Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Can I have healthy microwave meals while on a diet?

Yh so I'm a noob. Why do microwave meals have such a bad rep? Even the healthy ones? I mean I look at the nutritional info and think ' Hey that's not so bad. Low fat, decent carbs, high in protein'. I'm not afraid of salt, so I don't really care about that.

I work long shifts in a supermarket, so these are easily accessible to me and we have a microwave in the canteen. I'm sick of having the usual salad pasta bowl, sandwich, my Mum's home cooking etc. etc.

Was wondering if I should avoid them or just stick with the 'clean' foods.

Many thanks.

Reply 1

Swanbow

It depends.

If you goal is a healthy diet then a microwave meal won't kill you. But using it as a substitute meal on a daily basis isn't exactly healthy.

If your goal is weight loss you just have to maintain a calorie deficit, so what you eat doesn't really matter.

Reply 2

omarion526

it depends on the meal. All a microwave meal is really, is a cook/chill meal that has been cooked and frozen. You can do this at home if you want to be sure of what's gone into it, cook some meat and rice/potatoes/veg up, whack it in the freezer in a container, microwave at work..

microwave ready meals are not in themselves unhealthy per say, what microwave meal you choose may be.

Reply 3

BKS

There's a difference between it being fine for loosing weight and being healthy (or 'clean')- too much salt, veg content, no wholegrains/fibre content, type of fats etc.It's up to you what you care about but there's no reason not to eat them for loosing weight

Eating clean is usually code for eating boring. Yes, most of your eating should be healthy foods. But variety and treats are good within reason, that may be more the issue than specifically wanting microwave meals

Reply 4

LaughingKitsune

Here's a huge tip: try the Slimming World microwave meals in Iceland. They are so much healthier than even the WeightWatchers ones, and they are amazing!