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Lose weight while keeping your stomach full? It may sound like another myth, But you'll be happy to know: it is NOT.
There is a way you can eat as much as you like and still lose weight. And we are here to tell you how.
It's called the volumetric diet. A diet that emphasizes low-calorie and nutrient-rich foods to help you lose weight.
Yes, all you have to do is focus on the volume: eat anything you like but increase the number of high-volume foods. In other words, foods with either higher water, protein or fiber content that are low in calories.
How Does This Work?
The goal is to make you feel full while having fewer calories so that you can reach your goal without starving yourself. Various studies have shown that, when it comes to making you feel full, what matters the most is the weight of the food, not the calories. And that's what the caloric density is.
Having less caloric-dense food means you will feel fuller on lower calories. While the high caloric dense food means you will need more calories to make your stomach full.
For example: plums and prunes are relatively the same, right? You must be thinking that both have equal calories. But here's the thing: prunes have five times more calories than plums. Why's that?
That's because of the lower water content in prunes as compared to plums. One hundred grams of plums have just 46 calories, while the same amount of prunes have 240 calories, making them high-calorie-dense food.
Think about it!
Here are some more examples of foods that make you feel equally full but have drastically lower calories.
A 1/4lb Burger has 14x the calories as a 1/4lb salad. But they both weigh the same which means they will both make you equally full.
One cup of Broccoli and one serving of french fries will make you equally full. One cup of broccoli only has 31 calories, while 1 serving of french fries has 365 calories.
One cup of Grapes and 1/5 cup of raisins are the same thing. Raisins are just dried grapes and they should both make you feel equally full right? Wrong. Grapes are 82% water which makes you feel full faster.
The worst part when eating high-caloric dense foods is that you don't even realize that your eating more calories.
The best part of eating low-caloric dense foods is that you don't even realize you're eating less calories ;)
Which Foods are Low in Calories?
When it comes to a volumetric diet, there aren't any foods that are restricted. If you want to have a small slice of cake on your friend's birthday, go ahead. If you are craving your favorite fries, have some. All you have to do is limit the quantity of foods with higher caloric density (CD).
But how do you know which food has higher caloric density? How much should you limit that food? Don't worry. We are here to help you. We classify all the foods into four simple categories so that you can easily identify which food has high CD and which has Low.
Healthy: Lowest CD
Foods in this category are the base of a volumetric diet as they contain higher protein, fiber and water content to make you feel full for longer. These should include 50% of your diet. Such foods include:
Fruits
Non-starchy vegetables
Non-fat dairy products
Broth-based soups
Legumes
Lean protein, like fish or poultry
Whole grains
Moderately Healthy: Medium CD
These foods should include 30% of your diet do not have much water content and should be consumed occasionally and in moderate amounts:
Refined Carbs
High-fat Dairy products
Salad dressings
Fatty meat
Starchy vegetables, like corn, potato, and turnips.
Fun Foods: Highest CD
This category contains processed foods with higher amounts of fats and sugar. Such foods should include 20% of your diet and should be eaten sparingly:
Candies
Chips
Chocolates
Crackers
Cooking oil
Other processed foods like pizza & fries
Sticking to the first two categories is recommended if you want to lose weight, but that does not mean you can not have your favorite food. You can also have the fun foods from the last category but in moderation.
Final Words: Feel full with fewer calories
What we want to tell you is that If you have a cup of green salad, you will have 68 calories. But if you have a plate of French fries, that is around 365-450 calories. And most importantly, that cup of salad will keep you feeling full for a long time, but after having the fries, you will be looking for something to eat after an hour.
So, be mindful of what you are eating; if you want to reach your goals, you can follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of the food should be from the first two categories, and the 20% should be of the last category, including your favorite fun food. And you are ready to lose weight.
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