The problem we have in our modern society is a meal like this will likely have a huge amount of processed content. Content that tends to have a lot of fat, sugar, and highly refined carbohydrates. The average fast food combo is a calorie nightmare with many popular meals coming in over 1000 calories.

This is slightly better than the average restaurant meal, that is super sized with huge portions, and contains huge amounts of fat and sugar. It’s not uncommon to have meals top 1500 to 2000 calories in one sitting. Add in that huge chocolate dessert and you may tip the scales at 3000 calories. Multiply this by three meals a day and you really have a problem… (not to mention those Grandé Starbuck’s lattés at 500-600 calories apiece)

The average sized person should have 2000-2500 calories a day to be healthy and maintain weight. Men tend to carry more muscle so they will usually burn more calories than women. With this in mind, you can see how easy it is to overeat, with one meal possibly containing all the calories you need for a whole day. It takes just 3500 excess calories to gain a pound of weight.

So what can we do to have satisfying meals and not feel deprived and be hungry all the time?

Enter Volumetrics, a fantastic eating plan based around the principle of energy density in food. Energy density is simply the amount of calories per gram of food. For the same calories, you can eat a larger portion of lower-energy density food. By adding low density vegetables, high fiber and water-packed ingredients, as well as lowering the fat content of a favorite dish, you can create low calorie meals and keep the basic taste you enjoy.

As an example, Raisins are dried grapes. 100 calories worth of raisins fill only one-quarter cup, while 100 calories of fresh, whole grapes fill one and two-thirds cups. You’ll feel satisfied after one and two-thirds cups of grapes, but if you’re eating raisins, you’re likely to keep filling your mouth.

Barbara Rolls Phd, is the creator of this program and has written two popular books on the subject that can help you create tasty and fully satisfying low calorie meals with just minor changes. Her latest book, The Volumetrics Eating Plan, gives you the complete science behind the program. She takes you inside her food lab and shows you the results of her extensive experiments.

I found this book fascinating and also very enlightening. Her research shows that the average person will tend to eat the same volume of food whether it is high or low density. Create low density meals and you’ll feel satisfied without gaining weight.

Her research is very complete and she backs it up with practical and easy to make recipes. She also offers strategies for eating out at restaurants and also acceptable fast food choices. While much of her content is common sense, some of her findings really explain why we have an epidemic of obesity in the United States.

Her original paperback focused directly on weight loss. Called The Volumetrics Weight Control Program, this book is a diet focused version of her program and offers straight forward recipes and strategies to help you lose weight and keep it off… effortlessly.

Her books have received rave reviews and will make a great addition to your diet and fitness library. I have taken many of her low density meals and added them to my weight loss strategy. It is really easy to “tune” your daily calorie intake with her plan. Her meal plan choices are arranged in 400 and 500 calorie segments which make them easy to calculate and follow.

Her audio book is available on CD and is a great way to learn about her plan while driving or commuting. Her accompanying diet PDF has her meal plans that you can view on your computer and then print out. I was pleasantly surprised how interesting the audio was. I would highly recommend the audio book version if you are pressed for time or have a long commute.

This plan has helped me take my Nutritional Tuning idea to a new level. Either of these books with their extensive recipe lists will make a great addition to a complete fitness plan such as 5 Factor Fitness or Body for Life. All of her recipes have a food density listing which makes it extremely easy to get filled up without the calories.

Her soup recipe modifications make the point. She has pictures of a standard soup and one that has been modified with lower density ingredients. It’s easy to see that you’ll have a much better bowl of soup for the same calories with just some simple modifications.

I think I’m going to make some soup….

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I’ve decided to use the exercise and weight training framework of Body for Life along with some healthy and easy to create food choices. The exercise program is pretty straight forward with aerobic exercise three days a week along with three days of weight training.

The food part is designed around 1700 calories a day divided into 6 smaller meals. This is where the tuning part comes in. Most diets are based around three substantial meals, which has the effect of spiking blood sugar right after a meal and then dropping off. This leads to the dreaded late morning and after lunch slumps.

To overcome this it’s best to have 3 smaller meals each followed a few hours later by a nutritional snack. This will keep blood sugar levels more constant and help keep you at your peak all day. Over the last couple of years I’ve experimented with many different meals and snacks and have found a trio that works really well for me.

All three are easy to make and are completely portable so I can take them with me on the run. I can custom “tune” them to adjust fiber, protein, and calorie levels. I can also add a variety of ingredients to change flavors and add the needed variety to make them palatable week after week.

Here is the Tunable Trio…

1. Power Shakes. These are great for breakfast and they are portable enough to take with you anywhere. You can make one in under three minutes with just a blender and a few readily available ingredients. These are easily “tunable” with the addition of protein powder or psyllium fiber. A great resource for Smoothie recipes is the book, The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko from Men’s Health Magazine.

Here is one of my favorites from David’s book….

1 Cup 1% Milk
2 Tablespoons low fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup instant oatmeal (cooked in water)
2 teaspoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons chocolate whey protein powder
6 ice cubes
Optional: 1 tablespoon psyllium powder for insoluble fiber

Mix ingredients in a blender until smooth. Makes 2 eight ounce servings.

