Your favorite filling, low cal foods?

[Pei]

Mine would have to be watermelon. I think I could eat watermelons for a couple days straight and not feel deprived. How many calories are in a whole watermelon, anyway? I know it's about 50 calories a cup.

What other filling, low calorie snacks do people enjoy? The kind of thing you eat to fill up when you're watching your weight (but don't want to be hungry all day long)?

[JenMarie66]

baby carrots
triscuts
a piece of cheddar cheese with chutney on top
fast & easy red cabbage slaw (toss with garlic mustard vinagrette)
a massive mug of tea with milk and honey (the milk and honey make it seem really rich, like a food rather than an h2o based beverage

[Anne H]

To hold off hunger for a couple hours, a handful of dry roasted almonds, eaten slowly one at a time. Or an ounce or so of cheese, preferable gruyere... Either one is very satisfying.

If I'm in need of constant munching, a bag of sugar snap peas.

[HillJ]

oatmeal with fresh berries

[mimolette]

Fat/sugar free jello with fresh raspberries. It is extremely filling, possibly good for you (minus the artificial sweetner). I love the raspberries suspended in the jello. I think one package makes 2 cups and only has 60 calories plus the calories from the raspberries. Peaches, apples and melons are all extremely filling for me.

Vegetables, especially when they are not cooked to death, are all very filling.

For some reason I find salmon to be filling. Sashimi too, Maybe it is just odd to eat a large quanity of raw fish all at once.

Shrimp Dumpling soup with vegetables is probably fairly low cal too.

And then there is that konnyaku thing that has almost no calories.

[vicki_vale]

A big bowl of microwaved green peas with a dash of Maggi.
Not unlike edamame with lots of salt.

[amkirkland]

Any green veggie.

[beevod]

halvah

[bijoux16]

I actually really like fat-free cottage cheese, and I've found that a small bowl of it is surprisingly filling. must be the protein. to make it more palatable (though I enjoy it plain), I swirl in a tablespoon of pumpkin butter (or whichever fruit jam or preserve I have on hand), or mix in some chopped pineapples or apples. sprinkle grape nuts over it and it's a protein-rich, low calorie, and very filling mid-day snack.

[NovoCuisine]

Edamame.

[PseudoNerd]

The carbohydrate content in a banana is pretty high, given that it's a fruit: about 40-60 grams for one (the average American candy bar has about 35g, but most of that is pure sugar). Plantains have even more carbs, and dried fruits still more.

But the body needs potassium, right?

[amkirkland]

Watermelon is a better source of potassium than banana (calorie for calorie) plus it's killer for lycopene.

[MollyGee]

I think watermelon may be the best source of lycopene out there.

[Val]

Actually, tomatoes are the best source of lycopene, I've read...but watermelon is a very good source also.

[mimolette]

I think it is the other way around. something like 40 percent more in watermelon.

[Val]

Well, here's the source I was looking at, maybe they're wrong, I don't know:

http://1stholistic.com/Nutrition/vkb/...

[designerboy01]

Kiwis give you more potassium than bananas.

[MollyGee]

Bread. It's low calorie (in most of its lovely manifestations) and it's very filling and satisfying. Fruits and veggies are lovely, but they "wear off" in the filling dept pretty quickly.

[mielimato]

Bread + banana sandwich = tasty, filling, and nutritious

[CulinaryKate]

banana is another high on GI food. but i love them with bread and PB anyway

[MollyGee]

The glycemic index is a semi-shake-y way to evaluate foods. Once you start throwing peanut butter and such into the mix you throw the glycemic index out the window. And how many carbs and calories does a banana have anyways? Not much.

[Emme]

Low cal fruits include melon, berries (particularly strawberries), grapefruit.
Celery dipped in fat free dressing.
Egg whites (I make egg salad with whites and ff mayo and garlic powder)
Grilled veggies sprinkled with garlic salt... eggplant, onions, mushrooms.
Cabbage steamed or raw marinated in vinegar.
Sugar free jello made with diet sprite or other diet soda
I also make lemonade popsicles, by making lemonade with lemon juice, water, and splenda, then freeze.

[piccola]

Miso soup (with LOTS of seaweed)
Crunchy salads with low-cal dressing
Eggwhite omelets
Spaghetti squash
Melon of any kind
Grapes
Baby carrots
Marinated onions
Sprouts (but not mung sprouts, I don't love those)
Etc.

[jenniebnyc]

Fresh strawberries, skim plus milk, vanilla, splenda, ice....blender. Yum

[designerboy01]

I have to get my blender out...

[Chowsmurf]

Refrigerator pickles. Otherwise, I love raw broccoli. Grapefruit. Lately I've been snacking on roasted beets because they are good for detox (though I know they are high on teh GI.) I've also been keeping frozen fruit from Whole Foods around the house to snack on. I love the pineapple, but I think that's another one that's pretty much a natural sugarbomb.

[designerboy01]

Actually, mung beans or lentils are the best detox agent. If you cook it in a soup with seaweed its a super detox.

[Chowsmurf]

Thanks for the tip! I'll try this on my next detox week!

[designerboy01]

oh its mung beans water, konbu seaweed, and I use organic cane sugar. Its a sweet soup.

[Glencora]

The salmon patty from Trader Joe's has only 80 calories and is quite filling, though rather salty. Also, how about pickled herring or canned sardines? If you get tired of fruit, that is.

[designerboy01]

Saurkraut
Grapefruit
Canteloupe and Honeydew
Apples
Agar Agar Jelly
Seaweed
Cabbage

I think Watermelon has a lot of sugar.

[fickle]

Low sodium V8 juice.

[ipsedixit]

Canteloupe

Fuji apples

Congee

[saltandpepper]

An apple really works for me -- takes time and effort to chew; is very filling. A good tart granny smith is my favorite.

When I come home from work and waiting for dinner, I'll often have a whole green pepper. It holds me until dinner, and it's a good snack.

I also roast lots of vegetables -- brussel sprouts and carrots are really great, and I'll use Pam spray if I really don't want any extra calories.

[slacker]

I make roasted brussel sprouts and carrots almost every Christmas. :)

[gini]

Water?

[mielimato]

plain yogurt with a little mint and sugar

sometime I prefer something savory and have some ramen...but does that count? does ramen have a lot of calories?

beef jerky

squid jerky

[Chowsmurf]

In most cases, yes, Ramen is hugely high in calories if it's the kind you just add water to. They fry the noodles.

[brooklynmasala]

Edamame!

[michele cindy]

Spagehtti squash for me. I bake it in the oven, and add a tad of unsalted butter.

[Pat Hammond]

Any combination of fruity smoothies. To loosen the mixture, I add coconut water. Frozen watermelon chunks will give them a nice slushy texture and I've yet to add sweetner. I just about lived on them this summer.

[Kagey]

Watermelon is mine as well, and I eat tons of it. I didn't realize it was so lo cal! Good thing or I'd be a blimp.

Nori is another good guilt-free snack that I eat a lot. I buy it in sheets and cut them up into pieces. It's a little salty and has that initial crunch, which is satisfying. It's not the most filling thing ever, but you can mindlessly crunch away without feeling bad about it.

One thing I've been eating lately as breakfast or snack is wholegrain rye bread with peanut butter. I only just discovered wholegrain rye, which is kind of nutty and a little sour. Ok, so it's not that lo-cal, but one slice with some peanut butter is very filling and not horribly guilt-inducing.

[Val]

Watermelon is way up there on the glycemic index IF this is important to you, so that means that the sugar content is pretty high for a fruit. It's no doubt better than a candy bar but gobbling it up all day long may not be a "good thing."

[shaebones]

popcorn