Volumetrics is not a new diet, but the style of eating has stood the test of time. Many dietitians use Volumetrics to lose weight and keep the pounds off forever. In fact, Volumetrics has been incorporated into the popular Jenny Craig diet. So should you follow this diet? This is what you need to know about Volumetrics for weight loss.
Who wrote the volumetric diet?
You’ll find a full explanation of the diet in a book co-authored by Barbara Rolls, Ph.D.
Rolls is a nutrition researcher at Penn State, and she co-wrote the book with Robert Barnett, a nutrition writer.
In addition to co-authoring the book Volumetrics, Dr. Rolls has been researching obesity for more than 20 years. She served on the Advisory Council of the Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, as well as the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, for which she served as president.
What is the volumetric diet plan?
Volumetrics is based on the premise that it is the volume of food eaten, rather than the number of calories consumed, that leads to weight loss. When we eat more food, we experience a feeling of satiety or fullness.
By following the Volumetrics diet, you’ll learn that by eating low-calorie foods that fill you up, you’ll lose weight without feeling like you’re on a diet. The plan is designed so you won’t feel hungry or deprived.
You’ll also learn about “calorie density” if you follow this plan. The foods recommended in the Volumetrics diet have a low energy or calorie density. This means that they promote a feeling of fullness. The foods you avoid on the Volumetrics diet are energy dense. These are foods that are higher in calories or foods that you need to eat a lot of to feel full.
Volumetric Diet Plan to Lose Weight
According to Rolls and Barnett, dieters tend to eat roughly the same amount of food each day, regardless of the total number of calories consumed. They believe that if you eat approximately the same weight of foods that contain fewer calories than normal, you will be able to lose weight without experiencing hunger.
The Volumetrics diet is well regarded by leading experts in the weight loss community due to its simplicity and common sense approach. But for any diet to help you lose weight, you have to be willing to stick to the eating plan for life. Therefore, you are likely to lose weight on Volumetrics if you get into the habit of eating Volumetrics foods.
what to eat
To follow the plan, you’ll eat low-calorie, high-volume foods that contain a lot of water or a lot of dietary fiber. Water and fiber increase the feeling of satisfaction or satiety.
You’ll eat lots of fruit, low-fat milk or other dairy products, whole grains, beans, low-fat fish, vegetables, skinless poultry, and lean meat. You’ll avoid high-calorie foods like regular cheese, candy, high-sugar drinks, and cookies.
But no food is completely off-limits on the Volumetrics eating plan. You can enjoy foods that are considered high in calories, such as chocolate, whenever it’s a treat.
And as long as you stay within your daily calorie recommendations.
So how do you know how many calories to eat each day? The book provides a formula so you can calculate the correct number of calories to consume. The book also includes meal plans for 1,600 calories per day and 2,000 calories per day.
But you don’t have to exactly follow the diet. Each meal plan can be modified to your specific calorie needs. The 1,600-calorie plan, for example, allows for a 400-calorie breakfast, a 500-calorie lunch, a 500-calorie dinner and a 200-calorie snack. But you can make adjustments. The authors also provide healthy recipes.
If you don’t want to use the diet plans, you can also use the guidelines in the book to plan your own meals. In the book, you will find a list of food density for hundreds of foods. The book also provides a simple technique for calculating the caloric density of any food using the number of calories and the serving size.
