Calorie Restriction to me is about eating less calories and eliminating harmful substances, and maximizing nutrients. We all should learn what foods are best for us not just for
Calorie Restriction.
VEGETABLES:Below are a few low calorie, high nutrient, and high fiber vegetables that I enjoy.
Broccoli: It is fairly low in carbs and protein, OK in fiber. One of my favorites so I will stick with this one.
Green Beans: They are low in calories and protein, a bit high in carbs. I add a small amount of olive oil and salt. That raises the calories but also adds some Omegas and it tastes wonderful.
Brussels Sprouts: This is my all time favorite. I eat it only when in season and fresh. I steam it then add just a bit of sea salt, nothing else. It is low cal with protein at 4g for 9 sprouts. The carbs are low too. The vitamins and minerals are also great. I have this a least once a week when in season. This vegetable is wonderful with Hollandaise sauce on it as well. A great protein source, watch out, it is also high in fat.
Spinach: Low in carb and calories. I cook this in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil, when cooked I add some white balsamic vinegar. We have this at least once a week.
Cauliflower: 2 cups only 80 calories with 5.8 fiber and good protein at 11g. Carbs are a bit high. I don’t server this veg. Often, the Greek doesn’t like it. I like to eat it raw.
FRUITS:
Apples: They are now sweeter and bigger than ever. One apple has about 115 calories no protein and a whopping 30 grams of carbs making it not such a good fruit choice.
Berries: I buy frozen organic blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
I mix them together and keep them in a large freezer bag. One cup is about 100 calories with a bit of protein and lower in carbs than an apple and banana.
PROTEIN: Fish: It is a must, try to have fish twice a week. Prawns, Mahi Mahi, Salmon, Orange Roughy, Halibut are all my favorites.
LEAN MEAT and EGGSI always try to buy hormone free meat and eggs. I prefer a Top Sirloin with all fat trimmed. I weigh it before its cooked and stick with 4 ounces.
I stay away from nuts and soy. Nuts because they are just to many calories and soy, well, I hate it.
I don’t like peas, carrots, turnips, parsnips and a few other root vegetables. I don’t eat potatoes but do eat yams and some winter squash. I never have liked summer squash like zucchini. I am finding out that winter squash my be to high in carbs for me. A 4 inch winter acorn has 44g. More than half what I should have in a day. I will be eliminating them from my food list as well as yams. The carbs are through the roof with yams. 86 in only one cup. Banned, gone forever. I did eat them recently and still lost weight, as I was looking at the calories not the carbs. Right now I am not so much interested in carbs as I am protein. One cup of yam does have 5 g. Protein. So I might finish eating the ones I have. The vitamins and minerals are good with them.
I need to think this food choice over. I need to decide what I need to do with carbs.
This is just a partial list of veggies, fruits, and proteins that I like and eat. I always have at least one serving of a green veg a day, sometimes more.
I have eliminated all drinks containing sugar. I drink teas. I try to never eat any processed foods high in sugar and fat, no bread, cereals, pastries, candy bars, no so called nutrition bars or energy bars. Those bars are not nutritional nor give me energy, they do give plenty of calories.
There is always the exception, Whole foods had a Chocolate bread this time of the year, winter, that I love and might buy again. I buy just two loaves and when its gone I am done for another year. I always freeze bread so it’s lasts for weeks.
No fried foodsDon’t eat anything fried. Cut back on saturated fats, use nonfat dairy and lean meats and olive oil. I don’t eat soy or anything that has soy in it, at least I try my best to. I don’t buy anything with High Fructose Corn syrup in it. That means Catsup, I did find an organic one without it.
I buy hormone free beef and free range whole chickens. The taste is wonderful and they have better nutrients than corn feed beef and caged chickens. If it costs a few cents more it is well worth it. I buy the beef and chickens from the rancher about 3 times a year.
Beans are a good protein choice but rice, pasta and bread are borderline, they are relatively high in calories and low in nutrients. I decided to eat beans seldom and to not eat rice, pasta and bread, except that Chocolate seasonal bread I already mentioned. If I do have bread or rice it would be brown and unprocessed as possible.
It is important to learn for yourself what specific mix of good foods you enjoy, make you feel healthy, cause no problems, and keep you satisfied.
A side effect of counting calories, protein and other food nutrients is losing weight, the other is maintain weight.
I know I will never be able to over eat unhealthy foods again. Now that I am learning what foods make me feel good and fill me up and are low in calories I will stick with them forever.
After my weight is stable where I want it, I will eat about 10% less than my calories requirements for each day. For me this is fairly low already. Knowing this does not make me unhappy but determined to not go over that amount.
Another good thing that I noticed about not eating processed foods, my body is leaner, while I still have 20 pounds to loose my body is leaner than it was when I was younger at 20 pounds heavier. Of course I realize that I have less firm muscle tone but I am still leaner and no puffy feeling.
My overall health has greatly improved. No colds, no flu, no headaches, no stuffy nose. My blood pressure is normal, so is the cholesterol, in fact my last blood test came back with everything in the normal range. This took less than a year to achieve
I am a calorie restriction convert for life.I think I will go to Whole Foods this week end to see if that Chocolate Sour Cherry Bread is there.
