Looking and Feeling Good on Your Wedding Day

Seattle Sutton’s meals help with convenience, nutrition

By Brandon LaChance

The ups and downs of weight loss and weight gain are a never-ending battle for just about all of us. But the pressure to look and feel good can feel more intense for brides and grooms as they approach their big day.

Hitting the weights or the treadmill may not be in the schedule because of work, children, civic engagements, or planning the wedding. When you don’t have much time for exercise, food becomes the number one component of being healthy and looking fabulous.

Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating is here to help with their prepackaged meals.

“As a dietician myself and I’m constantly helping people improve their lives, this is actually a product I recommended to many people before I started working here,” said Rene Ficek, the president and owner of Seattle Sutton. “The idea of putting these recommendations in practice, that people can use it as a teaching tool to educate themselves of what healthy eating is and what healthy eating looks like, and what portion sizes should be, can be a really powerful thing once you understand it a little bit better.”

It can be easier to get onboard with a new healthy eating plan when you’re not doing it alone, so Seattle Sutton meals are a good option for brides and grooms.

“We do have a lot of couples that do it together. It makes it easier for them. We have plenty of people that come to us prior to their wed-

“We do have a lot of couples that do it together. It makes it easier for them. We have plenty of people that come to us prior to their wedding to help them look good.”

Rene Ficek President & Owner, Seattle

ding to help them look good,” she said. “We have plenty of people that come for the convenience. We have plenty of people who really don’t want the hassle, but they want convenient, flavorful, and delicious food.”

“We have an executive chef who takes our nutrition recommendations, and he can add a lot of flavor and creativity to them. It’s certainly not boring healthy food,” she said. “A lot of people are looking to lose weight for their weddings, and unfortunately, they tend to go to fad diets that only work temporarily but are not consistent.”

Rene, who is a registered dietician and nutritionist, began working for Seattle Sutton in 2013 under the original owner, Seattle Sutton. Later on, Sutton, who started her company in 1985 after being a nurse for 22 years, was looking to sell the company. Ficek and her husband, Michael, purchased the healthy prepackaged meal company in 2018. Rene’s father, Ray Anderes, who was the previous owner of Uptown Grill in LaSalle, was brought on as the CEO.

Rene, Michael, and Ray are the three executives who make all final decisions for healthy meal options at Seattle Sutton.

“Being able to see it firsthand in customer testimonials and to hear their stories has been remarkable,” said Rene. “It’s a place to work that actually has a true mission and vision. At the end of the day, you’re helping people. It’s definitely a rewarding job, career, and business.”

With its commitment to fresh foods, Seattle Sutton is different from other prepackaged meal companies.

“There are fresh fruits and vegetables, which makes us stand out from our competitors. Our product is fresh; it isn’t frozen. A lot of other meal companies, a vast majority of them, are frozen, prepackaged food. That’s not what we do. The fresh produce brings nutrition and vol- ume to the meals rather than something that is sodium laced,” she said.

Seattle Sutton’s headquarters is in Ottawa, just off Rt. 80, where clients can pick up meals. There are four other local meal pickup locations – Peru, Mendota, and Streator YMCAs, and the Bureau County Metro Center – as well as 30 Chicagoland locations. Seattle Sutton also delivers meals nationwide in one-day shipping, refrigerated boxes.

The meals can be ordered in different ways. There isn’t a contract forcing you to stick with the program for six months, a year, or more. Instead, the client is able to tailor the meals around their schedule and finances.

The full program consists of 21 meals a week for five weeks (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), which includes 105 different meals to avoid any repeat items for the entire five-week menu cycle. There are three different calorie packages – 1,200, 1,500, and 2,00 calories.

“The meals range from some of your comfort food favorites to Mexican dishes and other cultural flavors. It’s not just salads,” said Dan Rosier, marketing director at Seattle Sutton. “There are meals that come across as being heartier. Breakfast is included, and there is everything from savory to sweet. It really makes you feel like you have your own executive chef preparing meals for you as opposed to just trying to find something in the frozen food section.”

“My daughter just got married, and she was running around with no time to eat right. She was eating a lot of fast food rather than making meals,” he said. “When I had the opportunity to bring Seattle Sutton meals home, she was overjoyed because she knew she had something tasty, fresh, and filling without being junk.”

Clients can also do partial weeks where they can get Seattle Sutton packages on Monday for the week or pick up on Thursday for weekend meals.

Whether you’re running around planning a wedding and don’t want to eat fast food, you’re being watchful of your health, or you want to look amazing in your dress or tuxedo, Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating has an option for you.

“Others may not want to lose weight, but because of the stress and the craziness of getting ready for a wedding, they still want to make sure they’re maintaining their good health,” Rosier said. “It’s very convenient. The way the meals are packaged, you can literally throw one in your lunch bag and take it to work. Or you can bring a breakfast meal with you and eat it when you’re done at the gym.”

“The meals conform to a busy lifestyle really well. Couples getting ready to be married are being pulled in 17 different directions,” he said. “This can be one thing they’re doing that they know they’re taking care of themselves.”