While you can supplement with additional nutritious foods, it is essential that you are eating all prescribed bistroMD meals and snacks. This is because your bistroMD plan is created to ensure you are receiving adequate amounts of protein and calories to fuel your metabolism best.

Outside of your bistroMD meals and snacks, you can add healthy foods such as:

· Non-starchy vegetables (choose generously and caution with calorie-dense additions like dressings and dips)

· One serving of fruit each day (always pair with a protein snack/meal to keep blood sugar stable)

· 8 ounces of low-fat milk

Please note if eating all recommended meals and snacks and adding foods based on hunger, please reach out to Sara the RD at dietitian@bistromd.com. We do not want you to feel hungry on your personalized bistroMD plan.

We work diligently to accommodate a variety of food allergies/sensitivities and take food and allergy preparation very seriously. This is why we have allergen control programs designed to meet all USDA and FDA requirements and ensure that there are no undeclared allergenic materials in our products. We also publish all ingredients on the cardboard meal sleeve wrapped around every meal and have all the ingredient information available online.

However, please be advised that all of our entrees are prepared in kitchens that handle all of our ingredients. Like any facility, there is always an accidental possibility that some cross-contamination may occur.

If you need help removing any ingredients from your program that you may be allergic/sensitive to, please contact our customer service team. Its important to know that if we remove an ingredient from your program, we will remove the meal entirely, not just that one ingredient.

Some of the most common food allergies/sensitivities we get asked about include:

Onion: We have onions in most of our dishes, most often in very small pieces as an aromatic, and would not be able to exclude all forms of onion. If you are okay with small pieces of onion, we can exclude meals that have larger pieces.

Garlic: While we are able to exclude ingredients, our chefs use garlic in some form in most of our meals. We would not be able to exclude it and have enough meals to create a menu.

Tomatoes: Your program can be customized to exclude tomatoes in the form of tomato sauce. We can also exclude all tomatoes but that is more limiting, so we suggest starting with tomato sauce and those other ingredients first and we can continue to evaluate.

Dairy: We do have dairy in most of our breakfasts and in some lunch/dinner meals, most often in the form of cheese (although some dishes will have some dairy in the sauce component).

Overall, you have a couple of options when it comes to dairy:

We can exclude all dairy from your preferences, which would exclude all meals that have dairy in any form (this is more limiting). If youd like to exclude dairy, please contact our customer service team at 866-401-3438. Also, remember that you’ll want to select a lunch/dinner program only if excluding all dairy.

If you are tolerant of some dairy, keep dairy in your preferences. Review your menu each week to determine which meals you feel that youd potentially tolerate well and like to try.

In some cheese dishes, the cheese is mixed into the dish. In other dishes, however, the cheese is on top and can potentially be removed prior to heating. That would give you more meal options, and you can individually exclude meals from your program in your preferences page in your member portal (mybistromd.com) to custom select which meals with dairy youd like to keep in your preferences.

Soy: We do have soy in various forms in our meals and snacks, including in the form of hydrolyzed soy protein, tofu, edamame, soy lecithin, and soy sauce.

We can exclude any, all, or a combination of these ingredients depending on your tolerance. You would still have a wide variety of meal and potentially snack options with soy exclusions.

However, the chefs do use soybean oil in trace amounts as a non-stick spray coating on pans. Excluding this ingredient would be very limiting and we would lack enough meal options to put on your menu. If you can consume trace amounts used as a non-stick coating, we can exclude the other forms of soy.

Egg: We can customize your program to exclude eggs but do have eggs in most of our breakfasts. Therefore, we recommend signing up for our lunch/dinner program.

Gluten: Our gluten-free program excludes all meals and snacks that have wheat, rye, and barley. While we are not certified gluten-free, each of our kitchens is USDA certified and inspected. This means we follow all sanitation and allergen separation regulations for storing and cooking foods and cleaning.

In addition, we test each batch of a meal for gluten to ensure that it meets the FDA standards of <20ppm before it is ever released onto our gluten-free menus.

