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Hey everyone, it's Mikki here. You're listening to Mini Mikkipedia. And if you are someone who is currently focused on fat loss, one of the things that you might be missing most is crunch. Where'd the crunch go, y'all? What about that Crusket? Can I have a Crusket? Well, no. Well, yeah, actually, you can have anything you like. But typically speaking, this is one of the most requested textures that are missing from a traditional

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fat loss plan. Now, not all the time, of course. If you do include things like Cruskits and rice cakes and I don't know, trying to think of those other cracker things that you can, oh, you know, like low carb wraps that you grill. That's crunch. That's texture. That's awesome. On a plan like mine, where I traditionally sort of move people away from those more empty carbohydrate foods for the most part. I mean, it's not like they're absolutely off the table, but they certainly don't feature in the day to day.

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It's very easy to sort of think, God, I've just got nothing here is really gonna be satisfying me. So what can I add to my meals that have the biggest bang for their buck with regards to crunch? So they're not gonna cost that many calories. That's essentially the question that I get asked. So I have a list of about 27 things that you can add that adds you that texture that might be missing.

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without loading you up on calories. Now, of course, I could have said things like nuts, seeds, crispy chickpeas, low-carb croutons, things like that. again, these things aren't off the table forever or even necessarily, but they do bring with them a bit more of a calorie load and therefore these calories rack up. So,

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When you're in a fat loss phase, what you're trying to do is find alternatives that might hit the mark a little bit in that direction, but not necessarily blow out your calorie budget. So I have a list. I'm going to go through them actually. Haven't done one of these in a while, have I? And you may or may not love these ideas, but if you're lacking the crunch in your diet, this is where I'd start. First, mung bean sprouts. Have them raw, obviously, or you can flash fry them like in a nonstick

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Are you allowed to use non-stick fry pans anymore? I'm not sure. With some spray oil, there are good non-stick fry pans around that you can use, but with a little bit of spray oil so they get crunchy and you could also add a little spice like a mingle spice, maybe some salt and pepper. Number two, shredded cabbage, green, red or Chinese cabbage. So you'd use this obviously in your salads and I clearly have many sort of salads that have a cabbage base also.

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but if you're doing like a stir fry or something or like a mince based dish, then adding the cabbage right at the very end will keep it crispy while still warm it through. So that can be quite a nice one. Three, green beans, not the ones from the cans, but fresh green beans that you blanch, roast or air fry until they're just cooked so they retain some bite or have them raw. That's like even more guaranteed to have a crunch. Four, broccoli slaw. So.

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Take some shredded broccoli stalk, cabbage and carrot and put it through the function on your food processor that brings it into a slaw-based consistency. That will be excellent under one of those more warm mints or chicken bowls when you do yourself a little butter bowl. Number five, radish. Slice thinly, grate or quick pickle in a little bit of vinegar and salt. That would be delicious, super crunchy. And this isn't a crunch, but just so you know, when you roast radish,

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with spray oil and salt and pepper, that is delicious as well. Number six, cucumber, of course. Lebanese and mini cucumbers are especially crunchy. you know, chop them into chunks or thick slices. What I would also say, guys, when it comes to texture in salads, try and use a different cut or chop for different vegetables so you do get an array or a variety of sizes, and now, which will also help bring texture. Seven, capsicum, red or green pepper.

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using it raw or again only briefly cook it so it stays crisp. Number eight, air fry broccoli or cauliflower. Cook it hot and fast like maybe on is it max crunch to create browned crispy edges and again spray oil that salt and pepper delicious. Number nine, bamboo shoots. These are delicious in curries and also can be used in Asian style stir fries and mince based dishes.

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Number 10, water chestnuts. These are very low calorie and they retain their crunch even when cooked. Number 11 is, I mentioned quick pickle before, quick pickle your vegetables, cucumber, cabbage, radish, carrot or bean sprouts with vinegar, salt and a bit of chili. You can add a little bit of sweetener in there if you like, like some stevia granules or something. Number 12, celery. I mentioned this to someone actually in a Monday's Matter.

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office hours meeting and with the look of disdain that I got from her I deserve that disdain. I wouldn't love celery raw either. Some people love it. You slice it finely or on an angle and add it to salads, bowls or mince based dishes. Oh number 13 is one of my fave sugar snap peas. Slice these lengthways and use raw. Also snow peas raw or quickly stir fried so they stay crisp. They're a little bit smaller really.

