12 Quick Healthy Weight Loss Meals and Snacks for Women

One of the best ways to control your weight and stay healthy is to prepare your food at home.

This method is effective because you can control the amounts and qualities of different ingredients.

Adding ingredients with more protein and fiber in your meal will help you control hunger and lose more weight.

In this article, we will go over some ideas for healthy meals, which also are low in calories and provide great satiation.

Furthermore, we will mention a few options for tasty snacks, which are also suitable for weight loss.

Broccoli with cheeses is a great combination of fiber and quality protein

Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable, that is rich in fiber, potassium, and vitamin K.

It is also very low in calories – it has only 35 kcals per 100 grams, more than 2 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber.

It has numerous health benefits such as preventing some types of cancer.

Evidence suggests that consumption of cruciferous vegetables might prevent malignancies in a number of target organs (1).

Broccoli is also rich in both soluble and insoluble types of fiber.

Both types are proven to provide satiety and reduce overall energy intake, thus benefiting weight loss (2).

Broccoli can be an addition to many meals, but here we have an example where it is the main ingredient.

Ingredients are 150 grams of broccoli, one egg, 100 grams of cottage cheese, 30 grams of prosciutto, 20 grams of parmesan, and 20 grams of mozzarella.

Cut the broccoli in pieces and mix them with the egg and the different types of cheese.

Put everything in a baking tray and pour the prosciutto on top. Roast it for 30 min at 220 °C.

The meal has 350 kcals in total and a whopping 35 grams of protein.

Take-Away:

Broccoli is a very healthy vegetable with unique properties such as high amounts of both fiber and protein. It can be used in many meals and provides a lot of health benefits, along with aiding weight loss.

Tomatoes with cottage cheese for vitamins and proteins

Tomatoes contain lots of potassium, vitamin C and other antioxidants, such as lycopene.

Studies show that the consumption of tomatoes reduces inflammation and cardiovascular risk (3).

Tomatoes are also very low in calories – only 17 per 100 grams of product and a gram of insoluble fiber.

On the other hand, cottage cheese is very rich in protein – it has more than 11 grams of protein while packing on less than 100 kcals in every 100 grams.

It is also rich in calcium. Studies show that milk products rich in calcium like cottage cheese influence positively weight control and health (4).

You can make a nutritious and tasty weight-loss meal by combining both.

You will need 150 grams of cottage cheese, 50 grams of mozzarella, 250 grams of tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 5 grams of fresh basil.

Chop the tomatoes and the mozzarella and mix it with the cottage cheese.

Put everything in a tray and roast it for 30 minutes at 200 °C, or until all the water vaporizes.

Afterward, pour olive oil and some basil on top. You can also add 10 grams of pine nuts and make it into a pesto.

Be careful when adding salt, because the cottage cheese might already have some.

A portion of 300 grams will be 370 kcals, with more than 30 grams of protein.

Another option is to use red bell pepper instead of tomatoes. They are also full of antioxidants such as carotene and capsanthin (5).

Furthermore, a single red bell pepper provides more than 300% of your daily needs for vitamin C.

Take-Away:

Cottage cheese is a great source of quality protein and can provide a prolonged feeling of fullness. It pairs very well in a meal with vegetables like tomatoes and peppers.

There is no weight loss regime without a salad

Salads are part of every healthy weight-loss regime.

Introducing a salad before a meal is shown by evidence to reduce the energy intake afterward and promote weight loss (6).

What makes a salad even better for satiation as well as more nutrient-dense is adding some protein to it.

A perfect addition for a green salad, for example, is adding a can of tuna. Make sure to pick tuna in brine, instead of some type of oil.

A hundred grams of canned tuna, drained of water, is less than 200 kcals, while it provides more than 24 grams of protein.

Furthermore, tuna is rich in the essential omega 3 fatty acids.

Essential means that we cannot produce this type of fats in our bodies so we need to consume them with our diet.

Omega 3 fatty acids have powerful anti-inflammatory effects. They are shown by many studies to reduce multiple factors of inflammation in the human body (7).

They are shown to help with the treatment of several autoimmune diseases, high blood pressure, asthma and depression (8, 9, 10, 11).

For weight loss, omega 3 are also helpful because they are associated with improved satiety (12).

To prepare the salad, take a few leaves of lettuce and arugula, wash them under running water and cut them into smaller pieces.

Then chop a small avocado and add the tuna, a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of apple vinegar.

Make sure to mix everything well and add salt and herbs depending on your liking.

Take-Away:

Green salads are an important part of any diet as they increase satiation and are very dense in nutrients. Canned tuna is a great addition to it, as it adds more protein and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Chicken with avocado for healthy protein+fat combo

Avocado has gained a lot of popularity in the last years. Although it’s considered a fruit, avocado is rich in healthy, unsaturated fats.

It contains plenty of fiber and water, so it’s not high in calories – 160 kcals for every 100 grams of avocado.

