Best Foods To Eat When Dieting

Dang, that title was SUPER click-bait right?? Good. It worked.

So, the best food to eat when you're dieting is... well, the same as when you're not dieting. Just less of it LOL. Let me explain.. 

Let's say your normal day of food is something like this:

Meal 1:

2 eggs

1 egg white

1.5 cup oats

100g squash

50g mushrooms

Meal 2:

4oz chicken breast

1 TBSP olive oil

250g sweet potato

1 cup brussels 

50g avocado

Meal 3: 

200g greek yogurt

1/4 cup granola

100g berries

1 TBSP almond butter

Meal 4: 

4oz lean beef

250g jasmine rice

1 cup butter nut squash

100g avocado

Maybe when you're dieting, reduce the portions on the starchy carbs and increase the portions on the veggies because you can eat more of them for a lesser amount of carbs than the starchier carbs like potato and rice AND maybe reduce the fats on some of the meals if your fat intake has dropped while you're in a deficit. It usually does.

So if we were to edit Meal 1 for a deficit, it might look something like this:

Meal 1

1 egg 

3 egg whites

1 cup oats

150-200 squash

50-100g mushrooms

Notice how I lowered the amount of oats (because more carb dense) and increased the amount of veggies in the meal. I also opted out of one of the whole eggs and added more egg whites for more protein but no extra fat added. It's pretty simple if you just follow the basics. There are not specific foods that you should stay away from when dieting. It's kinda just a balancing game.

You should definitely incorporate some starchy veggies like oats, potato, rice, quinoa, etc. because they are good for you and have lots of fiber and other important nutrients. You'll just want to have them in smaller amounts when you're in a deficit. A trick that you could use to increase your food volume are by using things like cauliflower rice along with regular rice just to increase the volume of your meal. You could also have a bed of greens and throw all your cooked veggies and rice/potato/quinoa over on that and then BAM you have a huge salad type meal and it should be very filling. Lots of food but not a ton of macros/calories.

Just make sure you have lots of veggies with each meal because it should help you stay full longer, they typically have less carbs, AND #micros #health ;-) 

Here's a list of lower carb veggies that you can eat a lot of for not too many carbs: 

Carbs per 100g (f = fiber)

Broccoli - 7g (3.5f)

Artichokes - 22g (5f)

Kale - 10g (2f)

Cabbage - 6g (3f)

Yellow Squash - 4g (1f)

Zucchini - 4g (1f)

Butternut squash - 12g (2f)

Brussels sprouts - 7g (2f)

Celery - 3g (2f)

Asparagus - 4g (2f)

Cucumbers - 2g (1f) 

Cauliflower - 4g (2f)

Romaine lettuce - 3c (2f) 

Spinach - 4c (2f)

Red/green/yellow peppers - 6c (2f)

Mushrooms - 4c (2f)

There ya have it! I hope this helps you navigate your way through a successful caloric deficit. Just make sure you're doing it the right way and not for too long of a time period. If you're unsure of anything, hiring a coach (shameless plug) is a splendid idea! 

xo,

Ash