Our friend Kim is a registered dietitian and gym owner.
We asked her what can we eat a lot of
and not get fat.
We also included a link in the description to her
full article,
which includes some recipe ideas and nutrition facts.
Now let's hear about 12 foods you can eat a
lot of without getting fat.
According to an expert.
I'm a weight loss dietitian,
but I'm also human.
If I could eat all the cheeseburgers and fries I
wanted without compromising my health and body weight goals,
I do it. But life doesn't work that way.
The reality is, weight loss involves tradeoffs.
It's a balancing act of figuring out how much of
your favorite foods you can eat while working toward your
goals.
Unfortunately, I can't give you a free pass to eat
anything you want without getting fat,
but I can help you feel less deprived in your
quest to maintain or lose weight.
In this video, I'll share 12 foods I recommend to
my coaching clients that help them get the results they
want without feeling deprived.
But first, let's talk about why certain foods are more
likely to make you gain weight than others,
so that you know what types of food to eat
more and less of.
Then we will get into 12 foods you can eat
a lot of without gaining weight.
In theory, any food can make you gain weight if
you eat too much.
Overall, this is true even when a food is very
low in calories.
But some foods make you much more likely to gain
weight than others.
Ultra processed foods typically have more fat,
sugar and salt than less processed foods.
This crib worthy combination makes it easier to overeat and
therefore to gain weight.
Foods that contain a lot of fiber,
water, and protein help you feel full faster,
leaving less space in the belly for additional calories.
These foods are sometimes higher in calories,
but they can help you to eat fewer calories throughout
the day.
With that background out of the way,
here are 12 foods you can eat a lot of
and not get fat.
First up is cauliflower. If you're looking for a low
calorie food that's also filling,
cauliflow flower fits the bill.
An entire head contains just
146 calories.
Calories aside, cauliflower is incredibly versatile.
It's great roasted or raw,
and you can also swap rice to cauliflower out for
any recipe that calls for regular rice.
Next up is cucumbers.
How is it possible to eat a lot of cucumbers
without gaining weight?
Once again, it comes down to calorie math.
A medium cucumber will only set you back about 30
calories.
You could eat three of them and still consume fewer
calories than a serving of chips.
For this reason, I often recommend that my clients snack
on cucumbers.
My third recommendation is for pasta lovers.
Unfortunately, you can't eat a lot of noodles without gaining
weight.
You can, however, eat a lot of noodles made out
of vegetables.
Zoo dolls are zucchini noodles,
which are made by slicing zucchini in a spiral formation.
1 cup of zucchini noodles contains just 20 calories and
is also very filling.
By contrast, 1 cup of cooked spaghetti has
221 calories, and most people eat far more pasta than
that.
4th on this list is potatoes.
Is it a good idea to gorge yourself on potatoes
when you're watching your weight?
Of course not.
But as long as you bake or boil them,
you could potentially eat a serving of potatoes every day
without gaining weight.
Potatoes are very filling. In theory,
this could help you eat less when you eat meals
containing potatoes,
and it can also help keep you satisfied until your
next meal.
Just be sure to eat the skin.
That's where you get the most fiber.
And in a different study,
adults who eat nearly two cups of beans and lentils
a day lost for times more weight in six weeks
than adults who didn't eat as much.
So go ahead, eat a lot of legumes,
but start slowly.
Increasing your fiber intake too quickly can lead to bloating,
gas, and other digestive issues.
Begin with one quarter to half a cup daily and
increase by 1/4 cup every few days as tolerated.
Craving something sweet? You can eat a lot of strawberries
without gaining weight.
1 cup of half strawberries has only 49 calories with
three grams of fiber.
That's about the same as a single Chips Ahoy cookie.
And good luck eating just one of those.
Subbing strawberries for your dessert is a great way to
satisfy your sweet tooth without packing on the pounds.
Next up is grapefruit.
With just 52 calories per serving,
grapefruit is a low calorie fruit.
Eating a lot of it won't set you back many
calories.
There's even some evidence that grapefruit may even help you
lose weight.
In one study, for example,
adults who eat grapefruit for four meals lost an average
of 7%
body weight in 12 weeks.
But before you make a beeline for the produce aisle,
there's something you should know.
The only thing magical about grapefruit is its incredibly high
water content,
which can make you feel fuller.
If you're not a fan of grapefruit,
drinking a big glass of water before meals would likely
have a similar effect.
Be careful though, grapefruit interacts with dozens of medications,
making some less effective and others too strong.
Speak with your doctor or pharmacist before adding it to
your diet.
If you like popcorn, then I have some good news.
You can eat a lot of air popped popcorn without
gaining weight.
Popcorn comes in at 31 calories per cup,
so you won't do too much damage even if you
eat more than you planned.
Unlike many snack foods, popcorn also provides a bit of
fiber.
This can help you meet your daily fiber quota,
something most Americans fall short on while also helping you
to fill up faster.
High protein foods are more filling than high carb or
high fat foods.
You can and should eat lots of high protein foods
because it's difficult to overeat them and because they can
also help you consume fewer calories from other sources.
That is one reason I recommend salmon.
According to one study, fish is more satiating than other
protein sources.
You can eat any fish you like,
as long as it's not fried or covered in high
calorie sauces or toppings.
But there's some evidence that the omega-3 fatty acids found
in salmon and other fatty fish may help you shed
pounds and melt belly fat.
Eating fatty fish twice weekly has also been linked with
a decreased risk of heart disease,
so consider adding salmon to your menu at least a
couple times per week.
Another high protein food that you can eat a lot
of and not gain weight is low fat cottage cheese.
Nearly half of its calories come from protein,
and as we discussed, protein promotes weight maintenance and weight
loss.
As we've discussed, protein is very filling,
but compared to foods that are high in fat or
carbohydrates,
protein rich foods may be less likely to be stored
in the form of body fat,
even when you eat a little too much of them.
Next up is nuts.
I love nuts.
Nuts are actually higher in calories and fat than many
foods on this list,
so you might be surprised that you can eat lots
of them without gaining weight.
But studies suggest that nuts don't make you fat even
if you eat them daily.
Even some evidence that adults who eat more nuts weigh
less and have smaller wastes than people who don't eat
as many
need additional proof that high fat foods don't make you
fat.
You can eat avocado every day without having to buy
bigger jeans.
In fact, avocado might even help you slim down.
In a 2021 study, researchers divided overweight adults into two
groups.
Both groups followed similar diets and ate the same number
of calories each day.
The only difference is that one group ate of fresh
avocados daily.
After 12 weeks, women in the avocado group lost significantly
more abdominal fat than those who didn't eat avocado.
And in another large study,
adults who regularly ate avocados had higher quality diets than
those who didn't.
And there you have it,
12 foods that you can eat a lot of and
not get fat.
Just to recap, any food could make you gain weight
if it's contributing to a calorie surplus,
but some foods are more helpful than others at keeping
your calorie intake low enough to maintain or lose weight.
The best choices are minimally processed or unprocessed foods that
are low in calories and very filling.
Higher calorie foods can sometimes be eaten more often or
in larger amounts if they contain a lot of fiber,
protein, or water.
These foods fill the belly and help you take in
fewer calories over the course of the day.
Thanks Kim, this has been great.
It's also made me hungry.
To read more about foods you can eat a lot
of and not gain weight,
click on the link in the description.
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