Creeping Calories

[shriner37 249]

After reading an informative and humorous post from another member who discovered a problem with his daily diet, I took stock of my situation. My weight loss has slowed significantly again over the past couple of weeks. At first I thought it was just another stall, but after a look back I realized that my diet had changed and that I was likely sabotaging my own weight loss.

Over the past couple of weeks I've slowly allowed some calorie dense snack foods to creep back into my diet. Mostly nuts but also some pita chips and pretzel chips which were in the house with hummus as a snack for when some guests were here.

I haven't sat down and eaten a bag of chips or a bowl of nuts, but I have found myself grabbing a few almonds here and there or a handful of pita chips as I walk between the kitchen and home office. Working at home yesterday I realized that every time I came through the kitchen for a glass of Water or a restroom trip I was stopping to grab a handful of something to snack on. After thinking about it and doing a little math I realized I was probably adding 200 to 300 extra calories a day with this stuff, and hadn't been accounting for those calories in my eating program. That may not seem like a lot to a regular person, but to a sleever who is trying to maintain 900-1000 calories per day, these calories are significant and impactful.

Just passing along my experience for those who may also be facing challenges in losing at the rate they want. This made me remember that the sleeve isn't magic, it is a tool that we have to use correctly to attain our goals. And that every calorie counts.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Can you throw that stuff out? I work from home and it can be easy some days to go off plan. I keep nothing in the house that would throw me off.

[shriner37 249]

Yes, after realizing the issue I tossed the chips and stuff and put the nuts away where they aren't readily accessible. I do use almonds sometimes for a meal (along with a cheese stick, a Lunchable or something) when I'm on a plane so I do keep them around, but need to get them out of sight so I don't graze on them.

[Sgt7546 69]

I just had the same problem with a bag of Doritos. I placed them in the garbage and the problem went away.

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[wwboy 141]

I really relate with this.

If I stick to 3 meals and maybe a small snack of a Protein shake or something, I'm golden because I'm not hungry and the meal keeps me full. But if I graze, I can eat as much as I ever did all day long!

I've thrown out a bag of chips and now that a bucket of nuts is the next "low hanging fruit", I might need to throw it out as well! I eat Snacks out of boredom, out of stress, out of annoyance, out of...you name it.

What they say is true. Surgery doesn't fix anyone's underlying problems around eating for bad reasons...

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[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I really relate with this.

If I stick to 3 meals and maybe a small snack of a Protein shake or something, I'm golden because I'm not hungry and the meal keeps me full. But if I graze, I can eat as much as I ever did all day long!

Boy, I wish every WLS'er understood this as well as you do!

Thanks for this post.

[Valentina 2,642]

My "grazing" was at night, when I woke up to go to the "tinkletorium". My bedroom was downstairs way too close to the kitchen. It was like I was sleep walking--just to grab a few nuts or chips. Yeah, right.

What did I do? I moved my bedroom upstairs--close to the bathroom and far away from the kitchen.

Works for me. Beware of the "Crazy Grazer Syndrome".

[CowgirlJane 14,260]

I am prone to night time eating. Made a rule, only Protein drinks...amazing how just a few sips of my Premier Protein and I am like " I'm good" go back to sleep.< /p>

[wwboy 141]

What I've been noticing over the past few days is that my emotional eating drives a ton of my eating...I know I'm not physically hungry yet I WANT certain foods: candy, crunchy, fatty, etc.

One way I can tell these WANTS apart from hunger needs is that I get fixated on a certain food or snack and in my mind, the only thing that will make the desire go away is having that exact food. When it's real hunger, essentially anything will satiate the desire.

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