Much useful information about choosing food while on a diet.Did you know that 1/4 cup of raisins and 1 and 2/3 cups of grapes each have about 100 calories? Obviously the grapes are much more filling and satisfying.The book also includes diet samples.

Wish I would have found this 7-8 years ago when it was first published.

I lost 65 pounds but became stuck for a year or more. This book helped me break the plateau...and I'm on the way down again!

THIS BOOK IS FABULOUS AND WELL PRICED TOO. IT GIVES WONDERFUL INFORMATION ON HOW TO CONTROL YOUR DIET WITH VOLUMES OF FOOD. I FIND IT VERY USEFUL AND THE RECIPES INSIDE ARE JUST AWESOME!!!

How can air in food make you more satisfied - make you eat less? How can it curb a tendency to be fat, or reverse a trend?

Can it? Turns out - yes.

Feed a hungry college student a half glass full of smoothie and they will eat 20% more at lunch ½ later than the college student who drinks the SAME smoothie only whipped until it swells to a full glass with air. Not only that, but the ones that eat the airy smoothie don't make it up at their next meal.

My brother, John, and my food guru, Dick, have both recommended Mindless Eating and Volumetrics to you and me. I finally read them. Actually, John recommends listening to Mindless Eating as a book on tape, so that's what I did. I recommend it.

Listen to get the fun of it and the flavor of it. Then get the book to read the summaries of what to do.

Both titles don't really work to tell you their messages. The subtitle of Volumetrics is great - Feel Full On Fewer Calories. I'd rewrite that to read - Feel Satisfied on Fewer Calories.

It's not my job to re-title these excellent books. Mindless Eating deals with how our brains are tricked to eat more than we want by other visual cues and often by genuine optical illusions.

You could summarize Volumetrics - We don't eat calories, we eat size, volume. We are stratified by greater volume and not necessarily by greater calories. Satisfied means you eat less, means you lose fat and still feel, well, satisfied.

These are not deprivation diet books. DEPRIVATION DIETS DON'T WORK. And need I say, not fun.

The two cheapest ingredients in food are water and air. Adding air or water is the simplest way to feel more satisfied with no additional calories. You read about air in the smoothie above. Soup is food with water added. Raisins are grapes with water removed.

Let's see what that does for you...


Raisins

Which is more satisfying. ¼ cup of raisins or nearly 2 cups of grapes (50 ml or 500 ml). The metric numbers makes the size difference even more startling. Exact same number of calories. Exact same food. One has water; one doesn't.

Which would you choose if you wanted to feel most satisfied?

Yep, me too.


Soup is the Free Lunch of Satisfaction

I live on good soup, not words. - Molière

Even though soup is mostly water, you and your body perceive it as food. This is very counter intuitive to me.

Proof? Give people a 270 calorie chicken-rice casserole and a glass of water as a first course to a luncheon.

Give another group the same casserole with the water added to it to make it a soup. Check both groups to see how much they ate for the rest of lunch.

The soup people ate 100 calories less of the lunch that followed and didn't make up the loss at dinner. Cool, yes! Soup created more satiety, satisfaction. Other experiments showed that chunky soup creates more satisfaction than strained soup. And hot and cold soups both create the same benefits.

You can read the physiology in the books if you're interested. But this seems like magic to me.


Bag the Peanut Butter

I over eat peanut butter; it is one of the highest density foods you can find. If I eat volume, then you have to eat a mountain of calories to get a decent volume.

If I lived alone, I would just not bring it into the house. Obviously you can use this useful tip for all your trigger foods. Since I live with the Mysterious Madame Ling, who likes peanut butter on apples, I simply put the peanut butter in a brown paper bag.

Not only is this -- Out of sight, out of mind -- it puts inconvenience into the circuit making it harder to mindlessly eat.

Note: You may be and I am on a seafood diet, I eat everything I see. Out of sight, out of mind.


OK, One Optical Illusion

People perceive tall as more than short.

Remember the optical illusion from childhood of the upside down T. They ask which is longer - the horizontal part or the vertical section.

People say the vertical is up to 20% taller when they are in fact the same length. (The illusion is so strong for me, that I got out a ruler and tested it.)

Tall thin glasses will have you drinking less wine, juice, or Coke. And again, you will feel satisfied. Remove the short squat glasses from your life, unless you want to increase your consumption of water, then the idea works in your favor. I drink water out of a Bavarian beer mug.


