Like a lot of people around the world, I started 2025 with the goal of improving my physical health. While I do try my best to incorporate some form of movement into my day—getting my 10K steps, doing 10-minute stretching exercises, or having the occasional yoga or Pilates session when I have the energy—I knew that I needed to drastically improve my diet from the regular rice meals that I've gotten used to since I started working.
But I shudder at the thought of counting calories. It's just too much math for my brain to process. I also didn't want to develop a negative relationship with food. So upon the recommendation of some loved ones (i.e. my mom—bless her) I ended up subscribing to a diet delivery meal plan service.
I chose to go with a brand called Dear Diet PH. Aside from being highly recommended by friends and family, I was intrigued by their strategy of having weekly themes for their menu. In January, they had Wholesome Eats, Japanese Kawaii, Restaurant Remakes, and Exquisite European. They also were reasonably priced for the most basic five-day meal plan. I ordered the Balanced Diet Meal with 1,200 calories for five days. At the time I ordered, it cost P3,000, but as of writing, it now costs P3,100.
Editor's Note: The meals purchased in this review were personal purchases.
Why should you try a diet delivery service?
A quick summary about my relationship with food: I love it but I don't necessarily know when I've eaten too much for the day. I also love my snacks and desserts. This leads to overeating and not getting enough movement to burn the calories I just added to my system.
On top of that, I'm a bit of a picky eater when it comes to certain food textures. But I'd try almost any dish at least once to get to know its taste before deciding whether I'd give it another chance. So this month was a big change from my usual eating habits in many ways—hopefully for the better, LOL.
I Tried Dear Diet's Delivery Service For Four Weeks
Week 1: Wholesome Eats
According to Dear Diet's posts about their first themed menu for 2025, their Wholesome Eats menu is designed to "kickstart your healthier eating habits with fresh, balanced, and nourishing meals."
The highlight of the week was their shrimp pesto wrap (shrimp was the replacement for my no-chicken food restriction). It was filling enough to keep me happy after a day at work but light enough not to feel like I was having a food coma. I also liked the Gai Yang (grilled marinated Thai chicken, but made with shrimp in my case!) with its blend of different spices.
Week 2: Japanese Kawaii
I love Japanese food, so I was particularly excited about this week's menu. I had bento boxes, rice bowls, and ramen that were oh-so-yummy but didn't feel sinful at all! Of course, soup-based lunch meals were a bit of a hassle to prepare in the office so I ended up switching these with my dinner instead.
My favorite was Wednesday's breakfast: the Osaka-style okonomiyaki. It was my first time trying the dish and it didn't disappoint. As an egg-based dish loaded with veggies, it was filling and kept me energized throughout the morning. Monday's lunch of Aburi Truffle Gyudon was a close runner-up—the right balance of savoriness and sweetness in one bowl.
Week 3: Restaurant Remakes
If you're a foodie, you'd be very happy to see this theme on the menu. It takes inspiration from popular restaurant dishes like Rodic's tapa, El Pollo Loco's roast chicken, McDonald's Oreo McFlurry, and In-N-Out's burger.
The Oreo McFlurry copycat and Rodic's tapa were tied as my fave breakfast meals of the week. The familiar taste of tapsilog (without the greasiness) made me feel like I was eating my usual order at Rodic's. Meanwhile, the overnight oats version of my fave McDonald's dessert was a refreshing change to the savory meals I'd been chowing down the days prior.
Week 4: Exquisite European
Up for a culinary adventure? The last week of this diet delivery experiment served that up. All of the dishes were inspired by European cuisine. Before this week, I'd never heard of Kaftedakia or Greek meatballs, but it's now one of my faves. Chorizo rice, beef bourguignon, and chocolate souffle were other highlights on the menu.
But the real star of the week was the last snack for this entire review: the Mini Basque Cheesecake. As someone with a sweet tooth and a chronic snacker, I appreciate that they didn't cut out snacking from the meal plans and gave me the option of having them in my lunchbox.
An Honest Review of Dear Diet Delivery Service (And Pre-Cooked Meal Plans In General)
All in all, I find that meal plan delivery services like Dear Diet are worth it if you're like me who has a busy schedule and wants to have conveniently prepared yet flavorful meals at their disposal. And ofc, have the budget to pay for the convenience.
There are reasonably priced options.
As of this review, it cost me P3,000 for a basic 1,200-calorie, five-day meal subscription every week. That already comes with breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack, fruit, and drip coffee. I already did the math for you (you're welcome, BTW)—that's roughly P600 per day and P200 per meal. Given that I've spent way more than that on several meals before, I'd say it does come out more affordable.
It gets pricier for an entire month.
Now don't get me wrong, P200 per meal is a reasonable price for a pre-cooked, non-fast food meal that I just need to heat in a microwave before eating. However, I still think P12,000 is a hefty price to pay for your meals for a month. As someone in her late 20s who's still trying to achieve her financial goals, I'd probably only subscribe for a week or two as a reset to my diet.
The variety of dishes made me feel like I had a personal chef—or that I was constantly eating out.
With the different themed menus per week, I didn't feel like I was eating the same food over and over again. It's a major plus for me since I tried new and different cuisines while still having proportioned servings. Each dish had a lot of flavor and wasn't bland or dry, which was one of my concerns before trying diet meal plans.
Starting my day with a balanced breakfast—which basically meant I had more fruits to pair with classic options like pancakes and waffles—also added a hint of luxury that I didn't expect.
I stuck to the basic 1,200-calorie option, but they also had 1,500- to 2,000-calorie meal plans as well as options for two meals a day (TMAD), high protein (perf if you're working on building muscle), and ketogenic.
My food restrictions weren't a problem.
While prices and availability to accommodate food restrictions vary across different diet delivery services, my experience with Dear Diet was a positive one. Since I requested no chicken due to allergies, there's a top-up fee of P60 per day which made each weekly subscription more expensive than usual. The food replacements were worth it, though! I had generous servings of shrimp, salmon, and tuna that captured the flavors of the original dish without triggering allergic reactions.
I didn't notice any difference in my body weight.
Though my goal with this experiment was to try and see how my body feels (rather than how it looks) after cutting back on my daily caloric intake, I still wanted to see if there would be any changes in the numbers on the scale. As of writing, I only lost 2 kg. It just shows that a good, balanced diet and proper exercise go hand in hand if you want to see significant results.
That said, I still felt better physically than I did when I started.
Maybe it's a placebo effect or maybe there is a significant change in my body chemistry, but I noticed how I didn't feel as constantly bloated, constipated, or drowsy as I did before this month. I also observed that some types of food made me feel more bloated or sensitive after eating them, specifically yeast-based stuff like bread. Another plus? My hunger was satiated more quickly, and I didn't feel the need to snack on anything beyond the fruit and snacks included in each bag.
