If you hate to cook, order too many chubby home deliveries and despair when you think about healthy food - a new venture called FoodnShape tries to offer a solution to the problem.
The venture offers a weight loss program and includes a personal trainer, a close nutritionist and the highlight - meals by chef Avi Beaton that arrive at home.
The venture started in France with two entrepreneurs who immigrated to Israel a few years ago.
Yonatan Benesh ran a private hospital and dreamed of opening his own business, and David Aharfi added to the venture the matter of home delivery: "We are not talking about a diet," he elaborates, "because a diet often causes deprivation and frustration, and when it ends there is weight gain that sometimes exceeds the loss We make sure that people eat well, also in restaurants and at weddings, which will keep them happy and not be accompanied by frustration from the process."
The two, as mentioned, were joined by chef Avi Biton, the owner of the "Solica" and "Cafe Popular" delicatessen chains in Tel Aviv, and the leading chef of the "Yasso" restaurant in Tel Aviv.
"I came to this project from a completely different angle," he says, "I wanted to bring the Mediterranean food to the program, which I eat on a daily basis and serve in my restaurants, and to this diet the world is currently marching."
Does this mean there is less oil, no sugar, no sauces?
"I'm not in favor of anything extreme. You still have to enjoy life, but everything needs everything in moderation. Eating a balanced diet of good fat like olive oil contributes to weight loss, and artificial sweeteners are not healthy at all."
What about those who prefer meals that consist of only proteins, or only vegetables?
"Any diet that is extreme does not last. It's like before a wedding, when you do something drastic and lose a lot of weight and then gain twice as much - this is something I would see a lot when I prepared food for weddings. The angle of the project is not a diet - but how to properly consume food."
Foodnshape, a healthy food project for the home, photo: David Moyal
Are there any guilty pleasure meals?
There are such meals that are allowed to be eaten once a fortnight or once a month.
It's a matter of offsets.
There are chips, for example, which are truely made in the oven, but are very tasty - that's how I make them for my children as well."
Change in eating habits
The program, which, as mentioned, is new in Israel, has different routes that include counseling and accompaniment, and the difference is the amount of meals provided to the client during the week.
Prices range from NIS 2,500 for the full route, which includes 14 meals a week (2 meals a day) to the house, and up to NIS 800 for the smallest route, which offers 4 meals a week to the house.
You can choose the dishes yourself, from a selection of 70 possible dishes.
Each meal includes a portion of protein, carbohydrate and vegetables.
The menu also includes surprising meals such as pizza, lasagna, hamburger, fish and chips, couscous and spaghetti bolognese, there is also the option of a vegan or allergen-free menu (for example: a gluten-free menu).
We got to try some of the dishes, which arrived in a cooler in plastic boxes: fish and chips, beef bourguignon, saute thai, salmon pasta with vegetables and more.
The most surprising dish was the fish and chips, which included a variety of panko coated fish pieces and baked potato wedges.
The dish was well made and tasty even though it was baked (although the salmon in the coating was a surprise we didn't expect, and different from the other pieces of fish in the dish), and we were definitely satisfied with the beautiful amount.
The other dishes ranged from restaurant quality to the flavors of home cooking, but it is certainly evident that these are dishes low in fat and sugar, and it is important that you come to taste them with this understanding.
The amount of calories in the dishes is surprising: the fish and chips included only 372 calories for a large and satisfying meal, the beef bourguignon 415 calories per dish and the Provencal salmon pasta - 363 calories per dish.
Foodnshape, food not diet - but healthy, photo: David Moyal
Bitton says that one of the customers' favorite dishes is the chicken in its various forms, as well as the sweet Asian dishes.
"The Israelis like to load their plates, but the portion size is smaller. In Italy, you get 120-150 grams of pasta on a plate and that's it. We need a change in eating habits."
All meals are kosher, meat or fur.
According to Beaton, dairy breakfasts were also thought about, but with the working Israelis in mind, the focus was on lunch and dinner: "The morning can amount to a cup of coffee or a light bread sandwich, nobody eats a big breakfast. It was important for us to emphasize lunch, When the stomach starts to rumble, and when you come home from work hungry."
And there are also weekend meals: "This is a time that is usually overdone," says Beaton, "In the afternoon, we get a few slices of smoked salmon, rolls and Friday salads - which have a little more calories, but this is a day when we allow it. There is Also baked schnitzel for those who want it, there is a tortilla stuffed with meat, Moroccan fish, there is a large selection."
And do people really lose weight following the meals?
"I was contacted by someone from Instagram who heard that I was doing the project and said: 'I come from an oriental home, and I received a bag on the weekend with 3 rolls, challah, matbucha, eggplants, tahini and chowder, and my husband laughed at me about how you can eat all this and lose weight.'
In the end, her husband saw that she was successful, and joined in as well.
Not a week goes by that I don't come to the kitchen and hear some stories about the one who lost 8 kilos and the one who lost 10 kilos.
At first people are surprised when they realize that you can eat a hamburger, for example, but in the end you see that it works and there is a change in weight."
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