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Kohlrabi. So you peel and cut into matchsticks and shred or you shred it into slaw. It's very crisp and a little bit sweet. Number 16 is fennel. Finely shaved raw fennel will add both crunch and loads of flavour. So, um, love fennel actually. It's delicious. Hickamah. So this is, you peel and cut this into matchsticks or cubes. I really like it cubed actually.

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So it's very crisp and really refreshing. Similarly, you've got number 18, which is daikon or white radish. You want to julienne that raw or again, quick pickle that for that really lovely crisp, but also tart flavor. Number 19, air frying zucchini or courgette chips. So thinly slice, season those and air fry them until brown and crisp around the edges.

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These ones I think you're gonna have to eat pretty quickly after making. Number 20, this is a firm favourite here, roasted Brussels sprouts. Halve them or shred them, lightly spray with oil or roast on an air fry until the edges are crispy. Again, I don't think they stay crisp for that long, but they're quite delicious when you season them and you put a bit of spray oil on them. 21, crispy kale. So lightly spray them, season and roast or air fry. And these are quite good as a crunchy topping.

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Rather than a of a salad by themselves, albeit I do find they disintegrate in your mouth. So you sort of, you want to have a whole bunch of that if it's going to make any sort of inroads into that texture issue that you're having. Number 22, pickled onions. Oh my God, I love them. Just a small amount adds some crunch, acidity and loads of flavor for very few calories, particularly if you get those little white ones. Number 23, sauerkraut.

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Actually, 24 comes under this as well. So it's a of a cheat because they're basically the same. Sauerkraut and kimchi. Crunchy, acidic, and particularly good with meat, eggs, or bowl-style meals. Number 25, crispy lettuce, iceberg, coz, or baby gem. Shred it underneath meals or use leaves as cups instead of wraps. And they are very crunchy and delicious. Underrated, I would say, because everyone thinks, ugh, boring lettuce. Not that boring, people.

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Number 26, roasted seaweed. I love a nori sheet and this is perfect. You crumble it over bowls or salads for a light salty crunch. I love to wrap my salad ingredients in nori sheet and eat that. And in fact, I think I probably did that for two straight years. And in fact, I've just stopped doing it a few months ago when I got back from being away where we didn't have nori sheets available. And I sort of, for whatever reason, got out of the habit.

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which does mean I'm no longer spending about $15 a week on Nori sheets, which is probably quite a good thing, but not bad, not a bad way to add a bit of crunch and texture. And number 27, air fried edamame. So yes, these have more calories from protein and a little bit of carbs than the other vegetables, but it does provide, as I just said, protein and will make a good crunchy topping when used in a smaller amount. So.

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everything up to number 26 so you could really just sort of fill your boots on. Air fried edamame along with nuts and seeds and things like that, you would want to be a little bit more mindful of the amounts that you're having. One last pro tip actually is to, when you get like your chicken breast and you're air frying it, now this is not gonna suit everyone, you might think this is a bit horrendous, but I like to get the mingle seasonings and I have purchased a couple of times now those mingle boxes.

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where you have like the garlic and dill, you've got the Tuscan seasoning, you've got taco mix, you've got fajita, you've got garlic and herb, like a whole host of different spices. And this is the way that you change up the flavor of your meals without changing any of the ingredients. Like you could have the same vegetables and chicken in a bowl five days of the week and it would taste different according to which seasoning you used. So I love to grab chicken breast,

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heavily season it and then air fry the life out of it. And it goes quite dry actually, is another way to get a bit of crunch and add that to my bowl. And so if you follow me on social, you'll see a little number like that in my bowl a couple of times a week as a protein source. And that's another great way to get in some texture. hopefully this is 27 ways with which I've answered that age old question of where'd the texture go and what can I do about it?

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when you are following a fat loss approach and we want to minimize the crunch that you're going to get from foods like Crusket's or Sea Crackers or Huntley and Palmer's or any of that delicious stuff. These are just other options you can have that might fill the gap. All right, guys, bit of a short one, but I'm all about it today. Let me know if you've got any tips and tricks that I missed. I bet you do. Over on Instagram, threadsandx @mikkiwilliden, Facebook @mikkiwillidennutrition.

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or head to my website @mikkiwilliden.com and meal plans, sign up to my recipe portal. It's 12 bucks a month, there's over a thousand recipes. 99 % of them have macro counts and about 92 % of them are high protein. So you cannot go wrong. All right guys, you have the best week. See you later.