FODMAP: Talking with your doctor is always a good idea before starting a new diet, but especially with the low FODMAP diet since it eliminates so many foods. The diet is temporary and should not be followed for long, as it is a short discovery process to determine which foods are troublesome for you.

While we can exclude ingredients, we really arent able to offer a FODMAP type eating pattern since a lot of these ingredients are in our meals (the biggest ones being garlic, onions, dairy, cabbage, and broccoli). Eliminating all the meals with high amounts of these vegetables will exclude a majority of our meals.

However, once you are able to learn which foods are troublesome for you, we can potentially create a program to exclude certain ingredients.

Our standard program with snacks will not be enough calories per day for a woman who is breastfeeding. If you would like to receive entrees from bistroMD while you are breastfeeding, our dietitians can work with you to create a program that will suit your individual needs.

If you have any other questions, please reach out to dietitian@bistromd.com to get direct communication with one of our dietitians.

Yes! Our womens standard plan (3 meals and 2 snacks per day) is on average 1,200 calories, and the bistroMD mens standard plan (3 meals and 3 snacks per day) is on average 1,400 calories.

Looking at each of our entrées, you can expect approximately the following:

• 40\% of these calories are from lean protein,
• 30\% from complex carbohydrates, and
• 30\% from healthy fat.

Each meal meets or falls below US Dietary Guidelines for sodium for US adults, so depending on which meals you order, you can estimate around 2000-2300mg per day.

Please note; If your doctor has recommended that you follow a lower sodium diet, we are happy to accommodate a low sodium program that averages about 1500mg per day. We will eliminate certain entrees, especially with ethnic flavors like soy sauce, from your program. While the variety of our low sodium program is still diverse, please know that it will not include the full range of entrees offered by bistroMD.

Our team of dietitians carefully balance all the meals on your program to ensure you are getting all the nutrients you need to feel better and lose weight. Though it may not seem like it, strictly going for meals with super low numbers can be dangerous to your overall health.

BistroMD is also USDA approved, so every meal is labeled with the complete nutritional value and ingredients.

Yes! When it comes to “organic” there are lots of fake labels in the food industry. At bistroMD, we have always been committed to cooking with wholesome ingredients that are healthy and could be found in your own kitchen. For a full list of banned products click here.

Although not all of our ingredients are “certified organic”, we are committed to using ingredients from responsible sources by selecting environmentally-responsible seafood, always sourcing rBGH-free beef, using hormone-free chicken per U.S. law, and partnering with local, family-owned farms whenever possible.

We even take it a step beyond ingredients and are careful in the way we prepare food, making sure to avoid cooking methods like frying and instead use baking, steaming, and roasting methods.

While physical activity is important for overall health, we generally recommend for new members to first get into a good routine with their meals and snacks and take one step at a time. Once members are in a good routine with their new eating plan (whether it takes a few weeks, a month, or longer), we encourage starting to focus on other healthy behaviors like exercise.

The nutritional aspect is the most important piece, so starting there is key for ensuring the body is receiving adequate protein to preserve lean muscle tissue before tackling more intense activity. Once ready to tackle exercise, start slow and ease into more activity if not as active prior to starting your program.

If you are currently active, keep consistent with what you have been doing. If you suspect you might need more calories due to your higher activity levels, please email our dietitians to discuss more.

Weight loss is a complicated process that is affected by many factors, including hormones, food composition, calories, physical activity, sleep and stress. Weight loss can reflect on the scale as a loss of water, lean muscle tissue and fat.

When we decrease calories in our diet and undereat or lack protein, our body can break down fat and lean muscle tissue too. When we are losing lean muscle tissue, this can result in a slower metabolism and increase our likelihood of regaining the weight we lost.

We at bistroMD develop our meals and menus to optimize fat loss and not a loss of water and lean muscle tissue by providing meals with adequate lean protein, controlled carbohydrates and healthy fats. Adequate lean protein helps to preserve your lean muscle tissue and fuel your metabolism best. Controlled carbohydrate intake helps to keep blood sugar stable which is essential to weight loss as the body has difficulty losing fat when glucose and insulin are in surplus. To read more about the science of weight loss, click here!

