How Much Time Do People Actually Save Using Meal Delivery?

Where the Time Actually Goes When You Cook From Scratch

Before you can answer how much time meal delivery saves, you have to be honest about how much time cooking really takes. Most people underestimate it because the hours are scattered across the week in 15- and 30-minute chunks. When you add them up, the total is usually shocking.

According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the average person who identifies as their household's main meal preparer spends about 51 minutes per day on food preparation and cleanup. That's roughly 6 hours a week - and it doesn't include grocery shopping. USDA data also shows the average American grocery trip takes 46 minutes, with most households shopping every 4-5 days, adding another 2.5-3 hours per week.

Then there's the part nobody clocks: planning. A 2024 OnePoll/Panera survey of 2,000 Americans found that the average couple argues about dinner 156 times a year - three times a week - with each deliberation taking around 17 minutes. Multiply that across 14 weekly meal decisions and you've burned another 3-4 hours just choosing what to eat.

Add it up and the realistic weekly time cost of cooking from scratch looks like this:

·       Meal planning and recipe selection: 1-2 hours

·       Grocery shopping (in-person or curating delivery): 2.5-3 hours

·       Active cooking: 4-5 hours

·       Cleanup, dishes, container Tetris: 1.5-2 hours

·       Daily "what's for dinner" decisions: 2-4 hours

That's 11-16 hours per week - almost a full part-time job - for the privilege of feeding yourself.

Why Ready-to-Eat Meal Delivery Saves More Time Than Meal Kits

Not all meal delivery is created equal. There's a meaningful gap between meal kits (HelloFresh, Blue Apron, Green Chef) and ready-to-eat services (AthleticsFit Meals, Factor, Trifecta). Meal kits send you raw ingredients with recipes - you still cook, you still clean, you just skip the shopping. Ready-to-eat services hand you food that's already cooked, portioned, and ready in 2-3 minutes.

A SheKnows food editor who tracked her hours during a one-week trial of a popular meal delivery service found she saved 10 hours and 19 minutes over baseline - and most of that came from skipping the planning and shopping steps, not the cooking itself.

The math is simple. Meal kits compress your weekly cooking burden to maybe 8–10 hours. Ready-to-eat services compress it to about 30 minutes - the time it takes to open a container, microwave a meal, and rinse a fork.

The Hidden Cost: Decision Fatigue That Doesn't Show Up on a Stopwatch

Time on a clock is only half the story. The other half is mental energy - and that's where meal delivery really earns its keep. According to a 2024 Talker Research survey, 77% of Americans report being too exhausted to cook after work. A separate Factor/Wakefield survey found that 68% of Americans say deciding what to eat is their biggest mealtime challenge.

If you've ever opened the fridge at 7:45 p.m., stared at three random ingredients, given up, and ordered Uber Eats - you've experienced decision fatigue. It's the reason meal-kit companies still struggle to retain customers: even with the shopping done for you, you still have to decide to cook tonight, find the recipe, and execute. Most people who switch from cooking to a ready-to-eat service describe the change less as a time saver and more as "one less thing my brain has to track."

AthleticsFit vs. The Alternatives - Time, Cost & Effort

That's exactly the gap AthleticsFit Meals was built for. Operating out of a Miami Shores kitchen and delivering three times a week across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Boca Raton, AthleticsFit eliminates the cooking step entirely. Clients typically reclaim 6-10 hours per week -  time that goes back into training, recovery, family, or just sleep.

·       No subscription, no contracts - you order what you want, when you want it

·       Three plans tuned to outcomes: weight loss (1,200–1,400 cal), balanced lifestyle, and high-protein athletic performance

·       Fully customizable menus - no swap fees, no "chef's choice" boxes you don't want

·       Three deliveries per week so meals stay fresh - no week-old chicken sitting in your fridge

·       Multi-use insulated bags returned at each delivery - zero cardboard breakdown, zero recycling guilt

·       Zero-waste kitchen: in 2024, AthleticsFit composted over 600 lbs of kitchen scraps through a partnership with Compost for Life

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time does meal delivery save per week?

Ready-to-eat meal delivery saves most households 6- 10 hours per week compared to cooking from scratch. That includes 2.5 - 3 hours on grocery shopping, 4-5 hours on active cooking, and 1.5-2 hours on cleanup. Meal kits save less typically 3 - 5 hours because you still cook the food yourself.

Do meal kits save as much time as ready-to-eat meal delivery?

No. Meal kits eliminate planning and shopping but still require 30 - 45 minutes of cooking and cleanup per meal. Ready-to-eat services like AthleticsFit Meals reduce that to 2-3 minutes of reheating. Over a 14-meal week, that's a difference of 5-7 hours.

How long does it take to heat an AthleticsFit meal?

Most AthleticsFit Meals heat in 2-3 minutes in a microwave or 6-8 minutes in an oven.

Is the time saved worth the cost of meal delivery?

For most people, yes. If you value your time at $30 per hour (the median for U.S. professionals, per BLS data), 6-10 hours a week is worth $180–$300 in time alone. A ready-to-eat plan typically costs less than that, and that's before factoring in saved grocery spend, reduced takeout, and avoided food waste.

What kind of person benefits most from ready-to-eat meal delivery?

Three groups consistently see the biggest time gains: busy professionals with long commutes, athletes training 4+ times per week who need precise macros, and parents juggling work and school schedules. In Miami specifically, AthleticsFit serves a high concentration of all three - which is why time savings, not just convenience, is the most common reason clients sign up.

How do I get started with AthleticsFit Meals?

Visit AthleticsFitMeals.com to view the current menu, choose a plan (weight loss, balanced, or high-protein), and set a delivery day. There's no subscription and no contract - you can order one week and skip the next without penalty. Delivery is available across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Boca Raton.

Reclaim your week. Save 10 hours weekly

Ready-to-eat meals delivered 3× per week across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Boca Raton. No subscription. No contracts.

Choose your meal plan here