Lean Cuisine Meals etc

segastler

I really like to cook and sometimes I bring left overs, but I never want to get up in the morning and make lunch for work. I feel like the Microwavable meals like Lean Cuisine/Healthy choice/Smartones, are way over processed and not doing me any good. Any advice to make bringing home cooked meals to work, or is it truely that harmful to have one super processed meal a day?

LeanButNotMean44

Cook on the weekend or on your day(s) off for the upcoming week. Enter what you cook into the MFP recipe calculator, portion out accordingly - BAM!

Stay away from frozen meals - sodium, chemicals, etc. OK once in awhile in a pinch but nothing more.

Magdaloonie

I pack my leftovers into take-to-work containers right after dinner so it's just as easy to grab as a box. I freeze portions of larger batches, too, but I have an extra freezer. I also sometimes have a lean cuisine (actually like a couple of the pizzas) and I can always manage to work in a Michael angelo's eggplant parm because that's a treat for me. Love it when they go on sale! I think I would avoid eating a processed meal every day, 5 times a week, though. It's a heck of a lot of salt.

mschicagocubs

I really like to cook and sometimes I bring left overs, but I never want to get up in the morning and make lunch for work. I feel like the Microwavable meals like Lean Cuisine/Healthy choice/Smartones, are way over processed and not doing me any good. Any advice to make bringing home cooked meals to work, or is it truely that harmful to have one super processed meal a day?

You you have to be careful with the macros on those frozen meals. I'd say if you are eating those 2-3 meals a week, not a big deal. As long as you balance out your macros the rest of the day.

Make it the night before. You will also save money, those things aren't that cheap for what you get

AlyRoseNYC

It depends on what your goals are. Frozen foods aren't gonna kill you, but the sodium tends to be on the higher side. My fingers swell and I feel like crap when I have too much. You'd just have to make sure to get balance with the rest of your day. Also, I find that they are not very filling. If you want to eat more, for the same amount of calories I'd just cook in big batches over the weekend, and make your own individual meals, like someone already suggested.

SummerOBX8

People always knock frozen meals for sodium. But most Lean Cuisine's I have eaten have between 400-600 mg. I think they are lower than they use to be.

I can get more sodium than that with a salad or a sandwich. Dressing is high in sodium as if I add 1/2 oz of cheese, croutons and/or sunflower seeds. Or course lunchmeat, cheese, condiments and bread are also high in sodium.

Magdaloonie

True, the Lean Cuisines aren't too bad on sodium. I think most of them are pretty tasteless, though. I wish they appreciated garlic more! I do have a dry green chile/garlic mix that does wonders for frozen food!

kwantlen2051

People always knock frozen meals for sodium. But most Lean Cuisine's I have eaten have between 400-600 mg. I think they are lower than they use to be.

I can get more sodium than that with a salad or a sandwich. Dressing is high in sodium as if I add 1/2 oz of cheese, croutons and/or sunflower seeds. Or course lunchmeat, cheese, condiments and bread are also high in sodium.

true

soupandcookies

People always knock frozen meals for sodium. But most Lean Cuisine's I have eaten have between 400-600 mg. I think they are lower than they use to be.

I can get more sodium than that with a salad or a sandwich. Dressing is high in sodium as if I add 1/2 oz of cheese, croutons and/or sunflower seeds. Or course lunchmeat, cheese, condiments and bread are also high in sodium.

true

I totally agree and I really don't understand why people think they are so high in sodium. If you put sauce on a bowl of pasta, you get more sodium than in most Lean Cuisines! On the other hand, they are highly processed. I love them in a pinch though.

elyelyse

I find I can get a LOT more food for my calories with meals i prepare myself...not just more food but better nutrition. There are certainly worse things you can eat! But lean cuisine type meals wouldn't leave me satisfied.

As others have said: leftovers. Purposely prepare extra when making dinner, and pack it up right away into a container you can bring to work.
Another idea is to put aside a few hours one day a week to prepare things you can grab easily: pre-weighed chicken breasts separated into baggies; cut up vegetables divided into servings; hard boil some eggs to eat as is or make egg salad from; deli meat like roast beef or turkey breast aren't bad if you go for low sodium versions. I just find this stuff tastes better and satisfies me a lot more than one of those prepackaged meals.

icravecontrol

Yes, they can be low calorie and convenient, and even may have less sodium than some of the traditional microwave dinners, but they are overly processed, and there's so many additives and chemicals in the ingredients list that aren't even close to being as healthy as whole foods. Also, say you have one for 300 calories.. usually, the small portion of Lean Cuisine would be less filling for those 300 calories than if you cooked a "whole foods" meal for the same amount of calories (such as lean protein like chicken or tofu + veggies + brown rice).

It probably won't slow down your weight loss since you'd still be watching calories, but it's just not optimally healthy. It won't necessarily "hurt" you but cooking meals to take would definitely be healthier and cheaper.. win/win.

It's easier than it sounds. Just pick something very simple that you can cook a large amount of at one time, then portion it into containers for the work week and freeze them. Then each day for work all you have to do is grab one! There's a couple videos on youtube showing people how to cook a week's worth of meals in this way without it taking a long time.

lhevan

People always knock frozen meals for sodium. But most Lean Cuisine's I have eaten have between 400-600 mg. I think they are lower than they use to be.

I can get more sodium than that with a salad or a sandwich. Dressing is high in sodium as if I add 1/2 oz of cheese, croutons and/or sunflower seeds. Or course lunchmeat, cheese, condiments and bread are also high in sodium.

I agree as well. I've been bringing a meal to work and it has been keeping me in check with portion control as well as helping stay within my overall daily calorie goals. And they are pretty tasty in my opinion.

Not everyone has the time cook. This is a great alternative and easy to add in my food diary as well.

SPeffer1

I will say I love the Lean Cuisine spring rolls, and I have them once every two - three weeks as a part of my "fun" dinner.

Typically though I personally don't think they are doing you any favors. I'm biased though b/c I do prefer to make a lot of my food at home. What I do is cook ahead and freeze and then I always have leftovers to take for lunch that don't take any longer to heat up than a freezer meal.

UmmSqueaky

I've been eating lean cuisines and other similar diet frozen meals every week day for lunch since I got serious at the beginning of December. I try to pick the ones that have a higher vegetable content (the spa collection is usually what I get), and make sure to keep my sodium under control. I'm used to eating a big dinner, so this allows me to eat a small lunch and leave calories available for night eating. I've tried to eat heartier lunches, but I usually end up eating the same size dinner, thus eating more calories in a day. So, it works for me. Your results may vary.