Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Clyde Low calorie food tips&tricks thread

I did some searching and couldn't find a recent thread in training&nutrition or here C&A about this, so I figured it's time to start a new one, more tailored towards clydes.

Do you have any secret / awesome foods with a high fillingness to calorie ratio, and don't taste bad either?

I'll start:

Recently, I lamented to a friend of mine (also on a weight loss plan, but not a cyclist) that I really liked tuna, and it's great that it's high in protein and low in calories, and very inexpensive. The tuna by itself only has 100 calories and <1g of fat, but the taste is pretty mediocre without adding something like mayo or oil. Doing so turns your snack into one which is 300 calories and 12 grams of fat, but not really any more filling.

My friend says to me: "try mustard instead of mayo." I didn't believe it'd taste good, but I tried it and it's great. Mustard being 0 calories, this makes for quite an awesome mid-day snack, with or without bread.


Another trick I've found is frozen bananas, for when I'm hankering for something sweet but don't want to think about ice cream. Slice up a banana and dip each slice quickly in a cup of water (or put in a shallow bowl with a bit of water in it) and then put the slices in a large ziploc freezer bag, which you then lay flat in your freezer so that the slices don't clump too much. Soon you will have a delectable treat; the banana doesn't freeze hard, instead taking on an ice cream consistency, and the very thin layer of ice on the outside stops it from going brown. It should last several weeks in the freezer; this is a good way to preserve bananas that are about to go bad. I toss these slices in yogurt, or in my protein shake, or sometimes just grab a few and pop them in my mouth. At about 100 calories per banana, this is again a pretty effective treat.

mate,
frozen banana's and skim milk then blended is the lowest fat smoothie and filling too
frozen oranges on a hot day
any weight watches snack
a whole punnet of strawberries
there are bisciuts which look like tiny teddies (but not) that come in ginger and chocolate flavour, are in a circular container-2 points for the lot

I like sliced up cucumber dipped in mustard cut with a little lite ranch.

Carrots and apples do the trick for me.

1 can of tomatoes, 1 pack of taco sauce mix, 1 can of coke zero, 2 lbs of ribs, 1 slow cooker, 6 hours and Mmmmm. goodness.
Eric...

Exercise caution when combining a filling high fiber diet with cycling. I had a few early morning work commutes that were scary but I just made it without having Code Brown / blowout. :D

In addition to the mustard suggestion for the tuna, another good thing to add for flavor that doesn't ding you too badly for anything (other than sodium) is relish. Just a little goes a long way for boosting flavor.

Other than eating a lot of apples (four to six per day) I have also taken to having a spinach salad in the evening when I get the uncontrollable munchies. I grab a bag of baby spinach, put a bunch in a bowl (I don't measure it or anything as it is so good for me I don't think I can get too much of it anyway). I put a little Newman's Low Fat Ginger Vinagrette dressing in there (around a tablespoon for a very large bowl), put the lid on the bowl, shake the hell out of it, then go sit down and eat it. Every leaf has a thin film of the dressing on it and the munchies are gone. If I get particularly ambitious I will sprinkle some cold stone ground flax in there just for some extra nutrients.

Exercise caution when combining a filling high fiber diet with cycling. I had a few early morning work commutes that were scary but I just made it without having Code Brown / blowout. :D

ROFL, After you have lots of fiber for a while your body adjusts to it.

I quit eating as much tuna as I used to after all the mercury talk. I do eat canned salmon and add balsamic vinegar to it. Also use some garlic powder, various spices including smoked paprika, relish as mentioned above and what ever else I might get my hands on. I do have a variety of mustards about too.

Not sure if this counts but when I drink a Guiness I take a sharpie and scribble the word "lite" on the class. It's starting to p.o. the bartender though.

I love those grape and cherry tomatoes.
I also eat a lot of carrots. And sliced cucumber.

Sliced raw sweet potato should be low in calories also, but it discolors sooner than carrots do.

