Healthy fast food options are popping up all over the Des Moines metro

Let's face it. Life gets hectic. And fast food is convenient — and everywhere.

But sometimes a burger and fries won't cut it. Fitness enthusiasts who want to stick to a meal plan may find it difficult to snag some healthy food on the go without going to a sit-down restaurant or a large market. And dieters on a weight-loss regimen can find it challenging to locate goal-friendly choices on fast food menus.

Several companies in Des Moines are looking to change the way people buy and eat convenience foods that offer quick, calorie-friendly meals, including vegetarian and restricted-diet choices. These restaurants offer freshly made packaged meals that can be bought individually or in discounted packs.

"Eating healthy was not available and it was challenging for us," said Sam Vakhidor, CEO and co-founder of Eat Fit Go. "We created the concept for our needs to be better able to eat healthy on the go."

In the past five years, at least nine places offering "healthy fast food" have popped up in the Des Moines area. Food that is required for a balanced, nutritious diet — including unprocessed natural produce, lean protein, whole grains and healthy oils — is considered healthy.

When we think of fast food, we think of drive-thrus serving mass-produced meals that can be highly processed and calorie-laden — full of saturated fat, sugar and sodium. But these healthy options offer a new choice with a variety of purchasing options — drive-thru, dine-in, grab-and-go and home or office delivery.

And these restaurants differ from meal kit services like Blue Apron in that the meals are already prepared and ready to eat. Most meals can be heated quickly using a microwave oven or served cold.

On Thursday, at Fit Go opened its third location in the area in West Des Moines. The restaurant pre-packages meals daily. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts are found in its refrigerated cases — the central focus of their spaces. Diners can purchase the packaged food and eat it in-store or take it to-go, and nutritional information and instructions for heating are printed on each container. Meal plans and house accounts are available for added convenience.

Over 50 dishes — like baked citrus salmon with asparagus and steak stir-fry over "rice" made from cauliflower — cost $8 to $9 per item, and most come in large and small sizes.

Vakhidor wanted the focus to be on the food and its clean simplicity, and they wanted their store design to follow that simplicity.

"If Apple and Starbucks had a healthy baby, then it would be Eat Fit Go," said Vakhidor, who helped open its first location in Omaha in February 2016. It already has 27 locations in six states with five more stores more on the way.

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For Brandy Lueders of The Grateful Chef, it's always been about real, clean food that's made from scratch. She started small seven years ago, with her partner in life and in business, John Cornish, selling prepared meals for friends and family. Their company has bloomed with inventive weekly menus for a clientele of over 200 — and a new storefront in Sevastopol Station that opened in May.

This week, one of The Grateful Chef's specials is a bleu cheese and Brussels sprout risotto.

"We don't believe that healthy food has to be boring food," said Lueders. "Just really fun, creative fresh food."

For downtown, the Grateful Chef has the only grab-and-go case with not just individual portions, but dinners for two or four people.

Beef Cake Fuel in Waukee focuses on delivery. Owned by husband-and-wife team, Cassandra and Brad Rodish, it is the only delivery service in the metro area for healthy meal prep orders brought to your doorstep.

"We were just wanting to find the most convenient way to help people out," Cassandra Rodish said. "We just wanted to take all the guesswork out of it."

Beef Cake Fuel's rotating menu of meals made with seasonal, hand-selected ingredients can be mix-and-matched to create weekly meal plans. For now, customers order online or by phone, but the Rodishes hope to have a new storefront in Clocktower Square in September with a dining area for eat-in customers.

Some stores showcase a fully-equipped kitchen where food comes out hot and fresh and diners can enjoy their meals right in the store. Get Fit Grill in West Glen was created about 10 months ago. All of its dishes are 600 calories or less.

Delivery service is available within 30 miles and the restaurant will ship meal packages anywhere in the country. Get Fit Grill works with a range of diets and offers free consultation to create meal plans that work with individual fitness goals and lifestyles.

Frustrated by having to constantly ask locations for food modifications, Get Fit Grill was launched by twins Joanna Cosner and James Carper and their brother Michael Carper after eight years in the supplement business. Their friend and newest partner, Brett Wilkin, came on board a month ago.

Many competition bodybuilders, athletes, and fitness professionals rely on meal prep options that include "macro nutrients" — lean protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy oils and fats. Even though fast food restaurants are working to change their menus to offer more choices for healthy eaters, the increasing prevalence of healthy food restaurants is flourishing with modern grab-and-go facilities, quality ingredients and affordable prices.

Here's a list of nine healthy food stores in Des Moines and a map to help locate them.

Fresh Fit Meals

This packaged healthy meal store has three locations in Des Moines and two in Odessa, Texas. A nutrition coach is on hand to help with your dietary needs. Breakfast, lunch and dinner options are available, as well as healthy snacks and desserts like chocolate almond energy balls (items from $2.49 to $12.99).

Ankeny

Location: 2005 S.E. Delaware Ave., B

Hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Contact: 515-64-2105; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram

Urbandale

Location: 11881 Hickman Road, #300

Hours: Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Contact: 515-252-6297; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram

West Des Moines

Location: 6630 Mills Civic Parkway, Suite 1120

Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Contact: 515-223-1581; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram

Get Fit Grill

This locally owned health-focused restaurant offers diners meal prep choices for every dietary need. Each dish is less than 600 calories and is made with hand-selected meats and produce. Get Fit Grill meals can also be found in Fareway grocery stores. Check out the Salmon Pesto Sandwich with turkey bacon, lettuce and tomato on a gluten-free bun (items from $1.95 to $11.95).

West Des Moines

Location: 5585 Mills Civic Parkway, Suite 140

Hours: Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Contact: 515-225-6976; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram

Beef Cake Fuel

The only locally owned meal prep service that offers solely delivery, this Waukee-based healthy food option does require some advance planning with its weekly packs, but offers discounted plans and free delivery on all orders over $40. Fire grilled meats are also available by the pound. Try the Wood Fire Grilled Sirloin with mashed sweet potatoes and vegetable medley (items from $8.50 to $9.95).

Location: Delivery available throughout Des Moines with drop off points in Ankeny.

Hours: Monday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to midnight with arranged delivery.

Contact: 515-333-1662; Facebook; Instagram

The Grateful Chef

Chef Brandy Lueders began offering her freshly prepared healthy meals in 2010 after working in kitchens in Oregon and Des Moines. And she recently opened her new location with her partner, John Cornish. The Grateful Chef can work with a wide range of dietary needs, and its grab-and-go location offers order-ahead service for pickup, along with assorted baked goods and gourmet coffees (items from $2 for baked goods to $18 for dinner for two or $32 for dinner for four).

Location: 1938 S.E. Sixth St., Suite 103

Hours: Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.

Contact: 515-559-4952; Facebook; Instagram

Eat Fit Go

This fast-growing healthy food company is Omaha-based and offers over 50 choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and dessert. Meal plans and house accounts are also available. Check out the breakfast tacos made with ground turkey, egg whites and fresh salsa (items from $4.50 to $11.75).

Ankeny

Location: 833 E. First St.

Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Contact: (515) 963-9993; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram

Clive

Location: 9901 University Ave.

Hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Contact: 515-222-4422; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram

West Des Moines