What Are some foods low in calories?

redneck8814 wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

redneck8814 wrote: »

I'm looking to change my eating habits and need to find low calorie low carb foods. Where do I begin?

Better than just looking for random low calorie foods (which won't help if you don't necessarily find them filling), start logging accurately and consistently what you like to eat, what you are naturally drawn to eating. Make notes in your log for days you were hungry and struggled to stay at your calorie goal, days where you stayed under easily, days you felt fatigued, days you were bored with your food, etc. Then start looking for a pattern - what foods were worth the calories? What foods were a waste because you were hungry all day? Is there a pattern in your macros, or your eating timing? Then tweak as you go.

Every one finds different foods filling or worth the calories. I used to try to lose weight by eating lots of veggies and fish (low cal!) and I was just hungry and miserable and would end up quitting. Taking some time to learn what foods worked specifically for me was the key - now I can maintain easily. I found that starchy carbs and more protein were important for me, for you it might be completely different.

Also make sure you aren't trying to lose weight too fast. If you automatically set up your account to lose 2 lbs per week, but you have less than 50 lbs or so to lose, that's a recipe for disaster!

So I set it up with a small goal of 10lbs with 2 a week. Should I change that? I'm 280 now but would like to be around 220ish. Iv been on here for 3 days and I like it it's just hard from going from the norm to cutting back alot. I mean some days I go all day and realize I haven't eaten. Then others I'm hungry and tend to over eat.

So if your total goal is 60 lbs, you might be able to get away with 2 lbs for a little bit. Having said that, if you feel like you are swinging between not eating much, and then eating too much, why not start out a little slower to give yourself time to get the hang of it? You can always leave a few calories on the table if you change to 1.5 lbs per week. Learning how to eat for the rest of your life, rather than just when you are "dieting", can help make the transition to maintenance easier. And not knowing how to maintain is why so many people gain weight back.

So yeah, I would switch to 1.5 (or even 1) and let your appetite kind of even out a bit. :drinker:

redneck8814 wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

redneck8814 wrote: »

I'm looking to change my eating habits and need to find low calorie low carb foods. Where do I begin?

Better than just looking for random low calorie foods (which won't help if you don't necessarily find them filling), start logging accurately and consistently what you like to eat, what you are naturally drawn to eating. Make notes in your log for days you were hungry and struggled to stay at your calorie goal, days where you stayed under easily, days you felt fatigued, days you were bored with your food, etc. Then start looking for a pattern - what foods were worth the calories? What foods were a waste because you were hungry all day? Is there a pattern in your macros, or your eating timing? Then tweak as you go.

Every one finds different foods filling or worth the calories. I used to try to lose weight by eating lots of veggies and fish (low cal!) and I was just hungry and miserable and would end up quitting. Taking some time to learn what foods worked specifically for me was the key - now I can maintain easily. I found that starchy carbs and more protein were important for me, for you it might be completely different.

Also make sure you aren't trying to lose weight too fast. If you automatically set up your account to lose 2 lbs per week, but you have less than 50 lbs or so to lose, that's a recipe for disaster!

So I set it up with a small goal of 10lbs with 2 a week. Should I change that? I'm 280 now but would like to be around 220ish. Iv been on here for 3 days and I like it it's just hard from going from the norm to cutting back alot. I mean some days I go all day and realize I haven't eaten. Then others I'm hungry and tend to over eat.

Kimny's advice is great.

Your overall goal (10 lbs or what not) does not matter. It's about what will work for you -- does a bigger goal encourage you or freak you out? Since 10 lb was what you initially felt comfortable with, I'd stick there for now. You can change any time.

2 lb a week when you are 280 is probably fine, but if you are struggling starting slower with 1 lb or 1.5 is good too.

For me, having a regular schedule for eating and a plan (and not eating at other times) makes it easier.

MFP should give you a reasonable calorie goal, but remember that if you exercise you can eat it back (at least 50%, depending on how you get the exercise calories), and if you have an active job or walk a lot you might want to use the "moderately active" setting.

One thing that can be helpful is writing down or logging a sample of how you tend to eat and then thinking about ways to cut calories. Some tips:

Non starchy veg (i.e., vegetables other than potatoes/sweet potatoes, corn, peas) are very low cal and good for you. Think about trying to include them in most meals.

Fruit varies a lot in total calories, but on the whole is lower calorie than a lot of other options, especially berries. This is particularly true if you want something sweet.

Fat has 9 cal per gram and protein and carbs have 4 cal per gram. This is not a recommendation to avoid fat, many find fat filling, but it means that foods that are high in fat are going to be higher in calories than you might expect. Therefore: be very careful with things like butter, oil, cheese, cream, peanut butter, even nuts, as well as many snacks and sides that include fat (fries, potato chips, popcorn with butter or oil, most dessert foods, so on).

How many calories meats have depend on fat content. Fatty meats like sausage, some cuts of beef, so on, will tend to have more calories than leaner cuts of meat. Fatty fish like salmon is really good for you and still relatively low cal, though. White fish, shrimp, boneless skinless chicken breast, turkey breast, lean cuts of pork (generally pork chops, pork loin), lean cuts of beef, much game meat will tend to be lean and relatively low calorie. That said, no need to get super restrictive and only eat boneless skinless chicken breast -- I ate a wide variety including chicken with skin (which I prefer) when losing. Lean meats are also going to be the easiest protein per calorie option.

Eggs are higher in fat than protein but provide both, and are on average around 75 calories per egg.

Starchy sides like potatoes, rice, pasta, beans and lentils, other grains, sweet potatoes, etc. are higher cal than vegetables, but IMO not that high cal if they aren't loaded with high fat sauces or butter or oil, etc. That said, many people find some or all of these easy to eat mindlessly and in huge quantities, so make sure you are careful with serving sizes until you know what your tendency is.

I made this but sliced the tomatoes and placed the mixture in top like tostados

lorrpb wrote: »

Vegetables

^^Exactly. Eat lots of them.
-Watermellon is a good choice to satisfy a fruit craving. 2-3 strawberries is good too.
-Popcorn (air popped NOT microwave) flavored with ButterBuds. This is a good low calorie snack.
-Chicken breast
-Eggs
-Protein shakes
-Black coffee in the morning. This helps to temporarily suppress appetite.

Quaff plenty of dihydrogen monoxide. Half your body weight in ounces each day, i.e. if a person weighs 256 lbs then he/she should have 1 gal each day.