I bake sweet potatoes just like you would with regular baking potatoes. I'll bake several at a time so I have nuke-able leftovers. Wrap with foil as the sweet potatoes will probably leak sugary water messing up the oven.

I serve them to myself with chipotle salsa and eat the skins and all.

Not really a healthful item, but definitely low-carb.

Popsicle has a full line of No Sugar Added pops. There are Creamsicles, Fudgesicles and Popsicles.

The fudgesicles, for example, have 88 cal, 1 g fat, 1 g fibre, 3 g sugar, 3 g protein, and taste just like the sugar added treats.

They are my "go-to" item when I am craving something sweet.

I have done away with mayo for my tuna ( I eat about 6 oz. a day in my lunch salad -- high protein, low fat, low sodium), and instead use a tofu-basil-roasted garlic dressing that my wife does up. Basically:

5 oz. Silken tofu
2 Tbs vinegar
1/8 cup orange or apple juice
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic (roast it first, if you want a sweeter taste)
8-10 leaves of fresh basil

Blast in a food processor until smooth. Makes 3 servings; each serving has 32 calories, 1g of fat, 3g of carbs, 21 mg of sodium, and 2g of protein.

My solution for evening hunger -- the hours of 7:00 to 9:00 have always been my Waterloo, when the snack compulsion kicks in hard -- is a cup of yerba mate tea (there is a version called chocomatte that is quite tasty). Scratches the itch for me....

My friend says to me: "try mustard instead of mayo." I didn't believe it'd taste good, but I tried it and it's great. Mustard being 0 calories, this makes for quite an awesome mid-day snack, with or without bread.Calories in 1 Tablespoon of brown mustard - 14 calories

Calories in 1 Tablespoon of yellow mustard - 11 calories

Calories in 1 Tablespoon of honey mustard - 25 calories and up depending upon the brand

http://www.dietbites.com/calories/diet-mustard.html

Lower than mayonnaise, but not zero.

Mayo, regular, average all brands 100
Mayo, light/reduced fat 50
Mayo, fat-free 10
Hellman's Light mayo 50
Kraft Light mayo 50
Smart Beat Light mayo 40
Weight Watchers Light mayo 25
Weight Watchers Fat Free mayo 10

http://www.annecollins.com/calories/calories-mayonnaise.htm

I love peanuts. They're really high in fat (good fat, but fat just the same).

So I found some Dry Roasted Edamame at Costco. Let me run this by you for a 1/4 cup serving:
8g fiber
4g fat (0 trans fat)
0g cholesterol
150mg sodium
14g protien

Sodium's a little high, so drink more water :P

Tastes good too. A little more "roasted" tasting than peanuts, but crunchier too. They also don't make my hands goopy on the keyboard. And I love the ingredient list:

Soy beans. Sea salt.

I like that whole "reduced complexity" thing. Not terribly expensive either. Doesn't taste like tofu, which some people hate. Anyway, try some, you might like 'em.

Edamame, frozen, in small packages is good too. Light enough to eat after a ride anyway.

I wonder...Tuna with Miso in. Might be good, I'll have to check that out.

The best thing I ever bought was this. (http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=15885734) I now go through like 4 - 5 heads of lettuce a week instead of the 0 I used to have. I make tuna with mustard and throw it in with an entire head of lettuce and chop it up. I chop up a whole head of lettuce and throw in black olives, mushrooms, ect... It really is great.

It is rediculously expensive for what you get but it was the only one I could find anywhere. If I didn't get this I planned on walking into a deli and buying the ones they use there.

Calories in 1 Tablespoon of brown mustard - 14 calories

Calories in 1 Tablespoon of yellow mustard - 11 calories

Calories in 1 Tablespoon of honey mustard - 25 calories and up depending upon the brand

http://www.dietbites.com/calories/diet-mustard.html

Lower than mayonnaise, but not zero.
French's Yellow Mustard lists at 0 calories per teaspoon. By FDA labelling requirements, that means it has <5 calories, probably not zero but close enough.

