Dieting Club: 50 - 100 Lbs Community

Hi Mandy you may have consumed more calories than you think so the 970 was maybe closer to 1200 because those frozen dinner are usually off in the calories approx 30%
it is good you were satisfied with it though .
sounds pretty good for a busy day . good work avoiding the chips and soda those lind of thing can be addictive
Hugs Judy:)

Morning Mandy,
I'm going to do "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" on you.
Big Breath here;
Ok , the Good, Oatmeal for breakfast is a great choice. I don't know if or how you sweetened it or if you just eat it plain, but make sure you read the label, it DOES have mucho calories , much more than people really think it does. So MEASURE it dry before you fix it so you account for those pesky calories.
The Bad, that chicken wrap, although a much better choice fat wise from the basic McDonald's fare, it's still WAY high in sodium which will increase hypertension (blood pressure) and also contribute to water weight retention and gain. Check out
this site at the bottom of page, download the pdf and read the nutrition info
http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/nutrition_choices.htm

Ok, here goes nothing.... The UGLY... you are gonna hate me for this I just know it........ Just because something says "Healthy" or "Lean" on the package doesn't necessarily mean it is or that it's a truly Healthy choice.
The problem with these frozen meals is that you don't get much bang for the buck when it comes to Nutrition, and they are usually so loaded with extra sodium, and sugars to make up for the less fat that you are basicly trading one evil for another.
Sure, they seem to have low enough calories, but for that same amount of calories(or less) you could whip up a WHOLE boneless skinless chicken breast in a stir fry with low or no sodium added and end up with a HUGE plateful that you could barely eat all of. All this with the added bonus of at least 2/3 of your day's nutrition needs on one plate. A stir fry like this with thinly sliced sauteed breast, probably 10 min more, start to finish, than your microwaved meal..
Nutrition basics are the thing to remember. You have to have your nutrients to feed your body right. It's great to find low calorie , convenient foods as long as they are WORTH the calories , but the ugly truth is, that the only reason they are so calorie conscious is because there really is SO LITTLE to them. And the sodium in them is so high.....
We know you are new and trying and that's great. We aren't trying to discourage or bash you for making these "newby" choices, lol. It's hard to try to recommend things without sounding like we are , I'm so sorry for that, but since we can't talk personally, this is where we try to encourage better choices along the way.
The lean cuisines and Healthy choice meals are great for busy days that you don't have the time or enegy to do much else, but it'll be better along the way if you can fix your meals from scratch so that YOU are in control of what goes into them instead of settling for what the manufacturers deem necessary for flavor.
huggs
kim

Kim,

I love this post and I agree with you. I always said make your own Lean Cuisine. Take a day and make your own lunches and dinners and put them in freezable containers that can be microwaved or put in the oven for easy quick meals.

So right. Give it an afternoon and you could have all the chopped or cut up veggies you need for a week, plus stir frys, good for you low fat/low sodium soups, tubs of precooked whole grain rice and pastas,... you could use the soups over the rice or pasta or just have em as sides for the other stuff..... Easy, fast, good for you meals that cost less and have a higher nutritive value than any microwave meal.
My big thing is always the sodium. I like being in control of salt in my foods and I know there is such a plethora of different herbs and spices that can be used instead of it to enhance the flavors of my foods.
huggs
k

I totally agree with prepping stuff ahead of time. One thing that I like to do, is when I find onions or bell peppers on sale, I slice them up and then freeze them in freezer baggies. Then, when I need something done for dinner quick - I can just pull those out and add them right away. Downside is that they are not as cripsy as slicing fresh ones, but I usually use them in a sort of fajita style dish so I don't really care. I do the same for green onions - slice them up and ziplock bag em.
We also buy our chicken breasts when it goes on sale in 40 pound boxes. I spend the day that I get them putting about 1/3 of it in bags just as the breasts, 1/3 I slice into strips and freeze that way, and 1/3 I cut into sort of bite size pieces and freeze them that way. I try and freeze stuff in meal sized portions to make things easier on myself for days when I don't want to cook. It keeps me from wanting to just pick something up.

Another thing that might help - if you either don't want to or don't have the time to cut up tons of stuff to prep them - is when you make a meal, double or triple it and freeze the extras. I do that and it is a LIFESAVER some days.

Hi Mandy,

Even if I do agree with Kim, Amber and Judy.
I must take your side on this.
It is a process, and you did stop and think not to take the chips and soda a victory on it's own.
Super Water victory Yay Mandy.

We all struggle with finding easy way to loose weight. You will find recipes that will be fast and easy. With time you will have more energy and will start eating your own food that will taste so much better than those frozen meals.

Keep up the good work
Huggs
Helene