Any zero or near zero foods? Other than water and celery.

Factual Questions
1

Do there exist products on the market that fit the following parameters? If so, what are they?

  1. A pill or other zero-calorie substance that makes your stomach feel full or at least curbs the rumbling sounds. Other than water; I’m getting awfully tired of water. And celery.

  2. A pill, candy or other substance with zero calories but LOTS of taste, in various flavors. Fruit flavors, meat flavors, salty flavors, whatever. Something that will cheat the urge to snack.

I’m not interested in recommendations of various diet plans like the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, et cetera ad nauseam. I’m going with the Gallagher Diet: “Eat less. Eat smarter. Exercise more.” And I’m doing well enough with it; I’m just looking for a crutch or two to help will power cope with the late-night munchies.

I’m not going to go to a health food store or a nutrition store and ask these questions because they’ll try to sell me every quack nostrum cluttering up their shelves. But I figure Dopers might have some good ideas.

Note to mods: I considered putting this in IMHO or even GD but decided to try it here in GQ. If your judgment is otherwise, I won’t be in the least offended.

2

Rice cakes and air-popped popcorn are pretty low calorie as long as you don’t add any high calorie toppings. As for adding taste, try spices - lots of flavor, virtually no calories.

3

There is 0 chance of this diet working, except to make you sick and, in the long term, make you gain weight.

But there’s also 0 chance of you believing me.

Good luck.

4

Re crutches diet Jello is about as good as it gets. I generally top it with a table spoon or so of plain yogurt. Low cal and filling.

RE “fill me up” meals the following is a hunger killer

1 bag salad
2 cap fulls of Paul Newman’s lite balsamic vinaigrette
A few shakes of a cheap balsamic vinaigrette vinegar (I like Progresso)
A pouch of water packed tuna (or some other low fat meat like chicken)
carrots, onions, green peppers etc - whatever you fancy
crumple in one large rye crisp cracker

Shake it all up in a big bowl - Sprinkle some Parmesan on top

approx 350-400 calories - Filling and nutritious

5

I have a list of ‘zero’ foods if you’d like. I’ll email you the link if you would like it. They are mostly vegetables.

6

Contrary to what you requested, I am going to suggest a diet.

I am using weight watchers. I use the websitou ue, and don’t go to any stupid meetings.

It is interesting that you use the term “points”. That is how weight watchers works. You can eat anything you want. You just have to do a simple calculation to figure out how many “points” it contains. Of course you need to get a certain amount of veggies and such. It can’t be all chocolate ice cream.

I swear, I shit you not, that on this diet, at the end of the day I am looking for something to eat because I have points left over that I have not used. And guess what? I eat ice cream. Or cookies. Or whatever sweet I want. As long as I figure out how much equals how many points, I am fine.

I have lost over 2 pounds a week. That is responsible, lasting weight loss as opposed to crash diets. In fact, weight watchers told me to EAT MORE because I am losing weight too fast. This includes over two pounds a week that included a dinner with friends in which I consumed copious amounts of Brie, and a Labor Day cookout where I had 2 cheeseburgers, a hot dog, and all the sides. You see, weight watchers gives you 35 points you can use each week if you need to cheat.

As to your question. No. No pill exists. No magic diet exists. The only thing that will make you lose weight is re-educating yourself about how to eat, and committing to a plan. Until you make that commitment, all the magic bullets you try will fail. I speak from experience and I guarantee I am right.

Weight watchers is really working for me. I highly recommend it.

7

One of my biology teachers in high school recommended the all-paper diet if one wanted to lose weight. It would fill you up, but humans can’t digest cellulose.

I can’t say it would taste good.

8

“Eat less, eat smarter, exercise more” has 0 chance of working? No wonder we’re getting fatter as a country.

I agree with Little Nemo – rice cakes (even those chocolatey ones by Quaker Oats (I think) are fairly low in calories, or try plain with a teaspoon of jam) or popcorn are pretty low calorie and very filling.

9

In theory it will work, but without a plan, it is highly doubtful.

If this were not true, there would be no fat people, as this is not exactly secret wisdom.

10

I don’t understand. How do you know the OP has no plan?

