Inexpensive diet, short-term
 

I was shopping for some frozen, prepared meals for an elderly friend and saw that a well-known brand of frozen foods (Michelinas, but it could be any brand if you always check the freezer case) was on sale: the Lean Choice type of meal for $1. 10 for $10. I bought some for my friend, and she liked the taste.

One entree was chicken and rice. It was 320 calories. The sodium was roughly 1/3 the daily allowance. It had 11 grams of protein. Another was pasta and broccoli. It was similar in nutrition but had much lower sodium and was 260 calories.

Heck, I could eat 4 of these each day and not snack between meals. If I did this for a week, It would be 4x7= 24 meals. 24 dollars, in fact, to eat prepared meals.

Cheap.

The point is: if you see a sale like that, and the calories are right, then it's a dieting bargain, not just a good purchase, dollar-wise. It doesn't even matter what the brand is, if you like the brand or find their foods palatable.