Restricting calories in your diet to lose or maintain weight can be a good thing that introduces you to new, healthy food ideas. Far superior to crash diets that restrict the types of foods you can eat, a low-calorie balanced diet lets you enjoy many different foods to help you stick with your weight-control program. Eating a variety of foods of about 100 calories per serving from the five food groups will provide the range of nutrients your body needs to preserve your health as you manage your weight.
Grain Group
Calorie-restricted meals should each include whole-grain items from the grain group to fill you up with their dietary fiber and to provide iron and B vitamins. The USDA reports that whole grains have greater nutrition per calorie than refined-grain foods. This makes wheat bran breakfast cereal, at 78 calories per suggested serving, more valuable to your diet than puffed-rice or other refined-grain cereals. Lunch and dinner whole-grain dishes can include whole-wheat bread, 67 calories per slice; corn tortillas, 57 calories each; and brown rice, 108 calories per ½ cup.
Protein and Dairy Groups
You can build your protein totals from low-fat ingredients in both food groups, with dairy items lower in protein but higher in calcium. Breakfast on plain fat-free yogurt to restrict calories from fat and sugar, with 127 calories. One cup of fat-free milk for your cereal carries just 83 calories, compared to whole milk at 149 calories. Lunch and dinner selections can include lean deli ham or turkey breast, tuna, cod, sole, haddock or orange roughy, for under 100 calories per 3 oz. serving. Split peas, lentils, and kidney, pinto and black beans all offer filling fiber, vitamins and minerals, along with protein, for about 115 calories per ½ cup.
Fruits
Fruits offers the sweetness of high-calorie sodas and desserts and greater nutrition for your immune system, but without the high-caloric price tag. The National Institutes of Health relates that your body can't produce the vitamin C typically found in fruits. Reduce the threat of illness as you restrict calories by consuming whole oranges, kiwis or pears, or ½-cup servings of juices, cherries, berries, grapes or unsweetened cut fruits. At under 100 calories per serving, fruits are appropriate for every meal.
Vegetables
The lowest-calorie vegetables don't make the most nutritious contributions to a balanced diet. Instead of relying on celery and cucumbers as vegetable choices, pick nutrient-dense vegetables such as cooked spinach, 20 calories; asparagus, 16 calories; and tomatoes, 16 calories, all per ½ cup. The wider your selection, the broader the range of vitamins and minerals. For breakfast, enjoy ½ cup of tomato or vegetable juice. For lunch or dinner, add nutrient-dense red peppers, carrots and cabbage to low-calorie lettuce for nutritious salads.
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