I think if Satyagrahi could commit to Weight Watchers or South Beach or what have you, they can just as easily commit to “Eat less, eat better, excercise more”. It isn’t a matter of a named diet or a book to follow, it’s a matter of commitment. Some people need others to create the guidelines. Satyagrahi may not.

We have no idea whether the OP has a plan or not – that isn’t the issue at hand. The issue is, what are 0 calorie snacks for late at night? The OP has a “plan” to only eat 0 calorie foods at night. I think that cutting out late-night calories sounds like part of an excellent plan.

11

But of course it will work. Fat people know they should eat less and exercise more; they just don’t do it. It’s not a matter of knowing the secret, it is a matter of willpower and motivation.

To answer the question, most green vegetables are, from what I understand, comparable to celery in their near zero calorie content. Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli. The exceptions are like peas, green beans or brussels sprouts, which are still great things to eat, but have some non-trivial amount of calories. Carrots, cauliflower, really any non-starchy vegetable will do the trick. All I believe are zero points on the weight watcher’s diet.

Also let me second the weight watcher’s thing. You don’t have to go anywhere or buy anything if you don’t want, just look up the points system online. They are not a ‘diet’ in the bad sense of the word because their entire system consists of your ‘eat less, eat smarter, exercise more’ philosophy. The points idea just makes it a little easier to figure out and deal with. Good luck!

12

Asparagus is recommend for dieting, (or at least the spring “cleanings”), because it helps with the kidneys. (Don’t know the correct English term - they make you go to the bathroom more). You shouldn’t use Sauce Hollaindase or melted butter, though.

Cooked or roasted potatoes with sour cream/quark with herbs in it also has low calories.

For late night: what about carrots? Tomatoes? Maybe not 0 calories, but very low.

If pure water bores you, what about water with a squirt of sirup - woodruff or orange or lemon - doesn’t need much to give a taste?

13

You can buy flavored syrups in a variety of flavors: Torini makes a bunch of diet ones. They’re usually zero calories, some are as much as ten. Mix it with seltzer, and you’ve got an “italian soda” - no (or almost no) calories, and a bunch of sweet flavors. Sure, it’s basically no different from diet pop, but you get more flavors to choose from (don’t forget to mix and match: vanilla + pretty much any fruit works well).

They mix with milk or yogurt, too, but you’ll have more calories that way.

14

This is the theory behind Dr. Howard Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Lost Diet–eating more of lower calorie, healthier foods.

15

Diuretic.

16

Black coffee.

17

Thanks for all your suggestions!

One question about stomach-filling with cellulose: Should it be virgin cellulose, so to speak, or are newsprint inks OK? :wink:

Seriously. Of course I have a plan: Eat less. Eat smarter. Exercise more. And, having made this decision, use willpower to stick to it. This is NOT a fad diet. This is a lifestyle change and it will continue for the rest of my life.

Panache45, I feel your pain but you’re out in left field here, as other posters have pointed out. All the studies show (citations galore available if anyone is interested in searching for them) that fad diets are a waste of time because people almost always put the weight back on and possibly injure their health in the process. I’ve done a great deal of study, having both read several books and spent many hours on the internet, on nutrition, health, calorie-counting, point systems, etc. I’m going healthy, slow and steady, with careful attention to vitamins, proteins, fats, etc.

So, how’s it working for me? I’ve lost 20 pounds in the last year–slow but sure–and have 15 pounds to go to my target weight. The steady loss will continue; willpower is not a major problem for me.

The point of my OP was to find a crutch or two to make the process more enjoyable. Again, thanks, everyone, for your suggestions!

And here’s a suggestion that I came up with myself this morning for something just to give a pleasant taste in my mouth late at night: Tic-Tac breath mints. Bunches of fruit flavors, just 1.5 calories each–or so the advertising claims. I suppose the trick here is to limit myself to one. :slight_smile:

Cellulose and Tic-Tacs! Who would have thought?

18

OK. Promise to check in with a progress report in asiz weeks. We will be curious to see how you are doing.

Good luck!

19

Thank you for the thought, Ginger. But I’m familiar with vegetables. In fact I’ve got vegetables coming out of my ears.

Interesting image. Perhaps I’ll post a picture…

20

…in about six weeks…

:smack: