Supermarket Ready Meals

[Pieplanter]

Good morning from wet and windy Cornwall

Has anyone successfully used supermarket ready meals in a weight control eating plan? I avoided using 'diet' or 'healthy eating' in case that was a contradiction in terms!

One of the supermarket chains produces a delicious chicken vindaloo with pilau rice, for example. It's only £2.50 and the traffic lights rate it at:

513 cal

14.8g fat (21%)

3.0 g saturates (15%)

6.8g sugars (8%)

and 2.2g salt (37%)

I know it's the salt and sugar content in processed food that makes it 'taste good' but preparation time (microwave), price and flavour aren't that bad

[Pieplanter]

Sorry, I should've checked for previous posts first

[Hidden]

Hi Pieplanter - welcome to the forum!!

I am sure that these sorts of meals can be used in a balanced diet and help to lose weight but i wouldn't personally use them myself when it's possible to make a chicken curry from scratch for half of that price, lower calories, bigger portions and i'd have the satisfaction of knowing everything in it was a proper ingredient.

Yes - it would take a bit of effort making the curry to start but a big batch of it and you could make 5/6 portions at a time and freeze them down ready to be your own "ready meals".

More educated people than me will likely comment on scientific reasons why ready meals may not be the way to go but for me the reason i steer clear is price, taste, control of ingredients and i find cooking good for the soul and a bit of a hobby too

As with any food - i guess using them in "moderation" is fine and i know a lot of regulars on the daily diary have them in their daily plans sometimes.

I think the sugar, fat and salt contents you have already pointed out are the things that put me off.

[Pieplanter in reply to Hidden]

Steelad, thank you for taking the time to reply. Let me give you a bit more information.

I'm a workaholic. I normally get up at 5.30am, walk the 2.2 miles to the rail station and get to the office around 7.30am. I get back to the house around 6.30/7pm.

I don't have a freezer.

I read an article somewhere that it's best to load up on breakfast and lunch. Eating big meals in the evening isn't especially good for you, and I want to get away from that.

The sugar, fat and salt contents I quoted are well below the daily reference intakes. The most I would be doing is one of these meals at lunchtime.

I'm really looking for some evidence that cooking my own meals from fresh ingredients is worth the effort especially when you consider 'fresh' fruit , vegetables and meat are all stuffed full of preservatives?

[Hidden in reply to Pieplanter]

I understand - not having a freezer wouldn't really help with batch cooking so the example i gave wouldn't work.

If you are also saying you don't want to eat late and have your main meal at lunch does this mean you are having this main meal at work reheated in a microwave? If so, it's going to be difficult for you to cook your main meal from scratch any way.

As for evidence that cooking from scratch is worth the effort over ready meals it depends on whether you are looking to lose weight or just enquiring if they will make you gain weight?

I guess i am evidence cooking from scratch over ready meals is beneficial in terms of weight loss - as i used to live on things like ready meals, processed food you put on a tray and in an oven etc. - changing to fresh ingredients last January and since April alone i've lost 5 stone and that's the main change i've made. I feel healthier for it as well.

Im sure the ready meals can be used as a balanced diet, it would depend on what else you then consumed during the day.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello Pieplanter and welcome to the forum 😊

I would agree with Hidden that cooking your own meals from fresh ingredients has all the benefits he mentions. If you look in the Recipes section, you'll see plenty of his tasty recipes, and others too. Processed foods are generally designed to keep us coming back for more

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[bikegrrrl 1lb]

Hi Pieplanter and I have been known to use the odd ready-meal - usually if I am going straight out from work, or have to work at an evening event. I just factor in the calories to my day's plan.

I agree with Hidden that home-cooked from scratch is better, but the T**co chiller aisle is handy when you're between a rock and a hard place. (other supermarkets are available, but not in my one-horse town, lol.)

I wouldn't want to rely on ready meals on a daily basis though. For one thing they tend to be quite low on veg, and quite a lot of calories for what I think of as a small amount of food.

I see where you are coming from, though, and I suppose my question would be, what have you been eating before? It may be that eating a 500-cal ready meal is better than eating a steak bake and a doughnut for lunch every day.

Best of luck!