• Tricia Arriagada

Low calorie foods that fill you up!

Before I became a personal trainer I was accustomed to yo-yo dieting. My typical lunch when I wasn't dieting was a bologna sandwich and half a bag of cheese puffs. When I was dieting it was a slice of turkey deli meat wrapped in a piece of iceberg lettuce. Needless to say, while dieting, I felt like I was starving. I was miserable and I couldn't stick with it for more than a month. I won't mention what diet I was on, but it was one of the most popular and successful diets of today. The diet may have been effective, but it wasn't sustainable. I didn't really know what to eat and I kept eating the same small group of foods. It took time, but I eventually learned that eating healthy and enjoying my favorite foods in moderation gave me results. I just needed to be aware of my calorie consumption. Something that helped me manage my calories without actually counting calories was to focus on eating low calorie dense foods. This was a big eye opener for me that allowed me to eat until I was satisfied without packing on the pounds. I would like to share with you how eating low calorie dense foods can help you manage your calories while feeling satiated. You can get the results you want and its something you can stick with for life.

Calorie density is basically the amount of calories that are in a weight of food. Eating low calorie dense foods allows you to eat more volume of food without consuming too many calories. For example, grapes versus raisins. Grapes have low calorie density. A cup of grapes has 104 calories compared to raisins which have a far higher calorie density. A cup of raisins has 434 calories. In addition, low calorie dense foods tend to have less fat, more fiber, and more water making you feel fuller longer. High calorie dense foods, which include fats and sugars, provide many calories in a small amount of food. It is great to have a diet full of low calorie dense food, because these foods typically include most fruits and vegetables. However, it is important to consume some high calorie dense foods like olive oil to get the balanced nutrition your body needs. Just be mindful and consume small amounts of higher calorie dense foods. This image from Forks over Knives gives you a visual of the amount of food you are able to eat for the same amount of calories you get from 4 tbsp of olive oil. To help you be mindful about calories without counting calories, I've created this list of foods for you to remember.

Low Calorie Foods That Fill You Up

1) Fruits

2) Greek Yogurt

3) Soup

4) Vegetables

5) Eggs

6) Chia Seeds

7) Fish

8 ) Cottage Cheese

9) Sweet Potatoes

10) Lean meat

11) legumes

12) Oats


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