I Gave Up Intermittent Fasting For Calorie Density and Finally Lost Weight

Which do you think would fill you up more for a snack? This is 81 baby carrots for 200 calories versus only 40 pretzels. You'd probably be more likely to eat half those carrots anyway, which would be half the calories.

You could eat 4 cups of grapes or 30 almonds for 200 calories. Which would fill you up more? Most people couldn't eat that many grapes, but that's just a small handful of almonds — it's easy to go back for another handful, which would be closer to 300 or 400 calories. See how easy it is to overeat on high-calorie-density foods?

You can spoon into 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal or just 2/5 cup of fruit and nut granola, and that doesn't even include the cup of milk you'll add to it. That's such a small amount! I'd much rather fill up on the oatmeal flavored with some fruit.

For 200 calories, you can have almost two medium sweet potatoes or only three quarters of a bagel. I don't even think I could eat both those potatoes, but it's easy to eat a whole bagel, and that doesn't include the cream cheese, butter, or egg and cheese you might order to go inside it. See how eating foods low in calorie density allows you to eat more volume for fewer calories?

This is 4 1/4 cups of strawberries versus 2 1/4 tablespoons of chocolate chips for 200 calories. I want to say I in no way think these two are on the same level of yumminess! But if you wanted something sweet, one cup of strawberries would do the trick for just 50 calories. If you're trying to lose weight and you always grab a handful of chocolate chips after a meal, you can see how the calories can start to add up.

This oatmeal is cooked with half a mashed banana, pumpkin pie spice, and frozen blueberries. I paired it with some steamed broccoli. Easy and delicious!

Let me share some examples of 50/50 plates so you can see what I filled up on to lose weight. Here's one of my favorite breakfasts: carrot-cake oatmeal cooked with almond extract, cinnamon, and frozen raspberries. I paired it with steamed cauliflower and broccoli, topped with fresh cherry tomatoes and a sprinkle of guacamole seasoning. I know it seems weird to eat veggies for breakfast, but I've been doing it since the summer and now I crave my morning broccoli!

I paired a huge bowl of salad with chickpeas sautéed with garlic powder and cumin, and rice cooked with shredded carrots and kidney beans. Instead of an oil-based dressing, I drizzled it with my favorite flavored vinegar, Cranberry Pear White Balsamic from Saratoga Olive Oil.

This is my go-to and absolute favorite lunch (and sometimes breakfast!). I batch prep a bunch of Japanese sweet potatoes (the one with the darker maroon skin and white flesh) so I have them for three or four days. I love to pair them with steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots with a sprinkling of Everything but the Bagel seasoning. It's so yummy! To make this even more satiating, I'd add some chickpeas or black beans on top.

This sweet-potato lentil chili was made with diced tomatoes, cauliflower rice, corn, black beans, and red pepper, and seasoned with onion, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. It tastes amazing paired with cherry tomatoes, steamed cauliflower, and steamed carrots.

The filling for this shepherd's pie is brown lentils, mushrooms, onion, corn, peas, carrots, tomato, and red pepper. I mashed yukon gold potatoes without butter and added veggie broth for flavor. I paired it with raw red pepper and cherry tomatoes. Note that this was just my first plate! I went back for another plate that looked just like this.