What to eat? I'm going with a heart healthy approach to feeding myself and my family. I am also trying to lose weight. I'm finding it hard to get enough of what I need and still stay under on calories. I'm supposed to be getting 7-8 servings of whole grains, 5-6 of fruits and vegetables, 3 of protein, 2 lowfat dairy and as much fiber as possible! I know that portion size is often much smaller than we think, so, I am taking that into consideration here.
Ok, so, yesterday I had
breakfast - whole grain cereal with berries
Lunch - 1 tomato, 1 avocado, 1 string cheese
snack - 14 whole wheat triscuits
dinner - salmon with brown rice and veggies
tons of unsweetened green tea.
total - 4 whole grain, 4 fruit and veggie, 2 protien, very little fiber, and I'm over on calories!
Whole wheat triscuit thin crips - 14 crackers = 130 calories. It was reccomended by the dr due to high potassium, phosphorous, fiber, and no trans fats. Cereal was cherrios, sometimes Kashi. Always whole grain, no sugar. I'm trying to stay under 1500 calroies. I'm not hungry at all. I'm just trying to get enough servings of everything in the allotted calories. I'm trying to eat ENOUGH food and stay under on calories.
For an added fiber boost as well as nutrient boost to my diet I have added ground flaxseed. It is very tasty and can literally be sprinkled or put into any recipe.
My suggestion would be to join a free weight loss sight like www.sparkpeople.com or www.myfitnesspal.com. I've done both, and they are thorough, will track all nutrients for you, and give you weight loss goals, etc. Its effortless and teaches you proper portion control, nutrient density, etc.
Good luck!
How the heck can you be over on calories?????? How many are you eating a day-4?
On your cereal switch to coconut or almond milk(sold right in the dairy asile)
Anyways SPINACH!!!!! You can't go wrong with that!!! For a salad I just like balsamic or red wine vinegar as a dressing. Broccoli, and yellow winter squash such as acorn, butternut, or pumpkin is wonderful pureed or just cut up in chunks with cinnamon and nutmeg! Avocados are great for you but don't contain a ton of fiber-they also high in calories. Take care!
If I ate 7-8 servings of grains, I would be overweight very quickly. I have to stay at 2-3 to maintain my weight and the rest of my cals come from the other groups. I would focus on the other food groups and cut the grains down to 3-4 servings, honestly. I think what you ate yesterday looks great but I would swap half of the triscuts for a veggie or maybe some hummus. I have a triscut weakness though so I am one to talk, ha!! I have really grown to like raw squash dipped in nonfat greek yogurt made into a dip with garlic, dill and salt. It is very filling and low in cals. Good for you for eating healthy! :)
Well, it won't fill you up much, but a direct answer to your question (lowest cal nutrient dense) would be pomegranates. Followed by blueberries. I'd suggest mixing either one into plain greek yogurt.
I'd actually add some food to your meals above.
Breakfast: whole grain cereal with berries is good. But add protein like a boiled egg. Alternate breakfast: scrambled eggs w/ spinach in whole grain, i.e. 3 g of fiber or more, wrap or tortilla with tomato, some lowfat sour cream and cheese.
Snack: 14 whole wheat triscuits. Add nut butter and sliced strawberries or sliced cheese. Cheese can be lowfat
Lunch - 1 tomato, 1 avocado, 1 string cheese. I would've added a little chicken or tuna, carrots, cucumbers and romaine, spring mix or butter lettuce to make a salad.
Dinner : Salmon with brown rice and veggies - Great choices!
Other foods: Lentils - rich in fiber and iron for energy and only 140 calories per cup. Also, when getting bread, pasta and flour look for a minimum of 2g of fiber but really 3 g of fiber minimum for bread is better. Sprouts has some good tasting healthier bread and when Trader Joe's comes to town, check there too. Forget the fruit on the bottom yogurt and get some drinkable probiotic yogurt. Its yummy, full of nutrients, comes in lowfat versions and is tasty to even people I know that dont really like healthy foods.
Balance is key, one serving plant based fat (t tbsp of olive oil for example), one serving of whole grain (1/2 c brown rice) one serving of lean protein (1/2 c of beans or 1/4 c low fat feta for example) and as much veggies at every meal will keep you full and hit your daily servings/calories I think. I would focus on no whole grain for snack (like apple with a little bit of peanut butter and a piece of low fat string cheese for example). Regarding nutrient dense low cal foods, i vote green veggies (spinach, kale, broccoli), raspberries/ strawberries and eggs (I make a veggie salad with spinach and other veggies - no lettuce to up the nutrients). Adding a lot of veggies helps you eat more with less calories. When I make 1/2 c of pasta, it does not look like much..but when i saute garlic in 1 tbsp of olive oil and add a ton of steamed broccoli, mushrooms and whatever else is handy into it with some italian seasonings it bursts with flavor and gives me a hearty portion if I am hungry.
I saw this woman on dr oz-her thing is to pack the fewest calories into a lot of food. Sort of like the volumetrics plan. http://www.hungry-girl.com/
also 5-6 fruits is actually a lot -fruit is usually in the 2-3 servings range. Although fruit IS good for you it has a lot of sugar in it.
Not sure about serving size but I am guessing maybe a whole avocado and tomato would maybe count for 2 servings perhaps? I know serving size is always much less than you would think.
Instead of 14 triscuits eat about 5 and put laughing cow cheese on them with a sundried tomato. Much more satisfying.
