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Volume eating ideas

whitej1234
whitej1234 Posts: 263 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
TL;DR - I am trying out a new approach resembling volume eating idea. And therefore looking for foods that are under 100cal/100gr that are not vegetables.

Longer -
So far, I knew that to feel fool I needed a good quantity of food. Given that I actually love greens it was not really a problem to have large salads for meals. But that often leads me to go stray for 2 reasons - first, I get tired of the salads at some point and second I end up depriving myself of all the other things out there and are just not fitting into a salad (someone said chocolate salad?)

I am trying out another approach now (which I will be happy to read more about, so if this has a name please let me know).
In short, instead of just making large meals consisting of low calorie ingredients I try to balance each meal that has a high calorie aspect with a low calorie side. In other words, I am trying to keep the average calorie intake to be at the ~100-150 cal/100gr range at each meal (meaning in one sitting). Meaning that if I want to eat 100 grams of something that is 300cal/100gr (meat/fish/etc) I will need to eat about 300 grams of something under 100 cal/100gr (vegetables) to average at (300+300)/(100+300)=150 cal/100gr or less, and if I add more foods that are around 100-150cal/100gr (rice) it will remain in that range. That is a great way to keep my meals well balanced without going rabbit style. It also means that if I want that 10 gr of chocolate (500 cal/100gr) it is fine if I eat an an apple (120gr of 50cal/100 gr) with it because (500*0.1+50*1.2)/(130)=90 cal/100gr. It is extra important to have it in one sitting because it makes me feel fooler to not take that extra chocolate ("It's fine, I will have low calories dinner tonight!"), and keeps me accountable because if I take 50gr of chocolate instead I will have to eat 5 apples (or an equivalent) right away with it which is quit hard to do.

This approach has 3 advantages. It doesn't deprive me of things, it makes me eat more vegetables, and I feel more full which leads to less cravings. Given that I can only eat that much food the 1800 cal a day ends up with 1.2-1.8 kg (3-4 lb) a day which is the total amount an average person more or less eats in a day (according to research I found online).

Bottom line, I split my foods into 3 categories:
1. Balancers (<100cal)
2. Not requiring balancing (100-150cal/100gr)
3. Requiring balancing (>150cal/100gr)

So now for the questions.
1. I need more selection of balancing foods. What other foods are out there that are under 100 cal/100gr? Most vegetables and fruits fit. Legumes also work, some of the low fat dairy work (milk, low fat yogurt). What are the surprising foods that you found in this range? I for example found that salsa sauce works! So happy about this revelation. I need more.
2. Is there a name for this? I want to be able to read more about such a system.
3. This might be a bit silly, but those of you who did volume eating for a long time (lets say over 4 month), did you feel like you needed more food over time? What I mean is if a body requires 2-3lb/day and eats over 3 consistently will that lead to getting used to these quantities and requiring 3-4lbs in the future?

Thank you

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