What are your must have rescue foods that help you keep your calories in control?

zenner22

Hello All,

I've recently discovered MFP and have logged in for 20 days in a row. I love the app and reading the forum. I'm curious what foods you find are most helpful while you are trying to limit your calories. So far I have been depending heavily on:

1. Frozen spinach. So low cal and so filling. I'm basically adding it to every savory meal I make.
2. Protein shakes (with stevia). Having a hard time getting my protein in without atleast two of these a day. I'm not a huge fan of meat, but I've been trying to eat chicken and turkey jerky too.
3. Popcorn.
4. Freeze dried fruit from Starbucks. 40 cals for a crunchy fruit snack, replaces my cravings for cookies.

What are your go-tos? Also, any suggestions on how to bump up the protein? Turns out peanut butter and hummus don't have as much protein as I thought....

SueInAz

String cheese, beef jerky, tinned tuna, hard boiled eggs

rivka_m

Lentils with a little olive or canola oil added. Also seitan (meat substitute). Both are fairly easy to make (I hate prepping/cooking) and will keep me satisfied for a bit.

halimaiqbal00

Peanut butter. Cashew butter, Raisins, fruit

annette_15

Quark, its like greek yogurt, but its a spoonable cheese. High in protein and tastes better than greek yogurt. Also very low in calories

pplastics

string cheese, greek yogurt, fruits and veggies, pistachios and almonds

Kalikel

Fruit and chicken, I guess.

annangelich

Spinach, Kale, Arugula, Cottage cheese, Salmon and celery with Hummus...

giggitygoo

I have a Quest bar in my purse at all times. This practice has saved me from a lot of bad decisions.

GrammyPeachy

Laughing cow cheese wedges, (only 35 calories), broccoli, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray,(0 calories), boiled eggs, salmon patties

zenner22

I've heard a lot about Quest bars, but haven't been able to find them at the store. Are they only available online? And do they have artificial sweeteners?

tanek747

Apples, baked too
Grapes
Soya yogurt low cal filling protein
tofu especially easy pre marinated pressed ready to go
miso soup kills off a salty craving without nearly any calories

girlviernes

roasted seaweed, coconut chips, larabar, almonds

Debbjones

My favorite go to foods are:

Breakfast
Nature Harvest Low cal multi grain bread...
A little spritz of zero calorie cooking spray on the bread and a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar (sugar being Splenda), pop that in the toaster and YUM! Bread is only 40 calories a slice, less than a gram of sugar and provides 6 grams of protein!

Dinner
Sauteed fish with onions... Brown the onion in a pan, add a little tea for moisture and flavor, add 4 ounces of fish and cook till brown. Around 150 calories.

Snack
For my sweet tooth, I munch on a plain ice cream cone filled with sugar free pudding (instead of ice cream)... this will range between 80-100 calories.

giggitygoo

zenner22 wrote: »

I've heard a lot about Quest bars, but haven't been able to find them at the store. Are they only available online? And do they have artificial sweeteners?

The "all natural" cookie dough bar is the only one that I'm familiar with, and it is sweetened with Stevia. I buy them at bodybuilding.com, and stock up when they go on sale. They currently have a 25% off promo on the box.

giggitygoo

I also rely heavily on reduced sodium sliced turkey breast. I buy it from costco, and snack on it throughout the day.

For breakfast, I really like Kashi Go-Lean as it has a decent amount of protein.

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

Bacon.

ahoier

Sardines! LOL......sometimes a can of tuna.....

Almonds....I found some Cajun seasoned almonds from ALDI that are pretty good......I gotta weigh them out though for portion control though! 28 grams comes at about 120-150 calories or something crazy LOL.......but they keep me good til my lunch.....

Beef Jerkey at work......before my p.m. workout.......

Protein powder I got from Sam's Club is basically my "dinner" (last meal of the day) when I come home from the gym......

laciemn

Rice crackers (16 for 100 cals)
Salad
Lean meat
Egg whites

MyMalfunction7

Cauliflower, 80-calorie greek yogurts, coffee blended with peppermint extract. When I need a snack because I'm craving something tasty (and not because I'm actually hungry), I can eat 10 oz of cauliflower or a yogurt and feel full for a long time. The coffee is very, very few calories and feels like a treat every time.

holly55555

giggitygoo wrote: »

I have a Quest bar in my purse at all times. This practice has saved me from a lot of bad decisions.

