Is it really THAT difficult to find low calorie foods that taste good??

M

matt123

New member
Hello, I'm new here and thought this would be a great place to get some friendly advice...

I'm really struggling to find enough low fat, tasty food to keep me happy. Could anyone help me with examples of an enjoyable breakfast, lunch and dinner??

Any suggestions would really help!!

Matt.
 
well, low fat isn't always low calorie but you want suggestions?

absolutely everything. You can eat anything you want. What matters is moderation. A banana is healthy. Eating 20 bananas isn't so much. The biggest things are learn portion sizes as well as calories for items at sites like FitDay and Calorieking.
 
Thanks guys. I think the thing I find most difficult is sticking to a strict, rigid diet plan. I really like variety in my food, and find most diet plans pretty dull...giving me little incentive to continue. I'd like real food, which tastes good, and is relatively low in calories. Does anyone else have a similar problem?

Matt.
 
You don't have to follow some strict diet. Heck, I just had a blueberry muffin for breakfast just now. It's all about moderation my friend. You can seriously have whatever you want. Knowledge is key coupled with smart choices. People can tell you what you should eat but when you are on your own, you just need to learn for yourself what are the right choices. Sometimes the right choice is a "bad" food. It's ok. Balance.
 
Oatmeal with fruit, tuna with pinapple, chicken breast with all spice cooked in microwave for 6 0r seven minutes. I hope some of these help.
 
I eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. Wheat toast and over easy eggs sometimes. Oatmeal (plain, not instant) with ground flax seed, cinnamon and walnuts. Lunch at work, I usually have a salad-the salad bar always has something different on it so it's not the exact same salad everyday. No dressing (I just don't like it). Also, a turkey burger with no bun, lettuce, tomato and onion. I don't really eat "dinner". I usually have snacks like lunch meat, cheese and lettuce rolled up, edamame heated up in the microwave, etc. Sometimes I'll splurge and eat popcorn-but very moderately. If you can't tell, I'm on a low carb/good carb diet. It really works for me. I never eat pasta-even whole wheat because it's just a giant calorie bomb. No white bread, cookies, cake, candy, pizza, fries, etc. Occasionally I'll buy no sugar added ice cream in the smallest container available so I don't feel like I need to hurry up and eat all of it so it isn't wasted.

Really you can eat anything-in moderation. I just don't have the self control. I noticed that when I ate anything heavy in carbohydrates I would just want more later (a lot more). People at work try to get me to eat cookies and other stuff when we have potlucks but I don't even eat one. I know that I'll go back and want to eat the whole tray. I know that you aren't me, but I hope this helps you. Even a little bit.
 
Here's a solid breakfast...

Here is a solid breakfast idea that isnt boring (to me anyway)....

5 large egg whites cooked in spray - 86
1/4c fat free shredded cheddar cheese - 45
smoked turkey breast slices (3-4 medium) - 90
2 slices Light Honey Wheat bread - 70
1/2 onion pita (pocket) - 75
....cooked eggs with garlic salt, and turkey breast & cheese, served half like a mini omelet on the bread and half inside the pita pocket.
total calories for bfst = 366

The reason I used 1/2 a pita was because I was out of them...otherwise, I'd fill both halves instead of using the honey wheat bread...the onion pitas have an awesome flavor and aroma when you heat or toast them...to me that is partially satisfying in itself...not to mention it makes me want to eat the dish :drool5:

Also, you can scramble a lot of egg whites together with mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, zucchini or any other type of veggie you like....then put it into some sort of wrapper be it a pita or a tortilla with salsa. For that matter, you can do an egg white omelet with all the above fillings...veggies are so low in calorie that you can have a 5lb omelet with less than 300 cals.

I found some turkey bacon at The Fresh Market that is the shiznit...
Applegate Farms Natural Turkey Bacon...no preservatives
70 calories in 2 slices and they are healthy sized slices...it is natural meat and not that processed crap.

Pepperidge Farms puts out a deli flat sandwich bun that is good too...only 100 cals in it. Any cold cuts from a good deli will be low in fat and calories...I can even use the Gualtney Roast Beef which is lowest in fat and cals of any beef. I'm a sucker for good pastrami, so I mix a slice or 2 with smoked turkey breast and it helps cut cals. Use mustard and pickles instead of mayo.