Your numbers of 11 per tablespoon are probably correct. (assuming it was ~4 calories per teaspoon * 3 = ~12 calories per tablespoon) I guess I was hasty to say 0 calories, but either way I'd rather eat mustard than use low fat mayo (yech)

French's Yellow Mustard lists at 0 calories per teaspoon. By FDA labelling requirements, that means it has <5 calories, probably not zero but close enough.

Your numbers of 11 per tablespoon are probably correct. (assuming it was ~4 calories per teaspoon * 3 = ~12 calories per tablespoon) I guess I was hasty to say 0 calories, but either way I'd rather eat mustard than use low fat mayo (yech)

One question you should always ask, when they take a high fat product like mayo or salad dressing, and remove some of the fat, they must replace it with something, what are they replacing it with? The answer in many cases is sugar. So the low fat mayo, may in fact contain a lot of sugar, counteracting a good number of the calories removed when they remove the fat.

You should check your mustard bottle for contents, very few mustards are just ground up mustard seed. Some may in fact contain sugar. If you want to know how many products contain sugar, just live with a diabetic for a few months, you will learn a lot.

I go for some fat free cottage cheese if i have a hunger attack before bed. Its healthy, slow digesting and keeps the metabolism going throughout the night.

Plain beef jerkey (or pepper jerkey). Tons of protein and very low in fat and carbs. However, Sodium content is very high. Proper portion size is of course important.

One question you should always ask, when they take a high fat product like mayo or salad dressing, and remove some of the fat, they must replace it with something, what are they replacing it with? The answer in many cases is sugar. So the low fat mayo, may in fact contain a lot of sugar, counteracting a good number of the calories removed when they remove the fat.

You should check your mustard bottle for contents, very few mustards are just ground up mustard seed. Some may in fact contain sugar. If you want to know how many products contain sugar, just live with a diabetic for a few months, you will learn a lot.


I think that this is one of the most understood points that people miss. Many times you are better off taking the hit for the fat, especially if it is good fat. With that in mind, I offer my tip. I have a hard time with dry tuna, so I add flax seed oil. It adds 110 calories, but is high in omega 3, which I need anyway, it has the good fat. The other thing I add is canola oil because it had good fat.

Another trick I've found is frozen bananas, for when I'm hankering for something sweet but don't want to think about ice cream. Slice up a banana and dip each slice quickly in a cup of water (or put in a shallow bowl with a bit of water in it) and then put the slices in a large ziploc freezer bag, which you then lay flat in your freezer so that the slices don't clump too much.


Just made my first batch, really helps with the ice cream jones!!

I'll have to give the banana thing a try.

I really like V8. For the longest time I wouldn't touch the stuff, but I tried it last year and like it. A friend told me it tastes like ravioli, which isn't entirely true but close enough. I find it's really effective at sating my appetite, and is quite nutritional to boot. Recently I've started drinking the low sodium variety and like that more. Sometimes I like to add a bit of black pepper, but there's nothing that a dash of black pepper can't improve*.

Also, Kashi makes this GoLean shake mix that I found in the protein shake section at the grocery store. It provides a good helping of protein (28g when mixed with skim milk), a decent amount of fiber and a good dose of vitamins and minerals. I perfer the chocolate variety, which was recalled in January because it did not list diary products as an allergin, and unfortunately I haven't been able to find the chocolate since. The vanilla is quite good though. Both varieties do have a bit of sugar in them, so you will have to take that into consideration.

http://kashistore.com/detail/KHI+720003


*I have yet to try black pepper on frozen bananas.

Plain low-fat yogurt is great for making tuna or chix salad. One can use yogurt to make salad dressing too if you yearn for something other than vinegarette.

Homemade trailmix portioned into 2" ziplock bags is much cheaper than store bought plus you get so much more!

Coconut milk for sauces. Reduce by half to get a nice creamy sauce. I like adding Thai Red curry to mine but there are tons of Indial/Thai/Asian recipes that use it and most are pretty uncomplicated!