How to Make a Diet Frozen Dinner

Learning to make a prepackaged frozen dinner is one of the most important tools in the Market Diva arsenal. If you have read my article Why Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem Work, then you know why the prepackaged meal is really the backbone of these successful weight loss systems. Even WeightWatchers makes considerable use of this technique through the sales of their SmartOnes frozen meals.

Prepackaged frozen meals provide you with two of the most important components of successful weight loss. Convenience and portion control. Convenience translates to being prepared which translates to success, but it's only half the equation. You can be prepared and still lose the game if you simply eat too much. Frozen meals can provide you with structured eating and eventually teach you what a healthy portion of food really looks like. By actively being involved in the preparation of your own food, when it's time to give up "the box", as in commercially prepared prepackaged meals, you will have the knowledge you need to keep the weight off on your own.

Another advantage of making your own prepackaged meals is this, a 50 year old overweight woman does not have the same nutritional requirements as a 25 year old overweight man. Portions can be customized to suit your own individual needs and even tweaked to speed up or slow down your rate of weight loss. As you approach your target weight, meals can transition from weight loss to maintenance sized portions.

Remember, just because you lost the weight, and trust me I know how hard that is, doesn't mean you won't gain it back when you return to your old ways. By that I don't necessarily mean your old portion sizes, but your own challenges. Stress, kids, money worries, or even taking care of a senior parent can throw your resolve right out the window. You spend so much time taking care of everyone else, there is little energy left for food preparation and proper healthy eating.

A dear friend of mine has done very well on WeightWatchers "twice" and yet today she is battling the same weight problem she's had all her life. She has the ability to lose the weight, I used to be secretly jealous of the way she could drop two pounds a week like clock work, and she knows what healthy eating and healthy portions are. Because of life's challenges she remains chronically unprepared. The first time she lost the weight, she maintained and then when the challenges of college, family and studying got to be too much her resolve failed, and she gained it all back. The second time around she dropped 80 pounds (at her annoyingly steady pace, just kidding LOL)in about 40 weeks. She looked fabulous and carried the confidence and new excitement for life that a big weight loss brings. Sadly, life got in the way once again and she gained it all back. Today she is looking for a way that works for her in all situations.

The point is, everyone can benefit from a good home food prep program. It's healthier, it will save you time, and lastly should save you a bundle. When my life gets crazy and I'm not on plan, I can't tell you how much fresh produce and even meats and cheese end up in the trash. I might as well light a match to a twenty dollar bill as do that. I'm really ashamed to admit that to you, but I hope it brings front and center what I'm talking about.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, life seldom hums along at a boring pace. We all face different challenges, but for those of us with weight problems they can be devastating. What it really comes down to is life management and more specifically in our case food management.

While freezer food may not be the end all to losing and maintaining a healthy weight, it's an important tool. Combine home made prepackaged foods, with carefully selected grocery store items, pre-selected fast food choices and a little willpower will go a long ways towards keeping you on plan.

Nikki Dinki has produced a great youtube on "How To Make Lean Cuisines". There are some really great how to tips in this video. With this information you should be able to make your favorite frozen meals for not a lot of time or money.

If you don't have a diet scale you might want to purchase one along with a set of measuring cups and spoons. Portion control is key and weighing and measuring will likely lead to greater success with your plan.

If you do not have an account with The Daily Plate, you might want to set one up. This is very helpful when adjusting old recipes or creating new ones.

If you need inspiration, there are about a zillion diet recipes on the net. Some of my favorites are from WeightWatchers members, not the recipes from the cookbooks, but the recipes from group leaders and other members. They are not as exotic as those found in the cookbooks, but more down home comfort food. Don't get me wrong, I like exotic recipes at times, but on a day to day basis comfort food wins every time. Here is a link to a large collection of WeightWatchers recipes.