Good news everybody. Turns out you can diet without starving yourself. Volume is good, it makes you feel more satisfied and prevents your body from going into starvation mode and ruining your diet. The best way to bulk up meals without adding calories is non starchy veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, edamame, lima beans, etc. Just avoid peas, corn, and most beans as they have starches, fats, and calories. 1lb of broccoli is like 120 calories, and you would be crazy to try to eat a pound of it so it's very filling for almost no calories. Fresh fruits (other than bananas) are also a great way to add bulk and also get a treat. Apples for instance are relatively low in calories, but have a huge amount of bulk in the form of water and fiber. 2 big apples for lunch might be only 200 calories, and you will get STUFFED on 2 big apples. Or you could do 1 apple and some greek yogurt. In general, natural, whole foods, will give you the volume you desire without the calories. Just avoid convenience foods like TV dinners, mac and cheese, those 'add water and oil' rice dish sides, potato salad, etc.
Other tricks are to over hydrate your food. Making rice? Add extra water and let it bulk up more. It will add volume without calories. Same for pasta although it would make pasta more mushy. Some foods really like absorbing water, and you can make them bulk up greatly by using more. Even meat can be bulked up with water. If you put chicken breast, pork chops, etc in pure filtered water overnight, osmosis will cause the meat to soak up a lot of water, increasing it's size. Then you pat it dry, season as normal, and cook. By the way, this is how those frozen meat companies like Tyson chicken strips etc, save money. The reason pre-cooked, frozen meats have that weird springy texture compared to home cooked, is cause they have soaked up a lot of 'brine'.
Terracore
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