Eating frozen food will help me loose weight?

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anisxoxo
anisxoxo Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
lean cusine, will eating this help me loose weight?
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  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,989 Member
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    It can if you like them. They can help you stay in your calorie goal. I often use them to replace fast food when I don't have time to cook. I wouldn't replace all my meals with them. They can be high in sodium.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,566 Member
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    Only drawback is that if this is your go to, what do you do when you need to prep your own food? Unless you're going to stick to eating that way, chances are high that weight regain will occur if you go back to eating your own meals since these are all pre prepped and measured.

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  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited January 2016
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    For me = fail. They left me hungry. Not enough food. Also a lot of sodium in them.
    If you are short on time, you could buy pre-made frozen chicken breasts that you can just heat up and sides of frozen veggies.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Eating frozen food will take a few extra calories in the form of body heat, compared to eating it hot. But nothing I would recommend, and I'm not convinced that was what you meant.

    There is nothing special about prepared food, no matter which brand. Nothing in the world will ever "help you" lose weight. You'll LOSE weight in a calorie deficit - that means: eat less, move more. Things you do, your diet, your attitude, your environment, can make it easier or more difficult to adhere to the calorie deficit. If eating Lean Cuisine makes you satisfied, it will reduce the risk of you eating too much. If you don't eat too much, you'll lose/maintain weight.
  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
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    It will help you lose weight if eating them is satisfying to you and helps you stay in a calorie deficit. I eat one almost every day for lunch M-F at the office, and cook a regular dinner at home every night. If you don't like them though, then probably should just stick with real food. Some of them have a lot of sodium as well, so if you are watching your sodium make sure you pay attention to the nutrition labels.
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    I bring them to work for lunch, it helps me say "No" to the office fast food pool of I am not hungry when they start debating the merits of BK Whoppers vs. Arby's Roast Beef. I had to find a brand I liked before I settled on this solution. I still eat out with the office once in a while, but it's on my terms.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    If it keeps you in a calorie deficit, yes. I work at a grocery store and they end up being my lunch regularly. There's one I can doctor up a little...Smart Ones Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta. When I get that, I'll get some shredded rotisserie chicken from the deli to add to it for some more protein. Yesterday I had it at home with some shrimp added in.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I would rather have a wholesome, home cooked meal prepared from scratch, whole ingredients than a highly processed...and rather unpalatable frozen dinner with tiny portions for the calories they contain.

    As you can see, I'm not a fan...I just think they're nasty sodium bombs...which for me has an additional con of pushing up my blood pressure as I am hypertensive...plus I really don't think they taste very good...all I can taste is salt...I find food in general to be pleasurable so I like to taste the actual food. I'm also a foodie...so kind of snobby when it comes to what I eat.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Frozen meals are fine. I eat them from time to time. If you are just starting out and have zero cooking skills, frozen meals are a big improvement over fast food.

    But, learn to fill in with regular food too. Keeping the weight from coming back requires life long changes. Work at developing cooking skills if you currently don't have any.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    i've lost weight on frozen foods, but i made sure i was within my calorie limit and i supplemented them with lots of fresh non starchy vegetables, some fruit and a little dairy.
  • ngagne
    ngagne Posts: 57 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I would rather have a wholesome, home cooked meal prepared from scratch, whole ingredients than a highly processed...and rather unpalatable frozen dinner with tiny portions for the calories they contain.

    As you can see, I'm not a fan...I just think they're nasty sodium bombs...which for me has an additional con of pushing up my blood pressure as I am hypertensive...plus I really don't think they taste very good...all I can taste is salt...I find food in general to be pleasurable so I like to taste the actual food. I'm also a foodie...so kind of snobby when it comes to what I eat.

    I agree. 80% of how you look is what you eat, so make food a priority & prep & cook foods at home.

  • iecreamheadaches
    iecreamheadaches Posts: 441 Member
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    if you want to go frozen meal route, id recommend brand research first. a lot of them are full of preservatives and sodium and what not. I like smart ones, they seem to not be too terrible on that. I dont eat them a lot, maybe 2-3 times a week if that for lunch at work. Better than eating McDonalds and some of them are satisfying. I'm spoiled and love home cooked, comfort food mostly though. Nothing better than cooking a big delicious meal and getting to take leftovers the next day! :D
  • iecreamheadaches
    iecreamheadaches Posts: 441 Member
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    oh and some of them are very bland. and variety of color which bothers me
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I think they're awful and really low volume

    I like the BOL (the old Innocent brand) veg pots over a bag of salad leaves...Thai coconut curry and Sri Lankan lentil sambar are my favourite

    Also pulled pork and chorizo from soulful foods

    Can't you get decent ready made pots of food that are nicer? Ones that aren't aimed at dieters but at a health market ...a lot of them are around 300 calories
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    Many of the Lean Cuisine frozen meals are quite tasty. They've really worked on their quality over the past couple years, IMO.

    If I'm extra hungry, I'll also fix a frozen steam-in-bag of green beans or broccoli to go with my frozen meal.

    Frozen meals have helped me immensely with weight loss. They provide portion control and convenience. They make it much easier for me to actually stick with the weight loss plan. If I had to cook all the time, I'd give up and just go back to grabbing fast food.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
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    I started taking a lean cuisine to work with me last week, but all week of small lunches lead to a binge weekend. This week I still only have those stocked in the fridge but I will be trying to eat two, but next week I'm ditching them. I have food prep time this weekend and will make similar meals myself. I'm sure it doesn't take too long and it will be worth it for me to have more satisfying and less expensive than eating two.
  • erinc5
    erinc5 Posts: 329 Member
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    Frozen meals have been a good tool for me to help aid in convenience. So, they have helped me stick to plan. I don't use them as a staple of my diet. I pretty much treat them as "emergency food" for work lunches if I haven't gone shopping in a while or if I don't have any leftovers. I have them there so I don't go out to the store or a restaraunt during my lunch break. I usually have two or three per month only - definitely not too often. I will also eat them for dinner when my husband is on work trips because I don't like cooking for just myself.

    I enjoy some of the Amy's light an lean meals - the mac and cheese is my favorite. I also like the evol frozen meals.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    I think for people who are just starting out with calorie counting and portion control, they can actually be a really helpful tool since everything is preset for you. I also think they can be good for people who don't like to cook, don't know how to cook, or who tend to fall back on eating out quite a bit. As others have said, they are sometimes high in sodium, which may not be a problem for most people (it isn't a concern for me) but they also may not be terribly filling.

    I keep a stash of them in my freezer at home to take to work on days when I don't have leftovers or time to pack a proper lunch. However, I supplement them usually - I add in extra chicken (buy those precooked chicken breast strips) or frozen veggies, or get a salad from the work cafeteria too.

    I enjoy the Evol brand of meals, I find them a little more filling than the Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers one, but they don't go on sale as often.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    It might be good to get you used to what a diet portion of a meal will be. When you find some meals you like you might try replicating them at home yourself.

    It might also be helpful to have these meals in the freezer on those days you are hungry and not in the mood to cook. It's better than ordering in Chinese.
  • BrideSept2017
    BrideSept2017 Posts: 28 Member
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    I bring frozen Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers with me to work and I love them. They are low cal, taste good, decent portion sizes. I don't really have time for meal prep very often so they are a lifesaver!

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