After a Band this is the big question! The one that everyone asks and the one that’s the most difficult to answer!
So, let’s try and make sense of it:
First of all, portion sizes can differ depending on what stage you are at within your journey, and what types of food you are eating. If you are fairly early post op and your band isn’t optimally adjusted yet, then your portion sizes will be larger. Even If you are further down the line your band can loosen over time through to dispersion, and you will find your portions increasing. This is an obvious sign you may need a band adjustment so look out for this change in portions.
If you are eating soft, sloppy foods or liquids like protein shakes then again, your portion sizes will be larger as these foods just slip straight through the band. So if you are back established on a normal diet then make sure your foods are textured – that mean’s crunchy, chewy, dry or solid, or all 4.
So, let’s assume you are further down the line with your band, past the early post–op phases of the diet and back on a normal diet. Next let’s assume your band is optimally adjusted – so what should a portion size look like?
Again, this can vary because everyone is different – some people post pictures of miniscule portions of their meals and say they can’t manage it all, making others worry when they can eat far more than that – maybe their band is too tight, maybe there’s something else going on so try and concentrate on your own journey and your own meals.
At this stage your portions should be small – basically your whole meal should fit comfortably on a 6 inch plate. That should be around – 4-5 tablespoons of food in total. So it's not about how much of one particular food you can manage but how much of your whole meal you can manage. That makes it very difficult to give set portion sizes but it also makes it easier for you to manage. Forget how many grams of this and how many grams of that you can manage and simply go by your plate or a small bowl approx 5" in diameter is a good place to start.
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