Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers?

nolachick
nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
edited September 20 in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone,
I usually don't have time to cook, nor do I really like it so for work, I usually eat a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers meal. They taste really good and the nutrition facts look pretty good. Like yesterday I had the most delicious Chicken Marinara and it only had 270cals, 35g carbs, 5g fat and 21g protein.

Anyways, most of their meals taste good and seem to have good nutrition facts, so I was just wondering if anyone else had used these in their diet and how that worked out for them?

It seems easy and they taste good, I just hope I'm not making a mistake by relying on these for lunch everyday.

Thanks :smile:

Replies

  • mramig
    mramig Posts: 26 Member
    Be careful with the sodium!
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
    Be careful with the sodium!

    hmm hadn't thought of that. what's a reasonable daily intake for Sodium?
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
    I eat a lot of those and lean cuisines for lunch. The sodium content is usually between 500 and 700 mgs. The very most you should be eating per day is 2500 mgs, so as long as you keep it to one meal a day, you should be OK.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    I've tried the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers, but didn't really enjoy them. The only thing about including prepackaged frozen meals in your diet on a regular basis is you have to watch the sodium. I think they contain about 1/4 of your daily recommended sodium.

    If you go to My Home/ Settings/ Diary Settings you can change one of the tabs to monitor your sodium.
  • vanimami
    vanimami Posts: 433 Member
    I LOVE the cafe steamers. I like the roasted red pepper sauce one :tongue: Yummy! Anyways, they fill me up and I enjoy them. I always look at the calories too to make sure they're not over 300 calories or their too full of fat. But so far, they work fine with me.
  • supafly
    supafly Posts: 36
    Ick, I hate Healthy Choice. They make me full RIGHT after I eat them then an hour later I'm starving! I'd rather go with Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones as far as microwave food. :wink:
  • linz320
    linz320 Posts: 49 Member
    Hey, Nola:) I think 2500 milligrams is the max for sodium. You can track it on your daily food entries, just go to settings. I've been tracking it, too!
  • nicole_temperton
    nicole_temperton Posts: 5 Member
    I am like you and don't have a lot of time to prepare lunch before I head off to work so I always eat a healthy choice cafe steamer for lunch. They also make pasta dishes that you can find in the pasta isle. They are healthy choice so the calorie content is low and they are really good! It is just a kit that includes the noodles and the sauce in this steamer container. So you can add water and micro at work to cook the noodles then the lid has a strainer on top so dump the excess water, add the sauce and voila!
  • mramig
    mramig Posts: 26 Member
    2,500MG is what MFP gives.. I've read it should be closer to 2,200MG but the lower the better. A "low-sodium" diet is somewhere between 1,500 to 1,800MG per day.

    It's good to track sodium because at first I had no clue how much sodium is in certain items! And then if you add more salt it's worse!
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
    thnx everyone, will definately start tracking sodium
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
    Hey everyone,
    I usually don't have time to cook, nor do I really like it so for work, I usually eat a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers meal. They taste really good and the nutrition facts look pretty good. Like yesterday I had the most delicious Chicken Marinara and it only had 270cals, 35g carbs, 5g fat and 21g protein.

    Anyways, most of their meals taste good and seem to have good nutrition facts, so I was just wondering if anyone else had used these in their diet and how that worked out for them?

    It seems easy and they taste good, I just hope I'm not making a mistake by relying on these for lunch everyday.

    Thanks :smile:

    I eat them a lot. Had really good success with it and as long as you are careful with the sodium they work great.
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
    2,500MG is what MFP gives.. I've read it should be closer to 2,200MG but the lower the better. A "low-sodium" diet is somewhere between 1,500 to 1,800MG per day.

    It's good to track sodium because at first I had no clue how much sodium is in certain items! And then if you add more salt it's worse!

    American heart association says no more than 2,400MG a day. The average person needs no more than 500MG a day to maintain normal organ function.
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
    Thanks chgudnitz!

    72 lbs? WAY TO GO! how'd u do it?
  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
    Well I am not a fan of these processed packaged foods. Remember that each time a food is cooked it looses vitamins and minerals so you should definitely be taking a multi vitamin if you are planning on eating these, especially everyday.

