Almost every time I work with a new client to help them lose weight, I get the same concern - “I don’t know if I can eat all that!” When they look at the volume of food I’m asking them to eat, it seems like a lot - because it is! I think that’s a pretty rad problem to have, especially while trying to lose weight, don’t you?
I’m the type of coach that imposes as many “minimum requirements” as I do limitations when designing a nutrition plan for someone, and I put a lot of emphasis on getting enough high volume foods to naturally satisfy my clients while automatically reducing their daily calorie intake in as painless a way as possible.
Most of us are used to eating until we’re full (or even past that point) on a very regular basis, and that loss of portion control is often one of the things that gets us to an unhealthy weight in the first place. A lot of “diets” out there dramatically cut calories just by limiting portions of calorie-dense foods, which leaves most people feeling deprived - not a sustainable way of life, if you ask me!
Nobody likes feeling like they’re starving. A little hunger here and there definitely won’t kill you, and can sometimes be necessary in the name of fat loss, but I like to try to minimize that as much as possible for myself and my clients while increasing consumption of body-bolstering micronutrients to round out a well balanced and healthy nutrition approach.
So here come our saviors, high-volume foods. These are ones that you can eat a ton of without much caloric cost, so you can still eat the amount of food you’re used to (or even more) and not go completely overboard with your daily calorie allotment. My favorites come in the form of vegetables (which I’ll get to in more detail shortly), because you get lots of vitamins and minerals along with a big hit of fiber while you chow down on your big meals of natural, unprocessed goodness. For those of you who love to eat, like me, this is a concept worth considering!
There’s definitely something satisfying and indulgent about sitting down to a big meal. It’s basically par for the course to eat a lot here in America where portions can be downright massive…But seriously, who doesn’t want to eat a huge plate of food and feel great about it after, especially while “dieting”?
Once you figure out how to plump up your portions, it’s easy to begin a lifelong love affair with vegetables. Especially if you’re actively trying to reduce the calories you consume, you can really come to appreciate what veggies can do for satiety and even the flavor of your meals. I’ve had some die-hard veggie haters change their opinions completely by finding ways to prepare them that they enjoy, to make them delicious and satisfy their hunger - often in lieu of their previous calorie-dense carb fillers.
Even though I’m suggesting foods that often replace a calorie-dense carb source, I don’t believe that carbs are the enemy - I’m just saying that it’s easy to overeat foods that are made up of primarily carbs because they are so calorie-dense, meaning that a very small amount of food volume can contain a lot of calories and carbohydrates.
If you’re not mindful of your portions, you can end up consuming way more carbohydrates than you need via these sources which is not ideal - excess carbohydrates, when they go unused, are fairly easily stored as fat and can contribute to weight gain. Plus, veggies contain carbs too, so unless you’re getting a huge amount of activity it’s likely that you can get everything you need from your veggie intake alone!
If you already know that you naturally gravitate toward carbs, try eating your veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats FIRST, before you even dig into the pasta, bread, or rice - I think you’ll be surprised by how satisfied you are, and you may not even care to reach for your carb-loaded food choices again.
Here are some veggies to try that can add tons of volume for not many calories:
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Zucchini
Cucumber
Spaghetti Squash
Mushrooms
Celery
Lettuce
Kale
Spinach
Eggplant
Cabbage
Asparagus
Bell Peppers
Mixed baby greens
Brussels sprouts
Seriously, with these high-volume helpers on your side, you can go pretty much nuts at mealtime and still watch your body fat dwindle.
I like to incorporate vegetables into my diet in lots of ways, both as the foundation of my meals as well as substitutes for less healthy foods I might crave. Sometimes I cook several different vegetables using different methods of preparation, so I have a big, colorful plate of food with different textures and flavors. That makes me so happy!
Cauliflower rice, roasted brussels sprouts, and rainbow carrot fries are some of my favorites, pictured here with lean ground beef sprinkled with low-fat mozzarella...
Here are some other filling, high-volume dishes I like to make:
Vegetable soup (bonus points for using bone broth!)
