My Take on Volumetrics & Energy Density

The other night, I was watching some show that had Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser Trainer), the CEO of Weight Watchers, and some other person. They started talking about nutrition, so automatically, my ears perked up.

Immediately, I found myself griping to Rachel about the crap they are talking about. Okay, crap is probably the wrong word. What's crap is that everyone who is not so versed in this stuff is going to think that this is what they need to be doing because famous people are talking about it. It really bummed me out, because I like Jillian Michaels too. No worries for you Michaels fans... I will explain where she is coming from later.

Here is what they are talking about, and what is also becoming a huge trend right now. They are using fancy terms to describe nothing new, like- "volumetrics" or "energy density". To cut to the chase, the hip thing to do right now is to eat low energy dense foods that are high in volume. In plain english, food that takes up a lot of space, but has low calories.

The philosophy is that you will consume less calories, but yet feel full because you ate a lot. I even saw a commercial for popcorn that is totally riding this trend. They showed a handful portion of almonds next to a large bowl of popcorn and basically said, for the same amount of calories, go for the choice that gives you more food. The philosophy behind this method says that you will feel more full, therefore eating less calories down the road, and you'll lose weight because of it.

Here is where I come in with all my griping:

1. "Volumetrics" should mean nothing to you. Trust me... this is my turf now when it comes to math & science! Yes, popcorn has more volume than almonds, but the stomach doesn't care. The stomach sees 2 different types of food with relatively the same "mass." Mass should be the term used, not volume.

Take a bowl of popcorn, then smash it up. I don't mean smash it a little. Smash it down until there is absolutely no air voids left. Do you get the picture? Now you have a similar volume to that of the almonds. My question to Rachel was, "What are these people thinking? Do they believe that popcorn somehow expands back into it's original size in the stomach after it's chewed?"

2. "High energy density." What happened to saying, "high calories?" There are less words, and it flows off the tongue a little better. Anyhow, it doesn't even matter!!! Can you tell I'm a little razzled. Let's go back to the popcorn and almonds. Popcorn is not necessarily a bad food. I'll just put that out there right now. But, since when did we digress to going back to looking at just calories? This is so 1984! Oh, now it makes sense to me. People won't know we have digressed if we change the wording from calories to "energy density."

The calories that come from an almond are by way of monunsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (good guys) and protein. The calories that come from popcorn are from carbohydrates, and not a very favorable carbohydrate either (glycemic index of 75). If you're not fully getting #2, continue to #3.

3. Let's switch from popcorn to salad so it doesn't sound like I'm not giving this whole volumetrics/high & low energy density thing a fair fight. We can all agree that salad is pretty dang good for you. It's high in all sorts of macro and micro nutrients. It's got a low glycemic index and it's low in calories. According to volumetrics, you have to eat a lot of salad to equal the calories from almonds.

The smashed popcorn concept applies here too. Salad has less mass than almonds. Smash the salad up really good, until all the air is gone, then you have a mass than is much similar to an almond. This is pretty much how it looks in your stomach.

If the salad or other vegetables have a high water content, then you may get that full feeling that is being hyped here. I really don't like this term they are using, "full", because it implies "satisfied". The real term should be, "bloated." And, when you have that "bloated" feeling, you tend to stop eating for a while, at least until your digestive system can catch up.

There is a difference between "satiety" and "full". Yes, "full" may come from some foods in the volumetrics concept, but "satiety" comes from eating fats and proteins (period). A neuropeptide hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) is released and basically tells the body, "Hey! We're going to be working down here for a while, can you slow down on the eating? Better yet, stop?"

This is why you can eat an enormous salad, feel full for a 30 minutes, but then be hungry again. I know this first hand because I just finished a rather large chicken salad 45 minutes ago, and I am starving.

Everybody is different, but I seem to only feel the CCK hormone when I have a fat along with my meal. Lean protein doesn't seem to cut it. We are on vacation right now, so we don't have the normal fixings. Typically, we would've had some sort of monunsaturated or polyunsatured fat to go along with the dinner, but not tonight.

So, the point is, if you want to feel a sense of "satiety" after you have eaten, make sure you have a healthy fat & protein. Almonds are a perfect snack. It goes against the philosophy I am bagging on right now, but it will help you more, we've proven it. Take it a step further and ensure you've consumed a healthy carb as well, such as some apple or orange slices.

Now, do I think Jillian Michaels and CEO guy's information is totally useless? Not necessarily. In my opinion, the information is just not good for anyone in our programs. The information they are sharing is for obese people that are one, two, and even three hundred pounds over weight. We are trying to build and tone muscle. We are trying to burn fat in the neighborhood of 10 to 50 pounds top!

A Biggest Loser contestant can literally squat 400 pounds! Can you squat 400 pounds? Of course, I am talking about their own weight. Can you imagine the muscle mass they have accumulated over time to carry the weight they have. Jillian Michaels doesn't care about that muscle mass, nor should she. She is simply trying to get these people to lose everything! Weight Watchers is basically doing the same thing.

The Ultimate Body Challenge is not a Weight Watchers program or a Biggest Loser contest. It's a program that trains you like an althlete, teaches you to eat like an athlete, and will eventually help you look and feel like an athlete. Whether you are an athlete or not, trust me, eating and training like one will provide a longer, more fulfilling life.

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo
ph: 208.381.0587
http://www.FreeKarateLesson.com/weight-loss.html

Should I eat more on days I train extra?

Here is a good question I thought I would share-

"I was also wondering how to fit my run work outs into this plan. That is something I don't want to go by the wayside. I would like to possibly double up on some days and run on my Sport Fusion days (hopefully still getting in 4 runs a week) in addition to the classes. Will that alter my meal plan for those days? Should I be consuming additional calories? The food is where it gets tough for me. I LOVE to eat!! I love theaccountability of this program and hope that it helps me make somebetter healthy eating habits. I'm not a fast food eater, but I love to cook and I don't scrimp when I do :)Thanks for the help! Looking forward to getting my butt kicked tomorrow."

I say run! I say do it all! There are a lot of 80's & 90's mentality trainers that will disagree with me. If you take a good look at the people who look flat out awesome, they are busy bodies. They ski, they mountain bike, they run, they kickbox, they shovel their driveways and then they chase their kids for an hour with snowballs in hand.

Athletes often train several times during the day. In fact, my sister, who is a professional boxer, has a crazy training schedule. I can't recall it exactly, but it consists of something like- running in the morning, sparring at noon, then plyometrics in the afternoon.

Now, onto the nutrition aspect. Should you increase your calories on these days where you are training more? The answer is yes. For some people the answer may be no. Let me explain.

Remember the old adage- calories in vs. calories out. If you are on a fat losing quest, you have your stored energy, most likely around your midsection, butt, thighs, etc. In my opinion, you need to stay consistent with your nutrient intake. There is a concept called the "Zig Zag". There are Up Zags and Down Zags. If you are on a fat losing quest, then you will use the Down Zag concept on days you don't double up on your workouts. See the UBC manual for how to do this.

If your mission is to trim a little, and build a little muscle mass, then you must increase your caloric intake on these days. You can simply increase your activity level on your composition sheet by .1 or you can follow the Up Zag concept. Otherwise, your body will begin to break down your muscles in order to receive the nutrients it's requiring.

I hope this helps!

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
http://www.FreeKarateLesson.com