    My personal opinion is the closer to the natural source of the food the better, yes we all have foods that don't meet those guidelines but you should try to make more of your choices as healthy as possible. You could grill some chicken and top a salad with it, or nuts, or peanut butter and jelly (not as bad as you might think). There really isn't much healthy in those healthy choice meals except the calorie count but that might not be the best way to fill those calories either.
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
    thanks, you are right and the only reason I give myself this break at lunch is cuz break fast and dinner are healthy meals. even on weekends now I refuse take out. So I'm pretty good at eating natural stuff.
    and I tried doing grilled chicken but i gotten to hate it now. yuk.
    and i dont really like fish. so i dont have much options....
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
    I used to eat them all the time ... when I was obese. :laugh: Now I eat leftovers for lunch. So my lunch isn't any different from my dinners in terms of nutritional content.

    I also buy frozen meat such as shrimp, grilled chicken strips and meatballs and use them to make lunches. I throw the meat and veggies into a tuperware container and heat them up together. It takes almost no time or thought to do that.

    For the meatballs, I make little concoctions such as meatballs, mexican shredded cheese and salsa. Or meatballs, cheddar cheese and bbq sauce. Those take a bit more effort (because I havea to think of the combos), but not a lot.
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
    Thanks chgudnitz!

    72 lbs? WAY TO GO! how'd u do it?

    Thanks. No big secret, I eat right (finally) and exercise. I still eat what I want, but I make sure I don't over eat anything.
  • YourCatalyst429
    YourCatalyst429 Posts: 96 Member
    I think these are better than say going to Burger King or whatever but I had to throw my two cents in that raw veggies will give you much more of the vitamins that your body needs!:flowerforyou:
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
    Hey, she wasn't asking for alternatives to it. She wanted to know about people's experiences with them.

    There will ALWAYS be a better option to someone's choice in food. More vitamins in this, less sodium in that. I'm sorry to not sound nice, but...
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
    Hey, she wasn't asking for alternatives to it. She wanted to know about people's experiences with them.

    There will ALWAYS be a better option to someone's choice in food. More vitamins in this, less sodium in that. I'm sorry to not sound nice, but...

    lol thanks for that comment, I was kinda wondering when someone would answer my question.
    Just wanna know if anyone had good/bad experiences with this
  • mommared53
    mommared53 Posts: 9,543 Member
    When I first started this lifestyle change, I was eating the Healthy Choice and Smart Ones and whatever the other one is all the time for my lunches at work and lost weight. I kept an eye on my sodium intake and read labels like crazy. I never went over my recommended sodium amount. I got tired of them after awhile and started making my lunches for work but I think you'll do fine as long as you read food labels and keep an eye on your sodium.

    When I first saw your avatar I thought your name was Nola (that was my mom's name) and then I thought that maybe you were from New Orleans. Turns out the second thought was correct. :laugh:
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
    When I first started this lifestyle change, I was eating the Healthy Choice and Smart Ones and whatever the other one is all the time for my lunches at work and lost weight. I kept an eye on my sodium intake and read labels like crazy. I never went over my recommended sodium amount. I got tired of them after awhile and started making my lunches for work but I think you'll do fine as long as you read food labels and keep an eye on your sodium.

    When I first saw your avatar I thought your name was Nola (that was my mom's name) and then I thought that maybe you were from New Orleans. Turns out the second thought was correct. :laugh:

    thanks for that. I think I will eventually start cooking as I start learning more about healthy choices but for now I think its easier to just go with the food labels. Thanks again :flowerforyou:
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    The posters on this thread are certainly an inspiration:


    72 pounds lost
    111 pounds lost
    116 pounds lost

    !!!
  • klybarger
    klybarger Posts: 214
    Too funny - I just had one of the HC Steamers for lunch (chicken margherita?) and it was really good. I typically don't like Healthy Choice but this had a lot of flavor. Fortunately, I don't have too much of a sodium issue as far as blood pressue and it helps that I drink LOTS of water throughout the day to flush a lot of it out of my system, but it's something to think about.
  • mrd232
    mrd232 Posts: 331
    Speaking of the steamer bags --- I bought some store brand "Broccoli Stir Fry Veggies" steam bag. Cooked, plopped the whole bag in bowl, added soy sauce & sesame oil. Tasted like fresh stir fry and didn't have the preservatives or sugar. I only wished I had some sesame seeds to add.

    Awesome lunch for only 1.39 :)
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