Pre Packaged Meals

jennyiscool13

Hey Guys,

What are your thoughts on pre packaged meals? Such as Weight Watcher or lean Cuisine.

I just brought a bunch of these meals, because I find if I cook myself I add too many calories. These meals are roughly between 300 and 500 calories.

Discussion welcomed.

Thanks

gigglesinthesun

I think for a short term solution it's not terrible, because it shows you just how small a normal portion actually is. It's not all that great nutrition-wise, but that is my personal opinion.

In the long term, you'll probably need to bite the bullet and learn just what a normal portion looks like in home cooked food. You can enter your recipes and start from there. Good luck :-)

OsricTheKnight

I'm a huge fan, because I have a lot of trouble with portion control.

The main thing to watch with the prepackaged meals is their sodium content. Some of them are ridiculous! You'll want low calories of course, but not if it packs 800mg of sodium in one wallop.

Frozen foods + salads makes it easy to hit your calorie goals. Depending on what you believe about protein, you might need extra protein as well. Note that protein is 4kcals/gram so it isn't free, you have to account for those calories too.

Osric

MizSookeh

They're great for lazy days or time-poor days, but I don't like to rely on them. This is coming from someone who HATES to cook, but enjoys tasty fresh food.

As it's getting warmer here, I'm doing a lot of protein + salad dinners, but do have a couple of 'heartier' microwave meals in the fridge for when it's been a chilly day and a salad won't cut it.

Also good for when the dishes have piled up from the real cooking and can't be bothered! :laugh:

shadow2soul

The sodium is generally outrageous so be sure to drink plenty of water.

I like them for lazy days, but I don't think it would be very healthy to eat them for every meal.

SeriousBen

Buy a kitchen scale if you don't have one and enter your ingredients in MFP, see if the thing fits your macros then start cooking. I see no reason why you'd eat more when you cook your own food than with the frozen stuff. These are expensive and full of sodium/preservatives.

Kevalicious99

I eat "Healthy Choice Gourmet Steamers" for lunch and supper. They are low in calories and taste pretty good.

I think they are called something else in the US though.

I am not worried about them .. as I don't cook, so if it cannot go into my microwave then it probably won't happen. I have also been steaming veggies too (mainly broccoli) .. so I think that is all good.

maca416

Short term fine but you cant beat good low fat home cooking & if time is a factor then a stiryfry is quick & easy.

Get cooking real food

nikkiclaire123

i always keep the weight watchers frozen meals in stock at my house. last year i lost a ton of weight on these without even trying. theyre great for the odd meal when you really cba but i dont live off them anymore, they dont always fill my and they do lack in veg

rduhlir

I agree with everyone else. I usually take them for lunch, along with a side salad and some type of fruit to round out the meal. But keep an eye on the sodium, as they can be pretty high. I generally try to stick with the meals that are less that 600mg. I only use them if I don't have any left overs from dinner or if I just don't feel like putting that much effort into lunch for that day (I am up at 4 AM for work so sometimes I just dont' care lol).

mamadon

I use them a lot for work. I work 12 hour shifts and often bring one for lunch, dinner or both. When I first started yet another attempt at losing weight, I thought a lot about why I had failed in the past. One of the reasons was because I hate to cook and I would get frustrated and give up when I tried to cook elaborate low cal or carb meals. I like the Lean Cuisines the best personally, although Weight Watchers arent too bad.

RyanJK85

Sodium is high, but I like both of those kind for quick meals to take to work.

Michelle_dirtracer

I eat Smart Ones. They are the best on sodium and very low calories. I find that they have more flavor and choices than the rest.

Swiftdogs

Lunch is my main meal, so I rely on some frozen dinners. I'm in this for the long haul, and know I won't always have time to pre-prep enough for 5 days. The sodium is a nuisance for what it does to the scale, but it's not a health issue for me. I'd rather to have a hot packaged meal than have to go through a fast-food drive-through.

luke_miller3

I don't really like the prepackaged meals because yes it might help you loose weight but what happens afterward when you get tired of them you most likely will go back to eating bad i think it is just better to train yourself now here are some breakfast foods that are way more delicious, healthy and easy to make. http://bit.ly/1bv11W0

happysherri

They're okay. As long as you watch the sugars and sodium because this can hinder a loss on the scale.

I have gotten away from them and Sunday night I measure and prepare my food for the week and put the portions in tupperware. This way I can grab them in the morning and I know exactly whats in them. Also I found this to be cheaper.

