Update 18 February 2022: The day after I published this post about FitThree, they blocked me on social media. FitThree, you need to sit down and re-think how you engage with users and receive feedback because this reaction is awful.
Update: 19 February 2022: After complaining, FitThree unblocked me!
Another week has passed and another week of meal deliveries has been consumed. While my week with YoloFoods wasn't all bad, it left me with an appetite to find alternatives with better macros, more flavour, and a cheaper price tag.
This week I ordered from FitThree, one of Singapore's longer-running meal-plan providers founded in 2014. Again, I will give my opinion on a week's worth of meals to help you make better decisions and hit your fitness goals.
FitThree was the first meal-plan provider I tried in Singapore. Some months ago, a housemate I lived with at the time ordered from them to help him lose weight. I must have ordered vegetarian meals for several weeks before they started to become very repetitive. I also recall being unsatisfied with how high the carbohydrates were in each meal and, while I don't demonise carbs, a change was necessary to whip my macros into shape.
So, I was pleased to serendipitously discover that my schedule to retry FitThree synched with the launch of their brand new vegetarian low-carb menu. Let's see how they compare to YoloFoods as well as my previous experience.
Plan overview
FitThree offers a good range of menus for a variety of goals and diets: omnitarian, omnitarian low-carb, vegetarian, vegetarian low-carb, and breakfasts. I appreciate the amount of detail on their menu pages, which clearly shows the chef that cooked or conceived the meal, as well as calories, macros, and ingredients.
After I clicked "place my order", I was taken through mostly easy-to-understand screens asking whether I would like to collect my meals or have them delivered (I chose the latter and confirmed my address). I was then given the option of a vegetarian whole-grain menu or a vegetarian low-carb menu and asked what size I wanted, regular (300–450 calories) or large (375–550 calories). Finally, I was asked when I wanted my meals to be delivered: early week (Monday), all week (Monday and Thursday), or late week (Thursday).
I aim for 2,500–2,600 calories each day, so the large, vegetarian low-carb menu delivered all week best suited my needs.
Here is what you can expect to spend for the different delivery options. Again, I'm going to assume you go for the same package as me, so these totals are for large meals (S$15.90 per meal):
2 days of meals for S$67.10 (includes S$3.50 of optional delivery)
3 days of meals for S$98.90 (includes S$3.50 of optional delivery)
5 days of meals for S$166 (includes S$7 of optional delivery)
In case you do want to work out how much regular meals cost, they are S$13.40 per meal with the same delivery charges.
Overall, the process to order FitThree was clear with simple instructions, however, I did get confused at the "How many meals do you want?" page, which I will talk about in more detail in the nitty-gritty below. After paying, I had the option to customise my menu (nice if you know which meals you do or don't like) and received an email confirmation.
The nitty-gritty
Before I get to the meals, I want to take a moment to give my opinions on the overall experience with FitThree, specifically the user experience and customer service, packaging and delivery, and cost and rewards.
User experience and customer service
Packaging and delivery
Cost and rewards
Monday
Full-day calories and macros: 860kcal, P51, C72, F44
I'll mention at this stage that I didn't make any menu customisations. Sadly, similar to YoloFoods, Monday was not a strong start for FitThree's new vegetarian low-carb menu.
Lunch (Coconut Lentil Dal) was a train wreck. The meal tasted as bad as it looked and was some kind of mish-mash of scrambled tofu and chemical-tasting cauliflower. While the vegetables were a good texture, the meal was watery and the overall flavour was unsatisfying.
I was hoping for more from Dinner (Celeriac Risotto) but, alas, FitThree again failed to make an impression. There isn't much to say about the meal, the whole thing looked and tasted boring and the only compliment I have is that there were some good textures. At the end of the day, I was left worried about the meals ahead of me.
Tuesday
Full-day calories and macros: 845kcal, P48, C81, F39
I'm starting to see a trend of meal delivery companies starting the week poorly and getting better as the week progresses. Tuesday kicked off with a greasy but tasty lunch (Chimichurri Meatballs) that looked appealing with lots of vibrant colours (after all, they do say you eat with your eyes first). The meatballs were the star of the show and tasted just like real meatballs (I ate meat up until around 3 years ago).
Tuesday's dinner (Thai Yum Woon Sen Bowl) was a letdown. At first glance, I was excited to try this meal as it was packed with fresh vegetables (in fairness they were all well cooked), however, the whole thing lacked any flavour. There was a dressing that may as well not have been included as it added no flavour and the tofu was in short supply, which lowered the overall protein in the meal.
