Most of the people who don't - like myself - aren't a big fan of processed foods. Processed meals like this contain preservatives and chemicals that aren't in foods you cook yourself. I could make most of the meals that you can get in Lean Cuisine form, make them healthy, low calorie/low fat, and freeze them myself ... and have much healthier, chemical free meals for less money.
I love lean cuisine and they no longer contain preservatives or artificial flavors. I work retail so it's great when I need dinner or lunch in fix. I eat 3-4 a week. I like to add extra frozen veggies or have a nice side salad to make sure I have enough veggies.
Some of my favorites are the Chicken Florentine, BBQ Chicken Pizza, and Steak Tips Dijon.
Chicken and rice, or chicken and veggies are great, can't remember the names though. It doesn't look like a lot a food, but it is satisfying. It is great to help you get an idea of what portions should look like, as far as meat. It's quick and EASY, and low cal.
As, for the bad points, the sodium is a killer in those.
I might have one every 2 months...bottom line is they are tooooooo high in sodium for me. Otherwise, they taste decent...but I can make much nicer meals in little time on my own.
I have to agree with Zenor, too much sodium (which can help you retain water). I do 1 or 2 in the freezer for those days when I'm in a rush and it's either that or fast food.
I think some are quite tasty and I love them when I don't want to cook. They're great for lunches too. I usually have them with a salad if I have them for dinner. I think they're great for portion control and I ate them for dinner tons when I was single, and I lost weight then! Now that I'm married with kids they're just not that practical most of the time so I don't eat them for dinner as much.
I really love the paninis and new flatbreads as a go-to lunch when I'm at work. I do not eat a lot of sodium at other meals, and my blood pressure is normal (slightly low, usually), so excess sodium is not a major concern of mine. As with everything else, "all in moderation", sounds reasonable to me!
I try to cook my meals as much as possible, but I find Lean Cuisines to be a great thing for me to have on hand to grab when I do not feel like cooking - it is better than grabbing other convenient foods like burgers and pizzas.
I don't know that I have had one yet that doesn't taste good. But some of them give me heartburn, so I would never eat them as a staple in my diet. (And like others have said, they are high in sodium - if u r watching that)
I think that they are perfectly fine in moderation. I don't recommend eating them for your lunch and dinner every single day-but during times when you don't have time to cook, or you have a craving for something like pizza and you want to satisfy it in a better manner-they fit the bill nicely.
If you are concerned mostly with sodium-Healthy Choice brand meals are usually the lowest in sodium (out of Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, and Weight Watchers meals).
If you are concerned more with artificial ingredients and preservatives, etc. then Lean Cuisine contains the least amount of those.
All in all, I don't eat them daily, but eating a Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice entree when I get a craving for chinese food is much better than me ending up at the chinese buffet-where I would consume much more calories and sodium.
I understand both the reasons to eat them and to not them. Yeah, they're not as healthy as cooking your own meals. But I am don't have the time to do all my own cooking. So pulling one of these out of the freezer once or twice a week is a better option for me than pulling a pizza or 2 burritos out of the freezer like I used to do. When I eat a Lean Cuisine type meal, I always add a salad or steam some green beans to go with it.
I think the goal is to take little steps towards being more healthy. One step I made was to go from burritos/pizza 1-2 nights a week to Lean Cuisine 1-2 nights a week. In the future I hope to make more steps towards healthy eating and move away from eating them as often as I do. I think we all need to do what works for us.
How do you feel about Lean Cuisine/those type of meals