The triscuits. We have a box in our cabinet, so I am looking at the nutritional information. There are 7 crackers in a serving. Each serving has 140 calories. So there is 280 calories right there. On top of that, it's completely empty calories. They have tons of sodium, and they are processed. Instead of worrying about calories, why not worry about the quality of calories? For example, Greek yogurt. Fage Greek yogurt (by far my favorite brand) is very low calorie. You could add a handful of fruit or a squirt of honey, and you're eating quality calories. The yogurt is also high in protein. You can also make your own ranch seasoning and add it to the yogurt. Dip veggies with lots of fiber into it, for a snack with protein and fiber.
veggies and many fruits are low in calories, and high in fiber. Apples have a lot of fiber. Of course, veggies do. Many other fruits do, as well. Swap out those for the crackers and save yourself some calories. Get rid of the cereal (which is probably also many empty calories) and eat oatmeal with fruit. Oatmeal has a lot of fiber, and is low calorie. You have to remember, the whole grain calories you're getting...are processed whole grains. You want your calories to count, so cut out processed grains...and stick to unprocessed.
Eat more vegetables! Greens are good for you & you can eat a ton without gaining alot of calories.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/243355-nutrient-dense-l...
Check out this website. It has some good info :-)
I'd consider having protien and a bit of fat whenever you are eating carbs. And I've added some more fiber
Breakfast - 1/4 cup All Bran, berries, almonds or 1 egg
Lunch - 3 triscuits, protein(meat, egg), celery, olives, brocolli and lots of greens
Snack - 3 triscuits, cheese
Dinner -salmon, small amount of rice, cauliflower or spinach
Water, water, water
All my best!
Raw spinach is a great nutrient rich food, you can add anything to it. It is also very low calorie. I use it exclusively for salads, sandwichs, tacos, anything requiring lettuce.
As far as fiber, artichokes are great as well as broccoli. Figs, several beans, and a few nuts as well.
Salads are great if you get creative. Bolthouse makes great dressings. They are made with yogurt so they are low calorie. They have all varieties.
Broccoli.
Water. (OK. Not nutrient dense. But good for you, regardless. Tap or filtered water, not bottled.)
Lentils, beans, nuts. (Maybe not low cal, but nutrient rich.)
Regarding your menu:
What cereal? Cheerios or grape nuts will be better for you (lower sugar) than some others. Use nonfat milk.
A whole avocado seems excessive, calorie-wise. Cut back to 1/4 avocado (for the good fats) and fill in with a protein (nuts, beans?).
Compare calories of triscuits to other grain sources like bread. And throw in a couple of almonds or walnuts for protein and good fat.
How do you prepare veggies? Steaming is best. A little salt and you're good to go. (The family might appreciate some oil/butter, though.)
How many calories are you shooting for? Don't go too low/be unrealistic. If you need, slowly ramp down calories so you don't shock your body.
Sounds like a healthy diet. Modify slightly and keep up the good work.
How many calories are you trying to keep under for:
a) yourself
b) your kids
c) your hubby
You may have to increase your exercise level so that you can increase your calories.
did your cereal have milk in it? that will add calories. Also - some unsweetened green tea will have caffeine in it, which will impeded weight loss.
Protein will also fill you up.... so peanut butter with celery. Celery is a *negative* food... meaning it takes more calories to consume than it contains.
What about peanuts or cashews?
Broccoli?
Spirulina, blueberries, alphaha sprouts (yuck!), whole oats, corn, eggs, nuts.
So no one else has asked, or I haven't seen it. Nor did I see it in your post.
How many calories are you trying to limit yourself to?
What you have listed above, really doesn't look like that much to me.
Cantalope will fill you up with very little calories . When it is ripe and in season it is such a wonderful filling treat. Frozen grapes are also filling .You can make egg salad using mainly whites and only one yoke and fat free mayo . Carrots and cucumbers will fill you up too. Hang in there . You are doing great !
Fruits and veggies!!!
Legumes, quinoa, barley
Canned tuna/sardines/mackerel etc.
Lowfat/nonfat cottage cheese and greek yogurt (plain or vanilla) for calcium.
If you're not already using it, a great nutrition site is www.nutritiondata.com
Good luck - you're doing the right thing for you and your family!!!
I'm thinking the portion size of your salmon may have skewed your results. It packs a wallop on calories if you don't stick to a small serving. How do legumes fit into this diet? Beans have more fiber per serving than most whole grains, fruits, or vegetables. Like 10 gms or more compared to 4-6 with grains and veg.
Meat and cheese will always skew you towards higher calories and no fiber, so i suggest you learn to make a few delicious vegan meals to solve the problem (using whole foods, not processed foods like tofu)
If you want more bulk and less calories, just think vegetables. Make salads or vegetable soups (I love pureed vegetable soups like squash or carrot soups). Theres never a reason not to hit your servings of veg since you can just add broccoli and lemon for like 20 calories! I suggest you double your vegetable portion at dinner time. Also consider making a fits smoothie for breakfast. If you go easy on the sweeteners you can get like 5 servings of fruit on a 200 calorie shake with low fat yogurt.
I love a little book called "The full plate diet". Its all about getting 40 gms of fiber a day. Reading it won't negate the diet you are on. It simply give great ideas for "power ups" , little changes to the things you eat that change the amount of fiber in ways that will add up to 40 gms a day.
Meat and cheese will take up a ton of calories but offer no fiber. I swear if you replace one of your meats or cheese with beans every day you will hit your target much easier. Vegetarian burritos with whole wheat tortilla, lentil soup with low fat cottage cheese, salads with chick peas or kiney beans, pita sandwich with hummus, cucumber, tomato, avocado and fetta cheese, vegetarian chili. Mango corn and bean salad with cilantro and lime dressing. Taco salad replacing meat with beans, tomato, lettuce, salsa, cheese, and tortilla chips. Stir fry with brown rice or whole wheat soba noodles.
Are you aware there are 14 gm of fiber in a whole avocado? Maybe you did better on fiber than you think.
