Are Hidden Calories Holding Back Your Weight Loss?

Overeating is Possible after WLS

You got WLS so that you could lose weight, but it is important to remember that WLS is only a tool. To lose weight, you need to use that tool properly. If you fall into the trap of thinking that WLS automatically leads to weight loss, you might never hit goal weight. As a reminder, these are how the lap-band, vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), and gastric bypass can help you lose weight.

• Lap-band: The lap-band creates a small pouch, or stoma, to help you fill up faster so that you eat less.
  
• Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG): The surgery removes most of your stomach and creates a small sleeve out of the remaining portion. The gastric sleeve restricts the volume of food you can eat and it reduces hunger by reducing the amount of ghrelin, which is a hunger hormone.
  
• Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: The surgery restricts food intake by creating a small pouch, and reduces nutrient absorption by having food from your stomach bypass much of your small intestine.
  

Your weight loss surgery will not work for you if you cheat in these ways.

• You eat more frequently – and take in more calories – than your surgeon suggests without feeling the restrictive effects of the adjustable gastric band.
  
• You eat sugary, fatty high-calorie foods. The lap-band, especially, is unlikely to cause you to develop dumping syndrome. That is good because you will not get the unpleasant symptoms, but it is bad because it does not prevent you from eating sugar, starch or fat. Even with a stoma size of just 4 ounces, or a meager 1/2 cup, you could fit in 400 calories’ worth of M&M’s in with room to spare.
  
• You drink fluids when you are eating solids so that you are able to consume more at a single meal or snack. Drinking fluids while eating solid foods can also cause your stomach, sleeve or pouch to empty faster so that you get hungrier sooner.
  
• You sip on beverages that provide calories but do not fill you up.
  

How Hidden Calories Might Be Throwing You Off

What if you think you are following your weight loss surgery diet diligently? You measure your food whenever you can, you use your dietitian’s food list when you go grocery shopping, and you order chicken and vegetables when you go out to eat. You get protein at every meal, and you drink plenty of water each day.

Hidden calories are the ones that creep into your diet. You might not know you are eating them, or you might think that you eat so few “extra” calories that they don’t matter in your diet. But, they do impact your weight loss. An extra 20, 50, or 100 calories here or there really affects your weight loss. Remember that a pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories. That’s an average of 500 calories per day to lose a pound a week. If you are getting hundreds of hidden calories a day, that could easily be a pound a week that you’re not losing.

Where Are the Hidden Calories?

Good question! They can be almost anywhere.

• Starches are not necessarily unhealthy, but they should only be part of your meal after you eat your protein and vegetable or fruit.
  
• Protein is the first thing you should eat at each meal and snack, but it is also a source of calories. Fatty meats and poultry with the skin can have 100 or more extra calories per 3-ounce portion compared to lean meats and chicken or turkey breast.
  
• Healthy foods can be high-calorie. A handful of nuts or dried fruit or a big spoonful of peanut butter can have 200 to 300 calories.
  
• Condiments can wreck your diet. A tablespoon of mayonnaise has 100 calories, a tablespoon of jam has 50 calories, and a tablespoon of salad dressing has 80 calories. Ketchup, teriyaki sauce, and marinades can have 15 to 20 calories per tablespoon.
  
• Restaurant foods can be tricky. Vegetables that you think are steamed can have butter in them, and chicken, fish and other proteins that you think are good choices can come in sauces with 100 or 200 calories per serving. Portion sizes can be several times what you need: a 12-ounce steak is 4 to 6 WLS-sized portions, and a 3-cup plate of pasta is 6 to 8 WLS-sized portions.
  
  
  o Examples of each of the below. Carbs: toast, crackers. Eat celery. Smaller pasta, more protein meatballs.
  
  
  o Protein. It’s a nutrient, but it’s also a source of calories. Esp. if with sugar/carbs in supplements, or hi-fat protein foods. Bacon
  
  
  o Healthy hi-cal foods: nuts, pb, dried fruit (fresh). Portion sizes. Avocado.
  
  
  o Condiments. Fatty dressings (choose low-fat), use less (use herbs), sugary
  
  
  o Portion sizes. MEASURE. Nibbling without measuring, eyeballing. You get 60 extra calories every time you take a piece of cheese that is the size of your thumb (1.5 ounces) instead of weighing it to make sure that it is only 1 ounce.
  
  
  o beverages
  
  
  o Restaurants: salads, fat added to “grilled” foods or steamed vegetables, beverages, “healthy” bagel instead of low-cal doughnut
  
  
  o Eating too frequently. Tips for if you’re starving (protein, no fluid with meal); tips to make meal smaller (if you’re eating so many meals, don’t need to be big)
  
  

The Good News

The good news is that small changes add up to big calorie savings.

• Have an ounce of low-fat cheese instead of full-fat, and save 50 calories.
  
• Have a quart of regular or sparkling water instead of a quart of a sports drink, and save 200 calories.
  
• Skip the bite of cookie dough after you finish baking for your children, and save 100 calories.
  
• Have 3 ounces of 95% lean ground beef instead of 85% lean ground beef, and save 70 calories.
  
• Rinse the spoon instead of licking it after you serve yourself peanut butter, and save 30 calories.
  
• Spread peanut butter or tuna on 3 large celery stalks instead of 6 triscuit crackers, and save 90 calories.
  
• Have one-third of a cup of pasta with your meatballs instead of a full cup, and save 120 calories.
  

This works for exercise, too. Every little bit helps. When you walk for just an extra half-mile, or about 10 minutes, you burn 50 extra calories.

Start to think about where extra calories may be coming into your diet, and see what you can do to limit them. You’ll be happier with your weight loss results!