Getting the Most for Your Calorie Buck with Food Volume

By: Bec Gormley

Expect to be hungry when dieting

While we should expect some level of hunger while dieting, there are some ways you can reduce the “stomach growls” by making smarter food choices. Dieting doesn’t have to mean LESS food…it just requires LESS calories! 

Let’s Talk Food Volume

All of our coaches here at Macros Inc spend a lot of time educating our clients on the concept of food volume as it is a massive advantage if you know how to use it correctly. If you can bulk up your meals with plenty of fibrous veggies like spinach, mushrooms, red bell peppers, pumpkin, zucchini, then this helps boost up your fibre intake and your nutrient density, both which have a very positive effect not just on your health but especially your hunger! Add some protein to the mixture and you are good to go.

Think smart!

Get more bang for your calorie buck! Do you want to eat 3 Brazil nuts or 129 blueberries for the exact same calories? Or how about ½ McDonald’s burger for 4 whole apples. Sure, the burger is delicious, but you get my point. Eating a meal or snack that’s not filling and makes you hungry 30mins later will make it nearly impossible to stick to a lower calorie plan. You’ll find yourself picking more at snacks, which will add up very quickly in calories. Therefore, I can’t emphasize enough why focusing on food volume is one of the best strategies to help combat this.

Our Stomach Isn’t Great at Knowing the Calorie Content of A Modern Meal

While your stomach and brain do have some ability to judge the caloric content of a meal, one of the major ways your body determines meal size and satiety is by the extent of which it has been filled to signal to your brain that you are full. So, if you swap out a small bowl of pasta with zucchini spirals (or even do half and half if you aren’t that savage yet) the volume doubles, but the calories don’t. The meal is now larger, our stomach can recognize greater food volume and signals that we are full, and we don’t feel the need to eat more after. I’m all about balance, fill up 80% of your day with voluminous, nutritious meals and then fill up your psychological belly with 20% fun foods! 

Here are a few very simple ways to get more food volume!

• Apples instead of bananas
• Carrots instead of crackers
• Fibrous veggies instead of pasta
• Potatoes instead of rice
• Chicken instead of ground beef
• Green salads instead of pasta salads

Below are some fantastic examples of how Macros Inc Clients are getting the most bang for their calorie buck! #foodvolume