Hope your St. Patty’s Day is going great!
Sadly, this was not green beer that fueled my workday today- it was a green monster- but I had to have it in a beer mug! I made this GM with kale…and I forgot how horrible my Kitchen Aid blender is with kale. It was soooooo chewy. Not cool. I dream of the day when I can buy a Vitamix!
Until then, I chew my kale. :mrgreen: and I check my teeth very carefully before going out. ;)
In the St. Patty’s Day GM: 3 cups kale, 1 cup hemp milk, 1 tablespoon cashew butter, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, ice.
My exercise today was quite the change of ‘pace’! It was so gorgeous outside, I decided to go for a walk on my lunch break. I can’t remember the last time I just laced up my sneakers and went for a WALK! Sometimes, a walk is all you need to feel re-energized. I did a brisk 30 minutes around the neighbourhood. Sometimes workouts don’t need to be intense to feel amazing!
Health Tip #2: Eat Volume Food!
If you guessed that I eat volume foods everyday you’d be right! This is how I eat a lot of food and still maintain my weight.
Volume foods are foods that physically have a lot of volume (or size) to them, but they are typically low in calories.
For breakfast, my favourite two volume foods are Green Monsters and oatmeal. The key is to have protein and healthy fat in addition to your volume foods.
For breakfast, I typically use protein powder, chia seeds, and nut butter to give them staying power.
Want to add more volume to your GM? Just add ice and water! Sometimes I put 4-5 ice cubes in mine and 1/4 cup water if I want it really big volume wise.
My oatmeal typically has the following: 1/2 cup oats, 1 banana, 1 cup non-dairy milk, 1/2 cup water (or bit more), 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1 tablespoon nut butter.
Perfection!
On the other hand, no amount of cereal or toast ever seems to fill me up! What is up with that?!
For lunch I typically have wraps. However, wraps on their own do not leave me feeling satisfied. They take about 2 minutes to eat and when I am done I am asking where my wrap went! ;)
That’s why I always have lunch with at least 2 servings of veggies on the side. Sometimes I have an English cucumber and hummus or 3-4 carrots and salsa. Crunching veggies is very satisfying as they take a long time to eat and give your brain a chance to register that it is full.
Soup is also a great volume food! I love this Amy’s Reduced Sodium Split Pea Soup:
I usually end my lunch with more volume food- fruit!
Grapefruit is very filling due to all the water!
During the day, I have lots of tea to stay hydrated. I make sure to never let myself get very thirsty.
For dinner, I always have a large salad to go along with whatever we are eating. It fills up my stomach and doesn’t make me feel like I need second helpings.
Salads are great because they take that ‘edge’ off your hunger!
Stir-frys are another great volume food…
As is savoury oatmeal…
My favourite dessert may come as no surprise to you… ;) Banana soft serve and cacao nibs! 1 frozen banana, splash of almond milk, cacao nibs.
I typically make this around 8pm when Eric and I watch a bit of TV. It is a fun treat to end the day.
Generally speaking, I try to have at least a bit of volume food in each meal. This keeps me feeling satisfied mentally, visually, and physically.
[P.S.- All of these recipes can be found on my Recipes page!]
Do you try to incorporate volume foods into your daily diet? What are your favourite volume foods or recipes?
Post complete, next up- another Breville juice article! I am on article 6 of 8 and I need to finish them before I leave on Saturday!
Have a great day!
I think volume food is totally the best way to feel happy with eating a lot of food. My friends aren’t big volume eaters and they are amazed that I can get a full plate of food in the dining hall and tell them it’s my appetizer and I’m cooking something in my dorm later. Well, when that plate is full of green vegetables, it certainly ISN’T very much.
I’m having one of my favorite volume dinners tonight: traditional Irish corned beef and cabbage. I am trying to get my parents to buy some grass-fed beef one of these days…
I really just had to stop and leave a comment for this post, even though it is my first time visiting! (I am familiar with Eat, Live, Run & KERF). This reason being, I was astonished and pleased to know we seem to eat very similarly. I always choose oatmeal for my breakfast these days (with a bit of PB, cinnammon, and honey). Cereal does not fill me up, and I had very bad experiences with it. Such as, I would have 2-3 big bowls, and felt disgusting the rest of my day. Lunch usually consists of an apple or orange (always changing up the fruits), veggie, and either yogurt or healthy sandwich. Snack typically, a few almonds, or a Lemon Zest Luna Bar. Dinner, big spinach salad with lots of veggies, small meat helping, and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. I was BLOWN away to know tonight, for my first time EVER, I made Banana Soft Serve!!!! I am IN LOVE. I melted a tid bit of peanut butter, drizzled on top, and WA LA>> decadent desert but so good for you.
