Tips & Tricks: Food Hacks

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myfitnessjourneyto180
myfitnessjourneyto180 Posts: 93 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone makes certain foods high in volume, good taste, and low in calories?

Here are mine:

Zuchinni Pasta (5-10x less calories than normal pasta with a huge volume)
PB2 Peanut butter (1/2 normal peanut butter calories and good taste)
Protein fluff (protein shake, diet soda, xanthan gum: it's less than 150 calories with tons of fluff)
Aspartame-free diet soda
Coffee with water and artifical sweeteners (not the healthiest but literally 0 to 5 calories)
Shrimps (20 for 60 calories, super high protein, and cooked with low oil and 0-calorie spices is heavenly)

Also do you guys sometimes forget to eat and sometimes binge on junk food to meet the calorie limit?

Here's what I do:

3 junior chickens + lots of water to lessen your craving for more (1200 calories)
2 junior chicken + mcchicken + lots of water to lessen your craving for more (1300 calories)
3 junior chickens + small fries + lots of water to lessen your craving for more (1500 calories)

* Note: I round calories up to the nearest hundred for the benefit of the doubt and to prevent under-estimation.

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Replies

  • myfitnessjourneyto180
    myfitnessjourneyto180 Posts: 93 Member
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    Interesting... It's just that an entire butternut squash is like 550 calories but one large zuchinni is around 55 calories XD
  • myfitnessjourneyto180
    myfitnessjourneyto180 Posts: 93 Member
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    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    I don't think I've ever binged to meet my calorie limit, reaching my limit has never been my problem :lol:

    I eat a lot higher protein than I used to and tend to bulk out my meals with more veg these days, other than that I haven't really made any massive changes to the type of food I eat, I just eat less of it. For example instead of eating a massive bar of galaxy (approx 620 cals) I will now have a little dairy milk bar (95 cals). When I go to the cinema I don't get pic n mix, I will get a small bag of jellies and some fruit out of Tesco and have a bottle of overpriced water from the concession stand.

    That's probably the way to go. You get the enjoyment, while still losing :) I just get low calorie pop corn and get a few cups worth (around 200-250 calories). That way I can feel like I'm not restricting myself with everyone else, but am also still technically in my diet.
  • Stacyines
    Stacyines Posts: 72 Member
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    When I have an urge to binge - I try to low calorie it too! Have you tried healthy noodles? It's like soy based noodles that are only 50 calories for a WHOLE packet. Super low carb non-fat. They sell it at Costco so I make spaghetti out of it :p
  • myfitnessjourneyto180
    myfitnessjourneyto180 Posts: 93 Member
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    cargotrailer wrote: »
    One that I think I read on MFP, is to add diced fresh mushrooms in with ground beef for burgers, to add mass without much additional calories.

    Smart! I'll look into that :)
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    myfitnessjourneyto180 wrote: »
    Interesting... It's just that an entire butternut squash is like 550 calories but one large zuchinni is around 55 calories XD

    Yep! Zucchinis and other summer squash are much lighter than winter squash in general. Spaghetti squash is the exception to winter squash being heavy on carbs and calories, though. I can't remember the number off the top of my head but a huge portion of spaghetti squash is not many calories at all. It's a little too sweet to use as a substitute for spaghetti, in my opinion, but it makes delicious mac and cheese.

    My thing is sliced radishes instead of potato chips. And I eat lots of cabbage.
  • KarenSmith2018
    KarenSmith2018 Posts: 302 Member
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    I lave butternut squash pasta, carrot pasta and courgette pasta! Caulirice is another great alternative to rice: gives a huge volume for very limited calories.
    Mushroom burgers instead of regular are really nice
    bulking up all curries/cassoroles/pasta dishes with lots of veggies.
  • cadpro78
    cadpro78 Posts: 125 Member
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    I made a great meal last night with cauliflower, whole wheat elbows, chicken breasts, and spinach, and a little mozzarella on top, and I was surprised with MFP said it was only 232 calories with 20g of protein. Btw, I cut the chicken breast into 2 pieces to make it more managable for diets.

    Note to self: I probably would add a bit more flavor with spices or seasoning to the caulifower/elbow/spinach/cheese mixture. It was a little bland but it was good and filled you up.

    Ingredients
    0.50 cup, Whole Wheat Elbows
    1 Piece, Boneless Chicken
    79 milliliter, Diced White Onion
    1 TBSP, Diced Red Onion
    0.25 cup (28g), Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
    1 cup, Cauliflower head- Raw
    1 clove,Garlic (minced)
    1 tbsp, Spices, dill weed, dried
    0.25 cup, Chopped cilantro

    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare onions, chicken cilantro, garlic, dill weed, and spices in advance if you can. Pound chicken breast and add seasoning.
    2. Cook pasta into boiling water and drain in sink.
    3. Cook spinach and add 1/3 cup water to pan while cooking and cover it.
    4. Boil cauliflower until a little soft, not completely mushy, but can be pressed for your comfort.
    5. While cauliflower is cooking, begin to cook the chicken breast.
    6. Prepare pan with aluminum foil lined to add the elbows mac pasta, spinach, cauliflower, and cheese. Then place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
    7. Enjoy!

    Nutrition Facts
    Servings 2.0
    Amount Per Serving
    calories 232
    % Daily Value *
    Total Fat 5 g 8 %
    Saturated Fat 2 g 10 %
    Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
    Trans Fat 0 g
    Cholesterol 40 mg 13 %
    Sodium 230 mg 10 %
    Potassium 462 mg 13 %
    Total Carbohydrate 28 g 9 %
    Dietary Fiber 5 g 18 %
    Sugars 4 g
    Protein 20 g 40 %
    Vitamin A 6 %
    Vitamin C 40 %
    Calcium 16 %
    Iron 12 %
    * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    myfitnessjourneyto180 wrote: »
    Zuchinni Pasta (5-10x less calories than normal pasta with a huge volume)
    PB2 Peanut butter (1/2 normal peanut butter calories and good taste)
    Protein fluff (protein shake, diet soda, xanthan gum: it's less than 150 calories with tons of fluff)
    Aspartame-free diet soda
    Coffee with water and artifical sweeteners (not the healthiest but literally 0 to 5 calories)
    Shrimps (20 for 60 calories, super high protein, and cooked with low oil and 0-calorie spices is heavenly)

    I do a lot of the same things as you. :) I haven't tried zucchini pasta yet but I do really like spaghetti squash! PB2 and protein fluff are saviours when you get that late-night sweet craving. I'm not a coffee fan, but I'm an avid tea drinker. I have tons of different flavours of David's Teas and they keep me satisfied between meals! Sometimes I'll make my own matcha lattes with almond milk and stevia as well.

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