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healthy frozen dinners



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SO i went out to my fill and instead of eating out, wanted to get something for dinner and Breakfast i could eat that is healthy. Looking in the frozen dinner aisles there are alot of things that are good fat and calorie wise but the carbs are over 40!! that is alot for one meal or is it me? Ive never really gotten into them because of this but wanted to know what others opinions are on them. According to my surgeon. limited carbs helps the body burn fat as opposed to burning what we just ate. and once i get to goal ill definatly have more freedom with carbs to maintain my weight such as rice or Pasta with my meat. I try to stay under 30 a day if i can and these seem so high. any comments?

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hi 30 grams a day is too low... aim at least for 15 grams per meal and 7 or so for Snacks, u must be exhausted!

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hi 30 grams a day is too low... aim at least for 15 grams per meal and 7 or so for Snacks, u must be exhausted!

Definatly not exhausted, because my body is burning my stores. I have energy and way more than I used to have.

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I don't look at carbs that way. I'm a beleiver in HEALTHY carbs vs. empty carbs. I tend to look more at the glycemic index. Even my surgeon recommended this. I still eat carbs but have substituted and am FIRM or eating brown rice instead of white, sweet potatoes instead of white, 100% whole wheat bread and Pasta instead of white, whole grain cereals, etc. Your body burns them differently and processes it differently. These are your main sources of B Vitamins, and this group of Vitamins is vital to good health and a balanced diet.

Got to:

www.glycemicindex.com

or do some research on it. I think you'll be surprised at what you find......

Edited by aubrie

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I don't look at carbs that way. I'm a beleiver in HEALTHY carbs vs. empty carbs. I tend to look more at the glycemic index. Even my surgeon recommended this. I still eat carbs but have substituted and am FIRM or eating brown rice instead of white, sweet potatoes instead of white, 100% whole wheat bread and Pasta instead of white, whole grain cereals, etc. Your body burns them differently and processes it differently. These are your main sources of B Vitamins, and this group of Vitamins is vital to good health and a balanced diet.

Got to:

www.glycemicindex.com

or do some research on it. I think you'll be surprised at what you find......

i do eat complex carbs dont get me wrong. such as Beans, whole wheat Pasta once in awhile etc etc. however in frozen dinners specifically. how do u you know its good or bad carbs. most are made with white noodles and I just dont know where they come from so more than likely they are empty of course only specifically talking about frozen dinner carbs.

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My solution to that is usually to pick a frozen dinner with the highest Protein content, and don't eat the noodles or potatoes, and leave most of the gravy or sauce in the plate too. I know I'm wasting half of it, but sometimes it's what I have to do if I haven't planned ahead.

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I picked up a book titled "Eat This Not That!" It's so very informative. Anyways, there's a section for frozen foods....a few items that made the list are as follows:

  • Lean Cuisine chicken Marsala w/Green Beans and Carrots 1 pkg = 140 cal, 4 g fat, 14 g Protein, and 3 g fiber
  • Gorton's Grilled Fillets/Lemmon Pepper (pair this with grilled veggies) 1 fillet = 100 cal, 3 g fat, 17 g protein, and 0 fiber
  • Smart Ones Salisbury Steak 1 pkg = 200 cal, 7 g fat, 22 g protein, and 4 fiber
  • Kashi Southwest Style Chicken 1 pkg = 240 cal, 5 g fat, 16 g protein, and 6 g fiber

Hope it helps...:wink:

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You can also go to a health food store and look at the vegan dinners. I buy Boca brand some. Plus, there are

other brands and most, if not all of them, are wheat noodles, Pasta, etc.

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I buy the Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones, I try to make sure they are just meat and veggies....no noodles or rice. I did buy a couple for the just gotta have it moment, but when I do make these I take the Protein out and weight it to my 3oz and then do the veggies and if there is any part of the ounces left then it is not very much. I try to make every meal 4oz (doesn't always work, but I do try). I also try to leave the gravy/sauce behind.

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I'm a big frozen dinner eater, and yes most of them have more than a day's serving worth of carbs in one dinner. Try to stay away from noodle-based ones and go for the ones that have meat and a veggies. I also love Boca burgers, they're easy to throw in the microwave and then I'll pair it with steamers frozen veggies in the single-serve size.

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Frozen dinners will be high in bad carbs. If it comes in a box from the freezer, it isnt going to be hugely healthy. Its fine to eat those things semi regularly, but you could probably think about things like salads that you make yourself, or cooking and freezing in small batches for lunches and dinners.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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