I'm so with you. You can even bake the bars into cookies. Quest also just started making protein chips - they are awesome! They are more like crackers, but 20g of protein and 120 cal for a whole bag. I am a crunchy snack fiend, so these keep me from laying into the real chips and I don't feel guilty.

MelodyandBarbells

@tanek747 , a little about baked apples please? How do you make them?

My staples are chicken breast and frozen mixed veg, I slice up apples to take with me to the gym sometimes I eat them in the gym if I feel like I need something, other times I eat them on the way back which helps me avoid piling on the calories in mcdonalds even though I stop there every time for coffee

Sugar free jello powder which dang it I forgot I buy more packs during my recent grocery trip. Single serve recipes for mug coffee cake, brownie etc.

But honestly I also mix in the calorie bombs here and there otherwise I'd be a twig what with how much I do exercise...

Liftng4Lis

Peanut butter, hummus, nuts

tanek747

@janeir36 for baked apples depends on cals available that day
simplest we wash them use an apple core tool to cut out the column of pips stem etc always leave skins on and bake at 200c in a tray
but it's nice to plug the lower hole with dates keeping all the juices inside the Apples
or fill hole entirely with date almond raison mix
or can blend oats dates and peanut butter to fill hole and it bakes in the Apple juices to a cookie dough through center
all depends on cals available, the Apples themselves are quite low compared to fillings and can make a good meal.

Plain or filled we like baked apples with plain soy yogurt and sprinkled vanilla powder and or cinnamon, less cals than flavoured yogurts or custards. Can add flavoured stevias too e.g. toffee.

MelodyandBarbells

tanek747 wrote: »

@janeir36 for baked apples depends on cals available that day
simplest we use an apple core tool on them and bake at 200c in a tray
but it's nice to plug the lower hole with dates keeping the juice inside the Apples
or fill hole entirely with date almond raison mix
or can blend oats dates and peanut butter to fill hole and it bakes to a cookie dough through center.

Plain or filled baked apples are great with plain soy yogurt and sprinkled vanilla powder and or cinnamon, less cals than flavoured yogurts or custards.

That sounds great! How long do you bake at 200C/~400F?

kateepena

A lot of fruit.

usually I cut up a bunch of strawberries, peaches and maybe an apple and put it in a bowl with maybe some blueberries.

then I look at it and think IT'S NATURE'S CANDY in Chris traegers voice

ohmephisto

Healthy canned soup is great when I'm starving and fast food is looking a bit too tempting. Also eggs, tuna and carrots. I wish I could find decent freeze dried fruit over here.

tanek747

tanek747 wrote: »

@janeir36 for baked apples depends on cals available that day
simplest we wash them use an apple core tool to cut out the column of pips stem etc always leave skins on and bake at 200c in a tray
but it's nice to plug the lower hole with dates keeping all the juices inside the Apples
or fill hole entirely with date almond raison mix
or can blend oats dates and peanut butter to fill hole and it bakes in the Apple juices to a cookie dough through center
all depends on cals available, the Apples themselves are quite low compared to fillings and can make a good meal.

Plain or filled we like baked apples with plain soy yogurt and sprinkled vanilla powder and or cinnamon, less cals than flavoured yogurts or custards. Can add flavoured stevias too e.g. toffee.

@janeir36 Preheat 200c can take quite different times depending on Apple variety and size and number. Often between 15 to 30 mins. We just check until they look right. Is ok for skins to brown up, you want the Apples to collapse a little it means the insides are becoming hot yummy thick Apple sauce.

chopsart

deli turkey slices
80 calorie yogurt / grapes
string cheese
bananas
baked tofu

eaviram

I love lentil chips with hummus for the salty cravings.

nicoleagafitness

Eggs, salad, cucumber salad, if I'm wanting a trashy snack, I eat Pringles, usually jalapeño or chile con queso.