The reason I love frozen meals...

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  • JesRuizz
    JesRuizz Posts: 215
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    I don't like them... maybe it's because I still haven't found any good ones?.. =(
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Ideally, you would want to below 1,500 -2300

    The average American consumes 3,000-3,600 mgs per day.

    Too much on a given day is not bad, but too much every day puts strain on your kidneys and vascular system.
    Out of (genuine) interest - have you got any research or so to back this up?

    Ie, how were these figures worked out and so on.

    For instance, how does it change with body weight? I'm presuming at a smidge under 200lb right now, I would need and could eat more than a 110lb friend of mine.
  • missADS1981
    missADS1981 Posts: 364 Member
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    its not the calories that are the problem the sodium is awfully high and its a ton of processed food
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
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    Ideally, you would want to below 1,500 -2300

    The average American consumes 3,000-3,600 mgs per day.

    Too much on a given day is not bad, but too much every day puts strain on your kidneys and vascular system.
    Out of (genuine) interest - have you got any research or so to back this up?

    Ie, how were these figures worked out and so on.

    For instance, how does it change with body weight? I'm presuming at a smidge under 200lb right now, I would need and could eat more than a 110lb friend of mine.


    United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): 2300 mg
    American Heart Association (AHA): 1500 mg
    Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND): 1500 to 2300 mg
    American Diabetes Association (ADA): 1500 to 2300 mg

    Body and conditioning will mostly affect your natural blood pressure. How much sodium you consume in that range with raise or lower it, but no, it's not like calories where larger bodies use more.
  • Love4fitnesslove4food2
    Love4fitnesslove4food2 Posts: 711 Member
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    I just started eating lean cuisines for convenience. I know how to cook and know all about healthy choices but it's a convenient, relatively healthy, and pretty tasty option for days I just don't want to cook. I don't care about sodium because when I make something at home it has as much/more sodium as a lean cuisine would. Meh, I say eat them if they satisfy you!
  • FerretBuellerr
    FerretBuellerr Posts: 468 Member
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    I used to buy frozen meals but the main problem was they didn't fill me up!

    I agree - I don't know how those frozen dinner fill you! :noway: I'd rather eat a giant homemade salad with the same amount of calories and feel full than just have a tease!

    Also OP, if you're looking for a quick and easy way to make pizza, try making what my Dad used to make when I was younger - what I called "Pizza Bread". If you have a toaster oven at work then it's no problem!

    I entered the recipe into the MFP calculator and this is what I got (note that it is a rough estimate):

    Dempsters - 100% Whole Wheat Bread, 2 slices
    Tostitos - Chunky Salsa (Mild), 3 tbsp
    Bell Pepper - Green Chopped, 1/4 cup chopped (74.5g)
    Black Forrest Ham Lunch Meat - Lunch Meat, 1 slice 60
    Generic - White Mushroom, Sliced, 8 Pieces
    Black Diamond - Marble Cheddar Cheese, 30 g

    Divide the ingredients evenly over the two slices of bread and bake in the oven until the bread begins to toast.

    381 cal/serving

    It is higher in carbs, fat, and sodium compared to the frozen ones, but I find it tastes a HECK of a lot better, and fills you up more.
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
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    I just started eating lean cuisines for convenience. I know how to cook and know all about healthy choices but it's a convenient, relatively healthy, and pretty tasty option for days I just don't want to cook. I don't care about sodium because when I make something at home it has as much/more sodium as a lean cuisine would. Meh, I say eat them if they satisfy you!

    Scary thought.
  • 1113cw
    1113cw Posts: 830 Member
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    I will keep a few on hand for when I have literally nothing else. But I'm not usually a fan of them for a few reasons. Not happy about the amount of preservatives, added sugars, etc. Most of the brands are usually extremely carb heavy and lacking any good amount of protein which means I'll be bloated and hungry in 2 hrs. And the sodium is a definite concern for me personally.

    What I've been trying to do is keep salad greens and/or veggies on hand all the time and then on the weekends I'll cook up a whole bunch of protein options to keep in the fridge (chicken breasts, boneless pork chops, hard boiled eggs, etc). This is working out better than the frozen meals, for me anyway.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    I'm confused by the concern with sodium.

    I usually eat a packaged meal once a day and to compound the issue, I often (3/4 of the time) have fast food for lunch. Yet looking at my diary for October and early/mid November*, I'm over 2500mg maybe 1/3 of the time. Obviously eating a packaged meal is not enough to throw your sodium levels completely out of whack. Or, I've hit on the rare few that aren't high sodium without trying.