Action

If you have people in your family who need to monitor fat gain, get the books, read them, and then apply the tricks.

Eat well,

William

My first exposure to Volumetrics was with the newer (and more expensive volume) The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories, and I was not very impressed by the book. I thought it was yet another low-fat diet hiding behind terms like "energy density" (actually, I would prefer if the author used "caloric density," because energy density sounds positive, not negative).

For various reasons, however, I picked up a copy of the 2000 version of Volumetrics, and now I see the value in this plan. First off, Rolls backs up her suggestions with solid peer-reviewed research. I found the summaries of the research studies enlightening and convincing.

Another plus for me--though a potential minus for others--is that this is not a "diet." It's not a structured plan; there are no forbidden foods and no phases. Rolls doesn't tell you how many servings to have of various food groups, instead she provides tips on how to trim the caloric density of meals while steal getting plenty of calories. The genius of the plan lies in its simplicity; if you truly try to eat less calorically-dense food, you will choose to eat more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. I like that there is no required calorie counting (though the suggested menus are based on 1600 calories a day, with tips on either trimming or upping the calorie counts), and no counting of servings. Yet, as I adhere to the principles taught in this book, I am making better food choices. I haven't been following the plan long enough to attest to its effectiveness for weight loss, but I do know that I'm getting better nutrition and that I feel better eating this way.

So why not five stars? Much of the information in this book is common sense. The basic principle of weight loss is--eat fewer calories than you burn. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are good for you; fat should be eaten in moderation. You can probably follow a Volumetric eating plan without reading the book. What is novel about this book, however, is the research to show that people tend to eat the same volume of food, no matter what the calorie count. The book also has some helpful suggested menus and gives practical suggestions on decreasing the caloric-density of food--beyond just eating fruits and vegetables.

You will like this book if you need some motivation to eat more healthfully and appreciate a more flexible eating plan. You may not like this book if you want to lose weight very quickly and if you need a fixed menu.

I am trying this diet after losing weight on Medifast and regaining it. Hope it works.

This is undoubtibly the most sane weight loss/control program ever. Once I actually read the beginning and understood the concept, it made total sense. I tried this after seeing it in Consumer's Report as the #1 Plan where upon it is easy to loose the weight and keep it off. All that is required is to know if the calories of something (food)is lower, the same as, or higher than the actual gram weight. (Both of these are on labels of food purchased). There are tables to help you understand the concept as well as recipes and menues.

This is an eating strategy that works. But, your expectation should be to stay fit for life. Eat this way for the rest of your life.

I am a male with a small frame. My normal weight in my early 20's was about 128 to 135. I was considered too skinny. My optimal weight is 140 to 145 depending on muscle mass.

This year I lost 25 pounds, from 170 to 145. In 6 months my belly fat went from 40 inches to 32 inches--that's 8 inches! I also added muscle mass in my legs.

The principles I took most to heart from this book are:
--Do not get your calories from liquids. (I kept to this but could have done much better if I would have also quit coffee and daily wine consumption.
--Switch to foods that are higher on the satiety index.

The things that I did besides these two things as are follows:
--I stepped up my exercise, little by little. Recently I started jogging. (jogging helped take off the last 5 pounds faster)

--I did not count calories fully, but I became calorie conscious. I read all labels. I went to web sites. For instance, I switched to the Ruby Tuesday Veggie burger think I reduced the calorie. In reality, the veggie burger was over 800 calories without anything else. The bison burger was almost the same calories. All I was really doing is reducing fat, not calories. Educate yourself on what calories you consume.

--I elimninated fast food and sodas altogether. I might eat fast food once in 4-6 weeks.

--I reduced my portion size, trying to estimate calorie limits

--I switched to Veggie burgers and very lean meats. Turkey sub at Subway, without the cheese, with light mayo, on wheat, and all the veggies, is incredible on the satiety index for me, and only about 400-500 calories.

--I added breakfast. I never ate breakfast in my life. I mainly use yogurt. I buy all kinds of different yogurt so I do not get burned out.

--I never go more than 3-4 hours without eating. This one is hard so I eat a bit of yogurt, freuit, or slim-fast protein drinks for the in-between meals. The idea is to keep the metabolism high.

--I increased fruits and veggies, and other healthy foods. But I make sure that I do not overdo any one food. I try to not get redundant else I will get burned out--even on a good thing. This has to be maintainable the rest of my life.

