Customer Reviews

Volumetrics: Feel Full on Fewer Calories

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Volumetrics" is the best weight management book available today. This is the book anybody interested in weight management should read. It is a refreshingly honest approach that refutes a lot of the diet hype books on the market today. The book offers practical advice on how to control your hunger, as well as recipes. It doesn't offer the phony promises of "burn away fat while eating lard" that so many of the blockbuster diets on the market offer. Instead, it delivers a pound-shedding plan to lose excess weight without feeling hungry that is based on years of science research. The general premise is built around research that indicates that people eat the same WEIGHT of food everyday, regardless of the number of calories that it contains. Lower the calorie content, but not the food's weight and you will lose excess pounds without going hungry. It is a very easy book to read and includes recipes for meals, and is easier to follow than other energy density-base books such as the Pritikin Principle. It also appears more thorough and honest than Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss. The book's only weakness is its lack of color photographs and illustrations, which is unfortunate because that will probably hurt sales.

This book gave a lot of valuable information in a relatively succinct manner. Understanding this simple theory, and with plenty of examples, food choices, and menu items, following the book made it easy to adjust my food choices to feel full on less calories, and provides an easy approach to managing weight.

The authors also debunk the 40-30-30 method of eating which is very popular right now, and without mentioning him by name, Barry Sears "Zone" approach.

The only real criticism, which does not detract from the subject matter, is the layout of the book. Too many "sidebar" type inserts are included which made it impossible to read the book in a flowing manner. Additionally, much of that information would have been better included in an appendix. You also have to look for the information in more than one place, when a more thoughtful approach would have included that information in one table. For example, dietary fiber content, which is important, is contained in one table, while the number of calories and energy density (the main focus of the book) are in another. This information could have and should have been combined in one table, which would have made the book a much better resource.

If you have food allergies, or sensitivites, or are required to make restrictions for other reasons, you are on your own as to what foods to eliminate from the authors' recommendations. That is something outside the scope of this book.

I found this book to be a sensible way to approach eating- for life, not just dieting. It contains a wealth of practical advice that is supported by solid research evidence. The meal plans and recipes are varied, not overly burdensome, and the ones I tried were delicious.

I am a fitness and nutrition fanatic (just ask Amazon who I could singlehandedly support)! I own 100s of nutrition and diet books, and this ranks near the top. Why? Well, first, this is the ONLY diet plan that I have followed that has not left me feeling deprived and hungry most of the day. Second, I have been able to lose the weight I wanted following this plan. Third, this plan is healthy, well-researched and does not promote the exclusion of any food type, which makes maintaining weight after weight loss extremely difficult to impossible. And finally, the author presents her research and information in a clear-cut and easily understandable manner.

As a result, this is a plan that I will be able to follow for life, which means I may be in the minority of people who is able to maintain my weight long-term. I can't recommend this book enough. If I was stranded on a desert island and could only bring one of my many nutrition books with me, this would be it. I look forward to reading Dr. Rolls' update to this book, entitled the Volumetrics Eating Plan, which was released this month.

I have tried to lose weight and this approach is the first that actually works. I have lost 7 pounds in 2 months. It is a sensible approach to one's diet, focusing on eating lots of vegetables and fruits.

When you fill up on water-rich food (veggies & fruits), it's easy to avoid ingesting foods like chips and sweets. The idea is to eat when you are hungry, but eat foods that are veggie-rich. It also suggests that you don't eat when you're not hungry. I found this hard at first, but when I want to eat and am not hungry, I make myself a healthy salad, and it's satisfying.

Give this a shot - the book is worth it's cost. I'm finally down the road of weight loss! I hope it works for you, too!

I applaud the authors for presenting truthful information about dieting that seeks to be helpful even at the potential cost of missing simple-minded readers seeking an easy out offered by the latest fad diet. The book is well organized, easy to read, convincing, and helpful to those who want to learn and are serious about dealing with weight problems for the long term.

This is the single best diet book I have used. I have tried both the protein diet and Suzanne Somer's food combination diet, and both left me feeling hungry and sick a lot of the time. I was also never able to stick with either of them for an extended period of time. This book has some incredible recipes and the meal sizes are large enough even for me! I've also noticed that a lot of the strong cravings I used to get for unhealthy foods like pizza and donuts have significantly decreased. It must be because I spend the week enjoying great food instead of counting the minutes till the weekend when I allowed myself to eat the bad stuff. I would highly recommend this book!

When this book came out there was very little hype about it. The title is not sexy, there are no exciting visuals, weight loss is not fast. Thus many people ignored it and hopped on the "diet of the week" bandwagon.

Yet "The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan" by Rolls and Barnett is one of the best, easiest to follow "diet" plans on the market. And it is backed up by research.

The plan is simple. On a daily average most people eat about the same weight of food. That weight could have a caloric value of 1500 calories or 2500 calories depending on what you select to eat. Rolls and Barnett teach you to eat lower calorie but high satiety foods by increasing the water rich foods in your diet. Foods like fruits and vegetables. These will fill you up and thus you will eat less.

For example you could eat Italian Pasta Salad with a lot of veggies and for 200 calories eat TWICE as much as Italina Pasta Salad thats heavy on the rotini. You could eat one 60 calorie cookie in a snap or eat one juicy water filled apple for the same amount of calories over a longer period of time. You get more food for the same calories. Because you are eating more food you will over the course of the day eat less and thus your calories will be lower and you will over time lose weight.

Rolls and Barnett give plenty of recipes, substitutions, and suggestions to help you easily accomplish your goals. Try it today. Have a cup of soup or an apple prior to eating lunch. Thise foods are filling and you will eat less of the energy dense foods like chips and candy.

An easy to understand, excellent plan for good health and weight loss!

I lost 15.4lbs in 4 months without feeling hungry. Best of all I have kept the weight off for one year.

The information on serving sizes, comparison of fat, calories/volume of different types of foods & showing how to load up on fresh veggies re-educated me in making better food choices. I found the illustrations like raisins(small volume) vs grapes (large volume) an eye opener as to how differences in water content or fibre can fill me up with much less calories.

The eating management plan was sensible & balanced. The chapter on how to work out my daily calorie & nutrition requirements helped me gain control of my eating. I only had to reduce my calorie intake modestly to lose weight slowly & steadily. Together with exercise I am now lighter, fitter & more energetic.

Although I didn't use most of the recipes in the book, the recipe renovations gave me lots of tips on how to make my own cooking more healthful.

The great thing is that knowing how to rationalise the major food groups in my daily diet meant that there were no forbidden foods.

Dr. Barbara Rolls takes a common sense, practical, honest and realistic approach to weightloss without relying on gimmicks or making false promises. She is renowned and very well-respected in her field, and has researched this topic thoroughly and in depth, fully understanding the difficulties typically encountered when one tries to diet.

Always fit and trim, I suddenly found that, in my 40's, I could not lose those few extra pounds that seemed to appear overnight. Old dietary methods seemed to have no effect, and I was almost resigned to the "reality" that middle-age spread had come to stay. Not so! I followed her suggests (which were easily applicable, and logical), and found that I was eating food that was both satisfying and filling but without the extra calories. In fact, I actually found myself eating less because of the higher water content, and could easily get through on a breakfast of 4-5 luscious, juicy fruits to mid-afternoon without feeling hungry.

I would definitely recommend this method to anyone who has difficulty losing those stubborn pounds, and who wishes to gain a healthier eating habit at the same time. I have since recommended Dr. Rolls' book to acquaintences, and they all have found it to be effective. If you are interested in a healthful, nutritious, satisfying diet, this is the one for you!