The New Jenny Craig Menu Highlights Volumetrics^®

Satisfaction Leads to Success

Do you get hungry just thinking about starting a weight loss plan? Are you tired of tiny portions that don’t satisfy you? Do you want to feel full and still lose weight? If so, the Jenny Craig Program featuring Volumetrics^® is the solution for you. Enjoy your favorite foods, eat a nutritious diet and have portions that satisfy. By incorporating the principles of Volumetrics^® into your eating routine, you will learn how eating more food, not less, can help you achieve weight loss and manage your weight.

What is Volumetrics^®?
Volumetrics^® is an eating approach designed to help control hunger, enhance satisfaction and manage calories. It is a sensible approach that can be tailored and flexed to fit your individual preferences and needs. Based on the research of Barbara Rolls, PhD, a professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, Volumetrics^® shows you how to eat more food, keep hunger in check and manage portions to lose weight.

The science of satiety (feeling full and satisfied after you eat) is the basis for the Volumetrics^® approach. On average over a day or two, a person will eat about the same weight of food. Volumetrics^® shows you how to choose foods that provide a low amount of calories for the weight of the food (low calorie density) and how to incorporate more of these foods into your meals. Making more low-calorie-density choices allows you to eat larger portions for the same or fewer calories. And cutting calories can lead to weight loss.

Here are some examples of how this works.

• Grapes have a low calorie density and raisins have a high calorie density. You can eat 1 3/4 cups of grapes for the same calories as 1/4 cup of raisins. Choosing the grapes will give you more food to eat for the calories and will likely satisfy you more.
• Let’s say you have two chicken breasts that are the same size and weight (4 oz), and the only difference is that one is grilled and one is fried. Choosing the grilled chicken breast will save you approximately 110 calories, and your portion is the same.

Portion sizes with equal calories: raisins vs. grapes and fried chicken vs. grilled chicken. Which would you prefer?

To help understand calorie density even better, it is important to learn more about where the calories are in food. The calories come from fat, carbohydrate, protein and alcohol. These food components differ in “calorie density” or the number of calories per weight in grams of the food (28 grams = 1 ounce).

Water is the largest component of food and has the greatest impact on calorie density. The more water (0 cal/g) in a food, the lower the calorie density of that food. Fat has the next largest impact on calorie density. A food that has more fat (9 cal/g) will naturally have a higher calorie density. Fiber (2 cal/g) can help to decrease calorie density of food; however, the impact is less since we eat much smaller amounts of fiber compared to water and fat.

How does it work?
Volumetrics^® is about optimizing food choices. Choosing foods rich in water, fiber, and protein and lower in fat will “volumize” your menu and will provide more satisfying portions. For example, mixing non-starchy vegetables, such as tomatoes, broccoli, and peppers, into your pasta dish will lower the calorie density and enlarge your portions. This is because non-starchy vegetables contain a lot of water and fiber. Selecting lean meats over higher-fat meats helps to lower the calorie density of your meals because there is less fat and more protein in the lean cuts, which leads to fewer calories for an equal portion size. And you can have 2 cups of fat-free milk for the same calories as 1 cup of whole milk. Here are some more volumizing tips to get you started:

Strengthen your success with soup!
Soup, which has high water content, is another example of a food with a low calorie density that supports healthy weight management. When eaten before a meal, soup can be a powerful tool to help you feel full and maintain satisfaction. This was demonstrated in a recent study conducted by Dr. Rolls. People who consumed soup as a first course ate 20% less calories for that meal, compared with those who didn’t have soup (1). Dr. Rolls recommends keeping your first course of soup to 150 calories or less.

“Volumize” with vegetables
Non-starchy vegetables provide one of the best ways to “volumize” your favorite dishes. Vegetables are water-rich, high in fiber, and low in calories. Fiber has been shown to increase satisfaction, not only by lowering the calorie density of foods, but also by slowing the rate that foods pass through the digestive system (2). In addition, fiber is only partially absorbed as it moves through the digestive tract; therefore, you do not absorb 100% of the calories you consume. To maximize your fiber intake, eat vegetables whole, peeling only when necessary. Add them to your favorite casserole or pasta dish to lower the calorie density and increase satisfaction.

Start with a salad
Like other non-starchy vegetables, salads are low in calorie density, rich in fiber and high in water. In fact, studies show that eating a low-calorie-density first course, such as a salad, enhances satiety and reduces overall meal calorie intake (3). Saving 50 to 100 calories per meal can really add up overtime to help you lose weight and prevent weight regain later on. Enjoy salads full of non-starchy vegetables, and go easy on the toppings (e.g., cheese, nuts), to fill up on fewer calories. To complement your salad and provide variety, try all flavors of Jenny’s Dressings. These tasty dressings come in individual packets that are pre-portioned and convenient.

Fill up on fruits
Like vegetables and salads, fruits are rich in water, high in fiber and full of nutrients. Choose whole fruits with peels, more often than dried fruits or fruit juices, to maximize fiber and help enhance your satisfaction. Fruits are a great snack as well as a healthy, low-calorie-density addition to breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Keep your protein lean
Research has shown that diets high in protein can decrease hunger and prolong satisfaction more than foods higher in either carbohydrate or fat (4). Try to include a source of low-fat protein at each meal, similar to that modeled in your Jenny’s Cuisine TM entrées. Keep portion size moderate and choose lean sources such as poultry, seafood, low-fat dairy, egg whites, tofu or legumes.

Enhance flavor without the fat
Fat adds flavor and texture to our foods, but it also packs in calories. You can reduce the calorie density of your meals and snacks by limiting the added fat in your diet. Enhance the flavor of food with fat-free condiments like salsa, ketchup, mustard, hot sauce or vinegar. Prepare foods with less fat by using nonstick pans and skillets, seasoning with herbs and spices, and using water, low-sodium broth or cooking spray. Selecting non-fat or lower fat versions of salad dressings, sour cream and cheese is also a good technique for reducing fat.

The Jenny Craig Menus have always provided nutritional balance, variety and moderation in portion sizes with Jenny’s Cuisine™. Our menus now have an added “Plus”—more food! Volumetrics^®allows you to eat more food, feel fuller and add beneficial nutrients, while eating fewer calories! Losing weight has never been easier.

To learn more about our program and new menu click here to get a call or to find your local centre.

1. Flood JE, Rolls BJ. Soup preloads in a variety of forms reduce meal energy intake. Appetite. 2007;49:626-634.

2. Slavin JL. Dietary fiber and body weight. Nutrition. 2005;21:411-418.

3. Rolls BJ, Roe LS, Meengs JS. Salad and satiety: energy density and portion size of a first-course salad affect energy intake at lunch. J Am Diet Assoc. 2004;104:1570-1576.

4. Veldhorst M, Smeets A, Soenen S, et al. Protein-induced satiety: effects and mechanisms of different proteins. Physiol Behav. 2008. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.01.003.

Rolls BJ. The Volumetrics Eating Plan. New York, NY: Harper; 2007.

Rolls BJ, Barnett RA. The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan . New York, NY: Quill; 2000.

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VOLUMETRICS^® is a federally registered trademark of Barbara Rolls used under exclusive license by Jenny Craig, Inc.