When we consume a diet that helps to preserve lean muscle tissue and target fat loss and keeps your metabolism high, a slower and steady rate of weight loss is important and more sustainable. A healthy rate of weight loss is considered 1-2 lbs per week. So although this seems small, this can equate to losing 52 lbs in 6 months or 104 lbs in 1 year. That is incredible progress and much more sustainable for the body to adjust to all the metabolic and cellular changes that occur during that time.

Absolutely! Our member-only community on Facebook makes it easy to get extra support whenever you need and/or want it. Connect with other bistroMD members, our Registered Dietitians, and the bistroMD team to get insider tips and advice.

In this member-only community, we are here to encourage and inspire others. The community is a place to celebrate success, share struggles, learn effective strategies, and gain support throughout your entire journey.

All of our programs are designed for metabolic correction and geared toward weight loss, providing around 1200 calories per day via 3 meals and 2 protein snacks daily for women and around 1400 calories per day via 3 meals and 3 protein snacks daily for men.

Each day you will receive around 40\% of daily calories from lean protein, 30\% from healthy fat, and 30\% from complex carbohydrates. The plans outside of our Signature program have special features to target different nutritional needs based on your health.

Heart Healthy Program: Our heart-healthy plan offers meals and snacks that are lower in sodium (600 mg or less per meal and 250mg or less per snack) and saturated fat (3.5 mg or less per meal and 2.5 mg or less per snack). Generally, members who benefit from this level of restriction are those with high blood pressure/are sensitive to salt, high cholesterol, and/or those with a history of heart illness.

Diabetic and Menopause Program: Our diabetic and menopause programs follow the same protocol and offer the same meals/snacks. These plans offer meals that are lower in net carbohydrates (25g net carbs or less per meal and 15g net carbs or less per snack) to help keep blood sugar stable and facilitate weight loss. Net carbohydrates are calculated by subtracting the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate, as fiber is beneficial but generally does not impact blood sugar.

Through research, we have found women who are pre/post-menopausal or have a history of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or gestational diabetes often have some form of insulin resistance, which is a prediabetic condition.

Gluten-Free Program: Our gluten-free program excludes wheat, rye and barley and is appropriate for someone with Celiac Disease or non-Celiac gluten sensitivity.

Signature Program: Our signature program includes all meals that are on all of the other programs, but without the specific restrictions listed above.

If you have certain medical conditions and you are not sure if you need to combine/modify/customize your program, please contact customer service so that we can help determine what would be the best plan for you.

We understand things come up, so we make it easy to skip weeks in your subscription.  Once your signed in, click on the Manage Delivery link located under he My Account section in the top navigation.  Scroll down to the weeks you want to skip and click the Skip button.

The deadline to skip a week is Wednesday at 5PM Eastern Time (the previous week).  We do extend this deadline for the new users on their first week so they have a chance to try the food before receiving your second week, just contact us.

We do recommend enjoying a meal off the program once a week, which is why we built MyNight into our plans. MyNight is a structured break from the program and a time to enjoy items that may not be included within the meals you receive from us, including sushi or another favorite dinner.

MyNight is also a time to put into practice what youve learned, such as how your plate should look with a mix of protein, veggies, and complex carbohydrates; portion sizes; or even flavors/seasonings.

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a pattern of eating that focuses on meal timing and does not change the amount of calories and nutrients you need each day. Instead, the eating pattern simply adjusts the window of time you eat.

IF is highly individualized but can be beneficial when it comes to losing weight and maintaining weight loss. Research also shows a myriad of health benefits aside from weight loss such as improved insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, lipids, inflammation, and oxidative stress to name a few.

Our bistroMD protocol typically recommends a 10-14 hour fast from dinner/snack to breakfast the next morning. Therefore, if you eat breakfast at 8:00 am, you will stop eating between 6:00-10:00 pm that evening. This is often a timeframe that is much more sustainable long term. We do not recommend significantly longer than 14 hours of fasting for a few reasons:

1. Going longer than 14 hours allots less than 10 hours in the day to consume adequate protein. Research shows the body does not really absorb more than 30-45 grams of protein at one sitting/meal. For example, someone having one meal a day will not absorb a much larger amount of protein at that meal and the glucose and insulin load of the meal is high.