Stir-fry (broccoli slaw and cabbage work great as a base here)
"Spiralized" or julienned “noodles” or ribbons (zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, etc.)
Spaghetti squash (great substitute for pasta - make sure to bake it cut side DOWN until you can easily pierce the outside skin with a knife)
All kinds of roasted vegetable “fries” (sweet potato, squashes, zucchini, carrots… Basically, cut any firm
vegetable into fry shapes and roast until they’re tender enough to eat but still hold their shape)Cauliflower EVERYTHING (see my previous post, I’m a huge fan of this particularly versatile vegetable)
Dinner-sized salads (whatever veggies you have, throw them in! Raw, cooked, or a mixture of both)
Mixed veggie roast (I throw a bunch of vegetables cut into similar-sized pieces on a sheet pan with a spritz of cooking spray and seasonings, and just roast the living hell out of them until they’re caramelized and crispy!)
Don’t forget to include lean protein and healthy fats to make your meals truly satisfying!
How do you incorporate high-volume foods into your diet? Need more ideas? Let me know!
Please feel free to comment, upvote, or resteem if you found this helpful! :)
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I love veggies, but I feel hungry 1 hour after if there is no meat at the dinner. and when I take a break from the gym, I still eat a lot of meat because I am loving it and I can't be without it. should I eat more veggies and less meat when I take a break from the gym to not gain weight?
@hennessy I had this problem as well. But then I started to combine smart with other proteins . Maybe this article helps you a little in being creative and not only getting your proteins from meat ;)
All you should know about protein
@annemariemay thank you for this great post, I totaly agree with you!
Thank you! And I love your suggestion about getting protein from a variety of sources! There are tons of healthy ways to get your protein fix and changing it up can help complete a balanced diet! :)
Great question @hennessy! I don't think that you necessarily need to stop eating meat or eat less meat when you aren't working out. I think being mindful about what kind of meat that you are eating is the important part. Just like veggies have an awesome bang for your caloric buck, some meats have less calories per ounce than others. I think that when you aren't going to the gym and you want to keep your weight under control eating lean meats like, chicken, pork tenderloin, and lean ground turkey will hep keep those calories down because they have less fat.
Hope this helps! :)
Your clients are happy to have a coach like you. You don't impose so much restrictions. It is fun if we enjoy our fitness journey.
Thank you my friend for sharing this :)
Thank you for taking the time to read it :) I would like to think they are happy with my coaching style, I try to have people learn to love fitness so that living a heathy life is fun and doesn't feel like an obligation! :)
Yes, having a healthy life is really fun. We know what it feels like having health issue. We all want to be happy. Healthy lifestyle is the best choice! :)
I find this to be an incredibly valuable post. It's always helpful to come across a different kind of dish with these ingredients. BTW, have you heard of Lympo yet? It combines health and blockchain, with a reward system such as steemit. Lympo.io is the site so far, but so new that it's just a sign up for email registry. I saw a co-founder speak on it and I can't wait. All this will go great with a nice meal plan.
I have not heard about them yet but that sounds very interesting! I will go and check them out, fitness and blockchain sounds like it is right up my alley! How did you hear about them?
They are one of the latest airdrop partners to the Ethos wallet when it comes out. There is only a pre-register option for emails I think, but soo anticipated.
https://medium.com/@lympo.io/lym-joins-ethos-universal-wallet-a-secure-multi-token-wallet-made-simple-bc6d1b4148e1
They also just got on KuCoin.
Awesome! Thanks for the link - I just signed up for the newsletter, and I can't wait for more info to come out!! Cheers! :)
Bon appetit :) You made me hungry :)
I was hungry looking through my food photos too! haha I am glad you liked it :)
Lol thats forsure. Even myself I still sometimes have a hard time eating the food I need to for my diet. Im 4 years in lol
It takes a ton of volume to feed athletes! It is the best problem to have! :)
Amazing and informative post so full of great nutritional advice on how to indulge the healthiest way possible while still reducing the over storage of body fat. Followed and upvoted
Much appreciated! :) Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment! :)
Cool! Thank you!!