A fitness expert and coach posted a video to TikTok in which he names three foods that make him “feel stuffed” but still allow him to shed pounds. Joe Chu, who goes by joexfitness on social media, is a NASM-certified personal trainer who runs a coaching and consultation business teaching others what “I have learned through trial and error, scientific research, and experience,” according to his website.
Chu publicly chronicled his journey shedding of 50 pounds in a year on TikTok, which earned him a passionate following of over 500,000 fans. His video enumerating favorite guilty pleasures that aren’t actually guilty has racked up 2.3 million views since it was posted last month.
Reporting that he’s constantly at an 800-calorie deficit, Chu listed the meals that fill him up while simultaneously helping him shed weight:
- Homemade spring rolls with rice paper (not deep-fried), filled with mushrooms, cabbage, cucumbers, and shrimp or beef
- Potatoes
- Flavored rice cakes, topped with maple-syrup inflected yogurt and fresh fruit
“It is by far the most filling thing on this list,” Chu said of the spring rolls. “If I eat 12 of these, it comes out to less than 700 calories, but I feel like I’ve just eaten 1,200 calories. It fills you up like a huge Chipotle burrito.”
Chu adds shrimp or shredded beef to boost the protein factor, as without meat the dish is just veggies and rice paper. All in all, each hearty roll costs him less than 20 calories.
Next, the coach recommended potatoes, especially if you often find yourself pairing rice with your meat and veggies. Chu said in addition to being low in calories, there’s a wider variety of potato dishes to make, so you won’t get bored eating the same old thing.
“The best part,” Chu told viewers, “is you can make them into things you wouldn’t normally eat on a diet, like loaded fries, while still hitting your calorie goal.”
As far as rice cakes, Chu admits “everyone hates on these,” but after you see his creation you might be craving one. He mixes Greek yogurt with maple syrup to make it more tart and flavorful before topping a cinnamon or caramel rice cake (that part is vital) with some frozen blackberries and raspberries.
“This is the sweet, tarty, low-calorie treat I never knew I needed,” Chu said of the dessert.
Many in the comments were stunned that spring rolls were a healthy alternative. “Wait a second, I love spring rolls, idk why I thought it would be a calorie splurge,” user Andixx wrote, while another requested: “Recipe for the spring rolls!!”
Some of Chu’s concoctions are plainly mouth-watering. If they taste half as delicious as they look, and help us keep off the pounds as he has, we’ll be having seconds.
@joexfitness 3 Low Calorie Foods I’ve been eating Non-Stop that make me full despite being in a steep caloric deficit👇 Spring rolls. When I say you NEED to eat spring rolls, I mean it. It is by far the most filling thing on this list. I eat 12 of these spring rolls and it comes out less than 700 calories but I feel like I’ve just eaten over 1200 calories. Plus it’s extremely high protein if you add in some shrimp, beef, or chicken since the rest of the roll is just veggies and the rice paper, which comes out to less than 20 calories per roll. Potatoes. If you’re always eating rice with your meat, switch to potatoes. I know that’s crazy to say as a Korean, but trust me. They are pretty slow calorie and really filling. The best part is you can make them into things you normally won’t eat like loaded fries while still hitting your calorie goal. Rice cakes. Everyone hates on these but try this recipe I recently made. Some vanilla yogurt with frozen berries on top of a caramel or apple cinnamon rice cake is the sweet, tarty, low calorie treat that I never knew I needed. #fitness #diettips #wieghtloss #caloriedeficit #weightlossfood #caloriedeficitmeals #lowcalorie #lowcalorierecipe #lowcaloriesnacks #lowcaloriemeals #lowcaloriefood