Please can you tell me your best low cal/low fat filling meals...

[Tillyscoutsmum]

I've been dieting since 2nd Jan. I am trying to stick to 1,250 cals per day and have been doing well (13lb lost so far). I pigged out a bit at lunchtime on kfc and only have 350 cals "left" for my evening meal. I am really hungry because I ate calorific crap for lunch.

Any ideas please ? I went shopping yesterday so have most things in.

Vegetable/prawn stir fry

Vegetable Frittata

Lowest calorie most filing meal for me is:

Quorn mince (or turkey breast mince) but quorn lower fat.
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
Low carb veggies eg spinach, cauliflower, courgette, mushrooms

Chop up veggies and cook in one pot. Very filing, and low cal.

Thanks both. I haven't tried Quorn. Is there much difference between that and beef mince in things like bolognese and chilli ? I use the extra lean steak mince atm (and drain off any fat) but I always keen to find something lower fat.

I also need to get some bags of stir fry veg in. I've got things like peppers/mushrooms etc. in but couldn't be bothered to do the chopping/prepping required tonight.

I ended up with a big salad, some sweet chilli chicken breast and a wholemeal pitta

Quorn has less taste than beef mince but its great with chopped tomatoes and veggies as its so low fat. Especially good if you are looking for a very low cal meal. Its a useful thing to have in freezer. Also the chicken style pieces are useful for stir fries.

Maybe not for dinner, but the new weight loss programme I'm doing does really yummy pancakes which are good for breakfast or lunch. I'm afraid the measurements are in cup sizes as I'm in Canada, but I'm sure you will find a conversion on a website somewhere! So, 1 cup plain oatmeal, 1 cup egg whites about 6), half cup 1% cottage cheese, half tbsp baking powder, oil spray, 1 cup blueberries. Blend oatmeal, egg, cheese and baking powder until virtually smooth. Use half a cup of mixture per pancake and fry on a medium heat in the oil. Sprinkle the blueberries on the top of the raw side before flipping over. This makes 4 MASSIVE pancakes, so 2 servings. Per serving 278 calories, 3g total fat, 1g saturated fat,41g total carb, 6g fibre and 23g protein. For the record I absolutely detest cottage cheese, but these taste delicious, especially with a very little dribble of maple syrup over the top.

Are you getting any exercise? You could "earn" some more calories by doing some.

If not, stir fry would be my next step.

jenrendo - those pancakes sound yum. Thank you

SorrySorry - yes, I've done the 30 day shred dvd. The 350 cals is with the exercise allowance It was a spectacular fall off the diet wagon at KFC bloody lovely though

Prawn salad or omelette.

this is a bit of a faff to cook but is tasty and you feel very virtuous!

Easy oven frittata from a healthy eating booklet I got with Good Food Guide: 277 calories, carbs 29g, sat fat 6g.

1/5 tsp olive oil
85g fusilli or macaroni
1 leek or 1 bunch spring onions
85g sweetcoen
85g frozen peas
1 red pepper
2 large eggs
1/4 pint semi skimmed milk
1tsbp thyme leaves
50g extra mature chedder grated
2tsbp finely grated parmasan
green salad to serve

Heat oven to 190/170cfan/gas5. Grease 1.2 litre baking dish with Olive oil.
Cook pasta in salted water for 8 mins.
Add all the veg and cook for 3 mins.
Drain and tip into baking dish and stir
Beat eggs and milk together injug and add thyme.
Mix the two cheeses together, add most of it to the egg mixture and season.
Pour into baking dish, stir gently, then scatter the rest of the cheese on top.
Bake for 35-40 mins, until set and golden.
Serve with Salad.

I made this for the whole family (1yo, 4yo and dh) it filled everyone up and was very tasty esp. considering how low cal it is!

steamed or fry-light (oil spray) fried mix veg with a little parmesan

lots of soups- hearty ones with root veg etc

shepherds pie with quorn mince and use mashed swede as a topping.I incorporate extra veg in the mince or add as a separate to the meal

Personally I'd never eat the frittata on a diet - presumably 277 cals for 1/4 portion as there is 300 calories in the pasta alone. I wouldn't eat as very high in carbs between pasta/sweetcorn/peas and very low in protein (basically 1/2 egg and some cheese each).

Not all diets have to low carb do they? I'm basically following the Slimming world plan and having a 'Green Day' then the frittata fits perfectly. Low in Protein, but has enough carbs and veg to fill you up

When I am hungry but trying to eat low cal, I always make a soup. It is very hard to eat more than 350 calories in any kind of soup, unless you have a lot of cream or coconut milk in it.

My favourites are leek & potato, which I make with about 1tbsp half fat creme fraiche stirred in at the end, Nigella's minestrone which has a little pasta (and cabbage yummy!) in it, which I have with parmesan sprinkled on the top.

Cauliflower makes the most delicious soup too. If your soup has some carbs in it (potatoes, pasta or chickpeas or rice) then it is perfectly easy to forego the bread.