Low Calorie Foods

[Kimberland30]

I'm starting a low calorie diet. I've tried SBD in the past and did well, but I don't want to cut out carbs since this is going to be a new "lifestyle" for me, not just a quick way to lose weight.

My goal for the next couple weeks is to stay around 1300 calories per day, then go to 1500 per day. I take multi-vitamins every day (as recommended for any dieters).

Anyway, I'm looking for low calorie foods, mainly for lunch and snacks. I plan on packing them up the night before so I can take them with me to work. I've found that if I take a box of crackers in, I'll eat them all in 2 days. Bad bad bad. :)

I normally have a slim fast for breakfast and a snack a couple hours later. I've been eating fruit as my snack for a couple weeks (watermelon and grapes). Lunch and dinner are my main issues. I like fast food and I like to eat huge portions...both which I blame for my weight loss. I need something quick, so I'm not looking for recipes. My DH cooks dinner and I'll just have to use portion control.

My goal is to eventually lose 25 pounds (again). I lost 18 before getting married last year, and I've put it back on plus some. Ugh.

TIA!

[jellybeany]

I've been keeping stocked up on some of the following - fresh fruit, fresh veggies, low cal dressing, salad fixings, low-fat cottage cheese, fat free frozen yogurt, 100 calorie snacks, special k cereal bars (90 calories), sugar free jello & pudding, and for sandwiches I use only whole wheat bread with no mayo.

Thats what I can think of for now :)

[Anna Low]

Here are some things that we always have in the house:
-fat free yogurt
-whole wheat bread
-lean meats (Healthy Choice has some good ones)
-tuna (those small pouches are 1 serving)
-salad fixin’s (lettuce or spinach, carrots, tomatoes, etc., lite dressing)
-Special K bars (love those!)
-high fiber cereal (to go over the yogurt – very filling)
-low fat cheese
-Lean Cuisines

[TracieB]

Here are some of the snacks we keep around:

-snap peas
-baby carrots
-string cheese
-almonds
-Nature Valley granola bars
-Kashi GoLean Crunch
-Plain non-fat vanilla yogurt (the fruit flavored ones are chock full of sugar).. I'll sometimes add a little honey to sweeten it a bit.
-Chips Ahoy 100 calorie packs
-all kinds of fruit

[Susan1027]

Someone recommended rice cakes to me a couple of days ago, and I'm hooked now! For breakfast, I put a tablespoon of peanut butter on one, and for a snack I love the caramel popcorn cakes.

[vwinkel]

I read French Women Don't Get Fat and really liked her philosophy. It was a lifestyle change but still enjoying foods. Anway, one of the things she introduced me to was plain yogurt. Not the whipped fruity kinds, but the plain old stuff in the big container with the healthy bacteria. You can doctor this up with a tablespoon of honey or slice some fruit into it. I have this for my breakfast and a snack.

Lunches - I have brought Lean Cuisines and end up heading to McDonald's on my lunch break because the thought of whatever I brought makes me ill. Find some that you like. For me, the pizzas are good and some others. I really like the Lean Hot Pockets with the Meatballs and Cheese.

Another snack - Cottage Cheese with fruit (pears and peaches are my favorites)

Dinners for me lately have been grilling fresh vegetables. I grill asparagus, mushrooms, and red onions. When I pull them off the grill I toss with kosher salt and balsamic vinegar. I like to eat a TON of this and make it my meal. I don't feel guilty because the items are good for me. I can fill up on it.

Fill your house and fridge with fresh fruit and vegetables. Find new recipes that you like using these ingredients. This helped me a ton. I would feel guilty if the fruit or veggies were going to go bad, therefore I would find a way to fix them!

[Secret_Squirrel]

Hi Kimberland,

I recently lost 20 pounds by cutting calories out of my diet, with the help of this website: http://www.calorie-count.com

It's an absolutley free service. You can see the caloric content and nutritional value of thousands of foods, and it also has calculators that tell you how many calories you burn in a day, and how many you should eat to reach your goal. And you can keep a daily food diary and it will analyze your nutrition for the day, too (so helpful for staying focused).

It's really cool and I don't think I could have lost the weight without it. There is also an active community with forums you can post questions to. It's definitely focused on supporting a healthy lifestyle change.