Hawker foods are usually the cheapest option available, but they’re often laden with sodium and oil. In a bid to eat more healthily, I’ve considered cooking my own meals, but it takes too much discipline and work to keep up, I gave up after a while.
I’ve been browsing the menus of healthy food delivery services since one of our contributors wrote an article about them. I thought that they would solve my dilemma – I can have healthier, wholesome foods, without needing to spend time preparing them.
And then YOLO Food, one of the services we featured asked if I wanted to take up a 5-day healthier-eating challenge. Of course!
How does YOLO Food work?
On its website, you can fill in a questionnaire to figure out the calorie intake that’s recommended to you per day. Then, YOLO recommends Daily Meal Combos according to this requirement. Each combo includes lunch, an afternoon snack, and dinner.
I went with the 1250 kcal package. My food (all three items) is delivered to me at my office every day before 12.30pm. They arrive warm so I can have my lunch immediately. I usually bring my dinner home and heat it up with a steamer (you can use a microwave, but I don’t have one at home).
How did it go for me?
Day 1
Lunch: Spiced chicken breast, tomato pasta cauliflower fried rice, super seeds, coriander lime
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Tomato soup
What I thought: I was impressed when I opened up the box for lunch. Given that it was a low-calorie combo, I wasn’t expecting to be able to have a meal that looks so “proper”. There’s even carbs in there! Lunch was very tasty and managed to keep me full all the way till 5pm (that’s when I had the apple). The tomato soup (dinner), on the other hand, was a little too salty for my liking, and didn’t feel substantial. I resisted the temptation to have another snack and went to bed early so I won’t have to deal with hunger pangs.
Day 2
Lunch: Salmon quinoa cakes, Asian greens, brown rice, garlic and chili, miso
Snack: Orange
Dinner: Chicken, cauliflower fried rice, tomato pasta, garlic and chili, coriander lime
What I thought: Dinner was the same as yesterday’s lunch, but thankfully lunch looks a lot more substantial than the tomato soup I had the previous night. Both meals were delicious and I enjoyed them very much.
Day 3
Lunch: Coconut chicken
Snack: Almonds (not shown in picture)
Dinner: Chicken breast, tofu salad, Asian greens, dried fruits, vinagrette
What I thought: This was probably my favourite combo so far. The Coconut chicken was incredibly satisfying – the taste was rich without being overly salty. Dinner had an interesting east-meets-west concept to it and was very delicious too. Both meals kept me full – much like how I would have been satisfied with a hearty meal, except that I know these are way healthier!
Day 4
Lunch: Peranakan Veggie Curry
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Salmon steak, 2 x Asian greens, super seeds, miso
What I thought: I have to say this is my least favourite combo by far. The veggie curry got boring after a while because the taste was flat. As for dinner, the salmon steak was dry even with the sauce. I also wish dinner came with some pasta so I didn’t have to chew through so much green vegetables – so much that I felt tired.
Day 5
Lunch: Beef steak, tofu salad, cauliflower, fried rice, tomato salsa, chili sauce
Snack: Orange
Dinner: Lamb shoulder, balsamic mushrooms, Asian greens, mixed nuts, coriander lime
What I thought: I don’t really like lamb if it tasted too gamey. While this wasn’t the strongest I’ve smelt, I thought I would be put off by its taste quickly. I gave my dinner to a colleague for his lunch instead, and he said that he enjoyed it. Lunch was a nicely cooked beef steak that I enjoyed; the tomato salsa gave it a refreshing touch.
Overall conclusion
I didn’t see significant weight loss after five days, but that’s okay. While I used to suffer from a bit of lethargy at around 2-3pm, the more wholesome meals seem to help me feel more energetic.
I like that the healthy food delivery service helps make healthy-eating so much more convenient. The meals were also mostly very tasty, and kept me satisfied for a long time.
Check out the YOLO Food website if you want to try it for yourself.
