Is volume/taste/health properties/etc most important to you?
As a calorie counter, I very much have the "anything goes if it fits in the plan" attitude. Theoretically, I'd like to be as healthy as possible, so I am generally choosing healthy foods. But I think if I wanted to eat 1200cals of cookies a day, I could lose weight. Granted, that would be what? 10 cookies? But, my number one priority for choosing foods to include in my plan for the day, week, or just frequently eaten foods is volume. The only thing that satisfies my mental and emotional hunger is eating a LOT of food. And having the meal last a long time.
I would rather eat 1.5 cups of steamed broccoli over one cookie for the same amount of calories. Even though I prefer the taste of the cookie. I'd rather eat a huge bowl of chicken noodle soup than a chicken breast even though the chicken breast is probably healthier. As a result, I eat a LOT of food, but much of it is somewhat bland and lacking in the traditional flavor-enhancers (EVOO, cheese, nuts, sauce, etc). I just find that those things are calorie wasters even though many of them can be quite healthy. I have a hard time getting enough healthy fats and oils in my diet because they're so high in calories. Fortunately though, aside from my deficiency in healthy fat, my desire for volume sets me up for success in other ways. I tend to eat lots of high-fiber/low starch fruits and veggies, complex carbs and grains, and lean proteins.
So what tends to be most important for you when you're planning ahead or trying to choose between two foods? Do you want something that you can safely eat a lot of? Just want something that tastes as delicious and decadent as possible while staying on plan? Or do you try to choose foods exclusively on how their macronutrients and other health properties fit into your plan?
I tend to go for volume as well. I do, however, use EVOO. I love quinoa, but I dont eat it very often because it seems like such a small amount of food for the calories - while healthy. :/
Meat (white meat chicken, pork, or fish) is even hard for me to justify because of the cals... but I eat it because of the protein content.
I am also a volume person. I would much rather eat a big pile of roasted or sauteed vegetables than 1/2 cup of rice (even brown rice) for the same calories. I do use oil - not very much, maybe half a tbsp of oil to saute a couple of cups of vegetables.
Megan, your food doesn't have to be bland - you can use aromatics vegetables and lots of seasonings to add flavor. Sweat some diced onions and garlic in a little bit of oil - not a lot, just a little - and cook your vegetables in that, adding salt and pepper. Your vegetables will explode with flavor. I often cook vegetables with extra spices - fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cayenne pepper, etc. A base of diced onions with some of these spices and a little bit of chopped tomato makes a really tasty sauce base to cook any vegetable.
I don't think going for volume means you have to forgo flavor. I don't put nuts or cheese in my salads either, but they pop with flavor because I use something bright like lemon juice or vinegar to make them pop. There is one salad I make - an Indian cachumber - that has no oil in it at all. My partner couldn't even believe that it had no oil, because it was so tasty. It is just chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, a little bit of chopped cilantro, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. Unbelievably flavorful, extremely low in calories.
I eat what I want to eat. I am trying to make healthier choices because I too want to eat MORE!
The simplest thing I'm doing is to eat a plate full of spinach or mixed greens before I eat whatever is being served as entree. It's really helping my hunger.
This way I can eat the same things as everyone else in my family, just less of it.
I usually eat for volume because I like to be full throughout the day. Some times I will make choices for taste and then work around it. Last night I had a grilled cheese sandwich out and tailored my day around it.
I'm very much a volume girl, with a few exceptions. For example, I eat Hidden Valley Ranch Light Dressing. It's 80 cals a serving, and, alhough you can find other light ranch varieties for around 40 cals, the get their dressing-butts kicked by Hidden Valley. I need to feel pretty saisfied with volume, otherwise I'm thinking about food all day, and that will cause me to fail at my calorie limit that day.
Hmmm...I guess I would be more taste. I'm somewhat picky when it come to veggies and what not, so eating 1.5 cups of broccoli would be torture for me, lol. I do eat healthy, but I find that if I am eating what tastes good to me, I am satisfied.
Combination. I'd go crazy eating nothing but steamed veg, and I see no reason to leave out something as healthy as brown rice. Taste is always important, and my view is that if you're a decent cook, you should always be able to make it taste good. Though I admit that protein powder is a challenge to work with, but then it's not really food, it's somewhere between food and a supplement.
When it comes to calorie density, the foods which are low density (e.g. salad veg) can be thrown around with abandon, the medium density foods (e.g. pasta) are carefully measured and eaten in smaller quantities, and the high density foods (e.g. oil, olives) are used sparingly. I find I can sauté a panful of veg quite nicely in a quarter-teaspoon of oil, I don't need that much oil and lemon juice to season a salad for one, and I break off very small pieces of very dark chocolate that are usually around 3g. I've recently found a nice vegan brand of biscuits (cookies in American) which are 61% oats, only 42 calories each, and generally well-balanced in terms of ingredients and nutrients, so occasionally I will have one as an afternoon snack.
I have absolutely no problem building the majority of my evening meals around either 3oz of wholewheat pasta or 1/3 cup (dry) of brown rice, and that's on a 1050 calorie diet, so I admit that I'm always a bit bewildered by people who say that they can't afford the calories in grains. Of course, I'm vegan so I'm balancing my overall meals very differently anyway, and a lot of the animal foods are more calorie-dense and presumably make it harder to get in grains as well.
