meowee, I guess I've been making it harder than it is.

Just to understand, are you saying you mostly stick to foods with ED of 1 or less? I thought Ed 1 or less were foods you can eat a lot of; ED 1 to 2 foods you need to start portion control (and that's something I've always had a problem with - I mean how much is too much or too little??) and ED over 2 are foods to truly limit.

Is that how you work the program, or do you do it differently? Thanks in advance for any input. I will go to the links you recommended.

You are correct . . . but portion control is one of my problem areas. I'm a true VOLUME eater - have to feel full; consequently the lower I eat on the ED scale the more I get in my stomach. If I'm buying frozen dinners, I try to stick to 1.0 or less simply because it's easy to estimate . . . other than that, I just keep an eye on the basic Principles of Volumetrics . . . high water content; high fibre content; low fat content. Once I start on the higher ED stuff (Ice Cream for example) . . . I don't seem able to stop at a 'reasonable' portion. So, I just try not to start.

I eat a lot of veggies and, except for the starchiest ones, most are very low ED . . . the same for most fruits. I alternate between eating the all-bran type cereal (ED of 2.5) and oatmeal (ED of 0.6) with fruit and some skim milk most days for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are most often soup or low-fat protein with lots of salad. For desserts/snacks, I tend to stick with SF/FF jello or fruit with some low fat Cool Whip (ED of 2.2 for 2 tbsp serving - one of my worst indulgences, I'm afraid).

I will sometimes snack on popcorn (Orville Reddenbaucher's Smart Pop) or Puffed Wheat cereal -- both of which I think have a bad rap by Volumetrics standards. They have a relatively higher ED than I think they deserve because ED is calculated by dividing calories by weight and, of course, the popped/puffed stuff is very light. IMHO 'high air content' should somehow count like 'high water content'.

I do stay away from 'fast food' as much as possible . . . if I do indulge, I try to pick the thing that seems to have the lowest fat content and lowest carb content. Even MacDonald's will now let you include a side salad instead of fries as part of a value meal . . . so that helps . . . a little. Even pizza can be made a bit better . . . choose thin crust with lots of veggies, no high-fat meat, and (as yicky as it sounds) blot it with a couple of napkins to soak up some of the extrta fat before you eat it.

Even when cooking I'm automatically a little fat phobic . . . I tend to use water instead of oil for stir-frying. Bake with applesauce instead of butter or margarine. I eat high fibre tortilla wraps instead of bread or buns (because I want butter on bread and buns).

Losing weight boils down to one general principle -- eat less; move more --how you get there is just a matter of preference. You can eat small amounts of high calorie foods or you can eat larger amounts of lower calorie foods. I choose the latter route.

Wow, what a fantastic post. This is very helpful; thank you so much.

When I looked back on my dieting history I realized the only thing that really worked for me in the long-term was reducing fat, that's why I returned to The T-Factor Diet and started counting fat grams. But I realize now that I was making Volumetrics more complicated than it really was (long story), and really, Volumetrics is an easy way of reducing fat while limiting those calories too.

I am going to start REALLY reading the first book tomorrow. I have the second book on pre-order from amazon.com. It is coming out in paperback next month.

So my husband and I will be officially starting this tomorrow. This is how we'll be doing it: ED under 1: eat to our heart's content. Ed 1 to 2: Start limiting portions. ED 2 and over: Truly limit.

I will see how this works. I too am a BIG volume eater and have problems with portion control. I may just have to do away with foods that have ED over 2, but we'll see.

Thank you so much for starting this thread! I love to cook and will have fun converting old recipes and trying new ones. Thanks for the soup recipe, and again, thanks for starting a Volumetrics team.

Glad you'll be on this journey with us . . . you'll find it gets easier as you go along. There are some really good recipes in the second book. See you soon.

I've found a good way to chase away the afternoon hungries is to whip up a fruit smoothie and it's so easy to do. I usually put in some frozen fruit - just about any will do - about 1/2 cup, about 1/4-1/2 cup LIGHT grape juice or watered down orange juice, 2 ice cubes, yogurt (either plain w/some Splenda for sweetness or Weight Watchers or other light yogurt that's 100 calories or less) and then I let it blend until it's liquid smoothie and it's delicious and filling. My sister gave me a smoothie make several years ago and I dusted it off and use it and it's been a great way to keep from getting hungry in the afternoon and get in more of the required fruits. You can freeze cut up slices of bananas and put those in or any frozen fruit. I find with the Volumetrics that I am no longer hungry with the kind of cravings I used to have. That allows me to portion control more consciously than I used to.
So far so good!
Bearcub

Bearcub, we DO have a smoothie maker, and haven't used it in years. Great idea, with the warm weather coming on! We are going to dust it off and start using it.

This afternoon hubbie had the munchies, so I remembered we had a container of frozen, unsweetened blueberries in the freezer. I partially thawed it, he scooped some in a bowl and topped it with Fat Free Reddi Wip Whipped Topping (ED of 1 for the topping, and very low ED for the fruit).
He loved this and found it very satsifying.

My math is poor so I'll be taking my little calculator with me to the supermarket next time I go shopping to figure out the energy density of everything. I am going to make a game out of it.

