Once you are full you are full, right?

Well, you should be. Unless you do not feel full and want to keep on eating.

For those who want to access the secrets of feeling fuller, there is the Volumetric Diet.

The Volumetric Diet is based on the simple principle that most people will stop eating once they feel full, and the Volumetric Diet works to make this a reality for those who go on it.

The Volumetric Diet is based on eating what makes sense. You should pay attention to the number of calories you eat plus get a moderate amount of exercise.

Central to the Volumetric Diet is the amount of calories per gram of food. The higher the density of calories per gram the more likely you are to feel full. What does this mean, food-wise? It means eating more foods that contain fiber. Fiber dense foods are vegetables and grains. These also tend to be lower in calories, too.

Another tenet of the Volumetric Diet is to drink plenty of liquids. Strongly suggested is to drink six to eight glasses of water per day.

The Volumetric Diet follows the traditional FDA food pyramid fairly closely. Your intake of protein should be about fifteen to thirty-five percent of your diet, with complex carbohydrates making up about fifty-five percent of what you take in.

Naturally, the Volumetric Diet calls for a greater amount of vegetables, such as broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce and cabbage. More fiber, less room in the stomach.

Carbohydrates should be of the whole grain type. Brown rice, whole grain or multi-grain pastas and breads should be the first choice of those into the Volumetric Diet.

Proteins should be limited to low fat and limited in portion size. This goes for meat, fish and dairy.

If you are going to consume alcoholic beverages, the Volumetric Diet asks that you count those calories just as you would count calories from any other food group. Alcohol should be used sparingly.

What about dessert? Not much. Most desserts outside of fresh fruit consist of empty calories and are not dense in any sort of matter. Eat desserts infrequently.

Are any foods forbidden?

Not really.

The Volumetric Diet recognizes that fatty foods can throw off your calorie count. In addition, these types of foods tend to be not very filling, so you will tend to come back for a snack or a full meal much too soon.

For those who are not used to a lot of fiber in the diet, the Volumetric Diet can cause some changes in bathroom habits. The more fiber in, the easier and sometimes quicker it comes out. So don't be surprised.

You may have to adjust your fiber intake slowly if you have an intestinal reaction to the increase in fiber.

The Volumetric Diet is not a hard diet to adhere to, but the calorie counting can be tiring for some. But if you include a fair amount of exercise with the Volumetric Diet and can live within its restrictions on protein and desserts, you should have good results.