What is better, cooking for yourself or making use of microwave diet meals?
 

Hi everyone,

I have recently started a weight challenge, where I can basically tailor my own eating plan, depending on what I want. I can choose to cook all my meals, buy healthy microwave dinners and shakes or a mixture of both.

My question is: what is better? I have just spent almost $200 on groceries for this week which is a lot for one person! I think the microwave meals for lunch and dinner will make things cheaper, however the whole point of this is to improve my nutrition, and I am worried I am cheating a bit on that by choosing to go down that route?

I also live a very busy lifestyle, and I love the convenience of the microwave dinners, I am just unsure! Any advice would be really appreciated! Also, if you know of any microwave dinner brands to avoid, please pass it on! Obviously, I only want to choose meals from Lite n Easy, Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, etc. Thanks again!

Cooking. Not microwaving, especially not pre-packaged foods. In the old days, I would purchase that stuff for work lunches and it did not help weight loss at all. I take salads to work now. If you make your own, it's not that expensive and you can load it up with nutrition-dense ingredients like eggs and avocado. And you can prepare them 3-4 days in advance.

My microwave has been broken for a few months and I'm in no hurry to replace it. Have you noticed that the obesity epidemic has correlated with the increase usage of microwaves at home?

Thanks for your reply SeeMyFeet. I definitely see where you are coming from, and it is my major concern about going down that route. The meals that are recommended for my diet plan are all low in salt, fat, sugar, etc, unlike other ones, if that makes sense? I am really time poor, and I really want to do well on this diet!

Yep, I found those, too, and I was using the same logic. It just did not work for me, and I've seen a few others around here come to the same conclusion. Stress goes along with a busy schedule, and I still wonder if food additives like MSG and stress are a bad combination for me. With real food, keeping calories low is easier on my brain. With the packaged meals, my brain would started shutting down mid-afternoon. I infrequently take in plain, frozen vegetables if I'm out of salad and in a hurry--I add my own seasoning. You could just experiment for a while, especially if you have already made the purchase...keep close track of calorie and eating patterns, and see how it works for you.

Cooking. We do though keep some quick microwave/15 mintues in the oven things for times that we just don't have time to prepare/cook a meal.

The nutrition issue mentioned above is one reason. The other reason for me is that it's helping me be a little more connected to what I'm actually eating. I really have to think about what I'm eating. I have to really think about portion sizes, how to get the tastiest meal with various ingredients and things I can change about what I'm cooking to make it something we enjoy AND is healthy for us.

Having a busy schedule, you may want to look at posts by Munchy. She's a mod and posts mostly in the Food Talk and Fabulous Finds area. She does a lot of cooking and freezing her meals. She's also very generous with her recipes. Yes, it's a bit of extra work but you have control over exactly what is going in to your meal.

Cooking is the best option. However I still like to have a couple pre-packaged microwave meals in the freezer for the days when I just don't have the motivation to cook and I'm tempted to order in. When I'm really motivated I like to make my own freezer meals.

Hmmm looks like I will be giving the cooking a go! Thanks everyone!