Something I have discovered about myself today is that I may be on the verge of (sort of) becoming a vegetarian. As I sat with my DH this afternoon at my FAVE restaurant about to enjoy a very UN-Volumetric Lasagna, I looked at all that meat and nearly hurled. I ate a few very delicious bites, gave the rest to my grateful DH and went back to my side salad. I couldn't even enjoy that lovely splurge because I was thinking of all of that unnecessary fat that I was about shove into my body. I am very surprised by this. I guess I have really been enjoying the Volumetricizing of my old recipes and I ordered vegetarian fajitas for dinner a couple of nights ago at a business dinner.

I have also been really paying attention to how much food I really need to feel full. I am eating less volume and paying attention to what the volume includes. I know it has only been about a week (oooh, I should weigh tomorrow) but I think I have finally had a real a-ha moment in my life. I really want this.

Thanks again for starting this thread for all of us Volu-maniacs.

Good Morning . . .

Another nice sunny (but still cold) day shaping up here in Atlantic Canada. Hope everybody else has a nice one on the horizon, too.

Just finished my absolute favourite breakfast . . . the high protein pancakes that you see floating around on a lot of the 3FC forums . . . fits in with Volumetrics, too.

Protein Pancakes
(makes two large for a total of about 330 calories, including syrup, and an averaged ED of approx. 1.1)

1/2 cup egg whites (ED .5)
1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese (ED .7)
1/2 cup dry oatmeal/rolled oats (not instant) (ED 1.9)

Throw it all in the blender and whiz until smooth (I use one of those little hand-held blender thingees). Spray your pan with some Pam and cook like any other pancake.

Top with 1/4 cup NSA maple-flavoured syrup (ED .5)

Personally, I like these better than any other pancake or waffle and they really fill you up and keep you full (because of all the good low-fat protein).

Okay everybody, I'll see you later . . . have a great moving and shaking kind of day . . .

Coconut Bowl "Cake" - ED <1

Put 2 tb. Aloha Nu Coconut Flour (26 calories/14 g.) in a cereal bowl.

Stir in 1/2 tsp. double acting baking powder (0 cals/2.4 g.)

Add 2 large egg whites (34 cals/66 g), 2 tb. Davinci sugarfree vanilla syrup, and 1 tsp. Z-Trim Gel (0 cals/5 g.)

Stir well, until a nice batter forms.

Microwave on high 2 minutes, uncovered. Let cool, cover and refrigerate. Serve very cold.

I admit this is a strange recipe, and the "cake" looks strange when you take it out of the microwave, but once cold the combination of coconut and vanilla is absolutely delicious. I love this recipe and will make it often. The texture really is cake-like.

. . . Hi Jocelyn. . .

I'm sure that cake is delicious but it's probably just as well that I don't really like coconut . . . . . . the only things on the list of ingredients that we can get here in Canada are the egg whites and the baking powder . . . . . . we are so 'deprived' up here in the frozen North . . .

BTW, If you'd like me to get rid of your alter-ego, lavenderlilacs, to save future confusion, just say the word . . . and she's 'history'.

Have a great evening . . .

...please...get rid of her!

Meowee, I notice you're from Nova Scotia (my husband was born in St. Catharines, Ontario).

By any chance, were you the lucky one interviewed for the Volumetrics story in msnbc.com? What a success story! I lose weight so slowly, if I can lose 1/2 pound a week, I'll be thrilled.

Amazing how small the world is . . . I was born and raised in Toronto . . . lived in Kitchener for about ten years and then finally moved down here about 13 years ago.

Yes . . . that is me . . . my 15 nano-seconds of fame . . . Thanks for the kind words. Never forget that it was the tortoise who actually won that race.

Hopefully, lavender will have passed gently into obscurity by morning.

What is everyone doing about bread?

In our area we have lots of light breads that have an ED of under 2, so I'm sticking with those only. We have Western Bakery Alternative Pita and Bagels, and light breads made from other companies as well. I am not overeating these breads, but since breads generally have a high ED it's nice to have the lighter versions.

Because I love to bake I am going to experiment and try and come up with lower ED baked goods, made with Splenda and Z-Trim fat replacement. We'll see what happens. My cut-off point is really limiting foods with an ED over 2, so if I can bake some stuff that falls under that category, I'll be happy.

My problem in the past was that I made Volumetrics more complicated than it need be. In the first book there's several categories of ED, but in the newer book Barbara Rolls separates the density into just three main categories which I like: 1) Foods to eat a lot of; 2) Foods to start limiting; 3) Foods to REALLY limit. I like that. If I don't keep it simple, I can't stick to a plan.

Where is everybody hiding??

Arrrrgh . . . I am Not having a good day . . . at all . . . enough said . . . see you later . . .

meowee, don't feel bad. I am far from perfect. I was ashamed to admit I ate 3 Atkins Coconut bars (ED over the roof) last night because I was depressed about work (bad day). One would've been ok, but three is like a binge almost (they are very rich and filling). I was stuffed.

I brushed myself off and will do better today. So will you! Whatever it is, tomorrow will be better. Look at all the wonderful progress you made!