The simple things

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Tomato (medium size) off the vine from the store, cut up into slices on a plate, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. 22 calories and I am happy. If I have 2 I am ok for hours.

So for a total of 44 calories I pushed hunger off for a bit.

Who's with me?
«1

Replies

  • evesmom2
    evesmom2 Posts: 231 Member
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    I've got a lot of tomatoes getting ripe in the garden now. My favorite and easiest lunch is a tomato sliced up with blogs of cottage cheese on each slice, then salt and pepper. More than your 22, but so simple, satisfying and delicious and keeps the hunger away for hours. (and yes, I weigh & count the cottage cheese)
  • sugaraddict4321
    sugaraddict4321 Posts: 15,740 MFP Moderator
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    seska422 wrote: »
    One tomato, by itself, is 22 calories. The drizzle of olive oil has calories too. Depending upon your drizzle size, it could have far more calories than the tomato.

    Not a thing wrong with olive oil but it does still count.

    ^This. Let's say you use a teaspoon of EVOO as drizzle for your two tomatoes, which is not much. One teaspoon of EVOO weighs 4.57 grams. According to the label on my bottle those 4.57 grams add 37 calories to your snack, which would mean you're eating 81 calories, not 44. ;) All things considered there are worse things to snack on than tomatoes and olive oil so I wouldn't stress. Just be honest with yourself and log your oils and condiments or you'll find you are eating lots of hidden calories.
  • jarablue
    jarablue Posts: 127 Member
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    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    The olive oil is healthy in moderation and will increase satiety from the tomatoes. BUT measure and log it and keep the amount small.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    Yep, it's the fat keeping you full, not the tomato!
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    No, don't remove the olive oil. It is healthy and is what is helping you feel full. A mere 44 calories isn't a meal or even a snack. Be realistic with your goals and honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do.
  • moonchildisme
    moonchildisme Posts: 83 Member
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    snacking on watermelon as we speak.....low calorie and very filling :smiley:
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited September 2016
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    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    Yep, it's the fat keeping you full, not the tomato!

    Not me. I've been eating fresh tomatoes with a bit of salt a lot lately (many to use up before they go bad), and find them really satiating. From past experience, adding olive oil does nothing to add to satiety. (I think olive oil is great, though, and add it to other things, but never for satiety, and I get more than enough fat from other things, so wouldn't have a reason to add it unless it really affected my enjoyment). People differ on what leads to satiety, but fat, especially from oils, is not always helpful, even though sometimes that seems to be an accepted matter of faith on MFP.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    Yep, it's the fat keeping you full, not the tomato!

    Not me. I've been eating fresh tomatoes with a bit of salt a lot lately (many to use up before they go bad), and find them really satiating. From past experience, adding olive oil does nothing to add to satiety. (I think olive oil is great, though, and add it to other things, but never for satiety, and I get more than enough fat from other things, so wouldn't have a reason to add it unless it really affected my enjoyment). People differ on what leads to satiety, but fat, especially from oils, is not always helpful, even though sometimes that seems to be an accepted matter of faith on MFP.

    How many tomatoes do you need to fill you up? Serious question. I love tomatoes, particularly with a little olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, and basil (with or without some mozzarella), but I find a couple of tomatoes just doesn't do it for me. Mind you, I'm just under 200 pounds, and fat and protein are what fill me up (even with a very dense salad like the above or an Israeli-style salad again with olive oil).
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    Yep, it's the fat keeping you full, not the tomato!

    Not me. I've been eating fresh tomatoes with a bit of salt a lot lately (many to use up before they go bad), and find them really satiating. From past experience, adding olive oil does nothing to add to satiety. (I think olive oil is great, though, and add it to other things, but never for satiety, and I get more than enough fat from other things, so wouldn't have a reason to add it unless it really affected my enjoyment). People differ on what leads to satiety, but fat, especially from oils, is not always helpful, even though sometimes that seems to be an accepted matter of faith on MFP.

    Ok, not you, but it may well be OPs case.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    Yep, it's the fat keeping you full, not the tomato!

    Not me. I've been eating fresh tomatoes with a bit of salt a lot lately (many to use up before they go bad), and find them really satiating. From past experience, adding olive oil does nothing to add to satiety. (I think olive oil is great, though, and add it to other things, but never for satiety, and I get more than enough fat from other things, so wouldn't have a reason to add it unless it really affected my enjoyment). People differ on what leads to satiety, but fat, especially from oils, is not always helpful, even though sometimes that seems to be an accepted matter of faith on MFP.

    How many tomatoes do you need to fill you up? Serious question. I love tomatoes, particularly with a little olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, and basil (with or without some mozzarella), but I find a couple of tomatoes just doesn't do it for me.

    For a snack, just one, but I'm not really a big snacker. I do tend to find fruit and veg satiating, although having some protein at meals is also important.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    Yep, it's the fat keeping you full, not the tomato!

    Not me. I've been eating fresh tomatoes with a bit of salt a lot lately (many to use up before they go bad), and find them really satiating. From past experience, adding olive oil does nothing to add to satiety. (I think olive oil is great, though, and add it to other things, but never for satiety, and I get more than enough fat from other things, so wouldn't have a reason to add it unless it really affected my enjoyment). People differ on what leads to satiety, but fat, especially from oils, is not always helpful, even though sometimes that seems to be an accepted matter of faith on MFP.

