Low Calorie Foods: A Helpful List

If you want to lose weight, it is important that you must eat low calorie foods and do not consume too many calories. Eating with few calories is then a useful basis! You can eat a lot of it, without it leading to an excess of energy. But what is suitable low-calorie food? And what should you pay attention to when using these products in your daily nutritional schedule? You will find an overview in this blog!

Why eat low calorie foods?

Eating low in calories is important if you want to lose weight, because you can only lose fat if you eat fewer calories than you consume. Your body is then forced to use your fat reserves for sufficient energy.

Now you can of course also eat high-calorie foods in smaller portions. The problem is that this usually doesn’t saturate you enough. For example, many people are not satisfied with two slices of pizza for lunch. You will get hungry, eat a little more, and you will soon be above your calorie requirement.

That does not mean that you should never eat something that contains a lot of calories. In fact, it is advisable to do so. For example, fats are very high in calories, but you need products such as nuts, oil and fatty fish to keep your body in optimal health.

That kind of food with lots of calories, however, you should use sparingly. They are usually not suitable as a basis for your diet. It is better to use low-calorie foods for this, such as the foods you will find in the list at the bottom of this article!

Healthy food with little calories

An important note is: make sure you don’t just pay attention to the calories when you choose food. It is nice if you also go for healthy foods. That is, foods that contain many useful nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals.

Why? When you eat with a calorie deficit to lose weight, you get relatively little food anyway. This means that the risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies is lurking. To prevent this, you must ensure that the products you do eat are rich in these substances.

That means low-calorie, but unhealthy foods are not a good choice. An example is lady fingers. These are often touted as low in calories, but unfortunately they are also low in all other useful substances. The same goes for popsicles and chocolate kisses, among other things. Do you really want to ‘waste’ calories on that?

Of course, once in a while doesn’t hurt. But we strongly recommend building your daily diet from low-calorie foods that provide many other nutrients.

Low Calorie Foods:

With those words of caution behind us, we can start looking at what’s on the low calorie list! The following healthy, low-calorie diet is a great choice to eat a lot if you want to lose weight.

Vegetable

You have undoubtedly heard that you have to eat a lot of vegetables if you want to lose weight. And that’s not for nothing! Vegetables are not only incredibly healthy, they also provide very few calories. You can eat it almost unlimited without touching your calorie limit. So that’s a great way to avoid hunger.

To illustrate: this is how much of the following vegetables you can eat to get 100 kcal:

• 320 grams of carrot
• 370 grams of broccoli
• 380 grams of fresh spinach
• 520 grams of asparagus
• 550 grams of zucchini
• 750 grams of cucumber

In other words: by the time you have eaten the recommended 250 grams of vegetables, you often have not even consumed 100 kcal. While after 300 grams of carrot you are guaranteed to be quite full….

Fruit

Like fruit is fruit low in calories. There are often slightly more calories in fruit, because it also contains more sugars – hence the sweeter taste. The type of fruit you choose can also make a big difference!

Unlike vegetables, it is not necessarily wise to eat unlimited fruit. If you consume an extreme amount of fructose, it can lead to stomach pain and other complaints. However, with 2-3 pieces of fruit a day you are in the right place anyway.

How many calories do you consume with that? The following portions of fruit are again all worth 100 kcal:

• 110 grams of banana
• 130 grams of grapes
• 150 grams of mango
• 190 grams of apple
• 330 grams of blueberries
• 340 grams of strawberries

As you can see, you can eat quite a bit of fruit and still get very few calories!

Low-fat and vegetable dairy

Full-fat dairy contains a lot of fats and therefore also supplies a relatively large amount of energy. Low-fat dairy, on the other hand, is a great lean source of nutrients. Of course, what you eat differs a bit: for example, milk clearly provides a lot less calories than a container of cottage cheese. However, the quark is much more filling!

A bit newer, but also very useful, are certain types of plant-based dairy. These are great options, especially if you eat vegan or if you cannot tolerate lactose well. Make sure you choose a variant to which calcium and vitamin B12 have been added.

The following portions of dairy produce 100 kcal:

• 110 grams of cottage cheese
• 160 grams of oat yogurt
• 160 grams of Skyr
• 172 grams of cottage cheese
• 230 grams of soy yogurt
• 270 grams of yogurt

Lean meat and fish

Dairy isn’t the only lean protein source. Fish and meat can also be very slim – if you choose the right types. Fatty salami doesn’t belong on the low-calorie food list, but white meat and lean fish are a different story.

Of course the preparation method is very important here. If you bake your chicken breast in a thick pat of butter, the calories have already doubled. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to prepare meat and fish in a leaner way. For example, you can grill or stew them. And a dash of oil is of course also very healthy from time to time – but make sure you include it in your daily calorie intake.

Servings of 100 kcal in this category are for example:

• 90 grams of chicken fillet
• 90 grams of tuna in water
• 95 grams of turkey fillet
• 95 grams of pork tenderloin
• 120 grams of sole
• 133 grams of cod

In practice, you will of course often eat slightly larger portions. Because these lean meats and fish contain so few calories, that’s no problem at all!

Legumes

Then one last lean protein source: legumes. This category sometimes contains slightly more calories than the above meat and fish types. The reason is that in addition to proteins, legumes also contain some slow carbohydrates. This has the advantage that they saturate for longer, so don’t feel burdened about regularly adding beans, peas and lentils to the menu.

For example, 100 kcal portions look like this:

• 80 grams of chickpeas
• 85 grams of brown beans
• 90 grams of capuchins
• 95 grams of edamame
• 95 grams of white beans
• 100 grams of lentils

Bread, rice cakes and crackers

Finally, there are a number of carbohydrates that also fit perfectly in a low-calorie diet. We generally strongly recommend that you always opt for whole-grain carbohydrates. They contain more fiber, and therefore fill much more, for (practically) the same amount of energy. For example, on a low-calorie list, the following types belong (per 100 kcal):

• 1 slice of whole grain bread
• 2 whole wheat crispbread
• 2.5 whole wheat rusk
• 3 rice cakes (each 10 grams)
• 3.5 LU Cracottes (7.4 grams each)

Of course it all depends on how you invest your bread and bread substitutes. With two thick slices of cheese on top, your meal is no longer so slim. With lean proteins or a vegetable spread, on the other hand, you are a lot lower in calories.

Again, it is certainly not the case that you should never eat cheese, nuts, oil or fatty fish again. Fatty products that are rich in calories certainly also have a place in your diet. However, it is important to eat them in moderation so that you do not exceed your calorie requirement.