Twice a month while wearing a slightly different hat, the one that’s called WLS Success Matters, I am part of a FREE telephone support group call.  This past week’s call was about protein first and getting back on track.  In the conversation I heard someone state that it was difficult to stay within allotted calories (around 1000) AND get in all the protein the surgeon had recommended.  We went around the room with the call and found that the majority of surgeons had recommended 60-80 grams of protein per day regardless of the surgery we had.  We started talking about protein sources and how to make this all work and came up with a few realities.  The first was that assessing a “protein” for the calories to protein ration was a good idea for sticking within a calorie limit.  My go to has always been 10 calories/1 gram protein minimum.  Let me show you how this works.  Here are two choices:

• 3 ounces canned albacore tuna in water
• ½ cup brown rice (cooked size)

Both are healthy choices, right?  Without a doubt they are both healthy.  Now let’s look at calorie/protein ratio. 

The tuna has 110 calories and 20 grams of protein.

The brown rice has 110 calories and 2.25 grams of protein.

At the beginning of my journey, when I was newly banded and looked for easy sources of low calorie, high protein foods, the 3 ounce can of tuna topped my list.  As a matter of fact, it made it so far to the top of my list that I ate it every day for lunch for almost 2 years with a squeeze of lemon juice, or a tablespoon of fat free mayonnaise.  What I did not choose was rice, brown, white or anywhere in between.  Why?  I was not willing to have 110 of my measly 1000-1200 calories going to rice.  I wanted to do something else with them, something that would satisfy me and keep hunger at bay - PROTEIN.  As my journey continued, my band adjustments made it difficult to even handle 1 teaspoon of rice.  It is not a happy food for many lap band patients.

Let’s look at a few more food comparisons.  When I went out for dinner I could easily order a hamburger with no bun, or I could order crab legs.  Let’s look at these two, even knowing in advance that they are both complete, dense, excellent sources of protein.

A 4 ounce raw hamburger patty that is 70 to 80% lean has 306 calories and 29 grams protein

A one pound order of snow crab legs has 180 calories and 40 grams of protein.

I was out for dinner, I wanted to splurge on something different…ground beef...NO WAY!  Crab legs, YOU BET!  Easy choice for me for many reasons.  Calorie to protein ratio, eating the entire plate of crab legs took as much time as everyone else took going through all of their courses and was satisfying to me because I got to crack the shell, get the crab meat, squeeze some lemon juice on it and then savor the taste chewing each bite thirty times.  All of that and ONLY 180 calories and an awesome shot of protein.

OK, we have lunch and dinner, now what about breakfast?  First of all breakfast does NOT have to be eggs and bacon, or pancakes and sausage or French toast and maple syrup.  Although, come to think of it, I do have a recipe for Sunday Brunch Flourless Pancakes.  Just to be clear just like rice is not in my tool box of foods, neither are bread, pasta, flour or white potatoes.  So what do I do for breakfast?  Here are some of my choices and comparisons as well:

1 slice of egg substitute, bacon, spinach and cheese frittata or crustless quiche ( I make a pan on Sunday and divide it for the entire week) 175 calories/20 grams protein

A 2 egg omelet made with spinach, 2 pieces turkey bacon ½ ounce low fat cheese 240/19

By choosing the frittata made with egg substitute I get to save 65 calories per day and keep the calorie/protein ratio where I want it to be.

Yogurt with fruit is another favorite breakfast of mine.  Let’s compare a few different yogurts and see which one I choose.

Kroger’s Carbmaster Yogurt - My favorites are Black Forest Cake and Cinnamon Roll which are 60 calories and 8 grams protein per 6 ounce container.  Great ratio?  You bet!

Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt - My personal favorite is cherry.  They are 80 calories and 12 grams of protein in each 5.3 ounce container.  We now move to AWESOME calorie/ protein ratio!

Fage 0% Greek yogurt.  Personally I buy this in large containers of the plain at 100 calories/6 ounces and 18 grams protein and add my own fruit and/or nuts to it.  I warm up ½ cup of blueberries with some cinnamon and/or Splenda and have 142 calories/18 grams protein for my breakfast.

Or you can get their “flavored “ varieties which are 120 calories and 13 grams of protein for the 5.3 oz cups. 

Now let’s look at a couple of “old favorites”

Yoplait fat free light - average of all flavors is 100 calories and 5 grams protein per 6 ounce container.

Yoplait fat free creamy light (vanilla or strawberry) 140 calories and 13 grams protein- a definite improvement.

Be careful because you will also find Yoplait thick and creamy light at 180 calories and 7 grams of protein per 6 ounce container.

OH MY!  What’s the lesson to be had here?  You got it - READ THE LABEL CAREFULLY before putting in your shopping cart.

My point on the yogurt was not to sell you on one brand over another, but to demonstrate the myriad of choices that the supermarkets get to confuse us with.  It is our job to read the labels carefully, noting portion size, calories and protein.  Unless you are diabetic if you use the 10/1 ratio the carbs will pretty much take care of themselves.

Making sure we have adequate solid protein helps us to use our lap band tools to achieve the basic reason we all had weight loss surgery - no hunger between meals.  With some planning and mindful grocery shopping we can do this and stay well within a reasonable calorie range for weight loss.