O.K. I am used to cooking large meals. I have all my life. (started cooking when I was 6) My youngest daughter and her husband will be moving out in about 3 weeks. So I will finally have an empty nest. But I don't want to cook and freeze a lot of foods. The deep freezer is theirs so I won't have any real space to freeze anything in. So I was thinking about just doing lean cuisiene(sp) and things like that. Is anyone else going that rout? Is it working for you to loose the weight? Thanks.

Be careful with the frozen dinners, they tend to have large amounts of sodium-I would avoid these if you have high blood pressure.

We often do Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice meals for lunch. It's an easy way to get Protein and vegies. Taste is so-so, of course.

We buy the bags of frozen chicken breasts or a box of costco shrimp or crabcakes, because you can take one or two out and leave the rest frozen. We just have the two of us to cook for, so we run into the same problem: if I cook a regular sized meal, we are eating the same thing for days with our bands. If you just get one of each, they fit in the refrigerator freezer section.

I have a frozen dinner everyday for lunch. Actually, I can't eat more than 1/2 at a time, but I save the other 1/2. I watch the calories, and always eat the meat first, in case I get full.

Im single and this is the best for me.

I eat frozen dinners for lunch occasionally. But as another poster mentioned, they can be really high in sodium. I have found a few brands of organic ones that fit my needs. I don't think it would be good to eat them all of the time, though -- we still need fresh fruits & veggies.

I haven't used them in a while but if I remember correctly, sodium-wise Healthy Choice brand is better than Lean Cuisine.

Hi:

I'm home alone during the college year, so I don't cook much. I love Weight Watcher's smart one's dinners. I usually can't finish them, but there's not enough left over to save either.

Because you do cook, have you thought of making some small meals and making your own frozen dinners? You could make a meal and put it on a plate that is freezer and microwave safe and slip it into a zip lock bag.

I sometimes have just veggies for supper too. I love the Green Giant frozen cauliflower and cheese sauce. It's only 150 calories for the entire bag. I usually can finish that.

Good luck.

Sue

I admit I haven't looked at Lean Cuisines recently, but I am guessing they may have some things in them that aren't band compatible, like Pasta or potatoes, or dried out meats. I think you would be better off cooking for yourself in small quantity. That way you can stick to the recommended Lean Protein and produce based meals.

Do you have access to a refrigerator freezer? I assume so, since you can store the Lean Cuisines. It may be small,but it could be very useful. You could freeze extra helpings of things you make, in ice cube trays and just thaw a couple of cubes of this and that for a meal. Or you could store some frozen shrimp and thaw a few for a yummy, diet friendly start to a meal.

I know it's not much fun cooking for one, but you are worth the effort! Good luck!

Orea

If my family is out for a meal, I eat a SlimFast protein bar as a meal and add vegetables. This gives me 15 g. of protein and they are yummy. I would be careful with the frozen meals because I have a hard time with the meat passing through my band and I am 8 months out of surgery.

Thank you all for your input. It has helped a lot. I had thought about making my own TV dinners. I just can't cook small portions. When I try to cook small, it is still big! I don't know... Maybe I can talk to my church and maybe give the extra to shut-ins. At least until I learn to cook small. Maybe I don't need to cook small after all!:biggrin:

Just wanted to comment regarding what orea15 said about foods not being band-compatible. For some bandsters, not everyone, potatoes and Pasta are off limits. Others, like me, have no problem with either -- although I do limit my intake of both and try to only eat whole wheat pasta. There are many frozen meals out there with just Protein and veggies, no potatoes or pasta. And Lean Cuisine Spa meals often have whole wheat pasta.

gone, have you tried measuring your food when eating? That was really an eye-opener for me. What I thought was half a cup was really a cup and so on. Good luck!

Edited June 2, 200818 yr by GreenChrysalis

I was told by the nutrisionist to avoid frozen meals because they contain too much processed food and lack the necessary vitamins and minerals. Good luck looks like you got some great feedback.