Avocados are a great addition to any salad because their fat content helps the absorption of fat-soluble carotenoids and antioxidants without adding too many calories (13).

Another thing to combine it with, and create a healthy and satiating meal, is chicken.

It is important to use white chicken meat, for example chicken breasts as they are higher in protein and lower in fat and calories.

We should remove the skin after cooking to further reduce the content of fat, calories, and cholesterol in it (14).

A hundred grams of chicken breasts without the skin have around 165 kcals and 30 grams of protein.

For a chicken salad with avocado, you will need 150 grams of chicken breast, 2 boiled egg whites, 60 grams of avocado, 20 grams of fresh lemon juice, 150 grams cucumber, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 green onion, and dill weed.

First, you need to cut the chicken in pieces and grill it in a pan without any added fat. After 10 minutes pour half of the lemon juice over and stew it.

In the meantime, chop the egg whites, avocado, cucumber, and green onion and pour the rest of the lemon juice over, along with the olive oil and the dill weed.

Afterward, put everything together and mix it well. The meal is around 380 grams while packing on just 400 kcals and amazing 45 grams of protein.

Take-Away:

Chicken breasts are one of the best meat options when it comes to quality protein and low-fat content. They can be paired with many different vegetables or even fruits like avocados.

Salmon omelet is your best combination of vitamin D sources

This meal is a nutrition bomb, full of vitamin D, healthy omega 3 fatty acids and satiating protein.

Salmon and egg yolks are actually the only foods naturally containing vitamin D – the most deficient vitamin worldwide.

The deficiency of vitamin D is so common, scientists compare it to a pandemic (15).

Normally we produce vitamin D in our skin through exposure to direct sunlight, but during seasons like winter when there is not enough solar radiation, our best source is diet.

Not enough of the vitamin causes rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.

Furthermore, evidence suggests that chronic vitamin D deficiency may have serious adverse consequences in the long term (16).

They include increased risk of hypertension, multiple sclerosis, cancers of the colon, prostate, breast, and ovary, and type 1 diabetes.

There is also a study linking vitamin D levels to weight loss (17).

You can combine these foods in an omelet.

For an omelet with salmon, you will need 2-3 eggs, 60 grams of smoked salmon, 50 grams of soft cheese and 50 grams of cucumber.

Make an omelet with the eggs, then spread the cheese on it and cover it with pieces of salmon and thin cuts of cucumber.

You can add different herbs, salt, and black pepper.

The meal is 300 grams and has more than 37 grams of protein, while the energy content is less than 450 kcals.

Take-Away:

Salmon is rich in some of the most deficient but important nutrients in our diets, such as omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D. Paring it with another good source of vitamin D like eggs, also provides a lot of easily absorbable protein.

Boiled potatoes with garlic is a healthy and satiating source of carbohydrates

Potatoes are often overlooked food when it comes to weight loss regimes.

However, they are actually the top-ranking food on the satiety index of common foods (18).

This is caused by the protease inhibitors contained in potatoes, which ultimately lead to reduced energy intake and boosting weight loss according to studies (19).

Garlic is also a food with amazing properties. It has so many bioactive components that are related to health benefits (20).

One of those components is allicin, however, it is present only in fresh garlic (21).

There are studies showing a relationship between garlic and reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol (22, 23).

Also, supplementation with garlic extract might improve the symptoms of flu and common cold (24).

You can combine these two foods into a healthy and weight loss friendly meal quite easily.

You will need 200 grams of potatoes, water, salt black pepper, a garlic clove, a teaspoon of rosemary, and a tablespoon of olive oil.

Peel, chop and boil the potatoes. Mince the garlic clove. Afterward, drain the water and pour the potatoes with the spices, minced garlic, and olive oil.

The result has 250 kcals, lots of vitamin C and potassium.

Take-Away:

Potatoes are one of the most satiating foods out there which is great for any weight-loss meal plan. It goes great together with garlic, which is a food with amazing health benefits.

Hard-boiled eggs make for a great high-protein breakfast

Eggs are amazing both as a part of a meal and as a snack on their own.

Evidence shows that they are a great option for breakfast when compared to others that are higher in carbohydrates (25).

According to the study, they were better at providing satiation and that resulted in lower caloric intake and weight loss.

Furthermore, breakfast that is higher in protein is shown to improve alertness and mood in the morning, compared to a breakfast that is higher in carbohydrates (25).

As it turns out, increasing your protein intake in general is proven by multiple studies to be reducing hunger, cravings and snacking (26).

The egg consists of two parts – egg white and egg yolk.

While the egg white is exclusively protein, the egg yolk contains also many vitamins and nutrients.

Some of those are iron, vitamins A, E, K, and D. The yolk also has a lot of cholesterol but it is not proven to be harmful when consumed in moderation

A huge meta-analysis including over 28,000 participants showed that eating an egg daily including yolk did not raise health risks (27).

