So many medical conditions ranging from diabetes/high blood pressure to back pain/arthritis can be substantially improved by simply losing 10 pounds. While 10 pounds of weight loss doesn’t seem like much, it can present as a challenging and frustrating task. Of course, the more weight that one loses towards a healthier body mass index (BMI) the better. In other words, don’t just stop after 10 pounds!

I’ve always been a big advocate of keeping track of calories to help lose weight. The average female can consume 1,500 calories in a day with typical resultant weight loss while the average male can consume 2,100 calories in a day and expect to lose a bit of weight. Ladies, I know this isn’t fair but it’s the unfortunate truth.

There are some great calorie counting apps out there that are free. Those include: MyFitnessPal, Lose It, Fat Secret. Other programs such as Weight Watchers or Noom have been incredibly helpful for my patients as well to achieve their weight loss goals. I always advocate for scrupulous calorie counting as I feel that it produces the best results but admittedly I realize how annoying and inconvenient it can sometimes be.

Another strategy would be to try to cut out 300-500 calories per day from your typical day. You may be quite surprised to find out how easy cutting out a few hundred calories per day can be.

A full-size Snickers bar has 280 calories. Below is a list of unexpected foods that you may want to consider avoiding if you’re trying to lose weight that have as much or more calories than a Snickers bar:

·         Peanut butter & jelly sandwich – 400 calories

·         Flavored oatmeal with nuts – 300 calories

·         2 handfuls of nuts – 280 calories

·         2 flour tortillas – 280 calories

·         1 bowl of granola with milk – 500 calories

·         1/3 cup of sunflower seeds – 400 calories

·         Bagel with cream cheese – 350 calories

·         Baked potato with butter and sour cream – 500 calories

·         Large Tropical Smoothie Café smoothie – 400 calories

·         Pumpkin Spiced Latte Starbucks – 380 calories

·         Medium Carmel Swirl coffee Dunkin’ Donuts – 300 calories

·         Chips and Guacamole from Chipotle – 700 calories

·         Mayonnaise on a sandwich – 180 calories

·         2 tablespoons of olive oil – 250 calories

·         Glass of 2% milk – 250 calories

·         16 oz IPA beer – 220 calories

·         2 ears of corn on the cob with butter – 310 calories

·         14 oz glass of orange juice – 175 calories

·         20 oz bottle of Pepsi – 250 calories

* I used what I considered to be a normal serving of these things rather than labels. At home, my glasses of milk are more like 12-14 ounces and not 6 ounces. At home, my peanut butter and jelly sandwich has much more than 2 tablespoons of peanut butter! I’ve also thrown in a few that have less calories than a Snickers bar (so technically I cheated), but I would be remiss to not mention these sneaky, yet easily avoidable, calories.

 

As you can see, I’ve included some “healthy foods” in the list. There’s nothing wrong with granola, peanut butter, nuts and avocados – in fact, they are indeed somewhat healthy. They are packed with protein which can help keep you from feeling hungry as often. However, if you’re eating these things but still eating a “normal” amount of other food, maybe they are only contributing to excess calories and weight gain.

If our goal is to reduce 300-500 calories per day, weight loss may not be as difficult as you think:

·         Switch to a lettuce wrap for your wrap or burrito

·         Switch the granola at breakfast to fruit or hard-boiled eggs (pro tip: throw out the yolks and eat just the whites)

·         Skip the baked potato and substitute for a sweet potato. Potatoes (fries, chips, baked) are awful for glycemic index and weight loss purposes. Avoid potatoes at all costs!

·         Make your own smoothie. Restaurants pack in so much extra butter, sugar and salt to make the food taste better. Ever notice why the food at the restaurant tastes better than if you made the same thing at home? It’s because they care about your pocket book and not your waistline. Food tastes better with more butter, sugar and salt. Skip it, save money and lose weight!

·         Be extremely careful of the coffee shops and creamers that sweeten drinks. This could be the easiest thing on the list to skip for me. Although, the once per year splurge on the Pumpkin Spice Latte is mandatory and 100% worth it.

·         Switch the mayo to mustard. Skipping the mayonnaise is such an easy step that can pay large dividends.

·         Lose the drink calories. I love food too much to waste calories on drinks. Look for no-calorie options such as unsweetened tea or coffee, water, or carbonated water. The nightly glass of milk with dinner is a source of unnecessary calories.

·         Be careful of barbeque season. I love a good IPA beer like most others. Nothing beats a burger and a hot dog on the grill, 3 beers, and a couple ears of corn. But when you add it up, that’s almost an entire day’s calories in ONE meal! Enjoy all of those things but moderation is key.

I’ve had many patients tell me that the reason that they can’t lose weight is due to their sedentary lifestyle. If they could only exercise, then they would be able to lose weight. But not so fast…

·         Calories burned from 30 minutes of running = 280

Now I’m not telling you to purposefully be sedentary. You definitely SHOULD exercise. Cardiovascular exercise has so many health benefits. But if we are looking for weight loss only, it doesn’t require vigorous exercise. I’d rather skip the mayonnaise than run a mile, but that’s just me; make your own decisions there.

 

I hope you can find those 300-500 calories to lose this summer so that you’re on your way to losing the 19 pounds of COVID!

 

Dr. Opperman