Anyone lost weight eating lean cuisine,Smart ones etc daily?

acpgee

There was a guy on MFP who ate exclusively chef boyardee (sp?) for three meals daily for several months, which was reasonably balanced if he took a multi vitamin. It was a 1500 cal per day regime. He wanted to drop some weight before running a half marathon I think, I he was really successful. Search the forums for Chef Boyardee (sp?) to find his thread.

acpgee

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/865676-chef-boyardee-diet?hl=chef+boyardee

Found the Chef Boyardee thread.

BajaDreamin333

I'm sure there are as many answers as there are MFP members, but I feel very strongly about these types of products and have to share my insight.

I ate them for a time. Same reason everyone does. They're fast, easy and you know how many calories are in each one. Some are pretty good. Some are even affordable. But I noticed I was always still hungry! At first I thought I needed the "Hungry Man" portion, that I just eat more than the average person. So I tried having one and a half, just to experiment with the portions. I was "full" - more like nauseated, but I was still craving something. Still hungry for something and ended up snacking up a storm. Then it finally hit me. THERE IS NOTHING IN THOSE FROZEN BOXES MY BODY WANTS.

Yes, the sodium content is high, and there is a bunch of artificial stuff I can't pronounce. That wouldn't be bad if it was coming with a good nutritional value as well. But in my humble opinion, my body craves real food. I don’t' think there is anything inside those cardboard boxes that is going to satisfy my body's hunger.

Try an experiment. One day for lunch have a Lean Cuisine. Select a good one, with veggies and lean protein and not too much sauce. Think about how you feel after you eat. Are you satisfied? Do you still want "more" of something? Are you thirsty from so much sodium? How is your energy level?

Then the next day, have a big spinach salad. One that doesn't come in a box with pre-packaged toppings. Put some lean protein on it and at least 3 other vegetable or fruit toppings (not fried, crispy, flavored - real). Even splurge a little on some good salad dressing. When you're finished, think about how you feel. Is your body satisfied? Do you feel full but not nauseated? Are you still wanting another portion? I have found I'm the most satisfied, even with fewer calories, when I feed my body unprocessed, fresh, natural foods. You can generally eat a lot of veggies & fruit for a surprisingly few amount of calories.

There is nothing like the feeling of finishing a reasonable portion of good, fresh, unprocessed food and knowing you just gave your body what it was craving. Yum. That. Was. Good.

Now don't get all freaked out on me, I'm sure there is a place for convenience foods. There wouldn't be so many choices if there wasn't. There are probably many people who eat them every day and swear by them. Or swear they wouldn't eat at all, or eat a ton of junk, if they weren't around. I just think you can get more bang for your calorie buck, and feel better, if you stick to foods that aren't covered in salty sauce and the ingredient list that reads like a chemistry lesson.

Artificial is not a flavor.

garber6th

For the calories, there are much better and healthier options.

Last fall my coworker decided that the only way to lose weight was to eat Lean Cuisine every day. He lost 35lbs and gained it all back when he stopped eating them. He is shocked that I have lost 55lbs and I eat all the time.

They are like any other "diet" food, supplement, etc. - you have to be willing to stick with them in the long run to keep the weight from creeping back up but you don't really learn how to eat right with them.

If you stay at the same calorie range with or without the frozen food, you wont gain the weight back. All your coworker did was start eating more when they stopped eating the frozen lunches.

Ya think?

Ginastern1

I think you can lose weight by reducing calories, which these small-portioned things do, but in a bigger picture, they are not real food, but processed chemical-laden items. It would be better to cook up equivalent items and make them a similar size instead of eating the processed product. But for emergencies ......

magerum

For the calories, there are much better and healthier options.

Last fall my coworker decided that the only way to lose weight was to eat Lean Cuisine every day. He lost 35lbs and gained it all back when he stopped eating them. He is shocked that I have lost 55lbs and I eat all the time.

They are like any other "diet" food, supplement, etc. - you have to be willing to stick with them in the long run to keep the weight from creeping back up but you don't really learn how to eat right with them.

If you stay at the same calorie range with or without the frozen food, you wont gain the weight back. All your coworker did was start eating more when they stopped eating the frozen lunches.

Ya think?

You miss the point, all they had to do was eat within their calorie needs and they wouldn't have gained the weight back. It had NOTHING to do with them stopping eating frozen meals. They just simply over ate.

TamelaPiper

The Healthy Choice steamers are the best.. I have lost 2 lbs. in a week. I eat a lot of fruit mainly berries and cantaloupe .

MsEndomorph

For the calories, there are much better and healthier options.

Last fall my coworker decided that the only way to lose weight was to eat Lean Cuisine every day. He lost 35lbs and gained it all back when he stopped eating them. He is shocked that I have lost 55lbs and I eat all the time.

They are like any other "diet" food, supplement, etc. - you have to be willing to stick with them in the long run to keep the weight from creeping back up but you don't really learn how to eat right with them.

If you stay at the same calorie range with or without the frozen food, you wont gain the weight back. All your coworker did was start eating more when they stopped eating the frozen lunches.

Ya think?

