Sadly, my whole diet seems to consist of some sort of fast food or dining out. I am the worst cook in the world and I can't seem to find time to fix anything. Or maybe "don't want to make time to fix something" is more appropriate. What are some quick, healthy and possibly microwavable meals? Is that asking for too much? Am I just being lazy?

When I started my diet, I had one "farewell" meal from Mcdonald's (which I ate at LEAST 3-4 times a week) the day before and then gave it up cold turkey. The cravings were rough for the first week or so, and then they went away completely. I didn't go there for the longest time, even though I could have ordered a salad (but you have to be careful with those too). I can know go and enjoy a small meal and be done with it and not crave it like a madwoman. But this is nearly 3 years after the start of my journey. I think I may have avoided all fast food places for a year before I knew I wouldn't give in to temptation.

As for microwavable meals, they are my best friends. I don't cook either (not because I can't, it's because I'm lazy) and I eat a lot of Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, and Smart Ones. I also eat soup & oatmeal a lot too. I pretty much eat anything that takes less than 5 minutes to prepare.

Hey! I think you'll find that if you tough it out and eat better foods, your tastes will change. Those foods you find so attractive now just won't taste good to you once you change your eating habits.

I'm with Harpo--I don't like to cook, and a lot of my food restriction is done for me by using Lean Cuisine meals, bag salads, microwavable frozen vegetables, easy breakfast foods, etc. But, I'm not against occasionally cooking up some chicken breasts or grilling some lean ground sirloin, maybe steaming some broccoli flowerets, making some scrambled eggs, etc. The important thing is to make sure you get enough nutrition while using these shortcuts. Adding extra fruits and vegetables, fresh or frozen, is a good idea, and I take a multivitamin and calcium/magnesium. Just some ideas.

Jay

Morning Star Farms has a great line of frozen veggie products. I especially like the Chick Patties and the Spicy Bean Burger. They are a great start to a meal. Add a large salad, or some roasted veggies (ez shmeezy to make) and you've got yourself a fantastic lunch or even dinner.

The best thing to do, is to stock your home with good and healthy stuff. GET RID OF THE JUNK. Plan AHEAD. You've got to have a plan in place. Eating healthy does NOT happen by chance. It MUST be planned out in advance. KNOW ahead of time what you'll be eating that day and the next for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. This way there's no veering off and you're not tempted to run for the fast food or grab some garbage. Set yourself up for success. You get rid of the bad (fast food, junk), but get to ADD in the good.

Be strict. Be firm. MAKE A COMMITMENT. STAY AWAY FROM THE FAST FOOD. Why not set up a reward for yourself? Maybe after 7 days without fast food you buy a new lipstick. Then after another week, a new nail polish? Something, whatever it is. Make a game out of it.

You CAN get through this. You absolutely CAN. You won't regret it for a teeny, tiny second. In fact, you will be wondering why the heck you didn't do it earlier. Best of luck to you. Remember - stay strong. It DOES get easier. And it's SOOOO incredibly worth it.

Hi xonlywishesx,

I am really answering your question but one of the best things I have done for myself was to get a slow cooker. I don't have much time to cook (and often, laziness kicks in too) but I am alone and I use the large, 5.5 or 6 quart, slow cooker and I make it full. That gives over a week of food. Granted, it takes a bit more preparation (I like to use a lot of veggies) but if you divide the time spent by the number of meals, it won't be more than 5 min per each.

For example, I bought some top sirloin potroast that was on sale for $1.99/lb, I used HALF of the meat (the whole thing cost $8 plus some change) and a TON of veggies to make Indian curry. I had enough for 2 weeks worth of lunches, I kid you not. To me that is time well spent.

But if you want something fast - pasta sauce. I use a can of store-bought pasta sauce but I add to it a mountain of veggies - chopped up celery stalks, red/orange peppers, carrots, and I grate one big parsley root and a quarter of celery root to it. Add some canned tomatoes, a bit of sweet hot chili sauce, garlic, and a squirt of ketchup (to cut the acidity a bit, to accommodate my sensitive stomach). Let it simmer for 20 minutes and you have a military amount of pasta sauce, packed with veggies. Eat with small portions of whole wheat pasta. You will be able to freeze a lot of it for later use.


Harpo,

I am glad to hear I am not the only with my McD's addiction (very under control now, I may proudly add). :-)

Morning, dining out was huge for me too. I love takeout. But I knew that really had to stop. Microwave dinners are a must for me. I'm pretty good with my salt intake so I don't have to worry too much about that. Slowly that does get boring a bit so I would find easy fixes at the store. I found frozen veggies, made sure I had fruit, easy prep proteins. Cut back on the "always easy fix", spaghetti. Now I'm too the point were if I want fast food I stick to a cheeseburger and small fries or burger and a small shake. I just make sure that I fit it into my weekly nutrition, it's not a "treat" or something that will potentially blow my diet. I eat pizza at least twice a week. But at 2 slices of cheese, veggies, thin crust at a shot, if I do decide to have a third I'm not pouring on the guilty feelings. Start with the small changes. You'll get there.

