Keep it Simple Lunch

 

Healthy frozen lunches for the week.

For this healthier me journey to work for me, I require simplicity. As on top of things as it sounds to cook meals at the start of the week, that's actually luxury talk for those who have time and don't mind the cooking and the dishes. 

I don't mind the cooking, but I abhor the dishes. I also don't think there's much actual cost savings and, for me, there's diminished value in taking the extra time that I could be using to jump start my week at the gym or do the laundry. In addition the same thing all week can be kind of droll. 

Now I shouldn't be all down on fresh meal prep. A home cooked meal is awesome, but as I mention it's more of a luxury than I can regularly handle on a sustainable program.

The flip side is to brave the restaurants over lunch. This lacks preparation, is super expensive and adds a ton of Calories; even if you're trying to eat conscientiously. Subconsciously, I believe I also interpret these outings as more of a "treat".

Fortunately, these days there are some excellent frozen/prepared meals out there. There's a lot of variety, they are reasonably priced (often less than $4 a meal) and use good ingredients and taste pretty good. The preparation process has also been simplified as most meals you can just put into the microwave without having to do origami on the plastic cover and are ready with out an intermittent stirring.

Now I'm not talking the $1.50 Lean Cuisines and other either salt laden or flavor/textureless entrees that make up 2/3rds. I'm talking the slightly more expensive meals geared towards healthy eating and getting enough protein. These are still made by the same food conglomerates, such as Con-agra, but put a little more thought into the meals' contents. These brands include:

• Healthy Choice Power Bowls
• Healthy Choice Simply Steamers
• Frontera
• Life Cuisine (by Lean Cuisine)
• Amy's
• Birdseye Power Blend steamers (in the frozen veggie section)

Now among each brand's various offerings, there are some winners and losers. For example I'm not a huge fan of the Power Bowls Adobo Chicken as the sauce is a little to ketchup-y for my liking. It's also important to still read the labels, and pay attention to the Calories.

In terms of Noom, there are a number meals that fall into the "green" food category. These usually have riced cauliflower as the "carb". However, most are in the "yellow" with actual grains adding to the Calorie density somewhat.

So if you're on the hunt for a healthy, go-to, option I suggest giving some of these a try.