Frozen meals...work of the devil or heaven sent?

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FunkBunny
FunkBunny Posts: 417 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So...I was pressed for time this morning and had an empty fridge, so rather than try and scrounge up an unhealthy lunch from home or from the cefeteria at work, I stopped at the store instead. I grabbed three frozen "meals" one for breakfast, lunch and dinner and for a snack later (I work 12 hour shifts so all meals on work days are done at work).
I bought Michelina's Lean Gourmet Breakfast Snacker and Michelina's Lean Gourmet sesame chicken for lunch, then dinner is a Lean Cuisine mushroom tortelloni. I also grabbed up a Michelina's Lean Gourmet Baked Pizza Snacker for later if I'm still hungry.
With all these foods entered into my food log, I am under all of my nutrition goals...including sodium.
I was thinking this makes portion control so much easier for me than just eyeballing food and they are on sale right now at the store. Should I stock up and make this my regular work day? Or should I forget I ever heard of frozen entrees and stick with home prepared? Or is moderation the key, and have these time and again, but nothing beats a good old fresh salad?

(I think I know the answer already, but curious for other's POV) Thanks!
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Replies

  • Mellie13
    Mellie13 Posts: 424
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    My vote is the devil. I try to stay away from processed foods and preservatives. I think they are ok every now and then, put not as your main source of food.
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    I eat Lean Cuisines for lunch for convenience, you gotta watch the Soium in them, if you eat 3 a day your sodium will be really high, otherwise they are a good option, but if you can do Home Preparered its definately better
  • raymj61
    raymj61 Posts: 142
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    I usually eat about one of these per day, either for lunch or dinner, depending on my work schedule. Usually Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, or the Lean Gourmet that you mentioned. They're a lifesaver for me and they keep me from having to throw down a Big Mac or Whopper when I'm in a pinch for time. They usually have around 250 cals, hold you up pretty well, and most are low in fat and cholesterol.
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    I often eat the "weight watcher" frozen meals, usually on a non-exercise day as they are low in calories.

    I have to say that I never have any problem with my sodium levels, my daily totals are around the 1,100 mark.

    The thing is, it all depends on a persons lifestyle and how busy they are, how many days per week they work and how long for etc etc.

    It is better that somebody were to eat a frozen meal than crap out of the chocolate vending machine, let's just say that :wink:
  • Amy_B
    Amy_B Posts: 2,323 Member
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    Fresh is always best. I guess they wouldn't be too bad if you only had one a day or every couple of days paired with fresh fruits or veggies.
  • tranquil327
    tranquil327 Posts: 4 Member
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    I know that frozen/processed options aren't always the healthiest route for a healthy lifestyle, BUT I am a fan of frozen entrees for the following reasons:
    1. Convenience - easy and quick; no fuss means less of a chance I'll grab something unhealthy
    2. Portion Control - as a consistent overeater, these entrees are perfect. No more double portions!
    3. Variety - like most of us, I get bored quickly of eating the same items each day. Frozen entrees come in such a wide variety that I can choose my meal based on my mood and not be stuck with chicken and veggies every meal
    4. Nutritional Info - no more guesstimating how many calories or carbs I'm eating, the info is right there on the box!

    Hope this helped! Best of luck to us all on our weight loss journeys!
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,388 Member
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    I LOVE Amy's meals. There's several to choose from. Thai/Mexican/Italian/Indian, etc. I don't normal eat microwave meals like that because they're all disgusting but so far I have only had one Amy's meal that I didn't like. I keep a few in the freezer at work as back ups, but normally bring a salad for lunch. They're a bit more calories than my salads and obviously more sodium, but I feel like I'm getting a yummy treat instead of just eating cardboard flavored noodles out of convenience.
  • ultrahoon
    ultrahoon Posts: 467 Member
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    They aren't so bad, just gotta watch the sodium (a lot of the entries in the database don't list it, since the package will list salt rather than sodium content), if you eat them a lot that is.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I eat them occasionally, especially when I'm craving something that's hard to make in a single serving. For instance - Stouffer's lasagna.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    edited August 2015
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    They aren't terrible, but they shouldn't be your first choice. My biggest concern here, is that for the calories in them, they are a pretty small volume of food, which may leave you hungry and eyeballing the vending machines. It would be for me, at any rate.


