You can eat prepacked diet foods that offer little in the way of calorie or nutrition. Instead, learn new eating habits by discovering healthy foods that are low in calories. Each calorie you save can take you one step towards meeting your diet goal. You must save about 3,500 calories to lose a pound. Use low-calorie healthy foods in conjunction with calorie-burning exercise when dieting.
Vegetables and Fruits
Most vegetables and fruits are low in calories until you begin adding sauces, oils and butters. The green bean casserole or apple pie you may enjoy at Thanksgiving contains high fat ingredients that mask the flavors of the beans and apples. Instead of drowning vegetables and fruits in unhealthy fats and sugars, take advantage of the naturally low calories. Steam or grill vegetables without oil, eat raw vegetables for snacks and with lunch and increase healthy volume by adding chopped zucchini, squash, green pepper and onions to your favorite spaghetti sauce. Use fruit for snacks, add raspberries to yogurt and bake an apple in its skin for a sweet, low-calorie snack.
Dairy Foods
Dairy foods made with whole milk are not diet friendly foods, but you can buy many whole milk dairy products in fat-free or low-fat versions. Reducing the fat reduces the calories. A glass of skim milk has just 80 calories, while the same amount of whole milk has 149 calories, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database. Eat fat-free Greek yogurt for a high-protein breakfast, buy reduced calorie mozzarella or cheddar cheese sticks, top your pastas with low-fat shredded cheeses and always chose skim milk. Follow the serving size recommendations to avoid eating too much.
Low-Calorie Grains
Grains encompass a wide variety of healthy foods. Tortillas, muffins, whole-grain breads, pastas and cereals are examples. Use grains to meet your fiber and calorie requirement. The University of Illinois Extension states that grains are often low in calories unless altered. The process of making a doughnut often requires refining whole wheat into white flour, adding fats and frying. Choose the low-calorie granola for a snack, tortillas that have under 75 calories, reduced-calorie whole wheat breads and small servings of whole-wheat pastas. Eat reduced-calorie, high-fiber oatmeal for breakfast and air popped popcorn for snacks. Look on the packages to find grains with little added sugars or oils.
Poultry and Beans
Beans, chicken and turkey are not only low in calories, but they also keep you full for longer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says losing weight is easier when you eat filling, low calorie foods rather than high-calorie foods like chips that do not fill you up. Use poultry in your lunch and dinner dishes by baking boneless, skinless chicken breasts and shredding the meat for tacos or slicing the meat to top salads. Cook dried beans overnight in your crockpot and use for bean burgers, vegetarian dishes and in soups.
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