After surgery, most patients start off weighing their food with a food scale every meal and being very successful with their weight loss.   When patients plateau or stop losing weight, it almost always corresponds to when they stop using the scale and “guesstimating” or eyeballing their meal portions. 

In order for your brain to keep your body from being hungry, it will portion out enough food to keep your weight stable, or keep you from losing weight.  The food scale makes sure that your portions are small enough that your body can lose weight.  Also, that’s the most accurate way gastric band patients can know if they need a band adjustment.  When the same size meal that used to fill them up, no longer does, an adjustment is needed.  If you are eating different size meals you won’t know for sure when it’s time for an adjustment.  Also, because the band is a mechanical device, it doesn’t change or adapt until we change it.  It is very hard to adjust the band properly if the patient is eating inconsistent amounts.  Sometimes the band may feel too tight and sometimes not tight enough if you are eyeballing the portion size and eating inconsistent amounts. 

Almost everyone who stops losing weight after surgery will admit that they stopped using their food scale to weigh their 4oz meals.  Please remember, the time to stop using the food scale is when you reach your goal weight.

– Dr. Darren Soong