Your favorite calorie-friendly foods

FrumMama

I've just started calorie counting for the first time a few weeks ago, and I'm realizing how little I know about food. Obviously vegetables are low-calorie, but I had no idea that a whole can of light tuna was only 50 calories, or that popcorn -- even lightly buttered -- was so low-calorie. I think of chicken as healthy, but the calories do add up...

What foods have you found to be good low-calorie fill-ins? I'm not talking about foods that are labor intensive like zucchini patties. I'm talking about good old, regular foods like tuna or popcorn. I also want healthy things -- not chemical-based things like "chicken soup powder mixed with water" or fake sugar added to things.

Ideas?

shadowfax_c11

Pickles are wonderful for when you need a salty, crunchy snack that is super low in calories. Just bear in mind they do up your sodium count.

queenliz99

Roasted vegetable with a little added fat, salt and pepper.

Aaron_K123

Chicken breast or turkey breast is my go to. Not just about calories, also about how satisfying it is. A well seasoned chicken breast is hard to beat for that (for me).

realcalm

Salad of 50-50 lettuce / spinach, a few of your favorite nuts, other veggies that you like to bung into salads, some strawberries, and marzetti light raspberry vinegrette. It's all about the strawberries.

noelslp

I love spiralized zucchini. I use it instead of pasta and it is so tasty, healthy, and low calorie. Spaghetti squash too!!

jennb2096

100 calorie whole grain sandwich thins, fat free pretzels and roasted red pepper hummus, sargento low fat provolone cheese.

alyssa0061

You already said it but air popped popcorn is it for me. I eat it almost every day

nowine4me

realcalm wrote: »

Salad of 50-50 lettuce / spinach, a few of your favorite nuts, other veggies that you like to bung into salads, some strawberries, and marzetti light raspberry vinegrette. It's all about the strawberries.

This is my standard lunch too, with grilled chicken, salmon or beef (whatever is left over). Strawberries make it. Other easy ideas: Greek yogurt, hard boiled eggs, bell peppers dipped in hummus, string cheese and apples.

savithny

Look at more than the calorie count: What *else* are you getting from it?

Chicken breast, eggs (whole, not whites-only), lean pork, chickpeas, black beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt.
-- healthy fats, fiber, good amounts of protein, a lot of things your body needs along with the calories.

Cabbage, kale, chard, spinach, yellow squash, carrots, peppers, tomatoes: Very filling veggies - bulky and tasty, and lots of vitamins and fiber for not a lot of calories.

PinkSuede

Veggie tostadas are my #1, chicken, green smoothies (mine average 175 cals and very filling), fruit, rice cakes with cream cheese and fruit, low fat string cheese and olives.

MoonKat7

I look at food as what value it will add to my body not how low the calorie are. You need high quality protein, good fat and a reasonable amount of starch to keep your body healthy as it affects the hormones in your body. healthy hormones healthy body.
I don't drink/smoothies my veggies and fruit bec it loses the fiber and it will be very easy for the stomach to digest meaning it won't keep you feeling full long.
My food choices are, eggs, egg whites, eye of round beef, chicken breast, turkey breast, bass, canned wild pink salmon, Ryvita bread, broccoli, fresh cut lemon without skin, blueberry, strawberry, grapefruit, plain rice cake (sugar and salt free)
I stay away from soy products, dairy products and cheese (cheese is more like a cheat from time to time).

If you wish to learn more about food, google Glycemic Index ( GI ) Food Chart, if you wish to eat well yet lose weight, eat from the low GI food list.

LUHAN27

Spinach, popcorn, pretzels, dark chocolate. for non-snack items I like making my own dishes: split pea soup, chickpea dishes, red beans and rice. I add different veggies and even veggie meat substitutes to add flavors. Very delicious!

