What are your favorite low-calorie foods finds?

[Stacey in MA]

I'm working on the post-4-kids lose-the-extra-15-pounds thing. I decided to start with a calorie counting diet for starters, to get an idea of how much I'm eating, and to eliminate some of the large offenders that are regulars in my diet (like heavy cream in my coffee!).

 

To keep it simple, I've arranged eating like so:

Breakfast: 200 calories or fewer

Snack 100-200 calories

Lunch: up to 500 calories

Snack: 100-200

Dinner: up to 500

Snack: 100-200

 

This 6x/day eating was something I got used to when I had GD w/ all of my pregnancies. This plan leaves me with anywhere from 1500 - 2000 calories a day.

 

Since I have started, I have noticed one nice change. I often reach for fruits and veggies at snack time, because all of the other junk food in the house is just too high in calories! As a result, I'm not only getting fewer calories, but getting more servings of fruit and veggies in! No weight loss yet though....

 

I've had a hard time finding really enjoyable tasting and satisfying snacks though. So my real question is.... What are some of your favorite low-cal finds that surprised you how yummy they were, but yet low cal?

 

Thanks for the ideas! - Stacey in MA

[Ferdie]

For snacks I do better when I include a little bit of protein in my snack. Protein takes longer to digest than carbs do, so you will stay fuller longer.

 

I love smoothies for a snack. I've never counted the calories but I use 1 cup non-fat milk or rice milk and 1 scoop protein powder for the base. For extra flavor I add frozen fruit, or crushed pineapple and coconut extract.

 

For a chocolate treat you can add 1/2 - 1 tsp Hershey's baking powder + Stevia to sweeten. For variations I sometimes add either frozen strawberries, or 1 T instant coffee, or 1 T peanut butter, or 1/4 tsp mint extract.

 

For a quick snack you can try:

-yogurt and piece of fruit

-raw almonds and piece of fruit

-slice of deli meat wrapped in lettuce

-celery stuffed with low-cal cheese (I use Laughing Cow brand)

 

My favorite end of day snack/treat are Healthly Choice Fudgecicles. I also love making this pudding: Blend (in blender) fat-free, sugar free pudding mix with non-fat milk (use 1/2 less than suggested) and add 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese. A large box makes about 6 servings. I keep them in the back of the fridge so the kids can't find them. I love choc. at the end of the day!

 

The main thing when cutting calories is to keep your food nutrient rich.

[Vida Winter]

If you can manage to make some extra grilled chicken breast you can have a hunk of that for a snack. It will really stay with you so you don't crave sweets or carbs.

 

Another thing that's good for a snack is string cheese.

 

I know these are not the lowest calorie foods but when I get hungry I need to have something like this or else I'll just eat too much of whatever else I can find.

[Ali in OR]

I've noticed that to lose weight, I really need to be down around 1500-1600 calories per day. 1800 is fine for maintaining, but I won't lose at that level. For snacks:

 

Yoplait Light yogurt (always lemon for me!)

String Cheese

2 T. peanuts (and you have to measure and eat only that. Not lo-cal, but filling)

An apple

1/2 bag Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop popcorn (give the rest to the kids)

1 Dove Dark Chocolate with Almonds square (42 cals, must stop at 1!)

Make the salad for dinner first and snack on that while making dinner

[Guest kacifl]

I've been keeping sugarless gum nearby. When I get a hankering to snack, I chew the gum. Yes, me mommy would disapprove. K

[E_Edgerton]

My absolute favorite snack is water! I have to admit that when I get hungry the first thing I do is have a HUGE glass of ice cold water! It is my friend when I am craving something...bad for me! But I also keep yogurt, apples, bananas, and veg in the refrigerator for when I am just plain hungry between meal times. :)

[Julie in CA]

Vlasic dill pickle spears are only 5 calories each, and they have a *ton* of flavor. It seems like sometimes I'm not craving food, as much as flavor, if you know what I mean!

[LaxMom]

Dh and I each lost about 40 lbs a few years ago just by controlling portions and extraneous calories. My favorite meals and snacks came from Cooking Light's recipe database. Lots of great muffins, scones, biscotti for breakfast or snack. We eat almost no packaged food, though dh liked the Slim Fast snack bars to take work with him. (Not the meal bars, the ones that come in candy bar type flavors)

 

I kept track of calories on FitDay.com and found that there were evenings that I had to go have another snack and a glass of milk to hit 1200 calories, and I had been eating all day!