USING DIET MEALS FROM THE STORE

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  • Stary714
    Stary714 Posts: 110 Member
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    I like the idea of working around recipes. I just don't see any benefit in those frozen diet meals, and from personal experience (during a lazy phase of mine LOL) I know they didn't keep me full.

    Why not adjust the recipe? Or make the recipe for 2 and supplement the (2/3) portions with a salad? Or steamed cauliflower? Or homemade soup?

    I've seen some brilliant recipes for low calorie but filling soups around some of these healthy eating websites. They show up on google or if you PM me I could send you some I've saved in my browser.
  • cnave99
    cnave99 Posts: 63 Member
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    lclarkewalker wrote: »
    Almost sorry I asked this question.

    So lets see if anyone gets it.

    I am addicted to food. If you ever watched MY 600 POUND LIFE you'd understand.

    So, I make a meal for six and divide it in half. Sounds easy, right? Or that fourth serving. Yeah okay. I save that one little bit? Um.

    IF ITS THERE I WILL EAT IT.

    But, if I have just the diet meals in groups of three, well, I would have to take from my loved ones and I won't do that. So that seems to work.

    All I wanted to know is if Nutrasystem, or Weight Watchers meals, have worked for anyone else.

    I use frozen meals as my lunch option. I like it because there's no guess work. Plus- I hate cooking. So instead of trying to face the fast menu (at this point in my journey) it's just better to get a frozen dinner, add veggies and call it a day.

    It's not a 'great' option. But it's better than what I'll get if I drivetrough.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    lclarkewalker wrote: »
    Almost sorry I asked this question.

    So lets see if anyone gets it.

    I am addicted to food. If you ever watched MY 600 POUND LIFE you'd understand.

    So, I make a meal for six and divide it in half. Sounds easy, right? Or that fourth serving. Yeah okay. I save that one little bit? Um.

    IF ITS THERE I WILL EAT IT.

    But, if I have just the diet meals in groups of three, well, I would have to take from my loved ones and I won't do that. So that seems to work.

    All I wanted to know is if Nutrasystem, or Weight Watchers meals, have worked for anyone else.

    Sites like allrecipes.com will convert the recipe to whatever serving amounts you want. You can of course also do this manually.

    But what about making a recipe for four and as soon as it is done immediately putting the extra portion in the frig or freezer (or out of sight until it cools)? I baked cookies the other night and had to get the extra ones out of sight and once they were gone I was fine.

    Also, are you getting enough bulk and fiber? I'm eating larger portions of broccoli with dinner (at least 100 g/3.5 oz) and this makes me uninterested in seconds.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    lclarkewalker wrote: »
    Almost sorry I asked this question.

    So lets see if anyone gets it.

    I am addicted to food. If you ever watched MY 600 POUND LIFE you'd understand.

    So, I make a meal for six and divide it in half. Sounds easy, right? Or that fourth serving. Yeah okay. I save that one little bit? Um.

    IF ITS THERE I WILL EAT IT.

    But, if I have just the diet meals in groups of three, well, I would have to take from my loved ones and I won't do that. So that seems to work.

    All I wanted to know is if Nutrasystem, or Weight Watchers meals, have worked for anyone else.

    Of course these meals can help people lose weight. Weight loss is calories in vs. calories out. You can make ANY substitutions you want if you stay within your calorie goal.

    However, the more difficult thing will be maintenance. Are you going to forego cooking forever? OR maybe just cook a few nights a week forever? Because when you get to goal a smaller you will require (somewhat) fewer calories forever. Somethings will need to be lifestyle changes....will Lean Cuisine be one of them?
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
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    I definitely would not go from eating homemade to eating prepackaged meals with all those preservatives and added crap in them. Just use the recipe builder. Portion it out for 1 serving whatever you determine it and see from there. Once you put it into the recipe builder, you can determine how little or how much of the portion size you want to eat. For example if I make a casserole I might determine a portion size is 1/2 cup of said casserole, so I will count out the casserole by 1/2 cup servings and put that total in the recipe builder (lets say for arguments sake 10 servings) so if I eat an entire cup I know I ate 2 servings of the 1/2 cup serving I determined, sometimes I want more, sometimes I'm not very hungry. I think its much better to use real ingredients than prepackaged food.
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
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    I have bought them but found the sodium context super high. And I also did not really enjoy the taste. I did nutra system for only 1 month. Too much sodium, not healthy foods. I would really like to buy them because I do understand your thinking that you would know what is for your dinner and just eat that. I don't think you would eat two in a row because they are not great tasting. Good luck
  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    But what about making a recipe for four and as soon as it is done immediately putting the extra portion in the frig or freezer (or out of sight until it cools)? I baked cookies the other night and had to get the extra ones out of sight and once they were gone I was fine.

    Also, are you getting enough bulk and fiber? I'm eating larger portions of broccoli with dinner (at least 100 g/3.5 oz) and this makes me uninterested in seconds.
    These are good strategies, as is portion control. Another one to consider is altering the recipes. For example, bulk up the recipe with more vegetables in the ingredients, or make lower-calorie substitutions to bring the overall calorie and carb count down (since you need to watch carbs). If your family doesn't need to reduce calories, they could have a higher-calorie, higher-carb side dish or dessert.

