My Muscle Chef Review (is it good for Weight Loss?)
Today we reviewed My Muscle Chef, with the aim of deciding if it’s good for weight loss and we ate their most popular meal to find out if it is nutritious and if tastes good. In calcount’s opinion, My Muscle Chef is probably the tastiest of the bunch, can help you to lose weight, and the meals are protein rich, tasty and filling. If you don’t mind that they include additives and preservatives, My Muscle Chef is an excellent choice!
My Muscle Chef Review Summary
This review table summarises our findings for My Muscle Chef:
Calories
Meal Options
Special Diets
Cost
Delivery
Service
Order
350 calories or less in Weight Loss Plan
Large Selection
Weight Loss, Calorie Control, Muscle Gain, Low Carb
Weight Loss: You provide them with your current situation (weight, age, weight loss goals, and so forth) and they design a meal plan for you which you customise.
Calorie Control: This is basically their “weight maintenance” plan, which is tailored to your lifestyle.
Muscle Gain: My Muscle Chef’s Muscle Gain plan is kind of the one that they started the company with. It’s a weekly plan of high-protein meals designed for people who want to build muscle through strength training.
Each plan is personalised to a degree, because you fill out an online form and are matched to a plan which covers the calories and macros you will need to reach your objective. Typical plans include three meals and two snacks per day.
Is My Muscle Chef good for Weight Loss?
You can’t go wrong with My Muscle Chef if you want to lose weight and faithfully follow the Weight Loss meal Plan that they will design for you based on your goals and current weight. They do not offer anything revolutionary or faddish, just a solid calorie-controlled plan which is designed to help you lose between a half and one kilogram per week. Lot’s of people have successfully lost weight by following the My Muscle Chef Weight Loss Plan! Take a look at these inspiring before and after stories:
Emily lost 60kg, whilst Jayce lost a whopping 64 kilos!
First up, let’s delve into the ingredients of the My Muscle Chef meal from a nutritionist’s perspective:
Brown Rice (44%): Brown rice is a whole grain that is a good source of complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber. It provides sustained energy and helps keep you full.
Beef (29%): Beef is a rich source of high-quality protein, iron, zinc, and various B vitamins. It’s essential for muscle repair and overall health.
Vegetables (12%): The vegetables in this meal, including potato, onion, garlic, and ginger, add essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They contribute to the meal’s overall nutritional value.
Coconut Cream (8%): Coconut cream adds flavor and creaminess to the curry. It contains healthy fats, but it’s also calorie-dense, so portion control is important.
Massaman Curry Paste (3%): Massaman curry paste is a flavorful blend of spices and herbs. It may contain shrimp, so it’s important to consider allergies. It adds taste and aroma to the dish.
Palm Sugar: Palm sugar is used as a sweetener in the curry. While it adds sweetness, it should be consumed in moderation due to its sugar content.
Olive Oil: Olive oil is a source of healthy monounsaturated fats, which are good for heart health. It’s often used for cooking.
Tamarind Paste: Tamarind paste adds a tangy flavor to the curry. It’s also a source of antioxidants and may have some health benefits.
Beef Stock Powder: This provides additional flavor to the dish. It contains various ingredients, including soy, milk, sesame, and wheat, so it’s essential to consider allergens.
Fish Sauce: Fish sauce, containing anchovy, adds a salty and savory element to the curry. It’s commonly used in Asian cuisine.
Cinnamon and Bay Leaf: These spices not only enhance the flavor but may also have some health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties.
Flavour Enhancers (621, 635): These are food additives that enhance the taste and texture of the meal. They are generally safe but may cause reactions in some individuals.
Most professional nutritionists would conclude that My Muscle Chef Beef Massaman Curry with Brown Rice is a balanced meal that provides protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and various vitamins and minerals. It is a meal that provides a combination of protein, carbohydrates, and essential nutrients. However, individuals with allergies or dietary restrictions should be cautious due to the presence of potential allergens like shrimp and various flavor enhancers.
My Muscle Chef is Fresh, Not Frozen
Monday evening, and a calcounter (someone with a calcount Calorie Tracker account) is hungry for his dinner. The fridge is bare, but for a fresh My Muscle Chef Beef Massaman Curry meal. It’s in the fridge, not the freezer, because MYMC meals are delivered fresh and kept in the chiller. Looks like dinner is sorted.
MYMC Calories: Not always low-cal!
In our My Muscle Chef calories post, we showed how most MYMC meals are in the 400-500 calories range, but there are some bigger calorie counts to watch out for, like the Rendang Curry and this Beef Massaman Curry. It’s just really hard to make authentic low calorie Indian-style food. My Muscle Chef Beef Massaman Curry has 587 calories (2460kJ) per serve. Like most My Muscle Chef meals, it is high-protein, doesn’t skimp on healthy fats and fibre, so is therefore filling.
