Volumetrics Review

 

Volumetrics was authored by Nutritionist Barbara Rolls, PhD. She isn't a fan of deprivation diets. She knows that denying yourself and feeling hungry when you're trying to lose weight makes you feel lousy, and ultimately leads to giving up. And Rolls knows of what she speaks - she's a professor of nutrition at Penn State University, whose research has resulted in over 200 published articles. Rolls knew that weight loss is inextricably linked with calorie consumption, but she wanted to develop a diet plan wherein you feel full and satiated from eating the foods that you like - while you're losing weight. From this goal - and years of laboratory research - Volumetrics was born.

Rolls says in Volumetrics that when we feel full it's simply because of how much food we eat, and it has nothing to do with how many calories or how much fat, protein or carbs are in that food. She does not deem foods as good or bad, but instead classifies them by what she calls their "energy density". A food's energy density is defined by the the number of calories found in a specific portion size of that food, and this concept is the heart of Volumetrics.

Losing weight is calories in versus calories out. We all know that a restricted calorie diet often leads to serious hunger pangs, and the vicious cycle of giving in and blowing the diet. High density foods are defined as those that have a lot of calories packed into a small size - cookies, oils, nuts, chips. Low density foods are the opposite - brothy soups, skim milk, celery. (Low density foods tend to be those heavy on water content.) Weight loss success on the Volumetrics plan is a calorie numbers game. If you eat high density foods, you'll probably have to cut yourself off before you're full. If you stick with low density foods, you can eat them until you're full. You may even find you can eat more on a low density foods diet than you eat normally, while still losing weight. You're not barred from eating high density foods on Volumetrics, but Rolls wants you to understand the caloric punch they pack, and learn how to make better choices. This way, you may only take a few bites a high density piece of cake, instead of eating the whole piece like you used to.

Volumetrics is a common sense eating plan: lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of water, high fiber, lean protein, lower-calories, lower-fat. Its approach to weight loss is healthy, practical and best of all, it doesn't bog you down in banned food lists and food-combining tricks and so forth. It's totally straightforward, and totally up to you.

The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan was published in 2000, The Volumetrics Eating Plan in 2005. The only difference is that the newer version provides more recipes.