Review of Diettogo.com

Reviews are given 1-4 skinnies, based on the website's ability to cover the whole person regarding weight loss and health. This is an independent Review--I'm not being paid.

I don't know if you've ever heard of Diet-to-Go, but I thought I'd review their website to spread the word. As food programs go, they are pretty good.

Diet-to-Go is a diet food service that for the past 17 years has offered fresh, tasty, healthy, convenient and nutritionally balanced meal plans throughout the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska).

It's like having your own personal chef, one who prepares meals, and delivers them to your doorstep (in styrofoam freezers) or you can drive a short distance to one of their pick up centers in Washington DC, San Francisco, or Philadelphia. I happen to live in the San Francisco area, and my nearby pickup location was at a gym, which was open until 10:00 at night. So I'd drive to the gym after work, run to the front desk and pick up my food in a matter of minutes. Since the meals are FRESH, they arrive twice a week.

Diet-to-Go offers five weeks of menu plans in any of three categories of low-fat, low-carb, and vegetarian that come at two calorie levels (1200 and 1600 calories per day). I have been on their meal plans a couple times, and enjoyed the food immensely compared to frozen, freeze-dried meals offered by other programs.

My only problem with Diet-to-Go's food is that after a month on the program, I found myself getting bored with the menus. So I think the key is to use the built-in flexibility of their plan when selecting meals. You can order a full 3 meals-a-day, or break up into any combination like only breakfasts, only dinners, and more. For me, what worked best was to order lunches and dinners during the week, and take breakfasts and weekends off from their meal plan. They also allow you to substitute standard items with your favorites of their meals, for a small fee.

I found Diet-to-Go's prices reasonable. The company claims the average customer spends about $90 per week. If you've ever added up your weekly grocery bill, I'm sure you'll find the total comes out higher. And besides, you don't have to cook.

Diet-to-Go's website offers minimal advice from a dietician, gastro doctor, psychiatrist specializing in adult behavior, and a food writer called Dr. Bad Food. It has an area called My Personal Chef where you can track your weight loss progress and food orders. And they have a BMI calculator (body mass index).

While I'd rate the food and menu plan as 3½ skinnies, the website itself would receive 2½ skinnies for lacking interactivity with their customers (like a comment area, forums, or blogs) so I'm averaging the rating to 3.