Cheap High-Satiety Low-Fat Foods for Endurance Athletes
…And for those wanting to lose weight and battle hunger.
For endurance athletes, after acquiring the recommended protein and fat, most of the calories should be allocated toward carbohydrate to both enhance performance and recovery.
Recommended article, which also showcases the science of optimal macronutrition:
In this article, I wanted to share my personal favorite foods (primarily based in the Netherlands). They are easy and very quick to make (I really hate elaborate cooking) and, as a bonus, they usually don’t expire that fast and are on the cheaper side as well.
In parentheses are the macronutrients per unit (or recommended serving size).
High-Carb Foods
Potatoes
Potatoes are an excellent option when wanting to lose fat, as its satiety index is one of the highest while containing very few calories as can be seen:
Nutrition per 100g (I usually consume a large amount of 600g immediately after a workout as an endurance athlete)
□ Price: €3.75
□ 81 kcal (486)
□ 17g carbs (102)
□ 1.8g protein (10.8)
□ 0g fat
Egg Cakes (Dutch: Eierkoeken)
I really like those for how delicious they are, simple (you simply take one out of the box and eat it), and they are very filling (it also takes a long time to eat 1).
Nutrition per 100g (1 egg cake is ~70g)
□ Price: €0.58 per egg cake
□ 269 kcal (188)
□ 52.6g carbs (37)
□ 6.7g protein (4.7)
□ 3.2g fat (2)
Bananas
A ‘classic’ food for cyclists: Bananas.
Nutrition per 100g (1 banana ≈ 140g)
□ Price: €0.31 per banana
□ 89 kcal (125)
□ 23g carbs (32)
□ 1.1g protein (1.5)
□ 0.3g fat (0.4)
The following products are high-carb foods that are easy to carry when e.g. doing a road trip:
Picnic Uiltjes Bananensmaak (English: Picnic Owls Banana Flavor)
Picnic is the grocery app where I order all my food.
These are simple to carry (e.g. bike trip) and can be a nice snack as well.
Nutrition per 100g
□ Price per 100g: €0.60
□ 342 kcal
□ 83.4g carbs
□ 0.3g protein
□ 0.2g fat
100g Katja Yoghurtgums
These have a very high palatability and are easy to eat/digest (ideal when needing to focus on performance during e.g. road cycling rather than spending it on eating).
Nutrition per 100g
□ Price: €0.69
□ 330 kcal
□ 77g carbs
□ 2g protein
□ 0.2g fat
Picnic Luchtige Crackers Volkoren (English: Picnic Airy Crackers Whole Grain)
These are nice when needing more carbs but not needing more protein (while still wanting to eat something with a high satiety score + they contain a rather high amount of whole grains!)
Nutrition per 100g (usually 50g is more than enough)
□ Price: €0.23
□ 355 kcal (178)
□ 63g carbs (32)
□ 10g protein (5)
□ 3.6g fat (2)
Ladyfinger (Biscuit)
These aren’t exactly very filling, but I still consider them a nicer option e.g. before an endurance workout (instead of gulping down glucose with water rather unfulfilling, psychologically-wise).
Nutrition per 100g (I do 70g to get to approximately 60g of carbohydrates, which is recommended depending on the intensity of your endurance workout)
□ Price: €0.38
□ 404 kcal (283)
□ 85g carbs (60)
□ 7g protein (5)
□ 3.4g fat (2.4)
High-Carb Flavors
Remia Friteslijn (English: Remia Low-Fat Fries Sauce)
I really like this variant for fries (or other foods e.g. potatoes or sausages) for it has less than half the calories per 100g than normal fries sauces.
Nutrition per 100g (I usually do 50g)
□ Price: €0.24 per 50g
□ 98 kcal (59)
□ 10g carbs (5)
□ 0.6g protein (0.3)
□ 5.3g fat (2.7)
Picnic Currysaus (English: Picnic Curry Sauce)
Nutrition per 100g (I usually do 50g)
□ Price: €0.12 per 50g
□ 106 kcal (58)
□ 23g carbs (12)
□ 0.6g protein (0.3)
□ 0.5g fat (0.25)
Remia Pevulde paprikasaus (English: Remia Paprika-Filled Sauce)
Nutrition per 100g (I usually do 50g)
□ Price: €0.22
□ 77 kcal (38.5)
□ 16g carbs (8)
□ 1.1g protein (0.55)
□ 0.2g fat (0.1)
Calvé Broodje-Unox-Saus (English: Calvé Bread-Unox-Sauce i.e. bread containing a Unox sausage)
This sauce contains a bit more fat than the others, but nonetheless contains a high amount of carbohydrates as well.
Nutrition per 100g (I usually do 50g)
□ Price: €0.48 per 50g
□ 62 kcal (31)
□ 13g carbs (6.5)
□ 1.2g protein (0.6)
□ 22g fat (11)
Calvé Barbecuesaus (English: Calvé BBQ Sauce)
Nutrition per 100g (50g standard):
□ Price: €0.31
□ 92 kcal (46)
□ 20g carbs (10)
□ 1.4g protein (0.7)
□ 0.5g fat (0.25)
High-Protein Foods
Almhof Protein Peaches Quark
These are excellent for making you feel satiated for multiple hours with very few calories (only 265.5 kcal per package!)
Nutrition per 100g (I usually eat the whole package)
□ Price: €2.99
□ 59 kcal (266)
□ 4.5g carbs (20.25)
□ 9.3g protein (42)
□ 0g fat (0)
Statesman Tuna in Water with Sweet Chili Sauce
Tuna have a very high satiety score of 72% while containing few calories (see: The Most Satiating Foods to Crush Your Hunger More Efficiently | Optimising Nutrition). I personally like to eat them as a snack when feeling a bit hungry mid-day or late at night after dinner (and also a convenient way to get in more proteins if needed).
