It’s no great mystery that both WHAT you eat and HOW MUCH you eat both contribute to weight loss or gain. But what is the secret sauce? Can you overeat healthy food? Is it the calories, or the volume that signal fullness? Is what you eat more important than how much?
Clearly we’re all different when it comes to what and how much food we can tolerate before it affects our weight. Genetic gifts (and curses) are real: We all have that friend who puts away massive amounts of food day after day and never gains and ounce, and then there are people who are extremely sensitive to calorie balance and have to monitor every bite in order to keep their weight in the desired range. If you fall into the latter camp, read on for some strategies that might tip your scale needle to the left.
Volumetrics
A concept developed and popularized by Penn State University nutrition and obesity researcher Barbara Rolls, Volumetrics is all about energy density – the amount of energy (calories) per weight (or volume) of food. Placing an emphasis on low energy-dense foods while limiting high energy-dense foods results in feeling full with fewer calories, which leads to weight loss over time. Foods with low energy density tend to have lots of water and/or dietary fiber, neither of which provide calories but do provide bulk. So think vegetables, broth-based soups, nonfat milks (and most unsweetened plant milks), and fruits. It might surprise you to find out that intact whole grains, beans and lentils, and low-fat fish are also on the low-energy-dense food list. Foods that are particularly energy dense are oils and butter, sugar, egg yolks (there are 8 times more calories in yolks than whites!), flour-based foods, cheese, baked sweets, nuts and seeds, and fatty meats. But they’re not off limits: measure out small portions of energy dense foods to enjoy with larger portions of low-energy dense foods. It’s about trade-offs.
Put into action:
On noodle night, swap out half your pasta for vegetables, or swap out the noodles for zoodles or shirataki noodles.
When you opt for Chinese takeout, order a large portion of steamed vegetables, and add to a saucy dish and share or enjoy the rest the following day.
Break your fast in the morning with fresh fruit on most days.
Saute in broth or water rather than oil, or to maintain the integrity of the dish, you may use just a little oil and add water as you cook to avoid sticking.
Substitute ½ of your burger mixture with chopped mushrooms.
Substitute at least ½ of rice with cauliflower rice.
Instead of coffee with cream and sugar on your break, try unsweetened fruit tea for a few days.
Make or buy bean or lentil soup on a regular basis, and serve with a crunchy salad for a light but satisfying meal.
Rethink Your Drink
Sweetened beverages are downright insidious. They pack in the calories hardly noticed, as they don’t fill you up, but over time they can do serious damage. Just a morning vanilla latte, plus the bottle of coke at lunch, followed by the beer or wine at night can pack in an easy 900 calories – from beverages alone! And we’re not even counting the spontaneous swigs of OJ or breaktime iced tea or cup of coffee with sugar. Limit your intake to one calorie-containing beverage per day.
Put into action:
Stock up on flavored seltzers, water enhancers, and herbal teas.
Invest in a good water filter.
Just say no to regular sodas and sweet teas, fruit drinks, etc.
If you indulge alcoholic beverages, take 3 sips of water for every sip of alcohol. Try re-filling your wine glass with water rather than pouring another glass of wine.
No limit on veggies
Counting calories is a drag. And you don’t have to. When it comes to vegetables, you don’t have to keep track. (I’m not talking about fried veggies here, or drowned in sauce!) It’s nearly impossible to overdo: they are self-limiting because they’re so darn filling. Think about it – by the time you’ve consumed 100 calories of broccoli, for example, you’ve eaten over three cups of it! Compare that to 100 calories of butter: that’s just 1 tablespoon. Obviously, this is an extreme example. A pure fat is going to provide some fullness and enjoyment, so it’s not about having none — it’s understanding that 3 cups of food like broccoli will give you bulk and fullness, helping you control portions of foods that are far easier to overdo.
Put into action:
Eat a raw vegetable salad every day.
Plan your meals around vegetables.
Mushrooms over pepperoni!
Keep your favorite raw vegetables washed and cut up for easy snacking.
Double the veggie portions you’re used to, and cut other foods by 10-20%.
What about fruit? All that sugar!
Chances are, you can indulge in more fruit than you think. We tend to stop at 1 apple or a small bowl of berries, but experts recommend up to 6 or more servings a day. Fresh fruits have sugar, yes, but in its natural form, delivered in perfect harmony with water, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other protective nutrients. Three apples, which may seem like a lot, will give you the same number of calories as 1 cup of ice cream, but the apples will fill you up far faster.
Put into action:
Keep seasonal fruits in a bowl within reach during the day (apples in the fall, oranges in the winter, peaches in the summer, etc.)
The night before, get fruit ready for breakfast the next day.
Slice up fresh fruit as a side dish at meals. Put it on your plate alongside the other components.
Cuckoo for nuts
Yes, nuts are high in calories, and in a relatively small volume. But interestingly, nuts are an effective satiety aid, especially when consumed raw and unsalted. Studies have shown that nuts do not lead to weight gain — due not only to their satiety but also because it appears that not all of the calories in nuts are absorbed by your body.
Put into action:
When you’re hungry between meals, eat 1 ounce of your favorite nuts (unsalted and preferably raw).
Add some nuts to your salad to give it some staying power, keeping you full until the next meal.
Swap out your usual breakfast with fresh fruit (2 servings) and raw nuts (1 serving) to get a jump start in losing weight.
Whole grains: focus on intact
It’s always a good idea to swap refined grains for whole grains, but the form of the grain matters too. The more intact (whole), the more filling. The reason is, intact whole grains are cooked in water, thus take up a lot of space in your stomach. On the other hand, flour, the most processed form of grains (whole or not), is devoid of water and is often the basis of a food with added sugars and/or fats. A half cup serving of intact whole wheat (called wheat berries) has the same number of calories as a slice of whole wheat bread (even before a spread is smeared on), but those wheat berries are going to fill you up far more than the bread. They also will have a more favorable effect on your blood sugar, preventing those spikes you’d get with even whole grain breads and pastas.
Put into action:
Choose steel cut or thick rolled oats rather than instant oatmeal or oat muffins.
Toss cooked whole grains like barley or quinoa into leafy green salads or sautes.
Make veggie burgers, loaves, or balls out of cooked whole grains and mashed beans, like this one.
Rather than whole wheat pasta which is made from flour, choose less processed whole grains like bulgur, buckwheat, kasha, and farro.
Get recipe ideas using intact whole grains, like this guide on whole grain salads.
Did you notice a common theme with all of these ideas? These secrets to eating less and feeling full all happen to boost your nutrition as well. Many of the lowest energy dense foods are also the highest in nutrient density, and high-quality, whole foods are natural weapons for weight control. So following these guidelines will protect your weight AND your health simultaneously.
