Top 10 Low Calorie Foods for Weight Loss and Healthy Living

Whether you are taking on a low calorie diet for weight loss, or simply to start feeling healthier, finding delicious meals for everyday can prove a real challenge. However, there are plenty of calorie friendly, tasty meals that you can whip up easily from the comfort of your own kitchen. Keep reading to find out top 10 low-calorie food suggestions and how you can maintain a healthy weight!

Maintaining A Healthy Calorie Intake

Even if weight loss is your overall goal, maintaining a healthy weight and calorie intake are extremely important during this time. Weight loss is a gradual process too, and taking care of your body throughout your weight loss journey is vital, otherwise complications could arise and you could become unhealthy or ill.

The recommended calorie intake is 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men, however this may differ based on your age, metabolism and level of activity. A good place to start on your weightloss journey is to:

• Work out your weight loss goals, or end goal weight and work backwards
• Calculate your current BMI and maintenance calories (this tells you how many calories you need to consume inorder to maintain your current weight)
• Consult a professional if you are feeling unmotivated and unsure of a weight loss plan
• When looking into weight loss and meal plans, try reducing meals by up to 500 calories (if this seems like a lot, you can ease yourself in and reduce by 100-200 calories) It’s important to choose a plan that works for you
• Over the course of time, you will gradually start to see a healthy decline in your weight

Modern Diet Culture

Weight loss has become an extremely hot topic in recent years, with the media full of content that drives the modern diet culture.

It’s important to remember that weight loss should be achieved in a consistent and healthy way to take care of your body rather than damaging it.

Modern day diet cultures can often promote unhealthy habits and force people to hyperfixate on calories and what their bodies look like. Instead, we should be promoting healthy lifestyles that take care of our bodies inside and out.

Meals For Weight Loss & Foods To Include In Your Diet

We have combined 5 low-calorie meal ideas and our top 5 low-calorie foods that you should include in your new diet to help you out on your journey! You can also check out keto foods, or plant based meals too for more ideas.

Low Calorie Meal Ideas

These are some of our favourite low calorie meals that you can try at home!

Salads

When you think of weight loss, the word salad might come to mind, and not in the most positive way. However, salads don’t need to be the meal that you dread! You may typically think of a salad as being a bowl of vegetables, but salads give you the freedom to add anything you like! There are so many different ingredients you can incorporate into a salad, you can even change it up every day.

They are a clean way to fill yourself up on as little calories as possible. From watermelon & feta to chicken caesar and or even peach & mozzarella, the ingredients you can chuck into a salad are absolutely endless, and they provide you with a good source of nutritious vitamins that your body needs to be healthy.

Lettuce Wraps

Lettuce wraps have gained a lot of popularity! The idea being that, instead of using a regular wrap, you substitute this for a crispy piece of fresh lettuce. Your filling could be anything from minced meat to beans and veggies. Using lettuce as the wrap in this meal removes the carbohydrate element, which will significantly reduce the calorie intake.

This also means you can get away with having a few lettuce wraps, as this may make up for just one regular wrap!

Poke Bowls

Poke bowls are another great low-calorie meal that can help you lose weight as well as helping you use  up all the bits and bobs in your fridge. Poke bowls are a Hawaiian inspired dish with a range of different ingredients. Usually a protein like salmon, tuna, tofu or chicken can be used, alongside a range of delicious vegetables to make it a little more interesting!

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are another low-calorie meal or snack that you can try! They are super simple to make, and you can get creative with different fillings to change it up and it’s a great vegetarian option too!

You can include meat, other vegetables, cheese or carbohydrates like rice! Additionally, stuffed peppers are great because you are baking them instead of frying, minimising the amount of oil you are consuming. They work well for lunchtimes, hearty snacks or dinners.

Shakshuka

Shakshuka is traditionally a North African dish, made from eggs, tomatoes and a range of fragrant spices. It works extremely well as a breakfast/brunch and lunch meal.

If you aren’t a fan of tomatoes, or want to include a wider variety of vegetables, you can go green with your Shakshuka. Broad beans, green beans, spinach, asparagus and other green vegetables can be substituted, giving you more flavours and textures!

Low Calorie Food Items

These are some of our favourite low calorie foods that you can try incorporating into your diet!

Apples

Apples are a brilliant low calorie snack, and they give you that sugary hit too. They are an easy snack for in between meals or a guilt-free midnight snack!

Try slicing your apple up and enjoying it with a scoop of peanut butter for some added crunch! 

Kale

An excellent leafy green with great versatility. Kale has gained a lot of popularity in recent years as it is a brilliant source of essential vitamins and nutrients.

Kale can be baked or fried as a side dish to your dinner, it can be the key ingredient of a nice healthy salad, and it can even be blended into smoothies for extra nutrition.

Spinach

Another leafy green, spinach has a lot of versatility much like kale, and it can also be added to smoothies and salads. It’s low calorie, with only 7 calories per 30 gram serving. You can boil spinach and add it to a range of meals, as well as eating it raw in a delicious salad.

Courgette

Courgettes are an excellent vegetable to include in your diet, it’s extremely versatile and can be used in a range of ways.

Baked or fried courgettes can make for a delicious side to any meal, or if you’re looking for a good carbohydrate replacement!  ‘Zoodles’ or ‘zucchini noodles’ is a recent phenomenon where you can use a spiralizer or a Julienne peeler to create thin, noodle-like slices that are boiled and used as a carbohydrate replacement.

Low Carb Noodles & Low Carb Rice

If carbohydrate replacements aren’t your thing, and you aren’t a fan of too many leafy greens, then you may want to look into some low-carb options.

You can easily find low-carb noodles and low-carb rice options in various supermarkets or online! By choosing low-carbohydrate options, you are still getting a healthy and balanced diet without having to worry about your calorie intake.

Calorie Watchers

Here at Calorie watchers, our healthy diet community has perfectly curated a range of low-calorie foods and recipes to help you along your weightloss journey. Fewer calories doesn’t mean your food needs to taste different, and you should continue to enjoy delicious meals.

To explore our range of low calorie ingredients and meals, check out our website to see the full range of products.

For further enquiries about our products, recipes or our community, feel free to contact us today! Our team will be happy to help you find the right products for you and give you their best advice.