LOW FAT FOODS

“I'm having some fun with dieting and keeping meals to about 1,200 calories per day.

Has anyone tried any low cal foods that you can recommend for the dieting tters? They don't have to be diet foods per say, just low in calories.

I just bought Gardenburger meatless meatballs and I have to say, they taste like regular meatballs. My husband was even fooled. They are 6 cocktail sized meatballs for 110 calories. I tasted them at Costco yesterday. They come in 2-1/2 pound bags.

My meal today will be two slices of low carb bread w/6 meatballs in a marinara sauce.

Dinner will be 12 meatballs w/Ronzoni yolkless wide wheat egg noodles (5 cups uncooked) w/1/2 cup of jarred gravy that I'll add 1 tblsp of heavy cream to w/nutmeg to make the meal like Swedish meatballs over noodles and the grand total for the day will only be 1,120 calories.

I make up these types of meals every day where I'm full all the time by using a combination of low cal foods and low fat foods.”

“i just switched over to my annual ritual of slim fast for lunch...every year about this time, after the bloat of the holidays, i go on slim fast for about 3 months...it's nice cause it's a cheap quick meal i can drink while i'm working(or posting on tt) and then save my lunch break for walking in the park”

“thrifty,

I kind of fashion my meals after the Slim Fast way of dieting, but instead of having a Slim Fast drink w/a reasonably sized meal, I make up a low cal snack since I'm home w/a reasonably sized meal.

**I love those new milk commercials that say 24/24. They say to drink 24 ounces of low fat milk in a 24 hour period to lose weight. I don't recall if they say to eat less or excersize. When the commercial comes on, I just get mezmerized by them saying to drink milk to lose weight, but again, it's like having a slim fast drink without the flavoring, so I think it really can work if you drink the low fat milk for lunch with a low cal dinner.
last edited: 1/25/06 3:44:27 PM”

“Uh, why not just exercise regularly and have a healthy, balanced diet? That really does work for healthy adults. No need for dieting.”

“cause that's not fun”

“The milk commercials don't say to exercise more or eat less. I think they're banking on some studies that say calcium helps in the weight loss process.”

“smiley, milk is very filling, even if it has a low fat content, so that's why I think it works which is what Slim Fast does, but they give you flavored milk.

Mutt, I do eat a balanced diet, but sometimes some foods like meat are too high in calories to enjoy a regular size portion, and I don't really eat meat, so I don't mind the substitute. My meals were never bad, they were just too large, so I've combines smaller portions meals w/low cal meals.

Morningstar makes great tasting chicken nuggets. I use dipping sauces with them.

I'm not doing cardio yet to burn calories, but I am lifting weights. I always hear muscle burns fat.”

“My veggie soup qualifies. Vegetable stock, carrots, parsnips, celery, turnips, potatoes, corn, peas, savoy cabbage, tomatoes, fresh garlic, onions, green beans, summer squash, rutabega, spinach, pinto beans and seasoned with sea salt, herbs de Provence, and some seasoned viengar.
last edited: 1/25/06 5:35:06 PM”

“Dinner tonight will qualify-it is a lentil and canelli bean soup. Lunch was homemade brocoli soup and a bit of plain pasta. With my daily serving of cashews. And a banana.
Most of what I make now is technically lowfat (naturally). I happen to add olive oil for it being heart healthy, and I need some fat in my diet. Every dinner I make has olive oil in it. But the food I amke is so high in fiber, you fill up fast.
Low fat and processed I cannot do. If I buy any dairy products now, I have to buy high fat. Higher the fat, the lower the sodium (yep, they add more salt to make it taste better!) I just eat a whole lot less cheese now ;-) Sour cream is my one sin basically now. If I buy Horizion Organic, I can eat a ton of it. Woo-hoo!”

“Some really GREAT tips on DDX's thread above!”

“sarbar1, you are so right. Everytime I see low cal, I look for the sodium content to see if it's high to make the food taste better due to them making it low cal.

