The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan

"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!"
~ Written on 2008-08-13

"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!!!"
~ Written on 2008-08-11

"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
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~ Written on 2008-06-28

"The quality of the books are excellent. I had a problem receiving the books, though. When tracking them I was told they were delivered, but I had never received them. I got connected with customer service through the website and they helped make things right by re-sending my order. These books came in the same time I should have received my other books. I feel confident that I can order through Amazon again and they will make sure that I am satisfied. Thank you, Amazon! "
~ Written on 2008-06-05

"The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan is the best thing to come into my life since sliced bread - no pun intended. Barbara Rolls is a researcher and scientific investigator who isn't trying to sell you overnight success or supplements or super-duper curves or a body to die for. In fact, as far as I've been able to figure she ONLY selling her 2 books, and boy are they worth every penny you'll spend to buy them. The science isn't new, just the presentation. The book is filled with color pictures that actually SHOW the difference between a quarter cup of raisins versus a cup of grapes - a veggie pizza wedge versus a cheese slice.

The premise is simple and the science is sound. Your body doesn't know from fat, carbs, etc. It know from FULL or NOT. Make it think it's full, it'll quit nagging you to eat. It's so simple I can't imagine why we haven't all come to this plan.

Why am I using this book? I'm fat. I've been fat for about 16 years. I'm glucose intolerant, have high blood pressure, and before I found this book I was on the way to full blown diabetes, the very real possibility of a stroke, blown knees, and a life of waiting to die. My doctors have been telling me a simple truth for years. ALL - that means every single one - of your physical ills are directly attributable to being overweight. Sound familiar? For years they've been saying - start with 1800 calories Mary. Lose 20 pounds. Then we'll reevaluate. Just begin, Mary. So - I began - dozens of times. And failed. Dozens of times. I beat myself up mercilessly for my failures. Then, trolling Amazon as I am wont to do, I bumped into Volumetrics. OK, I thought. Can't hurt. Nope. Didn't hurt a bit. This is far and away the best eating plan I've ever met, and I've met a few. As soon as I started charting 1800 calories a day using the principles in the book - I started losing - slowly and steadily. And I felt full - ate stuff I loved - learned to plan for the day - even the week - bought a nice big roomy food carrier to take to the office. It's not in the carrier - it doesn't go in my mouth. For all of you out there who have been praying for the one that clicks - try this. It's a cheap price to pay for what may be the most important book you'll ever buy. It works for me and my hand to God, it'll work for you. Try it. You'll love it.
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~ Written on 2008-06-05