Factor Meals: My Honest Take After 6 Months of Subscription

Look, I will be upfront with you – I was skeptical about meal delivery services for the longest time. Why would I pay someone else to cook when I have got a perfectly functional kitchen? But then my training schedule ramped up last spring, and suddenly I found myself eating cereal for dinner three nights a week. That is when I finally caved and tried Factor.

Why I Actually Started Using Factor Meals

Here is the thing nobody tells you about serious cycling training – the cooking becomes almost as exhausting as the rides themselves. I would come home from a 60-mile Saturday ride, legs completely shot, and the last thing I wanted was to stand in the kitchen for an hour. I learned this the hard way after bonking on multiple rides because I was eating garbage.

The real tipping point? I stepped on the scale and realized I had actually gained weight despite all that riding. Turns out, eating whatever is convenient meant a lot of fast food and frozen pizza. Not exactly performance fuel, right?

So here is what actually pushed me toward Factor:

• I was wasting hours meal prepping on Sundays (time I would rather spend on the bike)
• My nutritional knowledge is… let us call it limited – I could not tell you the difference between good and bad macros if my life depended on it
• The grocery store became my nemesis after exhausting training weeks

How the Whole Thing Actually Works

I am not gonna lie, the ordering process confused me at first. You pick a plan – I went with 8 meals per week because I still wanted to cook on weekends when I had energy. Then you get to choose what you actually want to eat, which is nice because I am absurdly picky. (My wife would probably say annoyingly picky, but that is a whole other story.)

The meals show up in this insulated box that honestly looks like it could survive a nuclear blast. Everything is cold, organized, and labeled with heating instructions. I was worried the first delivery might get ruined sitting on my porch – I am usually at work all day – but they stayed perfectly chilled even in July.

What I actually do with them:

• Toss most in the fridge for the week
• Freeze a couple for those I have absolutely nothing moments
• Microwave for about 2 minutes when I am ready to eat

The Food Categories (And My Honest Opinions)

Factor offers different menu options, and I have tried most of them at this point. Here is my completely subjective take:

Keto meals: I tried these for about a month because my training buddy swore by low-carb eating. Honestly? They are tasty, and the portions are decent. But I felt like absolute garbage on long rides without carbs. Learned that lesson quickly.

Protein Plus: This is my go-to now. High protein, reasonable carbs, and I do not feel like I am going to fall asleep after eating. The chicken dishes are consistently good – the salmon can be hit or miss.

Calorie Smart: I tried these during my maybe I should lose 10 pounds phase. They are… fine? The portions left me hungry, which probably means they are working, but I was too grumpy to stick with it during training season.

One thing that genuinely surprised me – the vegetarian options are actually really good. I am not vegetarian, but their butternut squash dishes are legitimately some of my favorites. Who would have thought?

Let Us Talk Quality (Because I Was Worried)

My biggest concern before signing up was that the food would taste like airplane meals. You know what I mean – that generic, reheated taste that makes you question your life choices. I was pleasantly wrong.

The ingredients are solid. Fresh vegetables, actual chicken breasts (not that weird processed stuff), and the seasonings are better than what I would make myself. I have peeked at the ingredient lists, and I can actually pronounce everything. That has gotta count for something, right?

That said, I am not going to pretend every meal is restaurant quality. A few have been genuinely disappointing – I had this steak dish once that was tougher than my bike saddle. But those misses are maybe 1 in 10. Most of the time, I am genuinely looking forward to dinner.

The Money Question

Okay, here is where I need to be honest: Factor is not cheap. I am paying around 11-12 dollars per meal depending on the plan. My wife initially raised her eyebrows at that cost, and I get it.

But here is how I justified it to myself (and her):

• I was spending about 15 dollars per meal eating out after rides
• I was throwing away probably 30-40 dollars worth of groceries each week that went bad before I cooked them
• The time saved? I cannot put a price on actually recovering properly after training

They do run promotions fairly often, especially for new subscribers. I think I got like 50 percent off my first two weeks, which helped ease the sticker shock.

What Is Not Great (And I Will Just Say It)

No point in pretending everything is perfect. Here is what bugs me:

The packaging waste. Holy cow, there is a lot of plastic. Ice packs, containers, the box itself… I feel guilty every time I recycle all of it. They claim the packaging is recyclable, but I am not convinced my recycling facility actually handles all of it.

Limited customization. You can pick from the weekly menu, but you cannot modify dishes. I hate mushrooms with a passion, and sometimes a dish I want has them. You either skip it or pick around them like a picky toddler.

Travel weeks are tricky. I forgot to pause my subscription once before a cycling trip and came home to a box of spoiled food. Entirely my fault, but still annoying. Now I set calendar reminders.

Also – and this might sound weird – I kind of miss cooking sometimes. There is something satisfying about making your own food, and I have lost that a bit.

Who Should Actually Consider This?

Based on my experience, here is who I think benefits most:

Serious athletes with demanding schedules: If you are training 10 plus hours a week and working full-time, meal prep becomes nearly impossible. This fills that gap.

People who eat out constantly: Factor is cheaper than restaurant food and probably healthier than whatever you are grabbing at the drive-through.

Folks who hate cooking but need proper nutrition: No judgment here. Not everyone enjoys being in the kitchen. If cooking feels like a chore, outsourcing makes sense.

Who probably should not bother? If you actually enjoy meal prepping, you are great at it, and you have the time – stick with what works. Factor is a convenience solution, not necessarily a better way to eat.

My Bottom Line After Six Months

I will keep using Factor, at least during heavy training periods. It has solved a real problem for me – I eat better, recover faster, and do not waste my limited free time standing over a stove. Is it perfect? Nope. The cost adds up, the waste bothers me, and I still wish I could customize meals more.

But when I think back to those cereal-for-dinner days, or the weeks when I would bonk on rides because I was surviving on fast food? Yeah, this is worth it for me. Your situation might be totally different, and that is fine. Just wanted to share what actually worked in my life.

Anyone else using meal services during training season? I am curious what other cyclists have tried – drop a comment if you have found something that works for you.