Your soup sounds very Italian, but I make them individually, lentil or cannelli (great northern beans).

treebait, veggies soups are the best for tasting good, feeling full and keeping low cal. I add a few great northern beans to my soup and use the pinto for rice and beans. The pinto beans, going by the can in my house says, 80 calories for 1/2 cup, where as the great northern (cannelli) are 110 per 1/2 cup. There isn't much of a difference, but if you want to be strick with calorie counting, the white ones are higher in calories. If you use just a few, it doesn't really matter.

Olive oil is a better oil, but I'm not sure if it's really good for you other than being better than other oils. Oil is about 100 calories per tablespoon. I grew up on olive oil and love it, but have cut back on how much I use.

I tried a Nutella sample on bread in Costco. I always wanted to try this Italian chocolate/hazelnut spread. It was fantastic. I looked at the jar and it was 100 calories per tablespoon!!!”

“I posted this link for calories in food on the losing weight thread in 2006, but thought it would be good to repost it here.

You may be surprised at how many calories some veggies have which is why I say to put a lot of celery in soup. Peas and potatoes are about the same amount of calories. You would not have thought that; I didn't until I looked up the veggies I wanted to make soup with.

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/items_index/1,1538,FO,00.html

If you are not particularly fond of a veggie that is low cal, you can puree it into your food (soup) so you don't have to crunch down on it or see it. It's best to puree veggies with broth or water to get them to where you won't see them in your food, except with celery where after pureeing, it still needs cooking to soften it up. I like it in soup, but don't want to crunch on it and it cooks faster that way.”

“Whoa! I checked out DDX's thread. To a dieter, that's looking real good, lol:) I think I would eat the donut separately though!”

“My buddy HD makes this soup-and so do I now. It is freaky good! I leave the sausage out though.
Very filling!

ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP


INGREDIANTS:

1 lb Italian Sausage links, casings removed and cut into 1" slices
2 medium onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
2 cans (15oz) cannellini or white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (14 ½ oz) chicken broth
2 cans (14 ½ oz) diced tomatoes, un-drained
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
6 cups fresh spinach leaves, chopped
Shredded parmesan cheese



In a soup kettle, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer
pink; drain. Add onions & garlic, sauté until tender. Add chicken;
cook and stir until no longer pink. Stir in the beans, broth,
tomatoes, basil & oregano. Cook, uncovered for 15 minutes.
(Although simmering for longer makes it tastier!) Add the spinach
and heat until just wilted. Serve with parmesan cheese.

YIELD: 11 servings (2 ¾ quarts)

By Hoosierdaddy

Notes:I changed it to low sodium by using very low sodium chicken stock, no salt added tomatoes and I left the sausage out. I sauted everything in olive oil. And I added a bunch black pepper.”

“Interested in losing weight try long distance hiking, bicycle touring, or expedition mountaineering. Don't have the time commitment for those endeavors, try doing muay thai (Thai Kickboxing). In three months of muay thai I dropped 30 lbs... my trouble now is actually trying to put muscle back on my frame.”

“please don't listen to an industry hawking their own product as "healthy" for you.

Especially that industry.

Smiley is right. That industry is misusing Calcium studies.”

“There are a lot of TV dinners that are lo-cal. Some of them are pretty tasty for a 260 calorie lunch.”

“celery and white mushrooms contain natural carcinogens. When you look at foods, look at more than just one thing, not just calories, sodium, sugar, etc...a wide variety is best as is moderation.

gross me out bacpac, those tv dinners are nothing more than chemicals in a dish.

I feel really bad selling girl scout cookies (i.e. chemicals with a pretty face)”

“Shut the heck up! I didn't know that about celery and mushrooms, twigster. Hmmm.”

“LOL...lots of foods contain carcinogens, like coffee. I'm not sure how much it matters, cause if you start reading about it, there's tons of info, including studies that show that organically grown food contains more carcinogens that food grown with commonly used pesticides.