Thanks
Love, love, love your attitude towards food! Just wanted to say thank you for maintaining this healthy approach to weight loss and maintenance. I just realized that I have been a slave to numbers for 16 years. I waste so much time worring about weight and calories and ultimately not getting any healthier or thinner. It is incredible that I really have no idea how my body really is – other people tell me they wish they looked like me and all I see is love handles and thunder thighs. Reading your story really helps – I hope I can get to a body happy and healthy place! Thanks to this website I started making green monsters for breakfast (using spinach and kale, mostly spinach, it blends better!) and it is wonderful. I even brought it to work for my co-workers to try. I try to do salads mostly in the evening and also incorportate beans and lentils in our diet to feel fuller longer. I try to stay away from meat and dairy, but enjoy an occasional egg or sushi, so volume foods a very inportant :)
Thank you again for being there!
That’s really great advice! I wish someone had given me those tips when I began losing weight. Thankfully, I kind of found it out on my own. I keep a food journal and I quickly noticed that on days when I ate a lot of lower calorie foods I felt fuller than the days of smaller portions of higher calorie foods. Some of my favorite volume foods are sandwiches with laughing cow cheese and a ton of veggies, soup (like you mentioned), salads, and raw vegetables. I find that the longer it takes me to eat something, the more satisfied I feel after wards.
As far as high-volume foods go, fruits tend to fill me up the most. That’s why I love watermelon in the summer. But grapes have the same effect.
hi angela…
i was wondering where did you find the glass straws??? i have been searching high and low…
could you juice your kale and then add it to your GM?
I love high volume things too and eat mostly that. I have oatmeal almost every morning and have at least one huge salad a day. I used to not eat grains all too much, but since I’ve been eating less meat, I’ve pumped up the grains and add tones of veggies to those as well. I also live off of fruit. My parents are always amazed how much fiber I eat and how few problems my body has with it :)
love the volume suggestions! i do much of the same with my meals: i always have extra veggies on the side and there is fruit with EVERY SINGLE MEAL I HAVE! fruit is my lifesaver!
Can I just say that I love how you make your avacado into a flower shape. That just makes me smile! So precious!
i love adding veggies as volume, probably the best thing in the world.
I am getting back on the GM wagon tomorrow, i swear! i’ve been slacking on it
I eat salads out of a mixing bowl, they are huge!!
I love love love big batches of banana ice cream too! I eat it almost everyday. I dunno if I ever mentioned but I make the chocolate chips from your raw cookies to go in my softserve, it is so so delicious because they stay soft and chocolatly and melty, unlike “real” chocolate chips which freeze in ice cream and don’t taste as good! My newest favorite thing is to throw 2 frozen cherries in there. It stays the same texture but makes it the prettiest pink ever and imparts a lovely cherry flavor!
i definitely try to incorporate a lot of volume foods…plus, most of the time those are the ones that taste the best too! GMs are great, ‘specially when you add some oatmeal to them!
I am such a volume gal I’ve learned! I used to focus on nothing but fat grams, calorie counts, carb counts. The counting was just overwhelming! About 3 months I began to focus on more volume and quality foods. I incorporate fruit with my breakfast and usually an afternoon snack. Veggies are always a part of lunch + snack + dinner as well. Having so many items on my plate create a whole different level of visual and mental satisfaction for me! And the bonus? The food is actually fabulous in taste and makes my body feel AMAZING!
I loved this post…I am always wondering what your (and other bloggers’) typical meals look like.
I also wanted to put in a plug for your glo bars. I bought my first order – one of the variety packs, plus extra adore bars – and had them shipped to my office. They are great! I haven’t tried everything yet, but the ones I have had fill me up and are a great (healthy) treat. I’ll be ordering more, that is for sure!
Green monsters keep me full all morning – I love it!
I am a huge volume eater too! I rarely eat cereal anymore alone because it just doesn’t fill me up.
First thing in the morning, I pack a Green Monster with spinach, mixed salad greens, grape tomatoes, banana, blueberries, protein powder, almond butter, and chia seeds, and wow! this is so much more energizing than the coffee with sugar that I used to have. About an hour later I have Overnight Oats mixed with apple and blueberries, a little more almond butter and a drizzle of honey, sometimes half a sliced banana w/cinnamon on top as well. These two keep me full enough that if I can’t get a lunch break until 3 or so at work, I’m still okay. Lunch is usually a healthy sandwich or wrap, then I repeat the GM when I get home. After that, a sensible small portioned dinner is plenty. With this regimen I have more energy and health than I have ever had before. Basically ALL of this, I got on your blog. :)
p.s. The Magic Bullet is the best little kitchen appliance I have ever invested in!!!
I have been trying to incorporate volumetrics into my eating as well! I always have a GM for breakfast and a salad for lunch. Even if I have other things along with them, their fresh veggie water content keeps me satisfied :) I will have to do this with dinner as well!
lovely heath tip! especially for people who have had EDs like me :/ my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and so if i pick volume food this is better!
Great post Angela!