I’ve recently made significant changes to what I eat. At first, it wasn’t a big deal, but in the past few days, I’ve noticed that I’ve been incredibly hungry, even after eating (today for lunch, for example, I had a yogurt, banana, blueberries, and carrots – then I had an apple and some peanuts later).
So I’m looking for some low-calorie foods that are filling so I won’t be constantly fighting hunger.
Try food like popcorn and other food that’s high in fiber.
Carrots. Celery. Lettuce. Broccoli. Cauliflower. Green beans.
lean protein. high fiber veggies + plenty of water. You can eat a HUGE bowlful of spinach salad and grilled chicken for under 300 calories - raw spinach is only 7 calories per cup; grilled chicken has about 200 calories per cup.
Never eat a meal without some form of protein. The only protein you had in today’s menu was peanut butter. No wonder you’re hungry.
Nitpick - yogurt also has protein, 10-14 grams in 8 oz. About as much as 1/4 cup of peanuts.
While you’re making changes to your diet, see if you can eat plain nonfat yogurt, if that isn’t what you are eating already. It’s a much better nutritional profile than much of the flavored stuff. If you put your bananas and blueberries in it, it is pretty good.
Many people find water helps stave off hunger sensations. Drink plenty.
I second this. When I was keeping a food diary, I was amazed at how much food you can eat just sticking to this plan. You can actually have a pretty filling meal that tops out at 300-400 calories. The great thing is, for me at least, it’s sustainable, as long as you enjoy low-calorie/high-fiber vegetables and lean proteins.
Sugar-free Jello.
1 tin of Libby’s Pumpkin.
1 tsp salt
1 Equal packet
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Mix well in a bowl, and microwave for 5 minutes on 50%. Low calorie, and I can rarely finish it without feeling stuffed.
Plain potatoes are pretty filling.
Here’s a study that actually attempts to quantify how filling different foods are. The table compares equal-calorie portions of each food.
Apparently, fruit is really good at filling you in the short term, but not for longer (>2 hours).
David, have you explored cooking with whole grains? Yep, they’re carbs, but very nutritional in comparison with white flour products, and, they fill you up for the long haul between meals. Brown rice and quinoa are great, and serve as a base for all kinds of vegetables for flavor in stir fry with small bits/portion of meat for protein.
Don’t burn yourself out… do it slow and steady so that it’ll last the long term, not all-out for two weeks and back to the old habits.
If you decide to eat more whole grains (a good thing to do), take it slow. Too much too soon can lead to intestinal discomfort, as I recently learned firsthand.
Thanks to everybody for your replies. I’m incorporating a lot of these suggestions!
I agree about whole grains, protein, and veggies, and didn’t want to forget to mention healthy fats. I know you had peanuts with your apple, but there’s also olive oil, fish, avocado…
Meals should optimally have a balance between protein/fat/carbohydrates. Your lunch could have been modified just a little bit, and probably would have satisfied more. Maybe have spinach salad w/almonds & blueberries with the yogurt. If you wanted to keep the banana, maybe have it with the carrots alongside a PB&J on 100% whole wheat.
Edit, because I found a better link: Foods low in Energy Density are what you’re looking for. That will definitely help - I’d be pretty hungry on what you are eating. In general, foods with a lot of fiber will help, though as someone else suggested, add those slowly because if you’re not used to it, you’re stomach won’t like it (and neither will your friends or family). Again, as stated, keep meals balanced with a mix of protein, fat, and fiber.
Beans are good, they provide both protein & fiber, and are very easy to rinse off and throw on a salad, or scramble with some eggs/egg whites & salsa for breakfast.
Also, have you been tracking calories? I know what you posted is just a sample of part of a day, but it would leave me feeling very hungry too, and you don’t want to go too low calorie, it’s a great way to start feeling deprived and burnt out before you’ve accomplished anything.
At the beginning of each week, I put together “snack packs” of raw cut-up celery, zucchini and baby carrots. I put about a cup of this mixture into a ziploc bag, multiplied by five, and bring one in to work every day. The vegies are filling, and I eat about half of them at 10 and half at 3. If you like, bring or keep a container with a bit of low-cal ranch dressing to use.
I also bring a small handful of roasted unsalted almonds, peanuts or pistachios daily to stave off the “gotta-have-chips” urge that kicks in about once a day. Yeah, they’re not low-cal, but I only eat the small handful and it keeps me from eating potato chips.
Those low-fat Laughing Cow cheese rounds or low-fat mozzarella string cheese sticks are another low-cal filler snack.
Fresh strawberries or blueberries, slightly crushed and tossed with a bit of Splenda, are a good snack that somewhat satisfies my sweet tooth.
I’ve posted before that eating watery foods like soup will lead to reduced eating. Drinking extra water does not.
Also, although fats do have a high energy per mass, they satiate you. Cutting out too much fat might result in more eating later. They also help you absorb some nutrients from your food.
I eat nori seaweed (ETA: this is the kind of seaweed used in sushi) to satisfy my chip cravings. It’s very low in calories and nutritious, so even if you eat the whole container of it, not much harm done.
Swap the chicken for Quorn (or whatever else ‘vegetarian meat’ you can get) and you’re well on your way. A Quorn chicken burger, for example, is only 112 calories. Breadcrumbs included, which’ll add a nice variation in taste and texture.
You could always slice the burger into small chunks, and toss it in with salad.
Oh, and they do taste like chicken!
Check out the Picture Perfect Weight Loss Diet. Devoted to giving you more food with fewer calories.