Convenience Food - Lite and Easy

[Andrew_A]

I have a friend called Jimmy who is trialling the ‘convenience menu’ from Lite and Easy. It’s basically one week of pre cooked and packaged meals that take a minimum of effort to prepare and are reportedly quite healthy as well. The meals are delivered once per week in a container packed with dry ice and take up a decent portion of your fridge and freezer.

The cost for one week of meals is $141 which is expensive compared to cooking yourself but potentially excellent value when you factor in the ‘time cost’ of preparing meals for yourself and all the effort that cooking and cleaning entails.

The heaviest plan weighs in at only 1800 calories a day which is short of the 2000-2500 suggested calories for a sedentary adult male according to my internet research.

The menu certainly looks quite decent and I'm looking at trialling it myself.

Anyone got any taste or nutritional feedback on this idea?

Link to a 7 day 1800 calorie per day menu (.pdf)

 

[asy]

Jimmy??? You mean Mup's not using his U-beaut_cook_it_for_you Microwave???

asy

 

[muppie]

Well the frozen foods will need to be microwaved.... It is exactly what I had in mind all along when I bought the microwave

 

[Andrew_A]

Jimmy??? You mean Mup's not using his U-beaut_cook_it_for_you Microwave???

asy

I thought I would protect Mups identity in case he wanted to remain anon

One thing I have found out about Australia is that it's MUCH easier for me to eat badly here compared to Europe, everywhere there are bad options to mislead you.

Interested in the diet feedback I can get on this thread. I'm more interested in the convencience angle, the healthy possibility is just a fringe benefit potentially. Is 1800 Cal enough per day though?

 

[ani]

Hi andrew

I've had it a few times - the 1200 calorie version. I was never hungry, in fact I struggled to eat all the snacks and fruit.

The breakfasts and lunches I liked but after 2 weeks on the dinners they all tasted the same to me

Convenience was fantastic and I thought cost was good considering how much wastage I'd have if I bought all the ingredients myself.

cheers

 

[muppie]

I've had it a few times - the 1200 calorie version. I was never hungry, in fact I struggled to eat all the snacks and fruit.

LOL yeah that's what I am feeling right now.

 

[asy]

Is 1800 Cal enough per day though?

For you, probably not, for me, probably should be... for mup.. well, have ya SEEN him?! I'm surprised he can put that much away!!!

asy

 

[thefirstbruce]

Hi A, did you try my energy expenditure worksheet
http://www.tekserv.com.au/bruce/IntelligentWeightLoss.xls
Just plug Muppie's stats into the first worksheet. Down the bottom, you'll get the Calorie intake to maintain current weight i.e. energy balance. His activity multiplier will probably be half way between bed bound and sedentary considering the hours he clocks up on puters....

 

[asy]

Crikey, Bruce,

That thing says my ideal weight is 67kg!!!

Well, that's one of my legs, what does the rest of me do???

asy

 

[skater]

Crikey, Bruce,

That thing says my ideal weight is 67kg!!!

Your lucky. My ideal weight is 47kg.

 

[thefirstbruce]

Hi Asy.....with your solid bones, you probably are a statistical outlier on the normal distribution of weight and height correlation, and therefore have a Z score that places you in the 99th percentile....

In other words, you're special

 

[asy]

Nice tango-ing Bruce.

THANKS!

Extra points to you

asy

 

[Rolf Latham]

Hi Jimmy

Obviously your BMI is 35 :O) and you need the low cal food

Why Convenience is killing us ...................................... Dr Ross Walker I think, now where did that tape go..

ta
rolf

 

[goddessk]

Hi, being interested in diet and nutrition and currently undertaking studies on this particular topic, I would steer away from pre-packaged meals.

There is nothing that beats freshly cooked food. There are so many preservatives in pre-packaged foods and I know that all food has risk of pesticides, mad cow disease, steroids and everything else you can think of but fresh food is the go. Any good marketer can sell you on a product and say it is healthy. It will certainly be healthier than fatty fast food but fresh is still the go.

Yes it takes longer to prepare but I guess you have to determine what effort you want to go to, to be healthy. Eating from the five basic foods groups every day and exercising five days a week is the trick to a good lifestyle.

Now I know that there will be those of you out there that cringe at the thought of exercise but it's good for you! Your calorie intake needs to be balanced out by exercise. The more you exercise the more you can, and need, to eat.

As you can see I could go on and on about this topic. I love it so much that I am becoming a personal trainer this year to spend my spare time on my passion. Helping people get healthier through diet and exercise. And hopefully one day escaping the corporate world!

So stay away from convenience foods. No matter how good they look...a balanced fresh food diet is always better. There endeth the sermon from the goddess.

 

[Pablo]

Hi,
I have been buying Lite n easy dinners for about 2 years now, as I am a shift worker I dont always get to eat tea with the family. I find them very healthy and convenient as I just put them in the oven go have a shower and when Im finished getting ready for work so is the meal.
I never get sick of them as there are so many different dinners to choose from.
They certainly beat picking up McDonalds on the way to work.

 

[thefirstbruce]

Would love to see Lite n Easy's business model. There'd have to be around $50 worth of food in their $140 plan. And to be able to prepare, cook, package, and deliver that for $90 a week seems tight. Can only imagine they have some interesting systems in place.

Personally, I'd rather spend the money on getting someone to deliver fresh fruit and vege and all groceries, cleaning my house, doing the ironing and my books, and walking the beagle . Significant time and energy gains can be made by avoiding supermarkets, where waiting at checkouts is the bane of my life.

Re cooking, I save a lot of time by doing reheatable meals in quantities never smaller than 8 serves - casseroles, curries, and rice, barley, legume bases that I can steam a couple of cups of fresh vege and add to each meal. Freezing them in takeaway containers also allows one to control Calorie intake. I maintain that the time invested in learning how to cook a dozen quick healthy meals is one of the best investments - period. The rate of return is unsurpassed.

 

[asy]

I agree about checkouts Bruce...

I can't wait for Coles-online to be available in my area...

I know a few people on the forum use it, and I can't believe it's not available 8km from the CBD...

asy

 

[Brenda Irwin]

The caculator says I should be 59kg. I was 59kgs once and I would consider it too light. 64kg would be a better weight for me I think. So to lose the 20kg I have extra now, maybe I should just look at food rather than eat any. Seefood diet.

 

[muppie]

Re cooking, I save a lot of time by doing reheatable meals in quantities never smaller than 8 serves - casseroles, curries, and rice, barley, legume bases that I can steam a couple of cups of fresh vege and add to each meal. Freezing them in takeaway containers also allows one to control Calorie intake.

This is exactly what lite n easy is. They give you fresh fruit and other things that go in the fridge, and the dinner is just normally cooked meal that's sealed and frozen.

My only problem with it is that the dinner is so small I can probably eat two at a time. Same for lunch.... I guess it is diet food They need to make 2400cal one for convenience version.

 

[Barracuda]

How about CSIRO Wellbeing diet - all the recipes, meal plans, and most importantly, weekly shopping lists. Combine that with Coles online, or greengrocer or similar. Best of both worlds? Fresh food delivered, variety, balanced diet (OK, depending on your point of view) & fun to cook.