Can you Lose Weight Eating Lean Cuisine?

Yep.

I know it’s a TV dinner but you CAN lose weight eating Lean Cuisine. Most of us are skeptical of what is advertised to us on TV (for good reason) so when we want to lose weight and then see an ad for this dinner that will help us reach our goal, we look for more info.

Usually by going online and reading an article like this one.

What Exactly is Lean Cuisine?

They are basically low calorie versions of TV dinners, 250 calories to be exact which is a small amount for what a dinner usually consists of. They also have less than 10 grams of fat which puts them into the 1980s era of diet culture – low calorie/low fat.

I love making fun of the 1980s. Even though I loved the decade for being fun, it was off in many ways. Their diet messaging in particular was not just off but almost completely opposite of what we know to be the best ways to lose fat today.

The 80s preached low fat, high carbs and lots of aerobics with Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons. People didn’t lose very much weight and heart attacks and diabetes did rise but the messaging continued.

Today the Paleo/Keto movement preaches high fat, low carbs and mostly weights or high intensity exercise to slim down and as a result people are finally losing weight and keeping it off.

So then how can we Lose Weight with It?

If Lean Cuisine culture is so paradoxical to the weight loss guidelines we have today then how can it work?

The answer to that is to make it work with what we know works today. What works today is to finds ways of eating that regulate your insulin levels so that you change your physiology to burn fat all day long.

It’s the relationship your body has to insulin that is the key.

We know from the article immediately above (click the link to read it) that we can keep our insulin levels from spiking and keep them low to moderately even throughout the day by eating low carb, fasting, exercise and eating less.

Like I said each Lean Cuisine meal is only 250 calories. To put that into perspective that’s about 1 plain chicken breast, or 3/4 of a slice (not even a WHOLE one) of pizza. It’s not very much food.

So when you eat one of their TV dinners you are not going to raise your insulin level all that much.

THAT is what will enable you to lose weight.

But ….

And here’s the ‘but’ of this; it depends on what you eat the rest of the day. If you are able to have a smallish breakfast and lunch, then eating a Lean Cuisine dinner and nothing else afterwards will most likely cause you to lose weight.

The problem here (and I can feel you already anticipating this) is that you’ll have to keep it up forever. Meaning you’ll have to keep eating small amounts every, single day if you want to keep the weight off and that’s difficult if not impossible for most people.

We are social creatures and we like to enjoy ourselves at parties and BBQs, restaurants and events. That’s what makes life fun and worth living and so if you’re on that low calorie diet you’ll also have to fight the urge over and over and let me tell you, the urge never loses long term.

On the other hand, if food isn’t really your thing and you are happy just eating something that’s already prepared and has some flavor so you can get back to the kinds of things that are “your thing,” then eating these dinners could be your ticket to slimtopia.

That’s not most people though. So for the rest of us there is this article, explaining how you can lose weight AND enjoy your food. Win-win using the principals of weight loss I talked about before.

One final note. If you enjoy Lean Cuisine there’s no reason why you can’t incorporate it into your weekly diet program and make it something you can stick to long term. Just play around with the variables and you can make it work.

If you’re not enjoying your food, you won’t lose the weight, at least not for long.

And if you didn’t get much from this article then I’d recommend you check out an older 1980s Richard Simmons video on Youtube.

It’s guaranteed to both make you laugh and question the old wisdom at the same time.

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The Eating Love Guide has helped many people regain control of their eating patterns, resulting not only in weight loss but also better health and improved self-esteem. To read it online, click here.