Something that I don't like to give up when I'm working out is a bagel. While I was on the Insanity workout plan, a suggestion was to hollow out bagels. When I don't have bagel thins, this is what I do! It's a really simple way to have some carbs and still maintain a low calorie intake. By hollowing out bagels, you can cut between 80-150 calories.
Invest in a food scale. Trust me. It's one of the most useful tools I own, it was inexpensive (you can find them on Amazon for under $20!), and it helps me tremendously when I want to track my calories and how much I am truly putting into my body. First, weight your bagel. The package will always tell you how many grams counts as a serving. Weighing is important because this is how you'll track how many calories you cut and also if your product is actually *more* than the serving size (which mine was for these photos!)
I use an ice cream scooper when I hollow out my bagels. You can use a spoon, honestly. You'll just gently move around the bagel and scoop out the extra bread, as shown.
(Sometimes the bagel will give you trouble, so it's good to hold it down.)
(The great part about this is you have leftover bread and you *know* how many calories it contains. I use the extra bread to feed geese in the area or to make home made croutons.)
My bagel started off at 99g. I hollowed it out to 57. So, instead of 284 calories, I got it down to 161.8.
I like Follow Your Heart's vegan cream cheese alternative. I'm not into strawberry or flavored options, so plain is best for me. Check your serving sizes on cream cheese or whatever you're putting on as well, as it's really easy to rack up the calories again. But be concerned with actually sustaining your body for a meal. Don't obsess over lowering the calories too much. I also like to put tomato on this when I can, but today wasn't that day. If anything, Insanity taught me how to up my calorie blocks to maintain my body.
Toast your bagel or not, up to you. If you toast it, weigh it again. The grams may have gone down due to taking air out of the bread. If you have measuring tools, measure out your serving sizes and weigh that so you're on point. I just use the scale to gauge this and was lucky enough to get the exact serving size.
BEFORE
Bagel - 284 (100g instead of the 95g serving size)
+ Cream cheese - 100 (31g)
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384
AFTER
Bagel - 161.8
+ Cream cheese - 100
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261.8
