OKay I'll admit for a while I lived off of Lean Cusines, Smartones and Healthy Choice. The main reason being they required no cooking and had the points values written right on the front or the side making these easy meals for lunch at work or a late dinner. Recently I have switched over to the "simply filling" plan (for those of you familiar with WW is the new and improved "core" plan). Doing this plan requires me to use more fresh fruit and veggies or even frozen. I am having lots of salads and grilled meats and more comples carbs. But also I have been taking the time to make lunch at night so that I can have a nice fresh green salad with cucumbers tomatoes and mushroom instead of frozen dinners. I have fruits for snacks and maybe protein (like legumes or someting) for breakfast. I know you are think ewww for the breakfast but it keep me full longer and I don't have a problem switchingup meals. Okay this got long really quick.....My point was that I have been much more satisfied/gratified with eating my fresher foods that I have taken the time to prepare. They taste better, the appearance plays a part for whatever reason and I truly enjoy my food.

Has anyone else experienced this more satisfying feeling with freshly prepared foods vs frozen dinners???

absolutely, but I use the lean cuisines a lot for lunch both at home and at work. I just can't argue with the convenience I guess. (I'm lazy!)

Heck yes. I usually cook all of my meals. On the off chance that I don't have time (ie yesterday bc of the meeting) I have a Smart Ones dinner. Even pairing it with a fresh salad, I feel full for a shorter period of time versus when I cook my own meals. (That's why I always try to have some grilled chicken in the fridge to throw on top of a salad to turn it into a meal) Since I have IC, I HAVE TO eat frozen or fresh fruit/veggies bc the canned is horrid for you and makes me ill. So I'm babbling now, and I need to get to work!

I've never eaten much in the way of frozen meals. Still, I've eaten way too much processed foods at times. I feel so much better when I eat fresh too. In fact, I've got to go make up a big batch of salad right now to get me through a few days.

I've pretty much completely taken out processed foods and love it! And you know what, even though frozen entrees are more convenient, i found it wasn't worth it considering the majority tasted awful to me.

fresh foods can be just as convenient too with a little planning and prepping ahead of time. And less $$.

Sometimes I am the laziest person in the world when it comes to getting home and not feeling like cooking. I will admit I have at least a stack full of smart ones in my freezer because its a default for me. I love cooking though and I get a great satisfaction that I made something that tastes way better than a box dinner, I really believe that also helps my full feeling as well. The best part though is I dont have the salt that is in the frozen dinners. OMG I want to die from the feeling of all that salt in my system sometimes.

Bindersbee How do you keep the salad crisp past a day or so??? I never make it past the next day beroe making more.

Bee Yes the salt is treacherous

Prepping Though I strive to do "fresh" I find that it is just the opposite for me $$ wise. Another reason I was going for boxes is that they seemed cheaper. But I would rather chuck up the dough to feel good....YAY to limited processed food (ya know except cheese...LOL)

Definately! I used to half way live by them but I don't now(especially cause of lack of room and price). I always noticed that there was a difference when I had a lean cuisine versus a TON of veggies and fish. I eventually weaned off them but kept them around in case of emergencies.

yes! when i was DIETING i ate lean cuisine pretty much every day. ever since my LIFESTYLE CHANGE i have several in the freezer than have been there for a LOOONG time and will probably never get eaten. the food i cook tastes better, looks better, doesn't come in a tiny tray with itty bitty pieces of stuff and bland mushy noodles and i laugh now when i think of how often i ate them. not that i think there's anything wrong with them per se but in the time it takes me to nuke one i can now make something delicious!

I totally agree. The bottom line is when I eat this way not only do I feel full, but I also don't feel deprived because I feel like I'm doing good things for my body. I eat this same way and it has worked wonders for my ability to stay OP.

I feel like something's missing when I only eat frozen or packaged foods, so I tend to keep eating way after I should.

Now now, I'm feeling a little defensive of my lunch lean cuisines! I know they're loaded with sodium and stuff but I can counteract that with a well balanced breakfast and dinner and a lot of water. Plus I really like the pizzas.

I won't eat anything that has to be cooked in a microwave. My family didn't own one growing up (my mom cooked every meal) and once I was in a place to own one, I saw an experiment once where two plants were watered daily -- one with regular tap water, and one with regular tap that had been microwaved. The microwaved water not only killed the plant, there were discernible (albeit relatively low) levels of radiation present. So it's mostly because of my aversion to that, but I understand the ease of use. It's much more convenient to zap something hot in 3 minutes and eat it instead of spending 15 minutes to an hour to prepare a meal fresh.

Other than that, those boxed ready-in-minutes meals are not entirely wholesome. Check the labels. They may be good on points, but they pack tons of salt and preservatives into those things and seeing as how I don't cook with or regularly eat salt or anything with preservatives I can taste them and they upset my poo routine.

I did lots of frozen meals in the beginning but maybe just one a week now--sometimes not even that. Yes, whole foods (fresh especially) keep me much more satisfied, are cheaper, are better for you, etc, etc, etc.

If you want veggies but easy, I love the new steam-in-bag frozen veggies they have these days. They're more expensive than regular, but they're incredibly convenient and when paired with a grilled chicken breast (I heart my George Foreman!) it makes a satisfying dinner for one!

They even have individual servings of peas and corn if you get annoyed by big bags of frozen veggies.

By the way, fresh and easy is George Foreman. It's literally 3 minutes to grill a chicken breast or a sirloin. Granted you have the defrosting time and the cleanup, but throw the chicken in the fridge in the morning and throw a couple wet paper towels on the grill while you're eating and the extra time is cut down to a minimum. For $30 it was the best christmas present ever! I would even have bought it for myself!

Cake: You can keep your greens fresh longer by tearing the lettuce by hand rather than cutting it. It lasts nearly twice as long than using a metal edged knife. I believe they also have those plastic lettuce knives if you aren't sure about tearing it but it definitely helps a ton!