I Go out to eat prolly about 2 times a week. Its what me and my friends do to relax. I recently bought this book "Eat this NOT That" and it has been a lifesaver for me! It gives you tons of resturants and fast places and tells you basically what the healthy choices are. It even has frozen stuff, cookies, icecream and all that good stuff in it... You should def. invest in it

I've never been a fast food addict, but I have been a lifelong sugar addict, so I understand exactly how hard it is to kick a craving. There are healthy choices at McD's now (grilled salads, grilled snack wraps), but they're not the same, I know. I have a big zit from a sugar binge last week, though, which is a nice reminder of why it's better all around for me to stick to healthy eating! My skin is so much nicer, for one thing.

Anyway, I find that if I eat too many precooked or frozen meals that I just can't lose weight. I don't know if it's the high salt content or the processing or what, but my body demands whole foods. Which sucks, because I really don't enjoy cooking for myself all that much.

But if I must to reach my goal, then I must. I've got two cookbooks: Eating For Life by Bill Phillips, and The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook. I'm not following South Beach or Body for Life, exactly, but both those cookbooks have lots of recipes for delicious, easy to prepare meals that you can make in about half an hour.

Once a week (Saturday) I plan my menu for the whole week, then I go to the grocery store with my list and pick up everything I need. On Sunday I do all my cooking for the week, package up my meals in the fridge or freezer, and then I'm ready to just grab my food and go in the morning. This is especially helpful on workdays when I'm usually running late ; )

Anyway, this might not work for you since you don't enjoy cooking, but if you do find that you've got to do it in order to reach your goal, getting it all over with at once is the most painless way I've found.

Another fellow Florida chick - wahoo! (I'm in Gainesville.)

I can definitely empathize with your cooking situation; I HATE to cook! I'm LAZY and unless I know EXACTLY what I am going to make, I'm a TERRIBLE cook. Like Jay, I love Lean Cuisine. Smart Ones has some good dishes, too. I also make myself plenty of salads (chicken breast in a can, lowfat or FF mayo, lettuce, or precooked chicken strips, lettuce, light caesar dressing, among many other combos) and sandwiches (I always use light whole wheat bread - it's around 40 calories a slice). I don't know if you like seafood much, but if you do, Gorton's is pretty good. You can go to most grocery stores and buy crab legs or shrimp (they'll season it for you) and all you have to do is microwave it for a few minutes. BumbleBee chicken breasts in a pouch are good, but kind of pricey.

MorningStar frozen veggie products are, indeed, good. You could make a veggie burger, slice up some potato wedges, season them, and bake them until crispy and use it as a half-azzed fast food substitute. As for frozen vegetables themselves... I don't know if you're into Chinese food... but if you are, Schezuan vegetables from Giant are great. And Robin is right; when you first start losing weight, you should definitely plan your meals in advance. I always did that and entered them into FitDay so I KNEW how many calories I was eating before I even ate them.

The cravings are rough. But I sat thru yesterdays store meeting and never touched a donut! yay, I'm getting stronger

I think everyone here has given you great suggestions, I just have one thing: recently, when I was craving a burger and fries, I got a kids meal...it had a regular sized hamburger (no cheese) and a smaller amount of fries than a small regular fry. The whole thing had like 600 cals in it. Not the most diet friendly but damage control. Of course, try to stay away from it, but if you *have* to have it, it's a better choice. I second NightengaleShane's idea of a veggie burger and homemade baked fries...easy to make and delicious! Sweet potato fries (baked) are good, too.

Once you start eating better your tastes will change...I used to be a fast food junkie, now I think the stuff is gross. I didn't think McDonalds burgers used to be salty before, now all I taste is the salt.

I actually prefer grilled lean beef burgers with fresh lettuce, tomato, onion on a real roll. They are more food, cheaper, less calories and taste better.

You will also save alot of money...$30 a week on fast food x 52 weeks per year= $1,560 per year.

I would recommend starting small with the cooking, maybe making a large portion of something on the weekends and portioning it out for the week in tupperware.

Years ago I had to figure out how to make meals quickly to get my kids to their activities- they ate well I didnt.
I am not good at preplanning and everything is always in the freezer.
Poaching frozen chicken breasts are amazing- it keeps them juicy.
You can cook chicken breasts from fresh or frozen in a frying pan with a lid- fill the pan with water or broth and bring to a low boil- maybe 20 min for a frozen chicken breast.
Make a salad- buy dried cranberries (adds a sweetness just don't use too many), chop up a piece of laughing cow cheese and mix with your greens you don't even need dressing.
Costco also has great options- strips of chicken breast already cooked that you can add to a salad for a quick meal.
If you are going the fast food route- Wendy's has an amazing Southwest Chicken salad- corn, beans, tangy chicken. Don't use the dressing or bring you own. And subway for me has always been a great fall back 6 inch sub really hits the mark.