Best Meal Delivery Services For Women With ADHD

When it comes to meal planning, making grocery lists, shopping & then cooking it all after you’re already knackered after a long day at work – well it’s hard! When you have ADHD, these tasks are 100 times harder.

Sure, you can meal prep on Sundays, but even that can feel like an uphill struggle to maintain each week. And who wants to spend their precious day off going round the grocery store and cooking?

It’s no wonder you feel overwhelmed and just don’t have the headspace.

The great thing is, it’s possible to eat healthy food even if you have ADHD and struggle with all the above. The key is to work with your ADHD brain rather than against it. One of the ways to do that is by using meal delivery services, which can be a game changer for women with ADHD.

Here I have reviewed the top 3 meal delivery services from. an ADHD perspective

Top 3 Meal Delivery Services & How They Work With ADHD

 

GOUSTO:

I’m a big fan of Gousto. I love their recipes and especially love that they have the widest range of vegetarian meals. I especially love their 10 minute meals recipes which you can select each week. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan then the options for 10 minute meals wouldn’t last you the full week BUT there are plenty of other quick vegetarian and vegan options on there. If you do eat meat then you can definitely just use the 10 minute meals.

The downside to Gousto is their recipes can be rather carb heavy with a lot of white pasta and rice on the menu. Especially the vegetarian and vegan options. You have to know what to look out for, and what a balanced meal plate is, to pick the right choices for your body. Ideally you are looking for meals that are based on vegetables, have a good quality source of protein and some complex carbohydrates.

Another downside is the price. You are certainly paying the ADHD tax here. You can definitely get the 10 minute meals ingredients much cheaper down any local supermarket. However, you are also paying to cut out the time, hassle and frustration of finding recipes, making lists and shopping for ingredients yourself – it’s a trade off.

HELLO FRESH:

Not a brilliant range of options and very limited vegetarian and vegan options but for those of us with ADHD that can be a bonus. Saving us from analysis paralysis. Better still, there is an option to automate your selection process so Hello Fresh selects your meals for you. That way you can set it and forget about it all.

Another advantage to Hello Fresh for those of us with ADHD is they have their meal kits in individual bags. No searching for all the right ingredients  in among everything else. Just pick your numbered bag and get going.

One of the downsides to Hello Fresh is I found their recipes to be on the longer side. There are quicker options but again choice is very limited

MINDFUL CHEF:

From a nutrition perspective Mindful Chef is the best on the market! Their meals are packed with nutrition. For some though, it might be too big of a change.

If you are coming from eating a very unhealthy diet, have carb cravings and are looking to completely overhaul your diet then Mindful Chef may be a bit too big of a stretch to start with. As a health coach, I work with ADHD clients to help them make sustainable changes in their life by taking small steps towards their goal. That way they actually stick to their new healthy eating and exercise habits and never again do they have to “start on Monday”.

But, switching from Pizza and Pasta to Salmon, Quinoa and Asparagus for dinner might be too big of an adjustment for some. You need to retrain your taste buds but it’s crucial that it is done gradually & you don’t just rely on will power. Otherwise change won’t last.

It’s why I teach a method I call the magic plate to my clients so we can work up to changing their habits and taste buds so they can have Salmon and veggies for dinner and actually enjoy it!

Depending on where your diet is now, you may find it easier to go with the healthier options on Gousto and Hello Fresh first. If you already eat a fairly healthy diet yet want to improve then Mindful Chef is a brilliant choice.

The options for this service are more limited than others, but, this can be a good thing for those of us with ADHD because it helps us avoid analysis paralysis and pushes us to try new things. Afterall, we can have the tendency to eat the same thing on repeat.

Are ready meals bad for you?

Because ready meals were packed with sugar, processed meats and salt they aren’t the best option.

But stay with me, because there are some exceptions.

Most supermarket ready meals do not have a vegetable in sight. With options such as spaghetti bolognaise, carbonara and chicken tikka masala. Just because some meals might be advertised as low calorie does not mean they will benefit your waist line and certainly not your overall health.

Supermarket ready meals are certainly something to stay clear of for now, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more balanced and better for you ready meal options.

Quite a few companies are popping up now offering “curated, hand prepared meals from chefs” which is the marketing industries fancy way of saying ready meals with vegetables to try justify charging £7-10 per serving 🙂

But, just because something is hand prepared doesn’t mean it’s healthy. You still have to go behind the marketing and read the nutrition labels and ingredients list yourself.

If you are going to choose a ready meal then ditch the supermarket ones and choose healthier options from places like the Field Doctor. These ready meals offer much more balanced meals and a wide range of options. They are created by dieticians with chefs and are approved by the NHS (although having seen what they call food in British hospitals that might not be a ringing endorsement!)

Always check the ingredients list and always pick the option with the least amount of ingredients, added sugar, additives, preservatives and anything else that has no business being in food!

The downside again is the price at roughly £7 a serving, but again you are paying for your time back and to eliminate stress so ask yourself if it’s worth paying more to eliminate all the agro.

Overall, preparing your own food is best but if your ADHD really makes food prep a struggle it’s a good option to have frozen ready meals from places like the Food Doctor to ensure  you’re still eating a balanced meal and not just reaching for your phone to order McDonalds on Deliveroo!

When it comes to eating healthy food when you also struggle with ADHD, simplicity is key. Cooking a Jamie Oliver recipe every night is far too much work! You need to be realistic and plan simple and easy meals that require the least amount of effort (like in my FREE 10 Quick & Easy Recipes for ADHD Women Who Want to Lose Weight).

Using meal delivery boxes that have quick 10-20 minute recipes is a brilliant way to cut out all that extra faff that we find so difficult. If cooking still feels like too much, opting for a frozen, balanced ready meal is the next best choice. 

Mealtimes with ADHD can be a huge struggle. There is an awful lot of executive function involved so it’s no wonder. But, by showing yourself compassion rather than beating yourself up & acknowledging you have a condition that makes these things difficult is the first step. It’s ok to need help and to ask for it.

In my ADHD Weight Loss Meal Plan Consult I help women with ADHD overcome their challenges around meal planning & eating healthy food consistently. Join me for a 60 minute call and together we’ll create a 2 week meal plan to kick start your weight loss, so you will always have healthy & delicious meals you can follow through on, without any faff or overwhelm for you.

 

Picture of I'm Sarah, Certified Health & Life Coach.

I'm Sarah, Certified Health & Life Coach.

I specialise working with women with ADHD - both diagnosed and those who identify with the symptoms of ADHD. I was diagnosed with ADHD later in life, just weeks before my 30th birthday. I’m also a proud crazy cat lady and have fostered over 300 cats & kittens!