Always in a hurry? Don't let that interfere with your weight loss goal! If you don't have time to cook, visit the frozen foods aisle at the supermarket. Here are some tips to help you find healthy choices in an area that's usually feared by those who want to lose weight.
Frozen foods can be a good choice when you have a very busy day. One of their advantages is that they're quick and easy to prepare. In addition, they can even be healthy if you know how to choose them correctly.
We suggest using frozen foods along with fresh foods to give balance to your meal. For example, you can use frozen fruit and milk to prepare a shake in the morning, or combine a frozen turkey burger with fresh vegetables.
Here's how you can find health inside the freezer:
- When choosing frozen vegetables, make sure they don't have creamy sauces or added cheese. You can choose from pre-cooked or raw vegetables.
- To select fruit, stay away from those containing sugar or syrup. Make sure the label says "fresh" ingredients only.
- When it comes to ready-to-eat meals, make sure that the package contains at least 1 cup of vegetables and 1/2 - 1 cup of starches (rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pasta, bread, beans, chickpeas, lentils, or corn); avoid those with breaded meats.
- If you want to make hamburgers, use turkey, chicken or vegetarian meat substitutes. These burgers have less fat than those that have beef or pork.
- If you're making a vegetarian burger, be sure that soy is the main ingredient.
- When choosing frozen pizzas, go for the ones that include vegetables and avoid those with double cheese and/or sausages.
- At the supermarket, always take the boxes that are at the bottom of the freezer; this is the coldest area and products are preserved better.
- To find out if the foods you're buying have been burned by cold, press the package between your hands and make sure it doesn`t feel too crunchy and that it doesn't have large pieces of ice.
- Read the first 5 ingredients in food labels and choose those where you don't find sugar, syrup, salt, lard, butter, cream, cheese, or partially hydrogenated oil among them.