    If this is a recurring thing for you, I would recommend making some of your own frozen meals in advance (for example, have a big cooking session on a day off, portion, and freeze the meals). That way you know what's in them, you can most likely get more food for the same calories, and they will be cheaper in the long run.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    Every once in a while they can come in handy, if you're in a pinch, but eating stuff like that is much more expensive for a small amount of food. I would run out of my month of grocery money in one week lol. I recommend preparing/freezing ahead for yourself if you possibly can.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    I rely on them for many of the reasons you mentioned and outlined above. Most of the time I prefer to being leftovers from a previous night's dinner for lunch, but if there are none, I keep a few of these in the freezer. I do not find them to have exceptionally high sodium (and for many people sodium is not something they need to significantly restrict anyway) or a lot of scary ingredients (another reason people mention to avoid them). I do find them to leave me a little hungry, so a lot of times I will also include extra protein (I keep grilled chicken strips in my fridge at home) or go to the work cafeteria and get a salad or extra veggies to supplement, or bring a yogurt for later.

    I also like the frozen breakfast options, the Special K sandwiches, the Jimmy Dean turkey sausage and egg white bowl, etc. I alternate between those and a Greek yogurt during the week.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    I love the idea of frozen meals. I wish we had them. Such a convenient way of controlling portions. Sodium shouldn't be an issue unless you have sodium-reactive hypertension. Personally I would never give up amazing delicious home cooked food, but whenever you're busy or too lazy to cook frozen meals seem like a great calorie-controlled option.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    I regularly include frozen or prepackaged good as part of my meals. Last night I had a frozen cafe steamer of pasta and veggies. I added spinach and meatless meatballs. I often have microwaveable rice, and beans and frozen broccoli.

    I don't see anything wrong with convenience. Eat a michelinas and have an apple for a snack. Add in some fresh or frozen veggies. Cook when you can. Just make it work.
  • stacief82
    stacief82 Posts: 109 Member
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    I always try to keep a few in the freezer, for days when I have nothing else to grab for lunch. They are good portion control for calorie intake, but I agree the volume is small. If you are used to eating larger portions of low calorie foods (like fresh fruit and veggies) you may be feeling a little hungry at the end of the day.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    they are nice to have for days when you don't want to cook
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    JTick wrote: »
    I eat them occasionally, especially when I'm craving something that's hard to make in a single serving. For instance - Stouffer's lasagna.

    samesies. I usually serve them with some veggies though, for added volume. I really like the michelena's wheels and cheese entree. I stock up when its 80 cents or so.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    IMO, Both. Home-made food tastes better and is healthier (and can also be pre-portioned) but the Lean Cuisines are very handy, will help with portion control and have calories listed for people who are counting.

    I used to eat a lot of frozen dinners. I cut them out and make my own stuff now. But I totally understand why people like them.

    If you like them, that's what you should eat!!
  • HardcoreP0rk
    HardcoreP0rk Posts: 936 Member
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    Meh - some are better than others. I prefer to prepare my own food, but I was in a pinch for lunch and tried some from EVOL. They seem pretty good. I supplemented that meal with a fresh salad though, because they never seem to contain enough FOOD for a MEAL
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited August 2015
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    JTick wrote: »
    I eat them occasionally, especially when I'm craving something that's hard to make in a single serving. For instance - Stouffer's lasagna.

    This^

    or Lean Cuisine Chicken Alfredo ....yum.

    Where I find most frozen meals lacking is veggies. I will steam some broccoli, green beans, or whatever to add to my dish. Fruit makes a nice add on for dinner meals. Gotta get my fiber in.

    Slaite & Melimom....beat me to it!

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