Weight Loss With Lean Cuisine

The weight loss industry makes more than $60 million every year selling products that claim to help you lose weight. Some of these products are no more than modern snake-oil, making money off the insecurity and gullibility of desperate consumers. Others are well-considered, healthy and effective weight loss plans. Lean Cuisine-brand weight loss meals have been one of the latter since their advent in 1981.

Weight Loss and Diet

The key to weight loss through diet is to consume fewer calories than you burn. If you do this, your body gets the extra calories it needs by burning those stored in your body fat. Lean Cuisine meals give an array of options that are both low in calories and in small, diet-friendly portions. This can be a convenient way to arrange your weight-loss diet.

Lean Cuisine Basics

Unlike many other marketed diet foods, the FDA regulates Lean Cuisine. The claim of "lean" in their brand name means that all of their offerings must fall between 140 and 400 calories, with additional restrictions on fat and cholesterol content. Lean Cuisine offers six different menu lines, based on different consumer tastes.

Nutrition

Harvard nutritionist Walter Willett, in his book "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy," recommends those on a diet pay close attention to nutrition. When you're restricting your calories, it's important to make the most out of the calories you do take in. Lean Cuisine meals pay close attention to nutrition, and have shifted their focus as new nutrition information became available. For example, in the early 2000s, as nutritionists learned more about the importance of whole grains, Lean Cuisine menu items began containing more whole grains.

Pros

Diet review website Diet Spotlight cites low calories and high nutrition among the chief advantages of Lean Cuisine meals. Other advantages include competitive price, wide variety of menu options and easy portion control.

Considerations

Lean cuisine entrees are high in sodium when compared to homemade versions of the same foods. It's also important to note than Lean Cuisine provides entrees only. Side dishes, especially fresh vegetables, must be added to make a complete meal.