 20-30 minutes), I just want to heat things up and be done with it on days I’m not cooking my own recipes from groceries.
I chose this brand because they work with Food Love Might Be Vegan to help people experiencing food insecurity get access to plant based food. Wellness has become such a booming industry that many forget it’s supposed to be about making people feel well- not trendy. They also make a point to not make weight loss claims, which I think is refreshing. Meals are sent in plastic containers- but they are 100% recyclable, which is important to me. Also, all I want from October- April is warm cozy soups and noodle bowls and while they are all plant based, these are ACTUALLY delicious. If you’re like, same! You can use my referral link for $25 off your first order here (Psst! They have smoothies and wellness shots too! Make sure you get the Beans and Greens soup and the Pumpkin Spice Smoothie in your first order!)
I discovered Daily Harvest when looking for affordable meal kits that didn’t push diet culture bullshit on me. Like, I just want eating to be easy, please don’t sell me on cleansing nonsense, k?? Daily Harvest is also plant based (I intentionally don’t set food rules, and while I eat fish, meat is just tough for me to eat as someone who over identifies with and anthropomorphizes animals, and it makes me feel like I’m helping out with the environment in some small way. I definitely don’t believe vegetarian or veganism is right for everyone though!) and they recently made their portions bigger (hell yeah). They take it one step further with a whole guide to recycling and composting their products- that I thoroughly geeked out on. Through using this kit, I also learned that food retains more nutrients when it’s frozen the day of harvest- so take that fresh produce snobs! I have a $25 link for you here as well- and recommend all the flatbreads, but especially the Kale and Sweet Potato one, and the Coconut and Lemon Bites (excellent “emergency snack”!).
To pair intuitive exercise with your intuitive eating, try out my app, Helen Phelan Studio, with a free 10 day trial. Inside the app you can filter workouts by intention, length, focus, and equipment to completely personalize your experience.