What are your go to "free foods"
nursemommytanya
Posts: 1 Member
What are your favorite free foods to get you through a rough patch? I love broth but use it sparingly because of the sodium.
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Replies
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What's a free food?7
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If you mean calorie-free foods, those don't exist.
Low calorie snack ideas that I like are salted raw veggies, pickles, olives, yogurt, or berries.5 -
My Mam gives me loads of free veg. I love that,4
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Herbal tea with splenda drops. Truly zero calorie.0
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I like to eat "sushi nori" (seaweed) sheets as a snack. 10 calories per sheet and very healthy!
I'm also a HUGE fan of Yam or "Shirataki" noodles! They truly are ZERO calories (or maybe 5 or 10 calories) per serving!
Grilled Chicken, Broccoli and a package of yam noodles is one of my favorite dishes:
6oz grilled, diced chicken = 250 calories + 3 cups broccoli = 110 calories + 8 oz. yam noodles = 0 calories!
I use garlic, onion powder, some Bragg's Liquid Amino's and Mrs. Dash to spice it.
Total Calories = 360 calories, for a delicious, VERY filling meal!
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From Wikipedia:
Shiritaki - Japanese noodles, Place of origin: Japan, Ingredients: konjac yam
Shiritaki are translucent, gelatinous traditional Japanese noodles made from the konjac yam (devil's tongue yam or elephant yam). Largely composed of water and glucomannan, a water-soluble dietary fiber, they are very low in digestible carbohydrates and calories, and have little flavor of their own.
Shirataki noodles can be found both in dry and soft "wet" forms in Asian markets and some supermarkets. When purchased wet, they are packaged in liquid. They normally have a shelf life of up to one year. Some brands may require rinsing or par-boiling as the water they are packaged in has an odor that may be unpleasant to those not accustomed to it.
Alternatively, the noodles can be drained and dry roasted. This gets rid of the bitterness. It also makes the noodles have a more pasta-like consistency. Dry roasting is done by placing noodles in a non-stick skillet on high for a minute or until you hear a slight squeaking noise when moving them around. After that they are ready to be added to soup stock or have a sauce added to them.5 -
nursemommytanya wrote: »What are your favorite free foods to get you through a rough patch? I love broth but use it sparingly because of the sodium.
If sodium is a concern for you, why not make your own broth?3 -
None because there aren't any.6
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How about pickles? Or a small amount of hummus with celery?0
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Great ideas here, I am going to steal some of them. I don't really have low calorie snacks, which is why I am large. But I would have to say shrimp sauteed in a little coconut oil, apples with a couple of cheese bites, broccoli and potatoes. See, that's why I'm large.1
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Cucumbers and celery when I must eat something out of just plain boredom and wanting to munch. I still log it, but if I go over before bed on celery because I'm just feeling like boredom eating I don't worry too much about it. It's better than boredom eating of anything else.2
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Fresh spinach with Litehouse pomegranate blueberry dressing.0
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no such thing2
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Cucumber, pickles, sugar free jello0
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Celery. I guess. Even that's not free. Only thing free is water. ( I don't like artificial sweetened items)1
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For low calories and I'm really hungry_ baby carrots,cherry tomatoes,cucumber,a flavored rice cake,sweet pickles or a cheese stick_but I always log the calories,even just 5 or
10_they add up fast.1 -
Water or Diet beverages.3
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I wish there was calorie free food.. But low cal, would be cucumber, pickles and baby carrots and cherry tomatoes..2
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Diet soda. Pickles. Sugar free jell-o.0
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Water. That is it.
Everything has calories and they can add up very quickly.
More importantly, they can make the difference between losing weight, and "why am I not losing weight?"1 -
I love sugar free jello! And also I like to eat celery dipped in mustard. You have to like mustard to enjoy this - but luckily I do!