    *Late November until the beginning of this week I was eating mostly holiday food and/or not logging. Also not eating prepackaged foods, nearly all homemade or restaurant food. Not representative of my normal diet.
  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
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    Sodium doesn't bother me once in a while, honestly. But pizza is just way too much work for me to make, lol.

    I take a flatbread and I add bbq sauce, chicken and mozerella cheese and it takes only minutes to make this home made pizza and it's delicious. You can add any ingredients or a different sauce also to change it up by maybe having pepperoni with a mariana sauce. Really try the flatbread to make your own pizza the calories are low according to what you put on it :}
  • amyx593
    amyx593 Posts: 211 Member
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    There are two frozen meals that I always pick up at the store!

    I love pad thai... so I always get the Lean Cuisine Thai-Style noodles w/chicken (580mg sodium) and have it with sriracha. The other is Healthy Choice Chicken Margherita with balsamic (600mg sodium). Gives me my pasta fix. These are the only two I eat and I'll have them for lunch 1-2x per week.
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
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    I won't be over 1,000 mgs most days.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Sodium doesn't bother me once in a while, honestly. But pizza is just way too much work for me to make, lol.

    I take a flatbread and I add bbq sauce, chicken and mozerella cheese and it takes only minutes to make this home made pizza and it's delicious. You can add any ingredients or a different sauce also to change it up by maybe having pepperoni with a mariana sauce. Really try the flatbread to make your own pizza the calories are low according to what you put on it :}

    Totally! Where do you buy flat bread though?
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): 2300 mg
    American Heart Association (AHA): 1500 mg
    Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND): 1500 to 2300 mg
    American Diabetes Association (ADA): 1500 to 2300 mg

    Body and conditioning will mostly affect your natural blood pressure. How much sodium you consume in that range with raise or lower it, but no, it's not like calories where larger bodies use more.
    Ta. Still interested to know how they got those figures.
    I can have a lot higher levels than that for extended periods and still have blood pressure at around optimum levels.
  • Love4fitnesslove4food2
    Love4fitnesslove4food2 Posts: 711 Member
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    I just started eating lean cuisines for convenience. I know how to cook and know all about healthy choices but it's a convenient, relatively healthy, and pretty tasty option for days I just don't want to cook. I don't care about sodium because when I make something at home it has as much/more sodium as a lean cuisine would. Meh, I say eat them if they satisfy you!

    Scary thought.

    Which part of that is scary? They don't make up the majority of my meals nor do I even eat them daily but I have purchased a handful to have on hand during particularly stressful time periods (law school finals) or when I just don't have time to be bothered with making something. My blood pressure is absolutely perfect, on the lower side actually. I have no reason to restrict my sodium intake.
  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
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    Sodium doesn't bother me once in a while, honestly. But pizza is just way too much work for me to make, lol.

    I take a flatbread and I add bbq sauce, chicken and mozerella cheese and it takes only minutes to make this home made pizza and it's delicious. You can add any ingredients or a different sauce also to change it up by maybe having pepperoni with a mariana sauce. Really try the flatbread to make your own pizza the calories are low according to what you put on it :}

    Totally! Where do you buy flat bread though?

    You can get flatbread at Publix and Winn Dixie and pretty much any grocery store
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    What on earth?

    So that's a rule is it? Frozen meal = low calories? So stick a Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza in the freezer, put a nice box around it and then whack it out on a supermarket shelf and then bang goes another 350 calorie meal....
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    What on earth?

    So that's a rule is it? Frozen meal = low calories? So stick a Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza in the freezer, put a nice box around it and then whack it out on a supermarket shelf and then bang goes another 350 calorie meal....

    The pizza hut stuffed crust pizza is way more than 350 calories though! If I could easily just buy a slice of pizza from a pizza place, I'd do that intead for sure, just not convenient unless you buy a whole pizza... then it totally defeats the purpose (especially as I had it for breakfast... hard to find pizza in the morning).

    Same problem with buying ingredients to make my own. What do I do with the extra?
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
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    Which part of that is scary? They don't make up the majority of my meals nor do I even eat them daily but I have purchased a handful to have on hand during particularly stressful time periods (law school finals) or when I just don't have time to be bothered with making something. My blood pressure is absolutely perfect, on the lower side actually. I have no reason to restrict my sodium intake.

    That food you cook at home would have more sodium, since most package foods add sodium to disguise fillers and promote excess consumption.

    I have always had perfect PB, even through law school and busy trial practice. Funny part is that excess sodium can not only increase BP, it can also lower it. even where it stays the same, it's making the kidneys bear an increased load.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    One frozen meal every 2 weeks is not going to ruin your kidneys. Just saying.

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