If we're talking about satisfying hunger, I have a small breakfast, relatively light lunch and my biggest meal is supper. I will have one or two small snacks during the day, sometimes none at all, and I do mean small. If I'm seriously hungry and it's not anywhere near a meal time, I've probably messed up my meal planning for the day, but this rarely happens. Occasionally I get the munchies before my period and indulge in several rice cakes in succession, or something similar.
Health properties are pretty important, but again I will include small quantities of less healthy things. Well, I eat the odd bit of chocolate or biscuit as a snack. I was already eating a healthy diet, so this bit wasn't difficult bar some adjusting to optimise my macronutrient ratio. I don't eat processed foods. I rarely like them, they've expensive, they're usually very high in calories, and since I'm already pretty ill, it's important to me to eat as healthily as I possibly can.
I count calories by way of an exchange plan, because I think all three are very important. I want to choose a reasonably balanced diet, so the exchange plan takes care of that component, as well as the calorie component (because all foods within an exchange category contain about the same amount of calories, fat, carbs, fiber, and protein).
Volume and flavor aren't mutually exclusive, but sometimes there are "trade-offs" involved. Very intensely flavored foods tend to be calorie-dense - so volume is sacrificed. I don't mind sacrificing a bit of volume, but I don't want to have a walnut-sized meal either.
For the most part, I'm ALL about volume. However, I do like something sweet every day. Every.single.day. Frozen yogurt, or Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, or chocolate Nature Valley crunchy granola bars. The rest of the day? VOLUME.
Health properties are probably the most important, and taste is a quick second. If I'm STARVING then I'm going to change around my foods to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck.
My favorite foods are soups because they taste delicious, are healthy, and fill you up. It's the perfect food.
It depends. Some weeks I eat "regular" foods and just stick to my ~1200 limit a day.
But most times I do prefer volume, provided that it actually fills me up and I don't dislike how it tastes. I tend not to eat things I don't like anymore (something that, for some reason, wasn't a big deal to me before).
I like to play a game with my meals and recipes where I get them as tasty as I can with as much volume and as few calories as I can so that I can eat more (like, 300 calories gets you a TON with veggies). And sometimes I save up calories so I can have a couple slices of cheese with some tasty bread, or a Pop Tart.
I eat a LOT of veggies. I love them and always have. I 'stir fry' things with cooking spray, never oil because a) I, too, think it's a waste of calories for very little taste and b) it always burns me (ouch).
Last edited by LiannaKole; 10-18-2011 at 08:32 PM.
I have a "diet brain" leftover from the WW 80s/90s/early 2000s. Like Kaplods, I'm very familiar with the exchange program to the point that when I'm dieting I tend to try to stick with 2 dairy, 2 fruit, 2 fat, 6 oz protein, 2-3 starch, and veg I don't concern myself with--veg is gonna happen daily!
I am a new calorie counter. I am slowly getting it through my head that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. I know that macronutrients (the new buzz word) are important to good health, like hitting all the food groups takes care of that, and I tend to eat that way when I'm paying attention so that is covered.
I would say I go for taste tho, over volume but sometimes I go for volume. For instance, mkendrick, you mention chicken soup. I will make a pot of it, and have a bowl of just veg and broth first. Its so good, that the next bowl has chicken, veg, and added noodles which have been cooked on the side--and then I'm over the top full and content. Years and years of it being ingrained into my brain that non-starchy veg are an "all you can eat" food, when I'm feeling the need to feel full that is what I do. I do the same with beef stew by putting in extra veg. I'm also not above tossing some broccoli into my bowl of spaghetti and meatballs occasionally.
So, I'd say I'm a healthy dieter first, flavor next, and volume last.
Meanwhile, my menu today was off, but I've been home for 2 days, busy cleaning up the house as it is for sale expecting lookers soon. Salad w/feta cheese and EVOO was lunch (no breakfast), and the kitchen was very clean which discouraged cooking, husband had eaten a sandwich, and DD ate leftover chinese food before heading out to a concert in NYC. Me? Hubby said he'd go get me a coffee and a bagel--now I haven't had a bagel since July!!! It sounded good since it fit in calorie-wise today. It was okay. I remembered it more fondly than it really deserved--so I think having taken a break from bagels and cream cheese didn't make my heart grow fonder. I will definitely be able to live without for a while again. However, I got it "out of my system" too. All I can think is...thank goodness I had the salad earlier!
Last edited by 124chicksinger; 10-18-2011 at 07:34 PM.
My partner (who is not overweight, of course) is very much volume-oriented. I swear he has a hollow leg. Flavor is very important to me. So, we have developed a pretty solid rotation of flavorful meals we can eat huge amounts of and stay within our calorie targets.
For example, I make a scramble out of red onion, mushroom, garlic, kale, light tofu, and red pepper flake. Oh, and just a little bit of olive oil.
Tonight we had the most fabulous soup for dinner, paired with a grilled chicken breast. The soup was a vegan chowder made with pumpkin, red peppers, corn, jalepenos, and all sorts of other yummy things.
You CAN have your cake and eat it too. Well, maybe not cake per se...
Is volume/taste/health properties/etc most important to you?
