Low calorie vegetables help people lose weight because aside from having fewer calories, it takes a lot of calories for the body to break them down. In effect, you are burning more calories than you consumed.

For some people, losing weight is impossible because they have difficulty controlling their appetite or improving their eating habits. However, there is a natural way of losing weight by eating healthy foods that help you burn more calories while you eat them.

Some healthy foods like chicken, cereals and rice have large amounts of calories, and even if they are packed with nutrients, you can gain weight if you eat too much of these. Therefore, the secret to losing unwanted pounds and body fat is to create a calorie deficit, which means that you burn more calories than what you consume. You can do this by including more low calorie vegetables to your diet.

List of Low Calorie Vegetables

Here is a list of low calorie vegetables with the approximate number of calories they contain per 100 grams of the vegetable. People prepare vegetables on various ways, and the amount of calories actually consumed may vary with the amount used in different cuisines. If you want to make a better estimate of calories, weigh the vegetables used.

Popular Low Calorie Vegetables Recipes

To get the most of low calorie vegetables without consuming more calories, prepare them in simple ways, using low fat, low carbohydrate ingredients.

1. Greek Potatoes

Here is a simple recipe for oven-roasted potatoes:

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 peeled, large potatoes, each cut into wedges
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1/2 c water
• 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Sea salt
• Coarse black pepper, ground

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 420°F. Place all ingredients into a greased baking pan.
• Season the vegetables with black pepper and sea salt, tossing them well.
• Bake the mixture for about 40 minutes or until a golden-brown crust forms on the potatoes.
• Stir, seasoning lightly with some more sea salt, pepper, and oregano.
• Add a little more water to prevent the pan from getting dry, and place it back into the oven to cook the other side of the potatoes. Bake for another 40 minutes.

2. Roasted Asparagus

An easy way to prepare succulent asparagus spears:

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb asparagus spears
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp table salt

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the woody parts of the asparagus and peel off the skin using a vegetable peeler.
• Line a baking sheet with foil and place the asparagus spears on it. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil then sprinkle with salt.
• To make sure the spears are coated evenly with olive oil and salt, roll them with your hands.
• Roast these for ten to fifteen minutes until tender.
• Serve with vinaigrette if desired.

3. Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Cloves

Even children love this recipe for cauliflowers:

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 large cauliflower, washed, trimmed and prepared into small bite size pieces
• 16 cloves of peeled garlic, lightly crushed
• 1 -2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• Black pepper
• 1/4 c olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450 °F.
• Mix olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt, pepper and crushed garlic. Pour over the cauliflower, tossing well, and place in one layer in a large casserole dish.
• Roast for 20 minutes. Toss vegetables and bake for another 10 minutes.

Please note that it is not healthy only to eat low calorie vegetables, as this can result in malnutrition. It is best to eat low calorie vegetables as part of a healthy diet, which also includes lean meat and some carbohydrates. Use the list to guide you when you get hungry in between meals. You can also eat these vegetables about 15-30 minutes before meals to reduce hunger so that you may have smaller meal and achieve weight loss.