Texas Lap Band Surgeons Talk With You

I saw several people today who asked if we had a list or book about what they should and shouldn’t eat.  The short answer is no, but there is almost an infinate amount of information on the internet and in the library on the topic so I thought I’d at least give you some guidelines – then you can structure your search around these basic principles.

FIRST: count your calories. Many of you had the Korr metabolic test when you first came into the office and therefore have a target number of calories to shoot for each day. If you don’t remember what that number is or if we didn’t tell you (yes, sometimes we do make boo-boos), then ask us next time you’re in.  On average, women need about 1200-1800 calories per day to be in a weight loss range, men need between 1500 – 2000 on average.  So YES you need to start looking at nutrition labels and getting a sense of how many calories are in the foods you eat (see the earlier post on nutrition labels for guidance).

SECOND: proteins are not just important, they are VITAL.  While it is true that if you eat less than 1200 calories per day (no matter who you are) you will lose weight, you will lose more fat and less lean muscle if you make those calories nutritious instead of fatty.  Meaning, eat 40-60g of protein per day.  That would be about 20% of your daily calorie intake if you eat 60g and 1200 calories.  Many medical studies have shown that if you eat a reduced calorie diet, but with a low % of protein and high carbs and fat, you will lose less weight than if you ate the exact same number of calories but with 25-35% of your calories coming from protein. For reference each gram of protein contains 4 calories.

THIRD: fat and sugar are diet killers and fat producers in whatever form they come in.  Fried anything (chicken, potatoes, catfish, steak, donuts) will be high in fat. Period.  Do not try and tell me about how the way you fry food is different, ’cause it’s not.  Fried = fat which means high calorie and diet sabotage.  Similarly, if it’s called “sweet” it’s full of sugar. Sweet tea has as many if not more calories than the average soda.  Simple carbohydrates like bread, pizza crust, potato chips, corn, corn chips, rice and alcohol all turn into sugar as soon as you digest them so they’re a hidden source of sugar, too. 

FOURTH: just cause it looks healthy doesn’t mean it is.  Fruit juices like orange juice? Lots o’calories, very little nutritional value.  In fact, a Coke has about the calories as a glass or orange juice!  Gatorade is a whole lot of sugar with just a few vitamins thrown in.  G2 and Propel (which are made by the same company as Gatorade) have the same vitamins minus all the sugar and calories.  Chicken’s a great choice – if it’s broiled, grilled or baked and eaten without the skin.  Fried, slathered in gravy or eaten with the skin and all of a sudden, you’re looking at a diet catastrophe.