I love this recipe and it can be easily modified by adding a banana, cinnamon, or substituting vanilla protein powder. The basic recipe comes in at 220 calories with 12 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. I usually add some psyllium for added fiber and find it really fills me up and gives me lasting energy. It’s quick to make, tastes delicious, and I can make two meals from one recipe. I usually share this with my wife for a quick on-the-go meal in the morning.

2. Convenient Muffins. Muffins have gotten a bad rap with the fat laden behemoths that you find at Costco or your local convenience store. Most have 30-40 grams of fat and come in at 600-800 calories apiece. This type of muffin is a total diet killer. With some simple modifications you can create muffins that are healthy, tasty, and will stick with you with good amounts of protein and fiber.

The key ingredient to great muffins is Oat Bran. It has a mildly pleasant taste and you can make them sweet with the addition of brown sugar or honey. The great thing about this basic oat bran muffin is that it is easy to add ingredients to completely change the flavor. You can add your favorite fruit to easily make banana, peach, or blueberry muffins.

With the addition of protein powder, yogurt, or psyllium fiber you can “tune” your muffins to make them healthier and not spike your blood sugar. These ingredients add satiety to the muffins and you’ll find they will stick with you longer and not give you the usual blood-sugar dip of so many high carbohydrate snacks.

Here is a basic recipe that is easy to modify.

2 cups oat bran cereal, uncooked
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 carton (8 oz) plain low fat yogurt
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup blueberries
Option 1: One scoop vanilla protein powder
Option 2: Two tablespoons psyllium powder
Substitutions: Substitute a banana or peaches for the blueberries

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line 12 medium muffin cups with paper baking cups. Combine oat bran, brown sugar and baking powder. Add combined yogurt, egg whites, skim milk, honey, and oil, mixing just until moistened. Fold in blueberries or other fruit. Fill muffin cups almost full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

I’ve used this recipe with a variety of different fruit substitutions. The basic muffin recipe comes in at about 130 calories apiece, so they make a great snack that is easy to take with you. I usually add the protein powder and psyllium and I find they will keep me going all morning.

3. English Muffin Sandwich: The basic English muffin is a great vehicle for sandwich creation. You can add a variety of things to make great tasting, low calorie meals that are easy to take with you. Thomas’s English Muffins now offer a 100 calorie variety that is just perfect for tuning your diet. It has additional fiber and is low fat.

You can add low fat turkey, chicken, or beef lunch meat for an under 200 calorie meal. With the addition of low fat cheese and tomato slices you can create a fast deluxe sandwich in just minutes. For breakfast I like to cook up some Morningstar veggie sausage patties and make a low fat sausage muffin. I can have two of these for under 400 calories and be filled up all morning.

For additional food items, check out Devin Alexander’s Fast Food Fix. She has taken many of our common fast foods and modified them to be healthier and quick to make from home. She has a popular cooking show on the Discover channel where she will show you how easy it is to cook your favorite foods at home.

If you like the smoothies and are looking for more recipies, be sure to pick up the Abs Diet 6 Minute Meals book. This has all sorts of great tunable recipes to fix almost any diet plan.

When you are out shopping be sure to pick up some protein powder, oat bran, and some psyllium powder. These three ingredients allow you to add protein, soluble fiber and insoluble fiber to almost any meal.

If you are looking for healthy alternatives to fast food and the usual over processed packaged foods why not give the tunable trio a try. You’ll save calories and have some delicious meals you can take with you on the go. Enjoy!

For an overview on Tuning Your Life see our previous post.

Technorati Tags: diet, fitness, meal planning

There were the usual over-hyped titles where you supposedly can lose a lot of weight in a short period of time. The big names in the fitness world were all displayed with toned bodies with before and after pictures. The diet industry giants like Weight-Watchers all had their new recipe books. But over to the side was a yellow book with an interesting title that caught my eye.

It was entitled, The Reverse Diet, and the premise was that you could lose weight by eating dinner for breakfast. This actually had a familiar ring to it. My grandmother used to say that you should always have a big breakfast and you won’t be hungry the rest of the day.

When I looked inside the front cover I found that the author, Tricia Cunningham, had lost over 150 pounds using this simple technique and had maintained her weight loss for over 6 years. This was a success story like Jared of Subway restaurants. It was simple and something most anyone could do.

I looked further into the book and perused the actual menu selections. The plan focused on non-processed foods and lean proteins. But the difference was in the portion sizes and meal combinations. You reverse your meal sizes, times, and content to better distribute your calories throughout the day.

You eat like a king in the morning, a prince at lunch, and a pauper at dinner.

The diet also includes a morning and afternoon snack to keep you fueled throughout the day. The diet choices are very similar to those presented in Eating for Life, and other well rounded menu plans. While exercise is recommended, this is primarily a diet book, with an extensive list of menu choices.

I like the simple premise of this book. It fits into a niche that works for me. As a morning person, focusing on a substantial breakfast will be easier than fixing a big dinner. The menu choices are easy to follow and prepare. This book will make a great addition to my diet library and along with a sensible exercise program should be a great tool to help me reach my fitness goals.

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