Lean Cuisines (& other brands) and Tracking

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wizzybeth
wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
in Food and Nutrition
First off...if you don't like to purchase frozen meals like Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, Etc. this post is not for you. This is for people who consume individual frozen meals that they have purchased.

This has been said before... I've seen it in other discussions but I felt it bears repeating: do not trust the stated weight with regard to the nutrition information. The stated weight is a minimum. The actual weight of the food included in your meal could be higher.
For example, using my Lean Cuisine from today...package said the weight was 240g. And gave nutrition info based on that weight. The actual weight was 297 grams! A difference of 50 calories.
Nutrition information for my frozen chicken breast was based on a 136 gram breast. This breast that I ate actually weighed 149g. 25 calories difference.

combining them together we have almost 75 calories more and then I thought I was consuming.

for some people they may have enough margin for error in their daily calories to allow this discrepancy but for many people especially those struggling to lose the weight this could very well play a part.

Weigh everything including pre-packaged individual servings and adjust your serving size accordingly.

To adjust the serving size all you need to do is divide the stated weight on the package by the actual weight.... And that's what you enter for number of servings.

Imagine if every meal you had, had a 75 calorie error. That would be an approximate overage of 225 calories a day... Or 1575 calories per week. Just about a half a pound with regard to weight loss.
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Replies

  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
    edited October 2018
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    It's a good lesson to learn; that prepackaged foods are often off. When I lose, it's by a small deficit and little things indeed can wipe that out.

    I would like to add that they are, sometimes, less in weight than what the package says. I had two this past week that were 1.5 servings instead of the package listing of two. So, more calories for me...yay. :)
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    kami3006 wrote: »
    It's a good lesson to learn; that prepackaged foods are often off. When I lose, it's by a small deficit and little things indeed can wipe that out.

    I would like to add that they are, sometimes, less in weight than what the package says. I had two this past week that were 1.5 servings instead of the package listing of two. So, more calories for me...yay. :)

    That's always a bonus lol
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    Aplant77 wrote: »
    Wow. I eat a lot of frozen meals for my lunches and always assumed that they would be accurate. We know what happens when we assume! Thanks for the warning :)

    Sometimes they are, and sometimes if they are off it's not that much - but this was a huge difference IMHO! I've also read on the forums comments about protein bars being heavier than the stated weight. I've also noticed it with flatbreads, tortillas, pitas, english muffins, etc. Lesson learned is WEIGH EVERYTHING, lol
  • bigbandjohn
    bigbandjohn Posts: 769 Member
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    It's strange that they underestimate. I would figure they overestimate to be safe, especially when dealing with people watching calories.

    I wonder what the legal variance allowed is for pre-packaged meals?
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    bigbandjohn wrote: »
    It's strange that they underestimate. I would figure they overestimate to be safe, especially when dealing with people watching calories.

    I wonder what the legal variance allowed is for pre-packaged meals?

    20%
  • bigbandjohn
    bigbandjohn Posts: 769 Member
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    20%? That's a huge variance. Just goes to show you how careful we need to be.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    bigbandjohn wrote: »
    20%? That's a huge variance. Just goes to show you how careful we need to be.

    They can legally underestimate by up to 20%. Overestimating is another story and rarely happens in pre-packaged meals. It IS more common in fresh meat butchered and packaged by the grocery store meat department.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    The same goes with a lot of food, especially that you get at restaurants. The portions are likely to be bigger than the ones they use for nutritional information.

    BTW, when I was in my mid 20s, I was in the best shape of my life and ate Lean Cuisine and other pre-packaged type meals all the time. So no criticism from here! :)
  • krisleve7707
    krisleve7707 Posts: 18 Member
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    No judgment here! I have a Lean Cuisine white cheddar mac and cheese every week (sometimes twice) and I love it! Sometimes I mix some frozen peas in it to get that extra serving of veggies. But yes I agree that you should weigh even the frozen meals.
  • krisleve7707
    krisleve7707 Posts: 18 Member
    edited October 2018
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    posted twice, sorry
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    kami3006 wrote: »
    On a side note, I've been eating some of the Stouffer's Fit Kitchen bowls. Some of them are fantastic and filling as they're a good amount of protein. Of course, they're not as low calorie as Lean Cuisine but still...I recommend. This is my favorite:
    htv75f9pv5w6.png

    That looks amazing. Sadly my country has a limited selection of pre-packaged meals and they are all expensive.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    earlnabby wrote: »
    pinuplove wrote: »
    kami3006 wrote: »
    On a side note, I've been eating some of the Stouffer's Fit Kitchen bowls. Some of them are fantastic and filling as they're a good amount of protein. Of course, they're not as low calorie as Lean Cuisine but still...I recommend. This is my favorite:

    I like those too! More protein and substance than your typical diet-focused frozen meal. This is my fave:

    I also like Evol and Amy's (although they are lower in protein). They're pricier but good quality and keep me out of the drive thru. Frozen meals have really improved.

    I am old enough to remember when our only options were Swanson and they came in foil trays that had to be baked in the oven. We had them occasionally as treats, usually when Mom and Dad were going out and Mom didn't have the time to cook and clean up beforehand. TV dinners meant a babysitter and maybe staying up later. They were fun and each of us kids could request our favorite.

    I remember that too! They were indeed treats for us. 😃
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    wizzybeth wrote: »
    I remember those frozen dinners too! And you used to have to take the foil off the desert section or something. LOL. I always liked them. But I do agree with the above comments that frozen meals have greatly improved over time. I find the Lean Cuisines and Stouffer's meals to be very very good. They are great for when you don't want to be bothered to cook something other than your normal ho-hum run-of-the-mill food LOL

    Yeah, those TV dinners (especially something like the Salisbury Steak) gave rise to the idea of "mystery meat". They weren't that good, but they were a fun treat. These days, the food is so much better but some of the magic has gone out of them.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    Yes I agree that it's not quite as exciting as having them in the old days. I think it's just the availability and abundance of them. Kind of like shows on Netflix. There's just something not so urgent and exciting about getting to see something that is always available. LOL

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