At Smart Meals, My Fit Foods, Tru Meals and Real Meals 365, the concept is the same. All stores sell pre-packaged healthy meals. The calories have been counted, portions are controlled and at most stores there are dairy free, gluten free and vegetarian options.
At Tru Meals just near Richmond Avenue and South Shepherd, choose from salads, sandwiches and sushi. Breakfast options start at $3.95 and most entrees cost about $7.55.
If you plan to eat at Tru Meals often, you might consider becoming a Tru Meals member for $37.50. That entitles you up to 10 percent off all your purchases for a year. In addition...
"We have a 25-day Commit to Be Fit plan, where you pre-pay $550 and for those 25 days all your purchases come out of that bank and it's 15 percent off," said Jill Lock with Tru Meals.
Over at Real Meals 365 on Shepherd, meals are based on the Zone Diet -- 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 30 percent good healthy fat.
"We have a lot of variety," said Patrick Schulte with Healthy Meals 365. "We rotate a lot of our menus so people have a lot of choices."
Some examples are baked turkey ziti and Mongolian chicken rice bowl. Prices for breakfast start at $4.99 and small entrees range in price from $7.50 to $9.50. You can also try the 21 day personal program for $500. That includes 21 days of breakfast, lunch, dinner and two daily snacks. You'll have to pre-pay but you'll save money on food.
At Smart Meals on Shepherd, the store offers a Smart card.
"For every $10 you spend, you get a Smart signature, Smart stamp and once the card is complete you get $10 off your next purchase," said Jill Schoeffler with Smart Meals.
Service workers get 15 percent off -- that's teachers, doctors, nurses and government employees. The average chicken lunch or dinner entree is around $10. And next door at My Fit Foods, the best way to get the most bang for your buck is to put money down.
"It gets you a food credit equal to 5, 10 or 15 percent of what you put down, so if you put down $500 it gets you a 5 percent discount," explained Jonathon Carter with My Fit Foods.
We checked with these local business and they all use websites like Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com. Here you can get up to 50 percent off food.
