I just started eating the frozen Weight Watchers microwave meals for dinner. This is partly because it's "healthy" and a great way to pre-portion my meals, and partly because I'm lazy and don't want to cook since the kitchen is all the way upstairs in my landlord's quarters.
I pay attention to the fat and sodium contents in it. Not uber low, not alarmingly high. So far, pretty tasty stuff. Not a delicacy or anything, but it gets rid of the hunger cravings.
Even if it is associated with a well-known weight loss organization, I'm not sure microwave meals are the way to go. A little paranoid of cancer since it seems to run in the family. Anyone have any experience with this? Or educated opinions?
I look at the ingredient listing - not just the nutritional information. How many of those do you actually know what they are? I wouldn't base any confidence on products' association with a weight loss org - that's a billion dollar industry and they want you to keep coming back, right? But it's all in what works for each of us - and what our personal beliefs are about products. Someone else might eat three frozen meals a day and not think twice about it- and the preportion is a valued aspect. We tend to shop as fresh as possible and cook with basics (i.e., real potatoes vs. a packaged or frozen product) and find that saves $ too more often, but there is the time commitment!
I personally would never eat WW or any other pre-packaged meal... The sodium is usually sky high and some of the ingredients are unpronounceable... NAY on this one for sure...
Have you tried Amy's? or LYFE Kitchen? they have some frozen meals that look pretty good and sound pretty healthy... there's definitely a lot of choices out there these days... that's for sure....
I would agree with what TripSwitch said, check what else is available... there are more healthy frozen meals than WW. And better tasting! I like Amy's and Kashi in particular, but there are also some good Healthy Choice selections and I used to be able to find (Ethnic Gourmet maybe?) a saag paneer with brown rice - score!
I did an experiment a while back to see if I could eat healthily with frozen foods, as I have various family members who, for whatever reasons, don't want to cook.
I found lots of good choices, especially if you go high-end like at Whole Foods or other natural food stores. But I have found some decent choices even at Walmart.
I had a couple of "rules":
1. I never microwave in plastic, so if it came in plastic, I dumped the frozen block into a pyrex dish first.
2. Every frozen meal had to be supplemented with extra veggies and/or protein. I always added an easy salad (pre-washed lettuce/arugula/spinach/cabbage/whatever with bottled dressing/vinaigrette) and/or added veggies to the frozen meal (bagged fresh spinach, frozen broccoli/peppers/cauliflower/peas/carrots/spinach/edamame/whatever). Also sometimes added frozen shrimp, chunks of aseptic pack tofu, or a very large dollop of Greek yogurt - depending on what the meals were, of course.
My goal was to see if I could eat reasonably healthy without any real cooking. I would say I did so successfully. I wouldn't want to eat every meal that way, but if you think about what you are eating, you can make some pretty good choices (yes, watch the sodium).
Yay or Nay? I'd say Nay in general - BUT if you are not going to really cook otherwise, you can plan good meals using frozen foods as a foundation.
ok, i'll take the other view! I don't know the WW ones, but have tried some others. For me they're exactly what you say Zero, convenient and you can see how many cals, salt etc you're getting. I find them bland though and not a fan, but there's plenty worse things you could be having, and if it's working for you go for it.
I'd agree with Emma, that it may be better to transfer to glass before cooking. And i'd also agree with her that it's a good opportunity to chuck more fresh veggies in at the same time for no extra effort.
I've just come back from shopping after buying some of these!
But I'd say they're not the healthiest thing in the world. However I'm struggling for some reason to get my calorie count up to 1200 so i figured that I may as well indulge a little (as much as you can indulge on low fat low cal microwave food). But I fully plan on eating a lot of veggies with it, and only using them for a bit of flavouring. I mightn't eat a whole one in fact!
So when accompanied with veg/salad, and as a special treat... I'd say Yay. (But I'm biased :P)
Last edited by cantgetenoughchoc; 06-15-2013 at 04:14 PM.
Height: 5'5'' (technically 5'5.4'' but whos counting lol)
Dont care for WW ones. Lean Cuisine/Healthy Choice/other companies taste better and fill me up better but I try to keep it in the freezer bc lets be realistic its super convenient when your exhausted from work or in my case alot of the time, forgot to defrost anything. It should not become a way of life bc of the sodium, preservatives, lack of vegetables.
I use one maybe once every 3 weeks if that. I used to eat it for dinner every night but you'll enjoy real food ten times more, its better for you too, it also makes you feel human eating real food and not like your restricted (which can be a cheat trigger for many).
Last edited by curlyfroyo; 06-16-2013 at 03:53 AM.
Thanks for all the great advice! I will definitely take heed. When school's out perhaps I'll stop being lazy and start chopping up my own veggies too.
Other easy dinner options:
-ready made salad from grocer's deli
-can of tuna, olive oil, salsa. mix well.
-frozen chicken breast and frozen veggies (microwave)
-salmon packet, side of veggies
Weight Watchers microwave meals? Yay or Nay?
But it's all in what works for each of us - and what our personal beliefs are about products. Someone else might eat three frozen meals a day and not think twice about it- and the preportion is a valued aspect. We tend to shop as fresh as possible and cook with basics (i.e., real potatoes vs. a packaged or frozen product) and find that saves $ too more often, but there is the time commitment!