You miss the point, all they had to do was eat within their calorie needs and they wouldn't have gained the weight back. It had NOTHING to do with them stopping eating frozen meals. They just simply over ate.

I think that was already noted when it was mentioned that "you don't learn to eat right with them."

I can't help but think, though, that you could use them and THEN learn to eat right and everything would be fine.
Does that seriously NEVER happen?
I guess it probably has something to do with the mentality of someone who says, "I'm ONLY going to drink slim fast for the next year." That's more of a quick-fix, desperate kind of mentality that doesn't lend we'll to gradual, sustainable change.

playitagainsam

I have lost/am losing by eating Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, etc., frozen meals. They are quick for lunch or when you run out of time at the end of the day and they really helped me learn portion control. I usually steam about 4 cups of veggies, nuke one of these meals and mix it in with the steamed veggies. VERY TASTY!!! Yeah, the sodium can be a bit on the high side, but if you're not too concerned with that, I'd say give it a try. I usually stick to the ones that are 300 calories and under and with the lowest fat and sodium possible. Plus, for a calorie fanatic like myself, I love knowing exactly how many calories I am eating! But, nothing beats a good, healthy, homemade meal!

mazdauk

I'm thinking they'd be awesome with helping me get my portions under control! But mostly I LOVE the connivence! Im a full time working mom of 3 so I don't have much time to cook

What are you feeding your children on that you can't eat yourself? Its much better for children to eat WITH you and preferably the same food (obviously if they're not weaned I don't expect you to have a bottle of formula milk! :bigsmile: ). If they're having fishfingers, have them with salad or lots of extra vegetables, for example. Otherwise they will either wonder what's wrong with their food that you won't eat it, or else pick up negative messages about nutrition/dieting.

I keep one or two WW meals in the freezer for absolute emergencies, but even if I'm really late I'd rather make an omlette or some pasta. You can make your own "freezer" meals by batch cooking - load up a slow cooker, serve half and freeze half in portion sizes. You can do this with pasta sauces, stews, soups - I've done Shepherds Pie in ceramic dishes so it can go in oven or microwave, for example. My children are older now, but I went back to work full time (commuting inot London) when my oldest was only 4 months, and always cooked at the weekend so we - and he - could have home-cooked meals all week. (I used to take the childminder a coolbag with his bottles and whatever purees of choice he was having that day!).

You can also make up sandwiches in advance and freeze them, then take one out in the morning and it will defrost by lunchtime (or quicker!) - much better than being tempted by high-calorie shop options. (you get 8-9 sandwiches out of the average sliced loaf).

Nicoodlenoodle

Bump

amp1276

It may not be "healthy" but it seems like anything I put in my mouth these days someone is telling is wrong. If I grew it in my own back yard, someone would tell me it was tainted by the polluted rain or I bought the wrong breed of plant. If I sat down and tried to do it everyone's way, I'd go nuts and then I give up and eat garbage. I find the diet meals are easy and convenient and I look at them as my personal chef watching my calories for me. If I stick with it, eating a high fiber breakfast and two of the frozen meals a day (I like the salad creations for dinner), I loose 3 pounds a week.

As far as sodium, in case you haven't noticed, MyFitnessPal TRACKS your sodium intake and all other nutrients, and so far I have been AT LEAST 500 mg under the allotted sodium intake for the day.

marian4marian

how can white flour pasta be good for you? especially every day? how about some real food?

albayin

my friend did. He said he chose to eat lean cuisine because he was lazy at counting and cooking. Packaged food takes confusion out of the equation for him. He just had one box for each meal, plus a small icecream at the night. He walks everywhere and lost 30 pounds...

manicautumn

If you have kids, you should all eat healthy together. That way you can teach healthy eating while losing weight yourself.

That being said, I eat a lot of microwave food as a university student. It's easier to control portions and I don't have a ton of time to cook. I'm also on a low calorie diet, so it helps.

If you want to eat clean, should avoid it.
If you care more about portion size and convenience, go for it.

Try to eat fresh food and stuff too and be careful about eating them too often in front of your kids.

Yagisama

I've found a lot of pretty good frozen meals in Sprouts market (and Trader Joes) including many from Amy's brand. I like them and I can meet my daily maximum sodium intake on most days. That's just my preference.

Tina1737

I never really found them very satisfying. They are not filling and most don't taste very good. I guess because they are so heavily processed. To me, if you have to add something to them, they become more expensive and the calories go up (unless you just add veg). I'd prefer a rotisserie chicken with salad and nice bread any day, and the leftovers are GREAT (even cold).

WisheeNY

I don't get how people are saying they're not "real food". I thought MFP's motto was food is food. And as far as the sodium... I thought it didn't matter as long as you stayed within your goal? The sodium in a Lean Cuisine isn't equal to a day's worth of sodium so... I don't see the problem.

Anyways I used to eat em a lot when trying to lose weight because I didn't really know how to cook and these were way easier to just pop in the microwave but I decided to do it differently this time and actually teach myself to cook and put together meals. The food I make myself is definitely yummier but like most have said, prepackaged meals are very convenient. Some of em are really good too.... to me.