Another study investigated eating 3 eggs with yolks every day for a period of 13 weeks did not find any raise in blood cholesterol levels of healthy participants (28).

This is due to the downregulation of the endogenous synthesis of cholesterol.

However, for people who have health conditions and affected endogenous synthesis, it is better to reduce the amount of dietary cholesterol as well.

A normal-sized hard-boiled contains more than 3g of high-quality protein and only 15 kcals in its white, and about 3g of protein, as well as 55 kcals in its yolk.

Take-Away:

Hard-boiled eggs are very rich in high-quality protein, as well as many nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. They are a great option for a healthy weight loss breakfast.

Greek yogurt with fruits is a great snack at any time

Snacking on high-protein foods always provides better satiation than high-carb or high-fat options.

For example, a study showed that high-protein yogurt is a much better snack when compared to crackers or chocolate (29).

One of the types that are highest in protein is Greek yogurt.

The non-fat options have less than 60 kcals per 100 grams of the product as well as over 10 grams of quality protein.

It is also rich in probiotics that provide multiple health benefits – normal digestion, improved immune function, healthier skin and reduced risk of some diseases (30).

Probiotics are friendly bacteria such as Lactobacillus that are also normally found in your gut and aid digestion.

Science suggests that there is also a correlation between gut bacteria and obesity (31).

A study showed that 210 people with obesity lost 8.5% of fat when taking a probiotic daily for 12 weeks (32).

To further improve the health benefits from this snack you can add some berries.

They are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (33).

You can mix 200 grams of Greek yogurt with 50 grams of berries and the result will provide you with more than 20 grams of proteins while staying under 200 kcals.

Take-Away:

Greek yogurt is a great option for a snack as it provides probiotics and proteins. It is also easy to pair it with different fruits like berries for additional health benefits.

Who says you can’t have a cheese pie when you wanna lose weight?

Protein powder does not have to be used just for protein shakes.

It can be a great addition to many meals as well, as it is proven by science to improve satiation and weight control (34).

It benefits both weight loss and preservation of muscle tissue.

The best and most widely used protein supplement is whey protein.

It is shown by evidence to provide much better satiation compared to other types of protein or carbohydrates (35).

This can help make a snack that you consider an unhealthy treat, much more satiating and nutritious, like a dessert for an example

All you need for a dessert that will have low-calorie content and a lot of protein is 250 grams of low-fat cottage cheese, 2 eggs, 100 grams of berries and a scoop of protein powder (25 grams).

You need to beat the eggs, cottage cheese and protein powder with an electric mixer.

Split the substance into 3 pie molds and spread the berries evenly across them.

Afterward, bake it at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes in a water bath.

Each of the 3 portions has 160 kcals and over 20 grams of protein.

Take-Away:

Even a dessert can be made healthy and weight loss friendly if you use the proper ingredients and add some protein powder.

Protein ice-cream for a sweet and healthy snack

All you need for a tasty ice-cream which is also high in protein and low in calories are just 3 ingredients.

The recipe requires 200 grams of skyr, 120 grams of banana and 2 scoops (50 grams) of protein powder.

Skyr is an Icelandic yogurt. It is prepared from skimmed milk so it is always low-fat.

A hundred grams of it has less than 70 kcals and more than 13 grams of protein.

You need to put everything in a blender and turn it into a homogenous substance.

Afterward, you can use ice-cream molds or simply cups with a stick or a spoon in them.

Put it in a freezer for 2-3 hours and it is ready for consummation.

150 ml of the ice-cream mixture provides only 40 kcals and more than 5 grams of protein.

Take-Away:

By combining just skyr, protein, and different fruits, you can create a healthy and light in calorie ice-cream.

You can even enjoy some candy when you are trying to lose weight

A great option to make healthy candies at home is to use dried fruits instead of sugar or other sweeteners.

Studies show that dried fruits are not only tasty, but they provide a lot of healthy antioxidants (36).

For example, date fruits are studied for their benefits to health, such as anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects (37).

For the preparation of candy with dried fruits, you will need 70 grams of raw almonds, 100 grams of dried dates, a scoop of protein powder and just a pinch of cinnamon and vanilla.

Put everything in a blender and mix it without turning it completely homogenous.

Then form the pieces of candy with your hands and additionally roll them in cocoa powder if you like.

Each piece of candy has about 50 kcals and at least 2 grams of protein.

Take-Away:

A combination of dried fruits and protein powder can produce lots of tasty and healthy snacks, such as candy.

The bottom line on healthy weight loss meals for women

There are ways to combine foods and create healthy and nutritious meals and snacks, without making them too caloric.

The most important factors are including enough protein and fiber in the ingredients. This way the meal will provide higher nutritional value and satiation.

It is also a good idea to include more fruits and vegetables in the meals, as well as use them as separate snacks.

Furthermore, adding a protein supplement in some meals can significantly improve their effects on weight loss.