Weighing Yourself
After weight loss surgery it is natural to feel the need to weigh daily or even multiple times a day. Weighing daily means that we live our lives based around what the scales are telling us and let the scales dictate our mood. Scales do not measure calorie intake vs. calorie expenditure; they measure mass, clothing, degree of constipation and water retention.
- Your scales are just one tool to give you another piece of information about yourself on which to make your decisions. For example after your gastric band ,your nurse may use your weight to determine whether a band adjustment is necessary. It may be that on weighing yourself a few years after your gastric bypass or sleeve you notice a small weight increase, this then provides motivation to implement a few changes.
- The scale will only tell you what you weigh at that particular point in time. This includes clothing, constipation and water retention.
- Our weight can fluctuate by up to 3lbs in one day because of the above factors -hence it is a good idea to only weigh once a week on the same day, at the same time to get an idea of the trend of your weight.
- The scale cannot tell you how well you have been doing in terms of your food choices, fitness, organisation skills…..
- It can take time for weight to be gained and lost by the choices we make – therefore having a week full of good choices may not show as a weight loss on the scales until the week after, and the same for a week of unhealthy choices.
- Use the scale to look at the overall pattern and direction of your weight, not its exact measurements.
- Weight fluctuations are normal and sometimes you will simply weigh more.
- If the number on the scale goes up, don’t let it take away from your accomplishments, continue and weigh again the next week.
*Disclaimer: Please note that weight loss surgery results and benefits are unique to each individual and in such The Bariatric Group cannot guarantee specific weight loss goals as results for each surgery can vary. If you have any questions or would like to know more about weight loss surgery please contact our expert team.