A very simple way to increase their palatability within a matter of seconds, is by adding a small amount of sweet chili onto the opened can.
Nutrition per 100g (serving size: 160g + 20g Inproba sweet chili)
□ Price: €1.39 + €0.04 = €1.43
□ 158.4 kcal + 32.2 kcal = 190.6 kcal
□ 0.16g carbs + 7.6g carbs = 7.76g carbs
□ 37.6g protein + 0.08g protein = 37.68g protein
□ 0.8g fat + 0g fat = 0.8g fat
The following foods also contain a bit more fat, but emphasis is still placed on finding the most satiating foods possible:
Eggs
Eggs have a relatively high satiety score and are popular amongst bodybuilders wanting to lose fat and make themselves leaner for competition. The egg yolk contains a lot of fat, however.
Tip: With an egg cooker, you can precisely define how thoroughly cooked you want your eggs (soft, medium, hard) and it makes the whole process a lot easier (e.g. egg cookers contain an alarm when they are done).
Nutrition per 100g (I find 3 eggs ~150g more than satiating for a couple hours)
□ Price: €0.73
□ 131 kcal (197)
□ 0.2g carbs (0.3)
□ 12.3g protein (18.5)
□ 9.1g fat (14)
Peanuts
Personally, I like the salted version a bit more as I need some of the sodium for my endurance workouts (although it can increase your cravings to eat more of them i.e. higher palatability). Peanuts are also nice in terms of satiation due to having to eat them one-by-one (i.e. slowly).
Nutrition per 100g (I follow a standard serving size of ~30g)
□ Price: €0.12
□ 635 kcal (191)
□ 12g carbs (4)
□ 26g protein (8)
□ 52g fat (16)
Ham
Ham is another great option if you are fond of volume eating, containing lots of protein. Personally, I like to use canned Salland ham as it has a very long shelf life.
Nutrition per 100g (I usually do half a can into e.g. spaghetti, which is ~227g)
□ Price: €1.62
□ 152 kcal (345)
□ 3g carbs (7)
□ 12.5g protein (28)
□ 10g fat (23)
High Protein + High Carbohydrate Foods
Brinta (acronym for: Breakfast Instant Tarwe (English: Wheat))
Very simple to make and it fills you up nicely with few calories (+ 10.5g of fibre per 100g of Brinta!). A standard portion of mine is 90g of Brinta with 400 ml skimmed milk).
Nutrition per 100g (personal standard portion: 90g of Brinta with 400 ml skimmed milk)
□ Price: €0.38 + €0.39 = € 0.77
□ 347 + 33 = 380 kcal (444)
□ 64g + 4.7 = 68.7g carbs (76.4)
□ 14g + 3.4g = 17.4g protein (26.2)
□ 1.9g + 0.1g = 2g fat (2)
Tortilla Wraps + Tuna + Iceberg Lettuce + Sweet Chili Sauce
The tortilla wraps contain the most carbohydrates and calories of this recipe, but by only adding dry tuna (canned in water) with nigh-zero caloric iceberg lettuce and approximately 50g of sweet chili really cancels out the total calories and fat (while keeping carbohydrates and protein high).
Nutrition per 100g (62g wrap + 160g tuna + 25g iceberg lettuce + 50g sweet chili)
□ Price: €0.16 + €1.39 + €0.06 + €0.09 = €1.70
□ 334 + 99 + 14 + 163 = 610 kcal (450)
□ 54g + 0.1g + 3g + 38g = 95.1g carbs (53)
□ 9.3g + 23.5g + 0.9g + 0.4g = 34.1g protein (44)
□ 8g + 0.5g + 0.1g + 0g = 8.6g fat (6)
Muesli with Raisins + Skimmed Milk
I prefer muesli with raisins (than without raisins) to increase its palatability. Again, this one is super easy to make while trying to keep calories and fat as low as possible by using skimmed milk instead.
Nutrition per 100g (personal serving size: 100g of muesli with raisins + 200 ml skimmed milk)
□ Price: €0.28 + €0.19 = €0.47
□
Baked Beans
These are a nice option if you want to get a lot of protein and carbohydrates in a cheap manner (while also being very filling as their calories are relatively sparse).
Nutrition per 100g (I eat a whole pot from the Picnic app, which is 680g)
□ Price: €1.01
□ 105 kcal (714)
□ 14g carbs (95.2)
□ 8g protein (54.4)
□ 0.8g fat (5.44)
(UHT) Skimmed Milk
I simply like this to get in more protein and carbohydrate without much fat (although I still prefer to eat my calories whenever possible i.e. higher satiety, but in things like a cereal bowl it’s a nice alternative). UHT skimmed milk is my preferred option due to its long shelf life.
Nutrition per 100g (a standard glass of mine is ~250g)
□ Price: €0.24
□ 33 kcal (83)
□ 4.7g carbs (12)
□ 3.4g protein (9)
□ 0.1g fat (0.3)
Example Days
Recommended Subreddits
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Volumeeating/ − My favorite subreddit where people post recipes containing few calories yet are high in satiety
- https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/ − Oriented toward gaining muscle/fitness with as little fat as possible
- https://www.reddit.com/r/fitmeals/ − A subreddit more oriented toward strength athletes (e.g. recipes with lots of protein)
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CICO/ − A general subreddit with posts of dishes, weight loss journeys, insights, etc.
- https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/ − A subreddit dedicated to people trying to lose fat
- https://www.reddit.com/r/1200isplenty/ − I mostly like this subreddit to combat hunger (similar to volume eating).
