How To Lose Weight Without Being Hungry? (The Secret Of The Volumetrics Diet)

To start, let’s try a small experiment: try to hold your breath as long as possible. 

….

For how long did you manage to hold your breath? I don’t know what about you, but after 47 seconds I had to breathe :) 

The world record, by the way, is around 24 minutes!  

What we can conclude from this example, is that even if we are well-trained and have the strongest willpower and motivation in history, we will not be able to hold our breath for more than a few minutes. 

Now, eating less than your body needs is equal to holding your breath. Fighting our natural instinct to eat is an impossible battle. That’s how we have evolved as humans. 

Unfortunately, that’s exactly the area where many people fail in losing weight and keeping it off. Most diets are centred around limiting portions, skipping meals and just eating less food. Those methods lead people to feel hungry all day long. It might be effective in the short term, but it leads to binge eating episodes and yo-yo dieting in the long term. 

However, when you implement the formula that allows you to eat more and still lose weight, you’re on the golden path to permanent weight loss. Forget about cravings, counting calories and lack of energy. You’ll lose weight without feeling on a diet. 

But wait, how is it possible to be in a calorie deficit without cutting food intake and without feeling hungry? 

Let’s explore this simple and eye-opening principle that will help you eat more, but weigh less. 

The 44 Cups Of Blueberries Test

Our stomach has “stretch receptors” that signal our brain to stop eating when we’re full. It turns out that our stomach can only expand to fit around 4 cups of food, and we consume around 3 pounds of food a day. Many different elements affect our satiety and hunger, but the most important one is the volume of food we eat. 

Taking this into consideration, eating more volume of food is probably not the reason the obesity pandemic started, contrary to the common belief. People are eating the same amount of food as before, however, they are eating foods that have greater calorie density. 

Calorie density is simply a measure of how many calories are in a given weight of food, most often expressed as calories per pound. As you can see in the chart, foods like oil, butter and nuts have very high-calorie density, while foods like fruits, veggies and beans have very low-calorie density. 

For example, 1 cup of oil contains around 2,000 calories, while you’d have to consume 44 cups of blueberries to get 2,000 calories! Even though blueberries are delicious, I can’t imagine a person who’s able to eat so much of them :) 

Studies show that on a daily basis, we tend to eat a similar amount of food, so it would make sense that if there were fewer calories in the same volume of food, you’d take in fewer calories and lose more weight. 

A fascinating study proved the efficiency of this principle. Researchers in Hawaii tried putting people on a traditional, Hawaiian diet without limiting the portions participants eat. The only guideline in the research was that the foods have to be unprocessed and plant-based.

The study subjects lost an average of 17 pounds in just 21 days. Caloric intake dropped by 40%, but not because they were eating less food. The subjects lost 17 pounds in 3 weeks eating more food, in excess of four pounds of food a day. Anyone who has some history with diets will tell you that those numbers are fascinating, given the fact the subject didn’t have to count calories, eat less or abstain from carbs. 

What Affects The Calorie Density Of Foods? 

Let’s look at those 3 main elements:

1. Water is the main element that reduces the calorie density of foods. Usually, fruits and veggies are 85-95% water, while calorie-dense foods like butter and nuts barely have any water inside. Look at the difference between grapes and raisins: raisins are 4 times higher in calorie density compared with grapes, while the only difference is the water inside. 
2. Fiber also reduces the calorie density of foods, simply because it takes up the volume but it doesn’t translate into calories in our digestive system. Moreover, fiber itself also contributes to our satiety and health massively. You will find high fiber intake in unprocessed plant-based foods, like vegetables, legumes and whole grains. 
3. Fat immensely increase the calorie density of foods. While every gram of protein or carb contains 4 calories, every gram of fat contains 9 calories. In fact, if you think about it, it is almost impossible to gain weight if you’re consuming low-fat foods. For example, potatoes are great for weight loss and have low-calorie density. But french fries are obviously bad. Why? Because 78%! Of the calories in french fries are coming from the oil, even though the oil doesn’t add any volume. Outstanding. 

2 birds with 1 stone

Incorporating low-calorie dense foods is good not only for weight loss but also for health. As you see, the foods in the green section are usually very healthy as well- vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains. 

Many nutrition experts claim that when we don’t get enough micronutrients in our diet (fiber, vitamins, minerals) our body will get confused, and it’ll increase our appetite and cravings because the body is seeking those nutrients. That can also explain the obesity pandemic in the world nowadays, where people eat less nutritious foods. This approach is not 100% proven yet, but it does show another positive impact of those low-calorie dense foods. 

Moreover, those foods are very similar to the foods our species have evolved to eat for decades and decades. In primal nature, it’s hard to find actual calorie-dense foods, perhaps besides nuts (that are usually found in small amounts). Even the meat our ancestors ate was wild, very low in fat and thus low in calorie density. 

It’s fascinating, but most of the calorie-dense foods people eat nowadays are a result of the agricultural and industrial revolutions. Getting back to our primal diet, which includes simple and mostly plant-based foods, can be the solution here. 

How To Put It Into Practice

Practically, the low-calorie dense diet (also called the volumetrics diet) is very simple. The volumetrics diet includes 3 food groups: 

• Foods you can eat without limitations (the green side of the chart): fruits, veggies, whole grains, oats, potatoes, starches, beans, legumes, and more..,
• Foods you can eat with light limitations (the orange side of the chart): bread, pasta, fish, avocados, leans meat
• Foods to eat sparingly (the red side of the chart): oil, cheese, butter, nuts and seeds. 

To make it even easier to comprehend, here are 10 ideas for dishes that fit this lifestyle: 

1. Oatmeal
2. Pasta with tomato sauce
3. Sandwich with hummus
4. Salad with tofu/chicken
5. Stir-fries
6. Indian dahl
7. Beans burrito
8. Smoothies based on fruits
9. Vegetable-based soups with bread
10. Baked potatoes

The beautiful thing about the volumetric way of eating is that it’s possible to enjoy many dishes you love, with minor adjustments! 

Personally, I've been following this way of eating for the last 5 years or so. People are always surprised by the big portions I eat :)

And remember, you don’t need to be hungry in order to lose weight. Limiting portions, counting calories and eating less never work in the long term. However, the volumetric diet is sustainable, satisfying, easy to follow and effective. 

If you're curious about the volumetric diet, and you want more guidance on how to do this right, feel free to send me a message and we can chat :)