I love the white pieces of celery. :)
last edited: 1/26/06 8:47:38 AM”

“But they also contain a lot of healthy things for you ;-)
Anything consumed in gigantic amounts can kill you in theory. Overeating can kill you. Not eating will kill you eventually.
Eat your veggies and don't worry. Better to eat veggies-and make it a wide variety, than to not. Lots of fiber and vitamins to be had in them.
Just make sure they are NOT out of a can every night-actually learn to prepare them ;-) Eat 'em raw, eat 'em steamed, eat 'em stirfried! Yum! I love veggies!”

“that show that organically grown food contains more carcinogens that food grown with commonly used pesticides.

I love the white pieces of celery. :)
last edited: 1/26/06 9:47:38 AM”
twigeater
9:47:13 AM


Link?”

“As I may have stated before, my fiance works on Ag issues and sustainable farming. Her Org does NOT recieve nor accept funding from Corporations or the US government. I sent her your statement, twig. The reply:


"Okay, some foods, like broccoli do contain what may be carcinogens. A lot of groups that are anti-organic and sustainable ag point out those studies, but the science is very iffy and supported by big ag. The thing is you would have to eat an enormous and abnormal amount of broccoli and other vegetables to get the amount of carcinogens to cause cancer. Supporters of corporate point out that veggies have carcinogens because they want to divert attention away from what is really causing cancer—pesticides and other chemicals in conventional ag."”

“here is a website to check out

http://www.deliciousdecisions.org/”

“bearmagnet -
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/97legacy/11_01_97a.html
http://www.ncpa.org/press/cancer.html

these are just links - not my opinion. Google "natural celery carcinogens"

sarbar1 are you a dietician? just curious...
I never said don't eat your veggies, just wanted to point out that focusing on ONE aspect of thing isn't always the best thing. And learn things for yourself, don't take others word who may (or may not) know what they are talking about. Including mine. :)

There was a discussion on another board about fiddleheads picked in the wild. I do it every year and never worry about it. Others claimed to have gotten sick from them. There are so many factors - location, cooking method, allergies, etc. that come into play who could say what caused it. Also, having picked, cooked and eaten fiddleheads for many years, there are things I just take for granted. Kinda like taking the pooper out of a lobster before eating it. :) Something I notice non-Maineiacs never do - gross!

Dr Weil recommends eating salmon. If you look further into his recommendation, he promotes eating wild Alaskan salmon, including the canned stuff. If you aren't into eating canned stuff you're out of luck around here - we only have access to wild Alaskan salmon a few weeks out of the year, and it's mushy due to shipping time. The biggest reason he says no farm raised is because it's environmentally unsound. So I'm just saying you have to read and decide for yourself.
last edited: 1/26/06 10:16:47 AM”

“I just read your post bearmagent - I agree with your fiance for the most part. And if you look at one of the articles, it says you get more carcinogens from one cup of coffee than all the veggies you eat in a year. Does that mean coffee causes cancer or that is has extrememly high levels? no...”

“Aren't farm-raised fish swimming in un-natural concentrations of their own crap?”

“I understand. it's just the "science" can be misleading. Especially if it's supported by a Partisan party.

I think it's dangerous to suggest "organics" can be worse for you then factory farmed products.

On another note - farmed fish are not only environmentally unsound but their diet is unsound and maybe dangerous.

And if one goes with farmed fish as environmentally unsound then, of course, factory farmed meat is unsound, yes?

BTW - no one needs fish. You can get all the "goodies" they tout from fish if you ate ORGANIC meat. Grass fed animals have it all.

I'll try to stop. ;)”

“I imagine so - not to mentioned additives in their food to enhance color, etc. I've been out to the salmon pens in Eastport a couple of times (which was cool to see regardless).”

“If you are concerned that brocholli, celery, mushrooms and TV dinners are bad for you. You really need to find something to worry about.”

“LOL...and what does all this have to do with LOW FAT??? hehe...

I think it's dangerous to suggest "organics" can be worse for you then factory farmed products.

I agree

On another note - farmed fish are not only environmentally unsound but their diet is unsound and maybe dangerous.

I agree again - though what I said was "The biggest reason he says no farm raised is because it's environmentally unsound."
I didn't mean that was the ONLY reason.”

“I think the biggest problem with farm-raised salmon is the sea-lice infections which typically plague the areas.

Organic is best all the way. Flavor, texture, lack of chemicals.
It's the way forward for farming, especially American farmers competing with lower-cost nations too.

It's interesting that it's not as big an issue here as in Europe. A woman I work with wrote a book on GM foods. It's interesting stuff.”

“I know. I just wanted to add the "crap diet" problem to another food source of humans. ;)”

“twigeater, haven't you got work to do??”

“Only eat wild salmon. Of course, we get it here all the time ;-)I don't eat farm raised fish. Blech. Oily and tastless!
But fish can be a good part of a low fat diet. Methinks I need to go shopping! A big plank o' salmon sounds tasty!”

“My stepfather slaughters his cows that I guess would be considered organic or at least "grass fed" (though I don't know what's in the grain he feeds them) but he waits to long to slaughter them so the meat is often tough. We hay our own hay.
And they are happy cows, each with a name and known geneaology, following my stepfather around when he's in the pasture...”

“"We hay our own hay."

You gotchyer own tedder??”

“twigeater, haven't you got work to do??”
MarkO
11:49:11 AM
1/26/06

pfffft! I'm off to lunch now, silly boy!
;)”

“Hey, me too!!

Soup time!!

>8^]
last edited: 1/26/06 11:03:25 AM”

“You gotchyer own tedder??”
MarkO
11:59:59 AM
1/26/06

mower, tedder, baler, hay wagon, plenty of relatives for labor...”

“Organic cows are low in fat and a great source of Omega-3. ;)”

“See, I know a little(ha ha!!) about fah-min'.

Do yuz have a manure spreader??

I loved it when they would spread manure in mid-winter in Vermont.

>8^}”

“Do yuz have a manure spreader??

Nope the cows poop in the pastures, there's no manure pile.

I loved it when they would spread manure in mid-winter in Vermont.

me too, though it depends on what kinda manure it is - people manure don't smell so good...
:)

I have sheep wool in my cellar waiting for me to turn it into felt - it'll probably deteriorate before I get to it.”

“Oh, ya mean Mainers are into sheep?

Lunch was vegetarian chili, with garbonzos!!”

“GM Foods?”

“genetically modified foods”

“GMO's. Right. Brain not so good lately. LOL!
last edited: 1/26/06 1:16:26 PM”

“or.....Great Mountainous Orgasm”

“On a side note, I was going to raise Sarbar1's point that farm raised salmon don't taste as good. Also for dog's and giving them salmon oil for the omegas, it's recommended that you use oil from wild Alaskan salmon due to less mercury content. Generally, the bigger the fish like tuna and swordfish and fish that eat other fish tend to have a higher mercury content.

Broccoli being cancerous? It's just because of the pesticides, right? It does have beta carotine and is supposed to be the best veggie you can eat if you chose just one. It's tauted as a great veggie to fight against cancer, but then no one tells you that you have to wash the pesticides off first.

I have read that you can wash foods like broccoli that tend to repel water when you rinse them. Believe it or not, you use a little dish washing detergent and a pot of water, then rinse. Detergents are also sold for rinsing produce, but some are acidic like using lemon instead. You are supposed to be able to rub a lemon over broccoli to wash it and rid it of pesticides. I think that would be real expensive.

I buy those small lemon looking containers for lemon. I just started when lemons really rose in price. The big green bottle of lemon doesn't taste nearly as good as the little lemon. Mine is by a company called Concord Farms.
last edited: 1/26/06 1:53:49 PM”