Three of the most universally dreaded (but inevitable) certainties in life are taxes, death, and stressing about what you’re going to eat the next day! Whether you are a sad desk lunch veteran, a sloppy enthusiast, or a meal prep aficionado, we’re sure that you have some system in place to put work lunches on autopilot as a 9-to-5er. Do you think your meal prep is getting repetitive and boring? Do you love cooking but dread the idea of thinking about meals for the next day? Then you need the Factor meal kits in your life. This high-protein meal prep service not only helped us fall in love with meal prep again, but also upped the ante with the taste.
Not only did we end up saving on the money we’d be spending on buying food from outside, but we also were able to get back on track when it came to our health. The flavor, the nutrition, and the overall quality of the meals from Factor really impressed us, especially during hectic work days. Here’s a detailed review of the brand’s male kids, how they worked for us, and how they can work for you, too.
Also read: How to stay fit as a frequent traveler?
What Is Factor, And Why Are We Talking About It?
Earlier known as Factor 75, Factor is a meal delivery service that sends fresh, fully-prepared, and ready-to-heat-and-eat meals straight to your home. They have an expansive weekly rotating menu with nearly 35 options. However, their selling point is that they build the dishes around proteins such as seafood, pork, beef, and chicken. Not just that, but also the dishes accommodate many eating styles, including vegetarian, high protein, and keto. Plus, chefs prepare the meals, which their registered dietitians review before distributing them to the subscribers. And since they send everything fully cooked, we don’t have to do any prep. All we had to do was just heat and eat.
What makes Factor so popular, including with us, is that we simply had to store the meals in our fridge, reheating them when we were ready to eat. This service is ideal for not just working professionals, but everyone who wants to eat nutritious food but doesn’t have the ability or the time to prepare it. Last but not least, what we liked was that the Factor website even features detailed information about the meals. This includes their nutritional balance, how Factor chooses the ingredients, and how they source them.
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How Does Factor Work?
It’s pretty straightforward to join Factor, whether you use the app or the website. All we had to do was enter our zip code and choose a plan size (6-18 meals every week). The meals usually range from USD 10.99 to 13.49, depending on how many one orders every week. What’s more, we could filter the menu by categories, such as vegan and vegetarian, protein plus, calorie smart, keto, and more. Moreover, every meal page included not only the meal ingredients, but also complete nutrition facts and allergen information.
We also loved the fact that we could pick our meals from a menu that included entrées as well as optional add-ons such as snacks, breakfasts, and juices. Then, Factor would send the deliveries between Saturdays and Wednesdays, depending on the location. The best bit? We could update the orders until the weekly cutoff. What impressed us was that the food arrived chilled, complete in an insulated box with ice packs. So, we could refrigerate the food for up to a week.
Factor meals usually range from about 350 to 900 calories, with the average being around 600. Even though low-sodium meals weren’t a separate category, every dish listed sodium info. Last but not least, Factor even offers complimentary consultations with registered dietitians for those who want help choosing meals that support their weight and health goals.
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Meal Choices
Whoever said that meal prep had to be boring? We love the fact that Factor’s menu changes every week. So, even though we didn’t see our favorites in the menu lineup every time, we still had amazing ready-to-heat meals to choose from. Do note that Factor’s menu is a protein-heavy one overall, with lots of seafood, pork, beef, and chicken options. However, we also found rice, potatoes, and pasta in many dishes. So, we could even get our carb fixes from time to time.
As we mentioned previously, Factor sorts its meals into multiple categories. Moreover, they tag every dish according to the dietary preference that it falls under. So, every week we found roughly 15 calorie-smart, 2 vegetarian, 3 vegan, 16 keto, and a whopping 28 protein plus dishes. What’s more, Factor also offered an excellent variety of add-on items, including extra proteins, breakfast items, desserts, cold-pressed juices, and smoothies.
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Factor’s Packaging
Since Factor sent the meals in a pre-packaged fashion, we were apprehensive as to how the packaging would be. However, we don’t have to worry, every week, our Factor meals would arrive in a sturdy and yet recyclable cardboard box with insulation sheets and ice packs that kept them cool during shipping. (Pro tip: If you have the space, these boxes are great to keep on hand!) Moreover, the ice packs were nonrecyclable plastic bags filled with non-toxic gels. So, we could easily dispose of them in the trash, saving the ice packs in our freezer to use them later. We saved our ice packs to use with our favorite travel coolers and beach coolers. And even though the insulation sheets could not be recycled, they were made from 100% recycled material.
Coming to the meals, every meal arrived in a BPA-free plastic tray covered with a plastic film and sitting within a recyclable cardboard sleeve. What’s more, this sleeve lists all the information about the ingredients, nutrition, and reheating the food. For the eco-conscious ones, nearly half of the pieces of packing from a Factor box are eligible for curbside recycling. The remaining items require disposal in the trash.
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The Cooking Process
Last but not least, we have to talk about the cooking process, which we’re sure many of us have a problem with. However, we’re happy to tell you that all of Factor’s meals come fully prepared, so there is no prep work or cooking involved!
All we needed to do was slip the plastic tray out of the cardboard sleeve, pierce the film cover a few times with a fork or a knife, and place the entire meal in the microwave to reheat. If you want to heat your meals in a conventional oven, you can do that too. However, not only will cooking time be longer, but you’ll also have to remove the film completely and place the tray on a baking sheet prior to placing it in the oven. Additionally, some meals come with sauces or condiments included in small plastic ramekins, which we need to remove from the tray before heating.
According to Factor, meals take just two minutes to cook in the microwave. However, sometimes we needed to add an extra burst of 15-30 seconds, depending on our dishes and the microwave’s power. It would usually be to warm any spots which haven’t heated enough, especially in dishes with creamy side dishes or thick cuts of meat. Even if you’re using toaster ovens or conventional ovens, the total cooking time will not exceed 7-11 minutes.
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How do I edit my order?
Every week, Factor will automatically select meals for users based on any meal preferences that they indicate on their account. However, they can edit meal selections anytime before their weekly cutoff, which is 11:59 pm Central Time on the specific day of the week that’s indicated on the “My Menu” page for the following week’s delivery.
What are Factor Freebies?
Basically, Factor Freebies are free meals that users earn for reaching specific milestones with Factor. Featuring a value of USD 60, these Freebies can be shared with family members and friends, even those who have never had a Factor subscription.
What does “dietician-approved” mean?
Factor has a registered team of dietitians who thoughtfully create nutrition standards that guide the brand’s menus. They ensure that the meals are wholesome and balanced and are based on scientific evidence. Their approach focuses on whole-food and nutrient-dense ingredients while reducing unnecessary fillers and additives. If that wasn’t enough, users can even schedule complimentary nutrition coaching sessions.
Some images on this article are copyrighted by Factor.
