Many diet plans offer pre-packaged meals to support their weight loss maintenance programs. But diet plans like Healthy Choice, Smart Ones and Eating Right meals are expensive, with the average cost of $5 per entre. Budget Gourmet is less expensive, with a average entre cost of $2 but the portion sizes are smaller and the meals tend to lack in flavor and taste. These pre-packaged meals also contain lots of artificial flavors, sugar and sodium and not enough daily fiber that may be adding more health risk than the diet may be worth. Because these plans are designed to help you loose weight, the portion sizes, like in Lean Cuisine, are low in calories. Drastically reducing your daily intake of calories can leave you feeling hungrier and cause you to snack more. Ultimately you end up eating more calories than you realize!
You can make your own diet plan by selecting better choices for your meals and by eating less of what you choose.
For example, if you choose to eat a pre-package diet meal, have it for lunch or dinner, but not both. Be sure to eat a high protein breakfast like a hard-boiled egg and a slice of whole grain toast with peanut butter and a piece of fruit. Bring healthy snacks with you to work or school like fruit, vegetable slices (carrots, fresh green beans, and green leafy salad) or nuts. Drink lots of water throughout the day and be sure to find 30 minutes for exercise.
Checkout our weekly menus at this B’more for Healthy Babies link.
