By Michael Gowan

How can you eat fewer calories and not feel hungry? Pump up the volume.

The volume -- or amount -- of food you eat is key to making you feel full, Elisabetta Politi, nutrition manager of the Duke Diet & Fitness Center (DFC), says. This weight loss theory is practiced everyday at DFC.

Politi credits Barbara Rolls of Penn State University with the research behind this practice. Rolls' research shows that satiety -- fullness -- is based on the volume we eat, not the number of calories we take in.

For example, if you get half the amount of food you are used to at lunch, you are going to feel hungry. If you get substantially more than you usually receive, you are going to feel full.

"A lot of DFC clients comment that they eat a lot less calories than at home, but not less volume. They feel full, but they are eating a lot less calories as at home," Politi says. 

DFC clients come with food records of what they are eating at home. The food logs indicate that clients often eat twice as many calories at home compared to what they eat within the DFC program. By providing the same volume of food they were eating at home -- but with fewer calories -- DFC clients are able to lose weight without feeling like they are starving.

Dieting Tip

Politi offers a simple tip for adding more volume (and fewer calories) to your meals -- start your meal with a salad or vegetable based soup to help curb your appetite.