My Muscle Chef is made in Yenorra, NSW
Flipping the pack over reveals a wealth of nutrition information, ingredients and allergens, preparation (heating) and storage instructions, and the manufacturer details. My Muscle Chef is made in Yennora NSW.
Our calcounter takes a moment to appreciate the vacuum-sealed packaging of My Muscle Chef meals. This sort of packaging has become common, for good reason. Vacuum-sealing food with microwave-friendly materials which “breathe” when heated is a major advance in the science of food preservation. It allows prepared food to be sold fresh, not frozen. Fresh food maintains its structural, and therefore texture and taste, integrity.
You can Recycle My Muscle Chef’s Packaging
With the cardboard sleeve removed, our calcounter can see that the plastic tray (or box) that houses My Muscle Chef’s meal is “PP5” polypropylene plastic, which means it can be recycled many times over. It does not have to go into landfill!
My Muscle Chef Portion Size
In calcount’s opinion, one of the best things about prepared, packaged meals is the standardised portion size. When you make a curry at home, there’s really no way you’re going to consistently eat exactly, say, 320 grams of it. Give or take a few grams, when you eat My Muscle Chef’s Massaman Curry, you’re getting a filling yet strictly-controlled 320g portion.
Heat (microwave) for One and a Half Minutes
Our calcounter sets the microwave timer for one minute and thirty seconds on high. Dinner in less than two minutes?
The Package will Bulge!
As per the heating instructions, we do not remove the film of plastic which vacuum-seals the meal. It is designed to lift up, without sticking to the food, and allow excess steam to escape, whilst enabling convection currents to circulate. Modern tech, ay?
Wow, is it gonna blow up?
If you’re spending the 1 and a half minutes watching the food rather than setting the table, you’re going to see the food cover bubble out and become alarmingly distended. Don’t worry, its supposed to be like that.
Cool (rest) before Opening!
When you take the meal out of the microwave, the cover quickly settles back down and you get a brief whiff of what’s inside. At this point, our calcounter’s mouth started to water. Was that… the smell of proper curry?
Check the Expiry Date in My Muscle Chef’s package
Whilst the meal is cooling, take a second to double-check the use-by date on the My Muscle Chef cardboard cover. Recently, we’ve seen some reviews where people have bought MYMC meals which have expired or are dangerously close to their best-before date!
Time to Uncover it!
After a minute, our calcounter pulled the cover off the box. You need to grab one of the sides (the film cover, not the tray), and yank hard whilst holding the tray down with your other hand. It comes off quite easily after the first lift.
There it is! That heavenly aroma!
Let’s face it, you’re about to eat food out of a plastic tray and it looks nothing like the beautifully-plated Massaman Curry you had in Phuket a few years ago. But. That. Aroma! It wafts up from the meal and zings straight into your central nervous system. Your eyes don’t quite believe it, but your nose is telling you that this curry is legit.
Stir your My Muscle Chef Meal
Remember that this is a microwaved meal. If you want an evenly-heated eating experience, you’re going to want to stir it well to distribute the hot and warm bits. Stirring also releases more of that divine aroma!
3 Minutes to Meal Time
Our calcounter opened the fridge 3 minutes ago, and he is now spooning in his first mouthful of My Muscle Chef Massaman Curry with Brown Rice. Is it good? Does it taste as authentic as it smells?
Oh yeah! It’s a real Curry!
For some reason, there does not seem to be any nuts in this Massaman Curry (traditional Massaman Curries have nuts), but that’s not a problem with this recipe. The coconut and tamarind delivers a truly tropical taste sensation. Real beefy chunks of meat and brown rice grains which pop. This curry is a winner. Our calcounter is wolfing his meal down!
Eat Slowly!
After a few fast spoonful’s, our calcounter remembers one of the 47 ways to lose weight fast. Slow down when you eat. Give your digestive system time to realise that the food is here and entering the stomach, so it can signal your brain and all of the other complex body systems that you don’t need to feel hunger any longer. He stops eating for a while to savour the remaining portion of food.
Portion Size: The real Secret to Meal-Prep Weight Loss Success!
Before he is fully “full”, our calcounter has come to the end of his My Muscle Chef Meal. Had he taken the hour-plus (time he didn’t have) to make his own Massaman Curry, he would certainly have served himself a substantially larger meal. Therein lies the true “secret” of prepared meals for weight-loss success: portion size. The My Muscle Chef curry is tasty, calorie-controlled, yet filling enough that our calcounter can add the meal to everything else he ate and drank on the day to arrive within his daily calories target!
My Muscle Chef Meals are Convenient
Thirteen minutes from “GO” to “WOAH”, My Muscle Chef Massaman Curry is heated and eaten, with NO DISHES to wash! That’s 587 calories of high-protein, high-fibre, filling food in a recyclable pack. It isn’t an incredibly balanced meal, because there are no veggies in it, but our calcounter had a leafy lunch (312 calories) and a fruity breakfast (410 calories), so it all good.