    Just to give an example of what that *might* look like, if you were making chili con carne for dinner, you could greatly increase that tomatoes and onions in the chili and use leaner meat to reduce calories. Your family could have rice, cornbread, or crackers with theirs, and you could have something else that's lower in calories and carbs but equally filling. For dessert, they could have ice cream with strawberries while you could have strawberries with a little yogurt or whipped cream. Eating more vegetables would be good for you, and your family might benefit from better nutrition too. That's one possibility anyway.
  • 143tobe
    143tobe Posts: 620 Member
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    I'm sorry, I know how hard it can be to restrict yourself to one portion when you make something simply amazing. I have used pre-packaged meals or shakes or salads from time to time. Usually to get back on track after tossing myself off the wagon. Never been able to do this more more than two weeks though, and I don't think it would be a good idea to. What I eventually do is within those two weeks is to go back to a more 'grazing' type diet. I was actually offended when one of my friends looked at my food log and was like, "Wow, you graze a lot. I can't do that, I have a family to cook for." I do cook for my family, only I find it less tempting to overeat if my lunch is a plate of fresh veggies and a baked potato with yogurt ranch and my dinner is a bowl of cottage cheese with bananas and walnuts. Keeping my food choices simple, basic, fresh and kind of repetitive has worked for me.
  • TheJourneyToFabulous
    TheJourneyToFabulous Posts: 381 Member
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    I will have a chilled ready meal if im in a rush or too tired to cook, but feel so much better on fresh home cooked meals
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    lclarkewalker wrote: »
    I've always cooked. So following recipes isn't an issue. The problem is: I always go past my allowable calories because there's three of us in our home and recipes are for 2, 4 or 6.

    Weight Watchers and other portioned control meals are readily available in the stores, so I thought I would wean us into those. I realize you want to add a salad, some fruit or other veggie to them. For those who can have the extra carbs a roll would probably be ok (I cannot because of carb limits).

    Now here's my dilema:

    Some of these meals are higher in carb than others. I have to (medical reasons) count carbs. So, do I balance the meals? Like, a dinner with 19 carbs for one meal and a dinner with 33 carbs on another meal? I am allowed up to 60 carbs per meal but want to keep it under 45.

    And has anyone else tried losing weight using these? Sodium is no problem.

    Thanks!

    Since you are to have 60 carbs per meal, then you have nothing to worry about at 19 or 33, should probably eating more. Whether you should borrow excess carbs from one meal towards another would be a question for the doc treating your condition or the Dietician I assume you need to manage this nutrition. If doc told you to eat 60, not sure why you think it should be 45.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    lclarkewalker wrote: »
    Almost sorry I asked this question.

    So lets see if anyone gets it.

    I am addicted to food. If you ever watched MY 600 POUND LIFE you'd understand.

    So, I make a meal for six and divide it in half. Sounds easy, right? Or that fourth serving. Yeah okay. I save that one little bit? Um.

    IF ITS THERE I WILL EAT IT.

    But, if I have just the diet meals in groups of three, well, I would have to take from my loved ones and I won't do that. So that seems to work.

    All I wanted to know is if Nutrasystem, or Weight Watchers meals, have worked for anyone else.

    They all work, up to a point. Meaning that many people find them helpful for initial weight loss. The problem, as always, is long-term maintenance. The small size of the meals and the relative monotony seem to be difficult to sustain long term.

    Any time one uses what I call an "artificial" system to lose weight, sooner or later they have to go back to "real life". That is where the vast majority of people fail. It's the same with very low calorie diets, liquid protein diets, etc. By not addressing the "real life" or behavioral issues up front, it just tends to postpone the day of reckoning.

    You may feel that the need for initial weight loss is so crucial that you need to do it by any means necessary and then deal with the transition later. I can't say that is "wrong", but history shows that the long-term success rate is very low.
  • tealtortoise
    tealtortoise Posts: 53 Member
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    ruqayyahsmum wrote: »
    Any elderly singles living in your area? You could donate that extra portion to them to 1. Get it away from you so your not tempted and 2. Give a vulnerable person a nice homecooked meal

    The above posters idea is a great one! If that is not an option for you, however, how about you just throw the extra away? I know it's wasteful, but it's better than eating a double portion or giving up on your cooking skills. My toddler Barely eats dinner, but I am not going to stop serving him, so his food goes in trash every night...well, a little goes to the hungry pugs
    ☺️)
  • lclarkewalker
    lclarkewalker Posts: 37 Member
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    Well I've read everyone's ideas. I'm glad some people understand that if its in the house I'll eat it, unless there's a limit. For example, if I know I would be eating my husbands or son's meal, I won't do it. But extras and leftovers? They're in my mouth faster than bill knows who!

    So here's what I'm going to do.

    On weekdays, veggies and diet dinners prepared. Its summertime and a great time to cease heavy cooking projects. But on weekends, I will cook. And eat. Just shop more limitedly.

    Someone said something about making my family suffer. Well, would I not be forcing my family to eat whatever else I'm eating if I cook meals? And if those meals are based on diet recipes, it's the same. Besides, my husband and son say they're fine with the dinners.

    The other thing is I have to limit more than calories, I have to limit carbs. This is so much easier to count Cals and Carbs with the dinners. And salads and veggies on the side can fill in the empty space.

    Anyhoo, thanks for answering everyone.
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
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    lclarkewalker wrote: »
    Someone said something about making my family suffer. Well, would I not be forcing my family to eat whatever else I'm eating if I cook meals? And if those meals are based on diet recipes, it's the same.

    Sorry, but I disagree. A Skinnytaste recipe made from scratch is infinitely better than a WW meal or a Lean Cuisine.

    But, if you think you can live on those meals forever, then go for it!
  • lclarkewalker
    lclarkewalker Posts: 37 Member
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    Its not so much forever... its to get goin. I need to drop 20 and it seems this is the only way to really do it that's feasible for me.
  • lclarkewalker
    lclarkewalker Posts: 37 Member
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    ruqayyahsmum wrote: »
    Any elderly singles living in your area? You could donate that extra portion to them to 1. Get it away from you so your not tempted and 2. Give a vulnerable person a nice homecooked meal

    The last time I took a needy person a meal they told me they wanted money.

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