If you’re sick and tired of diets that leave you starving, the volumetrics diet just might be what you need. Volumetrics is a diet developed by Dr Barbara J. Rolls that focuses on eating and feeling full rather than deprivation and hunger. The goal is to get full by eating healthy foods that don’t fill you up with calories.

The key to volumetrics is to eat a high volume of foods that are low in calories per bite. When you eat foods that have fewer calories, your portion size is able to get bigger while calorie count stays low. The idea is based around the fact that people feel full based on how much food they eat, not how many calories they are consuming. So in order to feel satisfied, you need to be eating enough for your mind as well as your belly to understand that you are satiated.

Overflowing basket of vegetables

The recommended diet includes food that are high in water content, like fruits and vegetables or soups, while also relying on whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean meats and fish. You’re supposed to eat three meals a day and snacking is welcome—so long as they are high-volume foods—rather than typical diets where you skip meals. This is a diet that relies on you feeling satisfied after every meal so that you won’t even want to eat foods that are high in fat and sugar. Adding fruits and vegetables to everything is a great way to volumize your food, and making sure your plate looks full will also help you feel more full after your meal.

This is a great diet plan because it is based around research and science. Rolls is a professor of nutritional sciences and has been studying satiety and how it relates to hunger and obesity for 20 years, so she has the research to back up her claims. If you’d like to learn more about volumetrics, Rolls has written a few books on the subject, including Volumetrics: Feel Full on Fewer Calories, The Volumetrics Eating Plan, and The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet.