When it comes to weight loss, prioritizing high-volume foods can be a game-changer. These foods take up ample space on your plate and in your stomach while packing relatively few calories, making them a valuable addition to your diet.
Losing body fat necessitates maintaining a calorie deficit, wherein you burn more energy than you consume. However, indulging in calorie-rich but non-filling foods, like chips, cookies, or fries, can derail your weight loss efforts.
Incorporating high-volume foods into your diet can help you feel full and satisfied while staying within your calorie limits, whether or not you meticulously count them. Moreover, these nutrient-dense, whole foods tend to be rich in fiber and other essential nutrients, contributing to overall well-being.
Dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine shared five meal and snack ideas with Insider that incorporate high-volume foods to keep hunger at bay.
Fat-Free Greek Yogurt with Berries
Ludlam-Raine recommends this combination for breakfast or as a satisfying snack. A 200-gram serving of 0% fat Greek yogurt contains just over 100 calories and over 20 grams of protein, which can keep your hunger in check. Adding berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries (fresh or frozen), infuses fiber and antioxidants into your meal without spiking the calorie count.
Cottage Cheese Vegetable Omelet
For an omelet with more volume and less fat, Ludlam-Raine advises adding three tablespoons of fat-free cottage cheese to two eggs and some vegetables. Cottage cheese also works well as an ingredient in pancake batter, serving as a substitute for eggs and oil. You can opt for egg whites to create a lower-calorie and higher-protein dish, but the whole egg provides more nutrients.
Spinach in Salads, Sauces, and Smoothies
Spinach, according to Ludlam-Raine, is a nutritional powerhouse. It’s rich in vitamin A, folate, and plant-based iron, yet low in calories. Incorporate spinach as the base of a salad, add it to pasta sauce, curries, homemade soup, or blend it into smoothies. To maintain volume, avoid overcooking the spinach.
Stir-Fry
Stir-fries transform into high-volume meals when you load them up with vegetables such as peppers, bok choy, and beansprouts, whether pre-prepared or freshly chopped. These dishes are not only low in calories but also offer a wide array of nutrients from the colorful vegetables, which are beneficial for your gut health. Enjoy your stir-fry with whole-grain rice or noodles to boost fiber content, and add a protein source like chicken, lean beef, tofu, or prawns.
Popcorn
Ludlam-Raine recommends lightly sweetened popcorn to satisfy your sweet tooth and keep you feeling full. Some individual servings contain as few as 70 calories. Surprisingly, popcorn is also a good source of fiber, so you can experiment with herbs and spices to create your own savory or sweet snacks, like sweet cinnamon-spiced popcorn or spicy paprika and chili-flavored popcorn.
Incorporating these high-volume, low-calorie meal and snack options into your diet can help you achieve your weight loss goals while still feeling satisfied and nourished.