    Ok, not you, but it may well be OPs case.

    Maybe, but from what I've read fat tends to be the least satiating macro, on average, and I'd bet it's less satiating in a form like oil even for those who find nuts satisfying. (I find nuts or cheese satisfying if I just want a little something, but I can easily overeat them and won't feel unpleasantly full. A tomato or pickle or something would be as satiating for me as one of those higher cal options.)

    Totally agree that OP might differ, but I'd advise OP to experiment and be aware that the extra calories might be part of why it's satisfying. My comment was just because I often see people asserting that fat always is satiating, and for a number of us that's not so.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    jarablue wrote: »
    Wow. There is 120 calories in a tablespoon of the olive oil I use. So lets remove that. Yeah. Salt and pepper is good enough for me.

    Yep, it's the fat keeping you full, not the tomato!

    Not me. I've been eating fresh tomatoes with a bit of salt a lot lately (many to use up before they go bad), and find them really satiating. From past experience, adding olive oil does nothing to add to satiety. (I think olive oil is great, though, and add it to other things, but never for satiety, and I get more than enough fat from other things, so wouldn't have a reason to add it unless it really affected my enjoyment). People differ on what leads to satiety, but fat, especially from oils, is not always helpful, even though sometimes that seems to be an accepted matter of faith on MFP.

    How many tomatoes do you need to fill you up? Serious question. I love tomatoes, particularly with a little olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, and basil (with or without some mozzarella), but I find a couple of tomatoes just doesn't do it for me.

    For a snack, just one, but I'm not really a big snacker. I do tend to find fruit and veg satiating, although having some protein at meals is also important.

    Thanks. I suppose it's just one more area with plenty of variance
  • jarablue
    jarablue Posts: 127 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I just had a tomato without olive oil, just salt and pepper. It does the job for me. I like tomatoes, not olive oil. The oil just made the salt and pepper for me coat better when stirring them. I don't care for the taste of it as much. If I eat 2 of them, I am good for a bit. I am 220 pounds. I like to snack at night. That is my weakness. So at 9pm while on the computer, I cut them up and it keeps me from doing anything stupid until the morning. It works good for me.

    It's not that eating 2 of them fill me up to the point of whoa momma I need to sit down. It makes me not want to eat for 2 to 3 hours. That is important for me at night at 8 or 9pm. I just need to get through until AM to reset. My night time snacking used to be the worst. Now it is controlled better with more sound eating.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    That's similar to what I did in my difficult snacking times when I started. Like you it was more a habit/need to snack vs. hunger, so just eating raw veg (or a tomato or a pickle) helped until I phased myself out of the habit.
  • jarablue
    jarablue Posts: 127 Member
    edited September 2016
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    That's similar to what I did in my difficult snacking times when I started. Like you it was more a habit/need to snack vs. hunger, so just eating raw veg (or a tomato or a pickle) helped until I phased myself out of the habit.

    How did you phase yourself out of it? It is definitely emotional eating. My stomach is full. I am italian and love food. I have lost over 110 pounds. I think it is both a self control issue and also the need to feel full/taste good food. I am losing weight no problem, it's just that I really love good food.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I made sure my meals were filling and limited myself to low cal foods (mostly veg) at the snacking times if I felt I needed to eat something. I tried hard to do something else instead, though -- drank an iced tea or coffee or something (my issue wasn't at night, so not caffeine for you, probably), journaled and planned food for later, reminded myself (through journaling) that I wasn't hungry (writing about stress/whatever the emotional stuff is helps me), actively did something else like walk around or go exercise or surf on amazon. One thing that helps is changing routine -- easier not to want to snack at home if you change where you are sitting or some such.

    For evening snacking (I eat dinner late, so that was an easy thing for me to stop) maybe just save calories if you eat dinner early? Since I work late and eat late my danger time is often around 4-7 pm, before dinner.

    I did find that just not giving in and sticking to the low calorie options or nothing was hard at first but after a couple of weeks the desire to snack went mostly away. I realized this when I did a biking trip where we snacked all day and then it was back when I came back home -- had to train myself off of it again. So I'll say it probably will go away.

    (Some people prefer snacking and do better scheduling snacks, but I do much better on 3 main meals. It's how I prefer to eat.)
  • Sara1791
    Sara1791 Posts: 760 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I'm with you but I'd have added some fresh basil and fresh mozzarella and some balsamic vinegar. The end of summer sure is nice. :)

    (And before we all go nuts: that's about 25 calories for the tomato, 120 for the oil, pretty sure it's 70 for an ounce of mozzarella, I refuse to count a couple of leaves of basil, and maybe 15 for the vinegar. So, that's what? less than 250 for a very nice snack.)
  • leahkathleen13
    leahkathleen13 Posts: 272 Member
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    Op is on to something. Vegetables and olive oil is a tried and true cornerstone of Italian cooking. Yes of course it must be logged but a teaspoon can have 40 calories only and can turn down hunger in a flash. I like it! I'm Italian too! I use this trick with peppers, zucchini, etc. Thanks for sharing......cheers!