Joannesmith2818

I really like the tescos light choices. The sodium isnt too bad and its a great way to have a quick meal on those day whenim jsut soso busy. These were the days i would have usually ended up with takeaway....so its got to be better than that!

joeylu

I like them for lazy days or a quick grab lunch but I try to stay away

gabbygirl78

I eat Smart One's everyday almost for lunch and sometimes i will eat one for Dinner also if I don't feel like cooking.. The Smart ones are not outrageous on Sodium i have found which is important to me because I retain A LOT of water!

Pelly57

I love to cook, and like knowing exactly what I am putting in my food. That being said, I work full time and want to spend my free time doing more than obsessing over food and life is all about balance isn't it? I use a combination.

twikoff

they have been a good option for me for lunches..
it beats going out to lunch everyday.. and if i relied on myself to make my lunch and bring it to work, i would end up going out everyday....
after trying a few.. i found like the marie callender meals the best... kroger typically has a large selection, many of them are between 250-350 cals, and in my opinion they taste much better than any of the other brands Ive tried..

Francl27

For me it's just nowhere enough food for the calories. I don't know what they put in there, but really I could make myself much more food for 300 calories.

SLLRunner

I think they are loaded with sodium. They are a quick meal but I don't think they are as good for us as a home cooked meal.

I encourage you to cook as many meals as you can. You can build your own recipes--you just put in the amount and calorie count, serving size, and go from there. You do it once and then you just use your recipe. I've done a few of those.

Measure and weigh your portions if you are cooking only for you and you will be fine. When I cook for Don and I, I measure out my portion only and he gets to eat what he wants.

Edited to add: for lunch I make a salad with lettuce, tomato, chicken, olives, and almonds. I rarely eat lunch out, and I used to take the Healthy Choice meals but they were not satisfying and had too much salt.

Gee_24

When I was on 1200 I was way too scared to make home cooked meals, even with a food scale. I was worried I would over estimate as that's more common than I realised.

So most meals were ding cuisine for me! It was a vile month. lol

Then I learned to let go, started using the food scale and deliberately leaving over a few calories a day just in case.

I lost weight on them but hear they are often high in sodium so I very rarely have them thesedays.

DapperKay

Love/Hate relationship from my side.

Here are what I find to be pros/cons -

Pros:

- Low calorie
- Quick
- Tasty
- Helps us to get to goals very fast
- Available in most shops
- Lots of different meals
- Add perspective - Their sizes are small and show you what small meals should be like
- Easy to find on the MFP database

Cons:

- Can get expensive if bought daily - though still much cheaper than a meal out
- Lots of sodium - really bad for weight loss and a whole ton of other stuff like blood pressure
- Lots of preservatives - I've never really bought the whole preservatives are bad for you argument, but hey, nothing beats fresh ingredients
- Small?! Sometimes they just don't fill me up (especially for the main meal), often I find myself trying to add carbs next to them to make the difference, this is dangerous and defeats the purpose
- Can get redundant - this is bad for losing weight, you need options so you won't lose motivation and home cooking fixes this

So in essence I just echo what the others said. Have some around for the off days when you cant be bothered to cook or do anything else.

Also, some places, like M&S here in the UK, have a great selection of fresh(er) low cal/low fat meals. They are MUCH better that the frozen ones.

Francl27

It's not true that they're all full of preservatives. Actually from what I've seen here, most don't have any.

Koldnomore

For me it's just nowhere enough food for the calories. I don't know what they put in there, but really I could make myself much more food for 300 calories.

This is me. I have had them but I never feel satisfied. I am always hungry almost instantly again. Maybe they don't have enough protein for me or something but if you find that they are keeping you full then I don't see an issue with having them occasionally. Normally my lunches are just leftovers from the night before. Normally when I cook I try to make extra portions so that I always have 'something' to eat in the freezer.

mrsamanda86

When I don't make myself a regular lunch I go to lean cuisines, I LOVE their paninis. I'm lazy in the kitchen, especially if my hubby is gone, so when I don't feel like cooking I'll grab one. I always have them in the house, especially the paninis and pizza. I make sure they aren't too horrible on sodium, and account for it as well as I drink ridiculous amounts of water during the day.

RGv2

Buy a kitchen scale if you don't have one and enter your ingredients in MFP, see if the thing fits your macros then start cooking. I see no reason why you'd eat more when you cook your own food than with the frozen stuff. These are expensive and full of sodium/preservatives.

Expensive?

You can get some for less than $2

Gee_24

Expensive?

You can get some for less than $2

True! But if you want one thats a little nicer they can be up to £4. ( $6.50 ) I found myself buying my boyfriend nice dinners and adding my own £3-£4 meal on daily. That hurt the bank I must say.

BlueBombers

I have them once in while for lunch when I'm in a pinch. I try to stick to the lower fat, lower salt variety.