MoonKat7

I honestly don't get the popcorn thing, I've studied nutrition at school, corn adds no value to the body, and it's NOT recommended to eat corn fed beef as it has no nutrition value.

kommodevaran

I have found old fashioned, traditional ordinary food to be adequate for losing and maintaining weight. No special diet foods or low calorie meals needed - in fact, that seems to backfire because it makes me feel deprived and I binge on not so nutritious energy dense foods when I can't stand the tasteless and strange food anymore.

ouryve

No, grain fed beef is not devoid of nutrition.

New potatoes like Jersey royals are wonderful. A big 175g portion on your plate is all of around 125kcal. They're delicious roasted and, in their skins, absorb very little extra fat.

ouryve

And yes, I simply eat ordinary food. Just not too much of it.

Wophie

I eat Quorn products, and find they are much lower calorie than meat. Not all of them taste good and not all of them are healthy, but if you want to cut the calories for a meal, or save them for something else, it's worth considering.

shadowfax_c11

Popcorn has 1.2 grams of insoluble fibre per cup it also has a small amount of iron and magnesium. I would not at all say that it has no nutritional value. It is a great way to get added fiber without a lot of calories.

Personally I think grass fed beef tastes awful and prefer corn finished beef. Nutritionally there isn't really any difference. Not to mention grass fed beef is twice the price. If you really want a free range, grass fed lean and healthy red meat, go with venison.

Kamikazeflutterby

The "calorie friendly" food that surprised me the most: pulled pork sandwiches. I make a sandwich for 200-400 calories, depending on size and ingredient portions. The more I logged, the more "normal" food I ate. The food is in smaller portions in some cases, with more veggies and less cheese, but for the most part it is all "normal" with protein bars or powder thrown in.

Just a quick comment that I hope doesn't derail the thread: everything is chemically based. Chicken soup from scratch is chemically based. Hell, a slab of wood is chemically based. Watch how you think about food. As you already discovered with the canned tuna, your outlook on "good" and "bad" can change over time.

guinevere96

I made a tuna melt on a portabella cap last night and it was probably the most delicious thing ive ever eaten, and only 351. I felt so full I could bust.


**Edit - I found the recipe!
www.butterisnotacarb.com/portabella-tuna-melts

alexpn

Eggs and Apples (but not together)

besee_2000

A whole can of tuna is typically 2 or more servings. So its more like 100cal minimum. I hate serving sizes. There should never be more than 1 in a candy bar or soda can.

guinevere96

besee_2000 wrote: »

A whole can of tuna is typically 2 or more servings. So its more like 100cal minimum. I hate serving sizes. There should never be more than 1 in a candy bar or soda can.

I get these small cans of bumblebee tuna that are 50 calories for the whole can so that might be what shes getting theyre a little smaller than the average can.

mrsmknitta

PinkSuede wrote: »

Veggie tostadas are my #1, chicken, green smoothies (mine average 175 cals and very filling), fruit, rice cakes with cream cheese and fruit, low fat string cheese and olives.

What kind of cream cheese do you use?

geneticsteacher

Pork loin chops are surprisingly low in calories. Fish and shrimp are too, unless you fry them!

louise5779

I love playing a game of lowest calorie per g of protein.
ie. Prawns 4.1 cals, scallops 5.2 cals, fat free cottage cheese 6.9 cals, cod 4.5 cals, tuna 4.3 cals, billtong 4.9 cals.

Great way to top up protein on spending the least cals.

healthygreek

Oil cured olives
Eggs
Avocado
Nuts
Sardines
Broccoli/broccoli rabe
Halibut
Goat
Baguette
Rye bread
Chocolate

The list goes on and on. I have a lot of favorites-I go more by taste/nutritional value than calorie count

healthygreek

Forgot to add:
Good cheese and wine!

MlleKelly

White fish, shrimp, and scallops are all very high protein, low-fat, and low-cal.

But I also like cheese and wine, as @healthygreek has suggested!

nowine4me

Really, who doesn't love cheese and wine?