The reason I love frozen meals...

I love them because when I have not packed a lunch they keep me from going out to lunch and eating way too many calories and spending too much money.

Agree about the sodium. There is always a way to make a craving a little healthier by making it yourself at home.

I like them for lunch at work during the week if I didn't prepare anything. I don't like the amount of sodium or sometimes sugar they contain.

Im using them to train myself portion control. If I cook a meal, I tend to put more on the plate.

Yep, I used to have them on hand for stuff like that, as well as to keep me from going out at lunch if I didn't have time to get food together. The Mexican-themed ones (quesadillas and enchiladas and stuff) are good for that, too. The sodium isn't so bad if they're not all you're eating.

I wish I could find more options that fit my macros better. I'm not LOW low carb by any means, but I do tend to eat on the lower end (120-150 ish) and I try to keep lunch somewhat low and have my carbs other places, and there's very few frozen meals that aren't bread or noodle or rice-based.

I will use the lean cuisines or smart ones for lunch at work, because I was starting to eat Chipotle WAY too much. But they don't fill me up my themselves, so I also pack a large back of cucumber and tomatoes to go with it, or some fruit. Sometimes I just really want some mac and cheese...

I do almost all of my meal prep in large batches on Sundays. I prep and cook and immediately portion into container that go in the fridge or the freezer.

It's healthier than any frozen food meal. I know what's in it. It's less expensive. I get variety. I have built in portion control.

The frozen meals are quite convenient as it relates to time and portion sizes. Unfortunately for me though, I can no longer have them. The sodium is just too high.

its all about calories, not sodium numbers.........everyone always stresses over sodium........blah

Indeed. IF you have problems with high blood pressure and so on, sure, worry about it.
But for most people it shouldn't be a big thing.

I like the healthy choice meals and I don't normally have issues with Sodium a whole lot, but I used to when I was eating garbage. Sodium causes you to retain fluid, so therefor your scale is going to read higher numbers--for those who are sensitive about what the scale says! But what I always do, because those meals are NOT ENOUGH to fill you up at all, is I add veggies with them. Veggies are great for you and I eat broccoli a lot of times with mine. I like to eat the little dinners because it teaches me portion control and allows me to splurge on something healthier like broccoli with cheese sauce (Green giant) It works for me, but it may not others. Not everything will work for everybody, so you just gotta play around with stuff! I haven't tried any other quick meals other than the healthy choice ones.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 :}