What do yall think about being on a diet of frozen foods to

Try to keep the sodium low but it can be done.

It'll work. When I first began, I ate a lot of frozen tv dinners like lean cuisine. Trust me, you'll get sick and tired of them. Now, I have a few stocked in the freezer for days I don't feel like cooking, but I don't live off them like I used to. Yes, it'll definitely work. However, don't limit yourself to only frozen meals.

I lost my first 50 lbs. by incorporating carefully chosen frozen meals into my eating plan. Since then, I have reduced my consumption to probably once a week, and am using fresh fruit, veggies, fresh or frozen, and lean proteins. I use the frozen option when I am in the mood for a particular taste or type of cuisine that I am not going to take the time to prepare.

My advice is READ THE LABELS. There are a lot of things that sound real good until you get to the sodium category. I set a limit that I won't buy an entree that has more than 650 mg of sodium, no matter how good the fat and calorie numbers might be. This still gives you a wide variety to choose from. Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine both have lines that don't have preservatives..emphasize whole grains..etc. Marie Callender has few choices that are not a train wreck, nutritionally speaking. Smart Ones (Weight Watchers) seem to be, in many cases, a little heavy on the sodium.

If you use the frozen options as a means to an end, and incorporate your own preparation of other foods to compliment them, you can achieve your goals. Good luck!!:drinker: :drinker:

The first question I have to ask is, why is it harder to track the calories you consume when you cook?
It can be a challenge if you don't have the proper tools to measure your food.
Is it harder to control your intake when you have a whole stove full of a meal to keep going back to seconds?

If you have a food scale, measuring cups, and measuring spoons just measure out your food. It's a little more work but you can always get some tupperware and pre-measure meals, and pop them in the freezer. it's cheaper and healthier. Everyone is right about the sodium. They put a lot of preservatives in frozen meals and the vegetables they include are usually not adequate. A big part of changing your lifestyle and learning to eat right has to do with being prepared. You could take one night a week and make it your cooking night. You can cook, measure, and freeze your food for the following week. We've mostly banned frozen foods in my house (except for the nights i get too lazy to cook) and it feels great to know what is in my food. When I do eat lean cuisines I keep the little trays the food comes in and re-use them on nights I cook. It helps keep the portion control in check.

I eat them for lunch but with the high sodium, it would be hard to eat them all the time.

I lost about 20 lbs eating Michelina Light frozen meals (they're the cheapest ones) plus added frozen veggies for lunch and supper. No, I don't believe they're the most nutritional way to go, but they're great to get your body used to smaller portion sizes and if you hate to cook, or just plain don't have time or feel like it. We all have things we prioritize and not all of us feel like prioritizing cooking, I get it. Healthy cooking can be fun, though, because it feels adventurous to come up with low-cal versions of your old favorites. I was pretty much forced to start eating healthier whole foods and cooking more now that I've cut out animal products, but I feel better and can eat more (lots of fresh veggies!) so it doesn't bother me.

Also, a note on the whole sodium thing: If you are buying the LIGHT meals, like from Lean Cuisine or WW, most of them stay around or under 30% of your RDA for sodium. Considering most of us eat about 3 meals a day, 30% of your sodium at one meal is right on target. Yes, many prepackaged meals are very high sodium, but as long as you're buying the light ones, they strive to cut the sodium on those usually.