Frozen Food Diets: They Can Work
University researchers compared two groups - one using frozen portion controlled foods, and they other group were making their own meals. Both groups were aiming for the same calorie amount.
Subjects who followed the frozen-entrée diet lost more weight (7.4 kg or 16.3 pounds) compared with the subjects who made their own meals following the food pyramid (5.1 kg or 11.2 pounds). Also, the average BMI decrease was one unit greater in subjects following the frozen-entrée diet than subjects following the food-pyramid diet.
The fact that both groups lost weight is no surprise - their daily intake was 1,700 calories (with an average body weight of 214 pounds). However the point of the research is that the packaged foods brought about more weight loss - presumably due to accurate portion sizes.
Frozen food diets will always have their place - for convenience and accurate portion control. Note that nutrition and weight loss are two separate issues - and it may be argued that nutrition is inferior in packaged foods (which are often high in preservatives and sodium). So what are the options?
NutriSystem
A long time player in the packaged foods market. Better priced than Jenny Craig (probably due to being web-based). They have a wide variety of foods (over 70?) - and taste is a matter of... taste. NutriSystem is arguably one of the cheapest packaged diets.
Jenny Craig
Worldwide center-based program - but many find Jenny Craig simply too expensive.
BistroMD
This is a brand new program that provides quality food (pre-cooked and requires re-heating).
There are also a number of companies that provide pre-made food for the Zone diet. If money is no object this is absolutely the way to go.
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Created / Updated: April 16, 2009
You forgot other, cheaper options like Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine frozen entres. Healthy Choice is my favourite; this brand offers a line of complete meals that include a serving of lean meat, a starch, and vegetables, and a dessert. Plus they're low sodium and most meals are around 300 calories. And to make the deal even sweeter, grocery stores often sell these for cheap--sometimes as low as $2 each.
ReplyI agree with the comment about healthy choice, or lean cuisine. If you check sales, check your labels and purchase those lower in sodium, higher in fiber you have a great portioned lunch or dinner. Add a side salad or veggies. Eat some healthy cereal with skim milk for breakfast, light yogurts, fruits, veggies throughout the day and viola - you have the jenny craig/nutrisystem on a budget :)
ReplyI agree as well that lean cuisines and healthy choice are just as good as jenny craig. And a lot more affordable. I am incorporating them in my lunch and dinner and adding veggies and they are helpful. Without the meetings and fees. When there is a will theres a way.
Replyhello, everyone i just have a quick questions does anyone have any sugesttions on my case. ok' heres the deal i started my workouts in jan of this year 2008 ive lost alot of weight since then i started at 160 pounds and im now at 125-129 pound this is my deal. i do alot of cardio like 3 times a week and my husband says ive done enough with loosing the weight he says now its time to firm up and do weight training so i wont loook saggy (lol) so anyways the deal is that im like addicted to doing cardio i feel like if i miss one cardio workout im going to gain all the weight back for example, this past friday i didnt do my cardio workout i did some abs, and push ups workouts. and today tuesday wy weight went back up to 129 and friday i was 125 so im like so confused. why is it that my weight shiftes alot i know that are body contains water and alot of our weight is water weight but dont they say if you lost the weight by exercise its harder to gain it back, but if u did it by some lazy diet its quick to gain it back. in my case ive done all my weight loss by nothing but exercise im just scared to miss my cardio workouts im scared to gain it back, any advise or sugestions well sure be appreciated it. thanks ;O)
ReplyHi Cathy, First of all, congratulations on losing so much weight!!! I know, cardio can be addicting especially when you've had such a tremendous success with it. When you stop or cut down on cardio time after losing weight, you may notice that your weight goes up a little, but this is not to worry. It will go down again once you incorporate both weight training and cardio into your workouts. If you want to maintain your weight, go for 30 min of cardio 5 times a week and weight training 3 times a week and maintain a diet of about 1800 calories a day. You can certainly maintain 125lb figure doing this. It's easy to fall into the number game when it comes to measuring your weight, but remember.. low weight is not we're looking for.. we're looking for a fit, healthy, slim body.. good luck!!! =)
ReplyFirst off..congratulations! Sounds like aerobics with light weights would be the best way to go. This way you are building muscle and still getting your cardio in. I am certainly not an expert, but have much personal experience with weight loss and gain. The scale will deceive you, so I would suggest not paying as much attention to your weight. Rather focus on if you feel lighter, your clothes fit nicer, and piers compliments. Especially as a woman our weights fluctuate for so many various reasons. Muscle weigh more than fat, so if you are working your muscles, such as abs, you probably will gain weight, but lose fat. Hope this helps and good luck.
ReplyI tried JC for one week for $50 and found the food very nice, but the cost to sign up afterwards was $150 Cnd ($600/mth). Then I tried Nutrisystem which was only $300 for the month which I thought was a good deal at 50% off the cost of JC and also delivered staight to my house. Unfortunately the food was inedible, like Army rations and freeze dried Earthquake emergency kit food. I chose to send it back which cost me approx $40.
ReplyNow I buy frozen entrees at Superstore for under $2 each and suppliment that with salad and veggies and soup. I've also bought my own diet desserts, candies and snacks. Much cheaper and tastes better too. I'm in Canada.
Thank you so much for this information. I've been tempted several times to purchase from either JC or Nutrisystem but the close ups of the food both companies supply makes the food look horrible. I've never had a weight problem until 4 years ago when I came down with Hypothyroidism and can't seem to shed the weight I've gained, so your advise is great for me. I'm going to try visiting the frozen food dept soon. I don't overeat and eat just like I used to, but a normal food intake is still obviously keeping the weight I gained on so I feel like I need to diet. I hope this works!
ReplyThanks for posting the truth about these diets.
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