Favorite Low Fat Foods

I wanted to compile a list of some of my favorite foods I incorporate into my diet every day that are low in fat and high in protein and carbs. Knowing some of these foods can help you keep your fat intake to 20% or less of your total calorie intake.

9 of My Favorite Low-Fat Foods!

#1.  PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter

This is by far my favorite low-fat food I have discovered in my journey. For the first month and a half I did not touch peanut butter because it has REALLY high fat percentages; 1 serving of PB is ~200 calories and ~140 calories of that is fat. That is A LOT of fat, about 16g which is 40% of your fat if you aim for ~40g a day.

PB2 is powdered peanuts. They take regular peanuts and press them which squeezes out a lot of the oil and fat. 1 serving of PB2 is 45 total calories and 13 of those is fat, which is 1.5g of fat. 1.5g vs 16g you do the math. You can add this to your protein shakes for some extra flavor, or mix with a little water (or milk) to make some really tasty peanut butter spread. Its especially good if you really like the taste of peanuts because it's basically peanut concentrate. This is a god send if you are a peanut butter lover and on a diet.

#2.  Beef Jerky

Beef Jerky is probably one of the last things you would think of when making healthy choices but the nutrition of it is actual amazing. 1 ounce of beef jerky can have 11+g of protein, as little as 1g of fat, and a few good carbs thrown in. Unfortunately 1 ounce is only about 3 pieces of jerky, and at $5 a bag it can be a little pricey if you get carried away and eat too much. I recommend only buying this is you have a food scale so that you can properly monitor your portions, otherwise it could get expensive buying so much jerky every week. My mom said that most jerky brands add a lot of nitrates to them so be aware if that's something that concerns you.

#3.  Baked Beans

I don't know if all Baked Beans are Fat Free but the ones that I buy are so I encourage you to look for those  kinds (I get mine at Trader Joe's). I absolutely love baked beans so the fact these are healthy and delicious make me a happy dieter. The only thing I would be weary about is that baked beans can have a high amount of sugar per serving (~10g). To try and reduce this I strain the beans after I cook them. I imagine that all the sugar comes from the sauce the beans are stewing in as I don't think beans have any natural sugar to them. I don't know how much this reduces their overall sugar by but I feel like it helps. Anyways, sugar aside, the nutrition of beans is really incredible and they are actually very cheap money-wise. Each serving is full of good slow-digesting carbs, ~7g of protein, and tons of fiber! Beans beans the magical fruit, the more you eat the less likely you will go insane eating bland health food!

#4.  Sweet Potato

Sweet Potatoes are another awesome food to make part of your meal when dieting. Like beans they are fat-free and give you the illusion that you are cheating your diet because they are actually sweet. They are another slow-digesting carb with some protein to spare and are really easy to cook. All you do is wash them, prick them with a fork a few times, and bake them for an hour at 350 degrees. The best thing is you can usually cook all of them at once, even in something as small as a toaster over, so in the middle of the week all you have to do is pop them in the microwave for about 60 seconds whenever you want to get your sweet potato on! Just don't add butter! It's a sweet potato, it does NOT need butter, enjoy it for what it is! :)

#5.  Chicken Tenders

My best friend would flip out to see Chicken Tenders make the list of low-fat foods, but I am not talking chicken tenders like you get at McDonalds or Chiles. Its actually crazy how hard it was to find a picture on google of unbreaded Chicken Tenders. DO NOT BREAD THEM! Just cook or grill these with some salt/pepper or your favorite seasoning and add them to meals you make through out the week. 4 ounces of chicken has 26g of protein and only 1g of fat! Preserve the awesomeness of that nutrition by keeping them clean. I like to eat my chicken in an omelette or in a salad. You can basically add grilled chicken to anything and get a clean, low-fat source of protein.

#6. Egg Whites

Egg whites are awesome because they are PURE protein. They have no carbs and no fats! You could always just have a regular egg but the yolk of the egg is basically pure fat. I think egg yolks have good sources of cholesterol or something in them but if you are young in your 20's like me cholesterol shouldn't be a concern. If the runny white liquid is too much of a turn-off for you they also make egg whites that are yellow in color so when you cook or scramble them it looks like regular eggs. I usually make an omelette with 1 cup of egg whites which is 20g of protein. Mixed with my chicken tenders and some low-fat cheddar cheese I get an awesome meal that has over 50g of protein and 6g of fat!

#7.  Sauces and Spices

Hot Sauces are mainly sodium and have none to very minimal calories. Spices like Pepper, Oregano, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, etc also have no negative nutritional values and can be wisely utilized to add some much needed flavor to your diet. Just be careful you don't go overboard esepcially with the sauces because if you consume a lot of sodium (salt) you will bloat up from all the water you drink through out the day.

#8.  Non-Fat Milk (Skim Milk)

Skim Milk has no fat in it and is a great slow-digesting protein. It's loaded with carbs and protein and is a fantastic alternative to regular milk if you want to cut some fat from your diet. I have heard some people complain about the taste compared to regular milk but I honestly don't really notice it. Just don't drink too much of it a day, milk actually has a lot of sugar in it (~12g).

#9. Non-Fat Greek Yogurt

Let's first debunk the idea that Yogurt is a healthy food, it's more of a trap. Regular flavored yogurts are packed with sugar (~10g) which is terrible and only yield about 5g of protein for your trouble. 1 cup of non-fat greek yogurt has 6g of sugar but 22g of protein per serving which is better reward for your risk. It does taste like crap though. It taste like sour creme so I suggest combining it with other ingredients to make the taste bearable. This is one of my favorite recipes to use Greek Yogurt in: Banana Cocoa Refrigerator Oatmeal. You don't need the Chia seeds, and I replace the Cocoa powder with my Chocolate Whey Protein Powder to create an incredibly nutritious breakfast. Add some PB2 and baby you got a stew goin!

As I mentioned this tastes exactly like sour creme, so as you would imagine it makes a great healthy substitute for sour creme. Throw some on top of your Mexican Omelette and cover with some Tapatio sauce; you won't even taste the difference and you will spare your diet a ton of fat calories!

Conclusion

These are some of the staple foods in my diet to help me meet my low fat threshold every day (~35g). Some of them are hidden gems like PB2 and other are just obvious choices you might not think of like Egg Whites, Baked Beans, and Sweet Potatoes. Either way if you start incorporating some of these healthy foods into your diet you should see your nutrition improve without sacrificing too much taste and flavor. A lot of this stuff is also incredibly inexpensive for how many servings you get, with some exceptions like Beef Jerky. I hope this helps and makes it easy to stay on track and achieve your goals.

Love, Dcgreen