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For all of those who are saying "But everything has calories except water" - I don't think the idea was for things that literally have no calories, but for ideas of foods that have nearly zero calories. For some of us volume eaters, those foods make a huge difference. There is an enormous calorie difference between eating 36 oz. of peanut butter vs. eating 2 gallons of pickles. Yes, pickles have calories, but it is so close to zero that eating in large quantities when hungry is rarely going to put someone over their calories goals unless they are already at or above their daily limit.
I'm pretty sure these types of foods with very low calorie content for high volumes of food is what OP is looking for.10 -
Did someone say free food?
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If I have cravings but few calories left, I drink herbal tea. So-called "free" foods still have calories and can add up really fast if you're a small person with a small deficit, as I am. Keep in mind that FDA guidelines allow manufacturers to call products "zero calorie" if they have fewer than 5 calories per serving. Since I have such a small deficit, I even log Splenda if I put some in my tea. (The Splenda website states that it's called "zero calorie" due to that FDA loophole. So I log a packet as 5 calories.)1
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If I have cravings but few calories left, I drink herbal tea. So-called "free" foods still have calories and can add up really fast if you're a small person with a small deficit, as I am. Keep in mind that FDA guidelines allow manufacturers to call products "zero calorie" if they have fewer than 5 calories per serving. Since I have such a small deficit, I even log Splenda if I put some in my tea. (The Splenda website states that it's called "zero calorie" due to that FDA loophole. So I log a packet as 5 calories.)
I switched to liquid sucralose ages ago and haven't looked back. I've been getting it from Amazon for a couple of years now. Before I switched, I too logged my splenda. Just so you know, the exact count per gram of Splenda is 3 calories.
I said upthread that I drink herbal tea with liquid sucralose, and that is truly a free food. Some flavors get a small 10 calorie splash of milk. I can fit those into my day too. I have a ridiculous stash of tea!1 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »For all of those who are saying "But everything has calories except water" - I don't think the idea was for things that literally have no calories, but for ideas of foods that have nearly zero calories. For some of us volume eaters, those foods make a huge difference. There is an enormous calorie difference between eating 36 oz. of peanut butter vs. eating 2 gallons of pickles. Yes, pickles have calories, but it is so close to zero that eating in large quantities when hungry is rarely going to put someone over their calories goals unless they are already at or above their daily limit.
I'm pretty sure these types of foods with very low calorie content for high volumes of food is what OP is looking for.
Maybe not, but sodium can be a huge consideration for many people and pickles are high in sodium.
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
I switched to liquid sucralose ages ago and haven't looked back. I've been getting it from Amazon for a couple of years now. Before I switched, I too logged my splenda. Just so you know, the exact count per gram of Splenda is 3 calories.
I said upthread that I drink herbal tea with liquid sucralose, and that is truly a free food. Some flavors get a small 10 calorie splash of milk. I can fit those into my day too. I have a ridiculous stash of tea!
Whoa. This actually shocked me. Splenda has only 1 calorie less than sugar per gram?! I'd rather have sugar!2 -
Susieq_1994 wrote: »
Whoa. This actually shocked me. Splenda has only 1 calorie less than sugar per gram?! I'd rather have sugar!
There's a difference in sweetening power per gram, though. A gram of splenda sweetens like 4 grams of sugar.
This can make a difference if you're using the powdered stuff and need it for bulk in cooking.
If you're just using it to sweeten beverages or yogurt or cottage cheese, it's worth it to get the liquid and have zero calories. The brand I get even includes handy little travel size bottles with your order.1 -
3rdof7sisters wrote: »
Maybe not, but sodium can be a huge consideration for many people and pickles are high in sodium.
Yes, that is true. Since I need significantly more sodium than most people, pickles are another way I can get that. I even save the juice from pickles so I can drink it when experiencing major electrolyte depletion. As it gets warmer outside and as I'm becoming more active, this is a bigger and bigger issue. In fact, I sometimes use those electrolyte tablets (Nuun, for example). A few years ago, I laughed at the idea and couldn't understand why anyone would really need to supplement sodium. Now, if I'm running trails and won't be home soon to get to my pickle juice stash, those tablets are a god-send.2
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