--I reduces drastically processed foods such as chips, cookies, wheat thins, and other snacks. I went to popcorn instead.

--I have exceptions, but use the exceptions to make sure that my diet is not too restrictive. Too restrictive could cause me to just quit altogether. It is better to eat the chips, cookies, burgers, and fries on occasion if that is what keeps you fit for life. None of those things will cause you to sabotage the whole diet, but certainly they must become occasional, not the norm.

--I never lost more than a pound or 2 a week. Big calorie deficits will slow down your metabolism. Create a small deficit, switch to foods high on satiety index, elimiate calories in drinks, and you can easily lose some initial weight. After that, it may become a struggle where you have to do many different things such as exercise or change up your food.

--I could have had faster results had I adhered more attentively to the diet principles, but I just wanted progress, not overnight miracles.

In all, this book can help set a eating strategy that will create the calorie deficit you need and never be hungry. Additionally, it is balanced, not too restrictive, and maintainable for life. That is the key to success. Low carb, low fat, and too low of calorie diets are not the answer for fit for life for most Americans.

This book, however, must be combined with other diet principles. I do not view it as an end all, one resource book.

The concepts presented in this book are interesting and valid. The idea of beefing up any dish with free fruits or veggies to up the appetite control and lower the caloric intake makes sense. Also presented are helpful lists of food choices and amounts, helping the reader make wise decisions. However, the recipes included leave a lot to desire. Apparently, the title deals with volume, not taste!! If you want to customize your own food plan and incorporate some of these ideas, you'll be happy with reading this. It is a healthful program, and one that falls in line with heart-smart and diabetic diets.

Diet was highly rated by Consumers report. Book was easy to understand and made horse sense. I am a volume eater and the other diets didn't fill me. This idea works and I am using it. Only shortcoming was too few recipes Looking for a second book with more.
The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan

Everyone that's been sucked in by the low low-carb diet craze (or any other fad diet) should read this book. The author writes the scientific facts behind losing weight and keeping the weight off.

I've already lost 11lbs using the books principles. It's taken 6 weeks to lose that weight; the book doesn't promise quick results. However, I feel confident that the results are permanent, and I'll continue to lose 1 to 2 lbs a week until I get to my healthy weight.

The menu items are great. Our whole family loves the meals.

I saw this book on the news station one morning and decided to purchase it because it was considered one of the top books for consistent weight loss. This book has a lot of great information, and I was hooked even after the first couple of pages. This book does not tell you to avoid the good foods that we all like, with respect to fried foods, chocolate, and desserts. Rather, the book offers better food choices and explains in full detail what a fat is, what a carbohydrate is, and it's so easy to understand. I love this book because it tells you this is not a diet, but a newer way of eating the correct way. Spend the $8 to get it; it will retrain your thinking about eating and eating the right way, so you're not only more full at dinner, but you won't feel guilty about eating that piece of chocolate cake.

Let me start off by saying I am not interested in fad diet books. I have successfully lost weight on my own and am mearly looking for different points of view to help me continue to eat and stay healthy. The premise of this book is very simple, if you eat foods that allow you to eat a large volume of food for little calories (low energy density), it can help you to feel more satiated. Obviously, it is slightly more complex that that with examples of what this means when it comes to different types of foods (like protein, veggies, etc.), but overall it is easy to grasp what the authors are talking about. What I like about this book is that it is subtantiated with lots of study examples from all over the world. It also provides lots of examples of how to put the premise to good use either with your own existing recipes or some of the recipes in the book. Most of them, like eating soup with your meals because in studies those who did tended to eat less in the meals that follow, are very easy to implement. This is great because you can take the suggestions that seem like they would work with your lifestyle and combine them with what you're currently doing. That's great for someone like me who has a lot of existing recipes and is constantly looking for ways to make things more healthy. It also debunks a lot of the diet myths we've heard (i.e. that drinking water makes you eat less). The downside of this book, is that once you have read it the concept is pretty easy to grasp so unless you really love the recipes you probably won't turn to it as a constant resource. To me that makes it more worth a read at the library than a purchase for my bookshelf.

Excellent book, good information that needs to be absorbed again and again. I lost 40 pounds last year without "dieting". I continue to read it on a periodic basis just to keep the ideas fresh in my head.