Water-Rich Foods for Weight Loss
When I have a weight blip, as many of us do, I don’t panic or fall into restriction mode. I simply come back to a diet filled with whole plant foods, knowing that if eat this way, I will naturally return to my baseline without having to count calories, starve myself, or exercise frenetically. One of the beautiful benefits of eating a whole food, plant-predominant diet, is that it can facilitate a healthy weight without deprivation or struggle.
One extra tweak I make when I would like to lose a few pounds is to consciously focus on eating primarily water-rich foods. Foods filled with water are naturally lower in calories, are more satiating and hydrating, and allow for greater food volume with lower caloric intake. When you fill your plate with water-rich foods, you feel full and satisfied with lower calories, without having to reduce your overall food volume.
What do I mean by water-rich foods? Fruits and vegetables are naturally loaded with water, and they make up the bulk of my meals and snacks. The photo below is a typical water-rich afternoon snack. This large plate of food was delicious, packed with nutrients, and totally satisfying, with very low calories.
Here are some other ways to increase the water content of your meals:
Choose Wet Starches - Starches that are prepared in water soak up liquid as they cook, increasing their volume and lowering their caloric density per pound.
For example:
Oatmeal cooked in water will have less calories per pound than granola.
Wheat pasta cooked in water will have less calories per pound than wheat bread.
Polenta cooked in water will have less calories per pound than corn chips or corn tortillas.
You get the idea. When you eat foods that have been cooked in water, rather than foods that have had the water removed during the cooking process, you will naturally lower your caloric intake for the same volume of food. The stretch receptors in our tummies, as well as the visual appeal of a full plate, help us to feel satiated. When we eat foods that are plumped with water, overall food volume remains high and caloric density is lowered. Being able to eat a normal volume of food but at a lower calorie density is an easy way to lose weight and to remain at a healthy BMI.
Make Soup - Combining tons of veggies and starches in a water-based stock creates large and satisfying meals with very low calorie density. Just watch out for high calorie cooking liquids like coconut milk. For weight loss, it’s best to stick with soups that use only water or veggie stock as their cooking liquid. If you like your soup to be creamy, you can blend some or all of it after cooking. This works particularly well for soups like tomato, red lentil, and veggie chili.
Eat a Salad as Your Meal - Salads are inherently packed with water. I strive for as much plant diversity as possible in my salads, and I like to include a potato or a wet starch, like the quinoa shown below, to increase satiety and boost nutrition. Just be sure to go easy on the oil-based dressings if you are looking to lower the caloric density of your meals. Here, I stuck with lime juice and hot sauce as my dressing.
Use a Water-Filled Veggie as Your Delivery Vehicle -
Opt for a lettuce wrap over a tortilla.
Use sliced zucchini or eggplant in the place of lasagne noodles.
Use a slice of sweet potato in the place of bread for open-faced sandwiches, like in these gorgeous options from Well Vegan. www.wellvegan.com/breakfast/sweet-potato-toast-4-delicious-ways
Eat Foods as Close to their Original Form as Possible -
Opt for grapes over raisins
Choose potatoes over potato chips
Top salads with garbanzos instead of crunchy roasted chickpeas
Use fresh mangos instead of dried
By simply looking for ways to retain or even boost the water content of your foods, you can easily trim a few hundred calories a day from your overall caloric intake without reducing portion size, feeling deprived, or counting calories. A few hundred calories less per day, when removed consistently, can lead to significant and lasting weight loss.
That is the beauty of a whole-food, plant-predominant diet. It gives you optimal nutrition, maximizes your microbiome, and helps you to achieve a healthy weight without restriction or deprivation.
Happy Eating!
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