2. The risk of muscle breakdown in a prolonged fast.

3. Too restrictive eating can lead to binge days or cause excessive calorie and sugar/fat/protein intake on non-fasting days.

4. Sets the scene for an unhealthy or dysfunctional relationship with food.

Overall, what you eat always matters no matter the timeframe in which you eat. So, it’s important to ensure you are not skipping your meals and snacks and eating whole foods with adequate protein, controlled complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Once someone’s insulin resistance improves and blood sugar becomes more stable with adequate protein, fiber, and meal timing, extending the fast to 10-14 hours can be helpful depending on the person.

For those with hypoglycemia, are pregnant, breastfeeding, underweight, or have a history of disordered eating we do not recommend intermittent fasting. For members with chronic diseases and on medications, we recommend always discussing with your doctor first before making any extreme dietary changes.

People with acid reflux often find that spicy, tomato-based, and/or acidic foods aggravate their symptoms. Alcohol, coffee, and caffeine can also be irritable.

We can customize your plan to exclude meals that have tomato sauce and spicy ingredients. We can also exclude all tomatoes, but that would be much more limiting, therefore, we suggest starting with tomato sauce and spicy ingredients first.

Please reach out to our customer service team at 866-401-3438 and let them know that youd like spicier ingredients and tomato sauce excluded from your preferences, as well as other foods your doctor recommended you to avoid. You can also exclude meals from your preferences, as they arise depending on your tolerability, in your member portal under the preferences page.

Many bistroMD meals fit a Mediterranean diet, as we offer meals that are abundant in lean proteins, vegetables, and whole grains/complex carbohydrates. Our chefs primarily use olive oil in our recipes, therefore there are parallels between our program and the Mediterranean diet.

If youd like to customize your program further, we could exclude certain ingredients (like white rice/potatoes and red meat) from your preferences. Your other option is to keep such ingredients in your preferences, and simply enjoy red meat, rice/potatoes, etc. a couple of times per week.

Overall, depending on your preferences and how you would like to set up your program, you have a few options! If you would like any exclusions, please reach out to our customer service team at 866-401-3438.

First, know that it can take a few weeks to adjust to a new eating pattern. But it’s important to try and eat all of your meals and snacks each day so youre getting adequate calories, protein, and nutrients. While filling from adequate protein and fiber, the meals are low in calories.

To ease this transition, eating smaller, more frequent meals every 2-3 hours can help. You could also eat a portion of the heated meal, store back in the refrigerator, then reheat when you are ready to eat again. The same goes for snacks - enjoy half and finish the rest a couple of hours later or even with a meal.

We generally recommend eating every 3 hours to keep your metabolism revved, blood sugar stable, and hunger at bay. However, we recommend structuring your meal and snack schedule for what works best for you!

You may have some days that one pattern works well, and other days that your schedule is different. Really, the important thing is to make sure that youre eating your meals and snacks each day so that youre getting adequate calories, protein and nutrients.

In a nutshell, yes. However, we build your menu to create a specific balance of macronutrients and nutrients so the body is properly fueled and nourished each day.

For this reason, we recommend swapping out entire days (like Wednesday’s selections with Friday’s) or meals and snacks within that same day. For instance, you could eat Wednesday’s lunch for dinner and vice-versa.

We also recommend choosing more often from the ‘nutritionally balanced’ options, as those are nutritionally compatible with the original meal selected for your menu, when customizing your menu each week in your member portal (mybistromd.com).

The meals in the additional healthy options column are healthy meals on your plan but are not nutritionally compatible with the original meal selected for you. You may pick meals from that list and it may or may not impact your weight loss, depending on your situation.