A lack of protein in each meal was something that I started to notice on Tuesday as I added up my total macros at the end of each day. I found it difficult to hit my daily macros throughout the week and had to increase my protein from supplements. I can't help but feel that FitThree could afford to be more generous with the plant-based proteins in each meal to improve this.
Wednesday
Full-day calories and macros: 965kcal, P63, C72, F47
As I'm writing this, I'm pulling a "meh" expression and shrugging my shoulders. My best guess is that FitThree used the leftovers from Tuesday's dinner to create Wednesday's lunch (Edamame Bowl). The meal was almost identical to the Thai Yum Woon Sen Bowl just with added edamame and a slightly different dressing, so my opinion of it remains much the same: a meal with little flavour but a good amount of fresh vegetables. One positive is that the macros were good thanks to the edamame, a great source of protein.
Dinner (Chicken Chop) felt like comfort food, which was a nice change to the fresh-vegetable meals so far. The vegan chicken, made from soy protein, barely had any flavour but was a satisfying and moreish texture. The asparagus was well cooked and there was a little char on the cauliflower, which added some good flavour. This was probably one of the better meals received so far.
Thursday
Full-day calories and macros: 860kcal, P51, C79, F42
Thursday was probably the second-best lunch (Cha Siu Tofu) I ate all week. There were nice big chunks of tofu that had a nice bbq flavour and the vegetables were cut in ways that kept the meal interesting (it would have been easy for FitThree to just serve up some chunky vegetables). This meal was a great example of a meal with decent macros (P33 C37 F19), which goes to show it is possible to do this on their new low-carb menu.
Dinner (Roasted Celeriac Cabbage Steak) was best summed up by a friend who commented on my Instagram story after receiving the same meal: "What exactly was that?" The cabbage steak tastes just as depressing as it sounds and was the flavourless centrepiece of a meal that tasted of nothing and had no flavour whatsoever. This is the kind of meal that I think could be interesting, but FitThree's chefs need to take this one back to the drawing board.
Friday
Full-day calories and macros: 964kcal, P36, C80, F55
Fortunately, FitThree, knowingly or otherwise, ended on a high with the best pair of meals received all week. Lunch (Massaman Curry) had good macros, lots of flavour, great textures, and tofu and jackfruit omni-meatballs that I could have eaten all day long. If only the whole week of meals had been as good as this lunch.
Dinner ("Mutton" Curry) was also above average compared to the other dinners this week but the macros (16 grams of protein) were pitiful. While it was a little watery, similar to the Dal at the start of the week, the vegetables tasted good and were well-cooked. I will mention that I didn't feel fantastic a few hours after eating, but perhaps that was unrelated.
Overall review
Full-week calories and macros: 4,494kcal, P249, C384, F227
Average daily calories and macros: 899kcal, P50, C77, F45
I commend FitThree for releasing low-carb menus and would love to see other meal delivery companies give this a try. It cannot be easy balancing so many different menus and dietary requirements, all while allowing customers to further customise what they will receive. Looking at next week's menu, I can see a lot more diversity in their meals than YoloFoods, however, I question how many will taste different since so many of the meals I received tasted so similar or of nothing at all. Apart from the more-attractive macros, I won't be rushing back to order FitThree again.
Some things I'd like to see addressed are:
FAR more flavour in the meals because right now the only thing most of the meals I received have going for them is some OK macros and good textures.
A loyalty program that rewards customers for repeat orders. FitThree includes a link on each label to provide feedback on each meal, perhaps they could award points for useful reviews? Even free delivery would be a bonus!
More protein in each meal is essential for me to ever try FitThree's vegetarian low-carb menu again. I had to drink more protein shakes to compensate and reach my daily goals, which left me hungry and unsatisfied between meals. A couple of meals included more plant-based protein and I'd love to see that become the rule, not the exception.
Ratings
Price ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Taste ⭐️☆☆☆☆
Meal variety ⭐️⭐️☆☆☆
Plan options ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
Packaging & delivery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
Ease of use ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
Next week, I'm excited to try out and review Green Kitchen, a newer meal-plan provider that was recommended to me by a physio I know here in Singapore. Let's see how they compare to YoloFoods and FitThree. Meanwhile, if you'd like to keep up to date on the workouts I do and the meals I receive, you can follow me on Instagram.