I made some but kicking pizzas a couple nights ago...
Onion pita
pizza quick sauce
mushrooms
smoked turkey breast or turkey pepperoni
onions
peppers
tomatoes
garlic powder or salt
one serving lite feta cheese
one serving reduced fat mozzerella

Bake for about 10 min in a 400 oven...just until its hot thru and melted
TWO of those were around 670 calories :reddevil:

just a few ideas =)
 
You can search for some nice tips for weight loss. Also I have found a company that ship fresh food to you but cant post link due to spam policies
 
mary111 said:
You can search for some nice tips for weight loss. Also I have found a company that ship fresh food to you but cant post link due to spam policies
Click to expand...

......so you posted a link in your siggy instead???? Thats not allowed either.
 
Initially healthy food will taste terrible to you, but then your taste buds will adjust and you will love it.

I had an omelette with spinach today, and I thought it tasted great. I love water based vegetable soup now, and I love plain grilled meat. You'd have to pay me a lot of money to get me to eat cakes and icecream now, I genuinely don't want it.

But it took me a long time to get to this point, and initially I completely cut out all the junk and struggled with not eating it. I am a strong believer in completely cutting out all junk from your system, because I think that eating it even occasionally has the potential to get you addicted to it if you had problem with self control and food before.

Not all people have this problem, some people are able to eat junk in moderation. Only you can know if you're such a person. I personally know that I'm not, and I don't intend to ever touch it again because I remember with a reasonable degree of fear my late night trips to the gas station to load up on large quantities of junk that I absolutely had to have, or my inability to stop eating cake until it was all gone. I have an addictive personality when it comes to food.
 
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Its not that difficult to find low cal foods which taste good- I love the taste of what I eat and I eat healthily! Also don't forget everything in moderation is fine- just don't eat junk every day if you do chose to eat it.

Try things like grilling vegetables (all of them: peppers, tomatos, butternut squash, corgettes, mushrooms...) pin to a sautee stick and grill till the outside is crispy. Eat with cream cheese or cook with a cut peice of ham inbetween each peice of veg, then add balsamic vinegar poured over when serving.

Jacket sweet potato with low cal cream cheese rather then butter.

Steamed vegetables and chicken, try adding some seasoning to the chicken and vegetables if you want something extra or add apple cider vinegar and black pepper.

Curry made with tinned tomatos, chopped up vegetables (diced onion, oriental or normal mushrooms- cook these first with the 1kcal spray oil, then add the rest of the veg: corgettes, carrots, sliced green beans, peppers...anything else you have! then add the tinned tomatos, and some curry powder.) Leave to simmer for 10-20mins and add meat or beans if you want. Serve with your choice of complex carbs.

Fresh fruit salad- make sure its seasonal for optimum taste.

Figs, pears, melon, cherries, apricots...how can you not like the taste of these things?
 
Make your own hamburgers with 93% ground beef? Careful with your buns, they can have 200 calories.
Make your own ketchup with tomato puree/vinegar/garlic etc.

You need a cookbook, some free time and fresh ingredients. Learning to cook is probably EQUALLY as important as working out when it comes to losing weight.

Oh, and always watch how much salt you add.
 
I'm fond of getting some frozen tilapia (from CostCo), tossing on some lemon pepper and nuking for 2 minutes each side. Maybe less depending on size (I often cook 2 at a time).

I snack on raw veggies and maybe some string cheese. Fill up on the raw, fibrous veggies - they're low on calories and high in nutrients.

Here's my 'go to' dinner in a hurry: (serves me and my husband)
1 acorn squash - cut in half, remove seeds, plastic wrap, nuke each half 5 to 6 minutes. (~210 calories, 16g fiber, 4g protein)
1 cup frozen onions - toss in big pan with oil or non-stick spray. (125 calories, 3g fiber, 0 protein)
1 lb lean ground beef (93 to 97% fat free) - throw in with onions. (510 calories, 0 fiber, 69g protein)
half cup of wild rice (pre-cooked) - throw in with the rest. (80 calories, 1.5g fiber, 3.3g protein)
Mash acorn squash and cook in.
Season to taste (I like salt & pepper & ginger & coriander and garlic)

Assuming you eat half of it, you're looking at 462 calories, 10g of fiber and 38g of protein. You can lower the calories a bit more by getting lower fat ground meat (like buffalo or white turkey or whatever) but over all it's pretty simple to make, and you could eat it 4 times a day and still be under 2000 calories :p
 
You can find wheat bread thats 45 cal. each slice and have a egg sandwitch. Take yoke out and cook, I use two eggs and take one yoke out.
 
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