Smart Ones

I think it's good to have a few on hand to grab instead of fast food or something even worse when life gets busy. But I agree that you should try to eat less processed foods. I try to cook several chicken breasts and boil some eggs on the weekend to have on hand for quick snacks and meals during the week. I'll just throw a handful of frozen veggies in the microwave, measure out 3 oz of chicken and have a super easy (and healthy) dinner. And I cut one breast into strips to have with salads for lunches.

If you're not worried about sodium, some of them are great in a pinch. I like morning star products (veggie brand) and healthy choice. Still check the nutrition though. Some of them are not as healthy as you'd think. Lean cuisine pizzas, healthy choice chicken fetticini and broccoli and morning star chick patties are my favos. Try to eat fruits and veggies between and drink lots of water too!:flowerforyou:

I use them with great success on days when I work at the office. At first, I would eat two of them for a lunch, but but as I've gotten better accustomed to eating fewer calories and being satisfied, I'm now able to eat just one and have it carry me through until dinner with no problem. As someone else mentioned, I also use these when I'm in a rush as a way to avoid the calling of fast food.

The biggest problem that I see with them is the sodium ... they are HUGE in sodium for the portion size. Nonetheless, I'm continuing to lose weight while these are part of, but not the mainstay, of my overall diet plan; especially on days that I work from the office. I have my blood pressure monitored constantly, every other day, as part of my previous cardiac rehab activities, and my regular blood pressure range is around 100/70, so the sodium isn't currently having any negative impacts. Again, I only end up eating about three of these a week, so the sodium's much less a concern. I would say to use caution with the sodium side if you were planning to, for example, use these as a significant portion of your dietary intake ... like two of them of them every day of the week.

Its the lesser of the devil. While home cooked items are ofcourse best (my unhealthiest food which I pig out on all day is better than 1 meal at McDs......), if you're unable to cook for yourself due to time restraints or something, keep these on hand to use them if you need. I do the same with deli sandwiches, the deli meat isnt great due to high amount of sodium but beats the hell outta eating at KFC...

Its the lesser of the devil. While home cooked items are ofcourse best (my unhealthiest food which I pig out on all day is better than 1 meal at McDs......), if you're unable to cook for yourself due to time restraints or something, keep these on hand to use them if you need. I do the same with deli sandwiches, the deli meat isnt great due to high amount of sodium but beats the hell outta eating at KFC...

Boar's Head makes really good lower sodium deli meats and white cheese have much less salt. These are my go-to lunchmeats when I make sammiches.

I set a goal for myself to not eat past 6, 6:30 and a lot of times, I just don't get home in time. I am a full time student working a full time job. So whenever it's 6:15ish and I know I don't have much time, I just pop one in. The sodium isn't much of a problem for me and I never salt anything else. I'm using them right now to help with portion control, so I hope after a week or two, I'll be used to smaller portions and won't need them anymore!! Thanks so much for all the feedback!

It doesn't actually matter when you eat, just your total calorie intake, so if it comes down to a time crunch like this, it might be worth it to put some more effort into making a homemade meal that takes 20-30 minutes to make versus a few minutes if it's nutritionally better for you. Just a thought.

You'll be fine no matter what, but developing good habits from the start is really important to doing this long-term.

I buy them and add frozen veggies to them, it's a great meal for lunch instead of fast food. I don't eat them everyday tho, usually a couple of t imes a week.