Low calorie prepared meals when you don’t have the time to make your own.

This may not be a popular topic for those who are super diligent when it comes to eating the best nutritious food possible, but it is something I found effective for those who have busy lives and want keep their portions low as easy as possible.

I have some friends I have made on social media who are very much into keeping everything they eat as healthy as possible. Sunday for them is meal prep day. I see pictures on their accounts of how they cook all their meals for the week paying attention to the proportions of their macros (ie. Fats, carbs and proteins).

Though that is commendable and is even something I want to start doing myself more than I do now, when someone is starting their weight loss journey, calories are the most important issue, not macros.

Prepackaged meals that support your weight loss efforts

I learned there are several prepackaged meals that I could buy that supplied me with a full meal but with a calorie count that was well within the calorie range I need it to be.

The downfall with these meals is usually the sodium levels. Since they are packaged to have a long shelf life this is inevitable.

One of the meals of the first meals I started getting when I started my journey was Hormel Completes.

Hormel Completes come with a large variety of meals, everything from spaghetti, to chicken and mashed potatoes, beef stew, Salisbury steak and turkey and dressing just to name a few.

Each meal is between 200 to 300 calories and I find them very filling. I don’t eat them every day, due to the sodium, but I do enjoy one of these meals at least 5 or 6 times a week. They only take 90 seconds to heat up and then they are ready to eat.

There are other foods I eat as well that are prepackaged. I enjoy Banquet’s pot pies which are 380 calories or less.

Chef Boyardee has small cups of spaghetti, ravioli, and chicken and rice that are all under 250 calories.

Celeste has a personal size pizza with only 370 calories that isn’t that bad if you put it in the oven. Microwaving the pizza isn’t that good even though it says microwavable on the package.

Recently I also tried some frozen dinners from Michelina that they sell at Walmart and Dollar General that are under 300 calories that are pretty good. They would be even better if they had better packaging.

Another thing I have been eating a lot of is soup. For a while I have been getting Campbell’s soups like vegetable beef and other low calories soups as well as Campbell’s Chunky soups as long as they are under 400 calories a can.

Recently I have found Progresso has several ‘lite’ soups that are between 130 and 220 calories that taste pretty good. I’m surprised how good they because they are not just broth. They do have plenty of stock in their soup.

The point is there are quick options out there, when you are pressed for time, that you can supplement your diet with that are low calorie meals.

The one thing you have to get use to is looking and being aware of the calories you are eating because for every quick meal that is low calorie there are probably twice as many that have double the calories you should eat.

For those on a budget, you have options that allow you to lose weight

On a side note, since I also live paycheck to paycheck like most of us, the foods I listed are all very affordable. The Hormel Completes as well as the Campbell and Progresso soup are under $2.00.

The Michelina’s dinners, Celeste pizza, Chef Boyardee cans and Banquet pot pies are all $1.00 or less.

I wouldn’t suggest eating these meals three times a day since the sodium count on these is so high, but I do generally have one of these a day and have not had any negative side effects from it.

When I was overweight I had to watch my sodium because I had high blood pressure, but now my blood pressure is perfectly normal. Sometimes I think it is not so much the sodium affecting blood pressure as much as it is the extra weight. Get the weight down and the body may be able to handle a little extra sodium from time to time.

But in everything I suggest, be careful and do what is best for you. If you have high blood pressure issues maybe only have one of these meals a couple times a week. Just know that you have an alternative when you need something quick.

Have a great day!