Should I Count Calories?

Tiny Tummy Tips, Issue #68: Calories Matter. But do you need to meticulously count them?

However, keep this info in mind if you ever stray from calorie counting.

And for all those who hate calorie counting, don’t get it, or just don’t want to do it…

…know that meticulous calorie counting shouldn’t be necessary after bariatric surgery. If you eat the RIGHT foods, your weight loss surgery takes care of the portions…which takes care of the calories.

However, Calories. Definitely. Matter.

You can avoid sugar or carbs like the plague only to overeat your protein (and thus calories) and experience weight gain or a weight loss stall.

You don’t have to be a perfect calorie counter to successfully lose weight. But calorie AWARENESS is a must.

Think about how you manage your finances. Do you keep track of every single purchase you make? Or do you have an overall idea of how much you can spend in a week/month? Do you have awareness of the purchases that are more costly? And if so, do you try to keep them to a minimum?

Managing money and managing calories aren’t so different!

A Top Down Approach

What it means: Rather than tallying everything up, simply look for ways to make small calorie cutbacks daily. It’s like buying ONE shirt vs two or three when you’re trying to save money.

How many calories are in that salad dressing? If you don’t know, you can feel confident that half as much salad dressing as you usually use will have 50% less calories!

In other words, snip some calories off the top of some unknown number. It still counts as a calorie savings.

If you can’t avoid them, at least cut back on the most calorie dense foods out there, including:

• Butter
• Mayonnaise
• Sour cream
• Cheese
• Cream cheese
• Salad dressing
• Fried foods

And even “healthy” high calorie foods like:

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Nut butters
• Avocado
• Guacamole
• Olive oil
• Olives

Pro Tip: YOU HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT!

Small consistent calorie savings are additive and ultimately lead to BIG results.

There are 3500 calories stored in 1 pound of body fat. If you save 100 calories a day (like having a hamburger vs cheeseburger or using 1 tablespoon of mayo in your tuna, vs 2 tablespoons), you’d lose 1 pound of BODY FAT in a little over a month.

(100 calorie savings x 35 days = 3500 calories).

Sound too slow? Well a month is going to go by anyways, whether you make small calorie cutbacks or not.

And small changes are easier to make than extreme ones.

So make small caloric changes... ...every day.

Let time go by...

...and watch the pounds disappear!

Let me know how it goes ;)

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Comments? Ideas? Feedback?

See you in the next issue!

In Health,