Personally no, I stay away from ready meals at all costs unless I absolutely have to. You know exactly how many calories are in everything that you cook if you weigh and measure it all too. Use myfitnesspal.com to track it all and you'll know exactly how many calories you're having and you'll be eating a far better meal without all the additives, salt etc. that go into ready meals. I also think you'll get a lot more to eat if you cook yourself making healthy choices, I feel far more full after one of my home cooked meals than a measly ready meal!
Different people will tell you different things based on different opinions but in GENERAL, for a healthy woman who doesn't live a sedentary lifestyle, you should be aiming for 1200 calories a day net, which means after you've done your exercise. So if you burn 522 calories, you should be looking to eat around 1722 calories. It is suggested that if your body regularly (for more than 2-3 days) goes with less than 1200 calories then your body will go into starvation mode. This doesn't mean that you're literally starving yourself, it just means that your body kicks up its defence system against starvation. Your body starts to protect its fat stores and breaks down your lean muscle mass instead, though you will still be losing some fat. So yes, you'll still lose weight but it won't be in a healthy way. You'll be losing muscle mass which will give you a more flabby than toned look and it'll also reduce your metabolism, making it harder for your body to deal with normal amounts of food.
The calorie intake that each person needs to prevent this will be different, for someone with a very inactive lifestyle and slow metabolism, they can healthily do with less calories. Someone with a more active lifestyle or faster metabolism needs more to prevent it. But as a general guide, the majority should have between 1100 and 1200 a day. It's not an instant thing, having 800 calories one day won't suddenly throw you into starvation mode so if it happens occasionally, I really wouldn't worry. I know I sometimes have low days but as long as they're occasional, it's fine.
You're probably wondering what the point in exercising is if you eat the calories back so I'm going to copy and paste the rest from a post I did before...
Basically, consider your body a fire, to have a fire you need fuel. If you don't give the fire enough fuel, it can't burn. It's the same with your body, if you don't give it enough fuel (which is 1200 net calories a day) then it won't be functioning at it's best.
So then there's the question of, if I'm working my ass off to burn 500 calories a day and then eating those calories back, then what's the point I might as well eat less and not exercise. WRONG! Exercise has a lot more benefits than just helping your weight loss. Just a few of those being:
- You're creating a healthy and active lifestyle that will continue once you've reached goal and are no longer counting calories to 1200
- It allows you to eat a little more and therefore makes keeping to 1200 calories NET easier
- It means that you can work off the higher calorie meals that you have when you go out or have a special occasion
- Boosts energy levels and helps you sleep better
- It builds muscle and tones changing your body shape
- Strengthens your bones
- Regular exercise makes you less likely to suffer from certain diseases such as heart disease and diabetes
- It improves your overall fitness
- Exercise releases endorphins and improves your mood
- Reduces stress levels
- Lowers your heart rate and blood pressure through improved circulation
- Increases chances of living longer
- improves posture
- Enhances your immune system so less likely to get ill
I could go on, but I think there's enough reasons there!
I know I've gone on a bit there but I hope it all makes sense to you!
and there's a phone app for using on the go.
