Weight Loss Foods: 11 Low-Calorie Foods That’ll Help You Lose Weight
If you want to lose weight, eating low-calorie foods can make a great difference.
We all need energy and calories from food. But weight loss is harder when you get excess calories than what your body actually uses.
Surplus calories are stored as fat and in turn, add to the unhealthy weight.
That’s why having lesser calorie intake than how much you burn helps you shed said unhealthy load.
Don’t worry, it is possible for you to consume fewer calories without sacrificing the amount of food you eat.
In this article, we’ll discuss the best low-calorie but filling foods for weight loss.
Let’s dive in.
1. Oats and Oatmeal
These whole-grain goodies are a classic breakfast and diet foods everyone must enjoy. A half-cup serving gives you 4 grams of fibers with about 150 calories.
Oatmeal, without a doubt, one of the healthiest food which offers various health benefits from weight loss to clear skin.
Whether you prepare it with water or low-fat milk, you can never get bored with oatmeal once you spice it up with fruits, nuts, and yogurt.
Mixing it with a smoothie or baking it into cookies are also interesting ways to upgrade your experience with oats.
2. Herbal tea
Okay, you got me. Tea isn’t technically something to be eaten but drinking it is definitely one of the most effective ways to lose weight.
The health benefits of herbal tea include weight loss and weight maintenance.
With just 2.5 calories a cup, green tea is especially helpful in reducing weight as it promotes fat oxidation (the breakdown of fatty acids) and improves your body’s energy expenditure.
There are just too many reasons why you should turn sipping a cup of freshly brewed tea into a daily, refreshing habit.
3. Greek yogurt
A hundred-gram serving of this yummy Greek yogurt treat contains around 130 calories.
It is known to be a healthy snack that induces the feeling of fullness and reduces one’s tendency to get hungry as confirmed in a study by a group of researchers.
Besides being a great way to avoid craving and stop weight gain, it is also a healthy post-exercise snack which improves muscle thickness and strength.
What huge perks from a creamy, chilly dessert!
4. Spinach
Due to its high fiber and water content, losing weight is easy when you regularly consume spinach as it largely amplifies satiety post-prandial or after eating.
With 2.2 grams of dietary fiber and only 23 calories per 100-gram serving, spinach is a leafy vegetable that can be used to garnish other dishes, sautéed with garlic in butter, or fried into crispy grubs.
Now is the time for you to turn down junk foods and snacks on crispy-fried spinach instead.
5. Egg
Eggs are a great gift in the kitchen and in our diets because of their versatility, taste, and pack of nutrients.
When incorporated with weight management programs and a healthy lifestyle, it is proven to enhance weight loss at only 70 calories.
And at the same time, eggs provide 6 grams of filling protein in a single large-sized egg.
Rather than your usual bagel, it is better to have eggs for breakfast as these poultry treasures lessen subsequent food intake and prompt greater satiety.
There’s really no excuse for you not to fill up your egg tray every day!
6. Fish
A daily fish meal diet can lower blood pressure along with its weight reduction outcomes.
Salmon, cod, tuna, and flounder are just a few of the fish you can definitely chow down when you’re aiming to lose weight but gain protein.
Depending on the kind of fish you eat, you can have a whopping 25 grams of protein with only about 100 calories in a hundred-gram serving. What a steal!
7. Low-fat cottage cheese
In a 100-gram piece, low-fat cottage cheese offers you 10.45 grams of protein with just 82 calories.
This is way lesser than around 300 calories of the usual cheese you have.
This type of cheese has the same satiating power as the egg which, therefore, lessens one’s feeling of hunger for a period of time.
You can nibble a piece if you please but with its creamy but sour taste, it is advisable to enjoy cottage cheese with salad or top it on a toast.
8. Soup
Consumption of low energy-dense foods, which are essentially low in calories, is one of the known strategies to effectively manage weight and soup is one of these said foods.
Having pre-meal soup is greatly satiating which consequently weakens your urge to eat more in a meal.
Lesser risk for obesity is also associated with consuming soup. You surely won’t regret slurping away a bowl full of soup first before a meal.
9. Berries
A hundred gram serving of these sweet berries contains 32 calories and is perfect for snacking and smoothies.
These are also great compliments for your yogurt and can serve as fruity oatmeal toppings.
Berries are also found to have positive effects on metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes because of their inhibitory influence on glucose absorption and carbohydrate digestion.
These low-calorie, vitamin-packed fruits are indeed berry good for weight management and one’s overall health.
10. Watermelon
After talking about the mini berries, let’s turn our attention to the larger watermelon.
These green on the outside, red on the inside colossal fruit is superb for your mission to lose weight.
Aside from its abundant fluids that save you from dehydration and induces a feeling of fullness, a hundred-gram slice of this juicy munch gives you only 30 calories.
Watermelons are also identified to have potential anti-diabetic effects and supplement the body’s immune function.
This is probably why those people described in math problems are bulk-buying watermelons.
11. Popcorn
Popcorn is one of the best low-calorie foods for weight loss.
It might surprise you but this must-have snack in movie theaters is actually good for your diet as it offers stronger short-term satiety compared to junk foods such as potato chips.
But instead of the cheese-flavored or caramelized variant, opt for air-popped white popcorn. That one has only contains 31 calories in a single cup.
What are you waiting for? Grab a handful of corn and start the poppin!
Takeaway
Eating low-calorie foods intake is one of the best ways in a weight loss journey.
However, it should be accompanied by a healthy, active lifestyle for it to become more effective and sustainable.
Remember that balance is the key. Using standard values as a guide, you can lessen what you’re having in excess and take more of what you’re lacking.
And know that you don’t have to starve in order to lose that flabby weight.
You can eat healthy instead and start that by including these 11 low-calorie foods in your daily menu.
Indeed, there is no other time for you to switch to a healthier regimen than today.