For some people, like those that are more active or have higher calorie needs, selecting off the additional healthy list or mixing meals may not impact their progress. For others, it just may slow progress. For members with medical considerations, like high blood pressure and diabetes, having each day nutritionally balanced for sodium and carbohydrates is important.

We generally recommend weighing once a week, on a designated day, and first thing in the morning after using the restroom and before eating/drinking to keep the process standardized and consistent.

If you prefer to weigh each day, know that daily weight fluctuations are normal and often unavoidable. Weight naturally fluctuates throughout the day due to normal fluid shifts caused by exercise, food/beverages, hormones, medications, salt, weather, water intake, restroom utilization, and other factors.

Know it is also okay if you want to focus on getting into a good routine with your meals and snacks and not weigh for a while (track healthy habits instead). Just do what works best for you!

We also recommend setting non-scale goals like how your clothes fit, how youre feeling, health goals like stress management, sleep habits, and fitness goals. All of these things factor into a much broader picture of your overall health and happiness!

If tracking progress with a scale, a healthy weight loss target is generally 1-2 pounds per week.

The protein-based snacks from bistroMD are designed to keep your blood sugar stable and curb your food cravings. They also make sure that your metabolism stays steady throughout the day. If you have opted for a bistroMD plan without snacks, it is important that you add in your own snacks to insure youre getting enough calories and protein to lose weight.

In between meals your blood sugar can get low and your body will gravitate towards eating something high in carbohydrates in order to raise your blood sugar quickly. Sugar laden snacks will cause your blood sugar to spike and then drop, causing cravings. Your body will still want the sugar, or the carbohydrates and the cycle will begin again.

Starving yourself between meals will also hurt your weight loss progress by putting your body into what we like to call “starvation mode”. When you don’t drink enough water or have enough of the right food during the day, your body’s instinct will be to hold onto everything it gets. When your body holds onto everything you intake, it becomes much harder to lose weight, and in some cases you may see weight gain.

When it comes to meals, we have you covered, but obviously you need something to drink with it! There are a few different options for drinks, so let’s break down what our choices are:

Water:

We recommend drinking a minimum of eight glasses (around 64 ounces of water each day) and consuming flavored zero sugar waters (i.e. Propel Zero, Fruit 2.0, Crystal Light) in moderation. This is because we want to sort of train our palates to not crave sweet beverages/foods.

To help make water more palatable, feel free to add a slice of fruit, vegetables (cucumber, citrus, pineapple), or herbs (mint) to make it more interesting. Its also ok to enjoy calorie-free sparkling water but keep in mind the carbonation in sparkling waters can cause gas and bloating, especially if consumed in larger quantities.

Diet Soda:

You can enjoy diet soda in moderation on your bistroMD program. After getting into a good routine with your eating pattern on bistroMD, you might consider cutting back on diet soda intake if the habit is more frequent.

We dont recommend making too many changes at one time, as this can be overwhelming. The nutritional aspect is the most important piece, so start by making sure you are comfortable and in the groove of eating your bistroMD meals and snacks.

Coffee and Caffeinated Drinks:

Feel free to enjoy your morning coffee or tea but be mindful of amounts, as caffeine in larger quantities can be dehydrating. If youd like to enjoy coffee (hot or iced), we recommend keeping it to no more than two, 8-ounce servings of caffeinated beverages per day. We also suggest using sugar substitute and reduced-fat creamer (or low-fat milk or dairy alternative) instead of creamer.

Alcohol:

If you are going to enjoy alcohol, please do so in moderation. For reference, one serving of wine is 5 ounces, 1 serving of beer is 12 ounces and a serving of liquor is 1 1/2 ounces. Moderate alcohol intake for women is 3 servings or less each week and 4 servings or less per week for men.

When the body is busy detoxifying alcohol, it cant focus on metabolizing food and fat as effectively, so less is more. We also suggest pairing your alcohol with protein to help keep your blood sugar stable.

You don′t need to record what you eat on our program, but you can if you′d like. We do strongly suggest that you keep a success journal to record your goals, thoughts, and feelings during the process of your bistroMD program.

If you need to check previous meals, this article may help you out!