How does the lap band keep you from getting hungry

[babettegriffin 0]

I have read alot, and want to make sure I understand. I know the band keeps you from eating alot, but how does it keep you from being hungry?

[Astrasmom 1]

I have read alot, and want to make sure I understand. I know the band keeps you from eating alot, but how does it keep you from being hungry?

When you have the lapband put in, many doctors do not fill you because they want the swelling to go down. So you will not have any saline put into your band for at least 6 weeks. Pretty much you are on pure will power. By eating higher Protein foods the food will sit in your pouch for awhile before it starts to breakdown and digest. This is why you aren't supposed to drink while you eat because it will just cause the food that you have put in your pouch to wash out. Not to mention you could become 'stuck' which will sometimes cause you to vomit.

As you move along in your progress by getting your band filled every 6 weeks or sooner if need be, you will start to feel restriction. Which means you will be able to eat less because you will feel fuller faster.

There is a difference between real hunger and 'head hunger'. Unfortunately once a food addict, always a food addict so it's just because you have the band put in doesn't mean that all of your bad habits will disappear over night. It takes alot of work to understand the difference between real hunger (which is when your stomach is growling really loud, and you can feel emptiness in your stomach) and head hunger (which is when you aren't hungry but your head is saying eat food).

You asked a very good question by the way. I hope this has helped you understand.

[adagray 1]

Ever since my last fill, I'm no longer hungry ever. So, I did some research on this. One theory is that once the band is filled to a good restriction level, it presses on the vagus nerve and this interrupts the signal from your stomach to your brain telling you that you are hungry. So, even though you have not eaten and your stomach should be hungry, your brain never gets that message. Like I said, though, this is just a theory. I don't think anyone really knows exactly how it works. I know that even w/proper restriction, though, my pouch doesn't stay full forever so there is something else going on to keep me from feeling hunger.

Of course, as the other poster said, you still have to deal w/'head hunger', but my physical hunger is really gone. And, once you get to that point, it really does make this journey a whole lot easier.

[Humming Bird 275]

This was a post from a LAP-BAND® Dr. and I just wanted to copy and save it because I like the way he explains. The thread it came from is: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/i-dont-understand-110373/

All weight loss comes from calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume). Burning more and consuming less is what causes weight loss.

The band will not force you to burn calories. The band helps with the consuming less part. It helps with this in three major ways:

1. Reduced appetite - some surgeons argue that the band is an appetite reduction operation. It has been shown to reduce appetite hormones. Patients say they don't feel hungry - they don't feel like they are on a diet. The band reduces true physical hunger. Some of us struggle with emotional hunger, phantom hunger which is not cured by the band but reducing physical hunger is very helpful at combatting head hunger. Emotional hunger comes from deep rooted emotional pain causing negative emotion that is unfortunately temporarily cured by food.

2. Fullness on small portions - the amount of stomach above the band is small. You will feel full on a much smaller portion of food if the band is properly adjusted. The fullness feeling is not a "pat your lower belly" kind of fullness. Band fullness is a very high sensation - in the chest - the feeling that the last bite of food is somewhere near the base of the tongue and another crumb will not be physically allowed.

3. The impossible nature of overeating - let's say you feel full and not hungry but you decide that you will overeat anyway. A properly adjusted band simply will not allow this. A point will be reached where the system will reject anything more. The esophagus (swallowing tube) is a transport organ; not a storage organ. The esophagus has two buttons: down and up. It will try down first. If that doesn't work, it switches to up and you get to see the food again.

We've been banding for eight years and we see three groups of patients in our practice:

Group 1 - gold medal superstar patients who lose easily and steadily after band surgery and send us Christmas cards that will bring tears to your eyes.

Group 2 - patients who acheive the same ultimate results as Group 1 but it takes longer with more office visits and more education and slower weight loss but we still get there. The race car crosses the finish line but it's on fire and badly damaged.

Group 3 - patients that will be three years out from band surgery and only down 20 or 30 pounds. The three biggest reasons patients are in this group are: 1.) unsolved emotional eating 2.) zero calorie burning 3.) Quit, give up, stop coming to the practice for band adjustments, education, etc

One of the best books I've seen on emotional eating is: "Shrink Yourself" by Dr. Gould. Many patients have told me this helps. The secret to curing emotional eating is to identify the root cause of this negative emotional pain and work through it. This is the most difficult aspect of successful weight loss.

[LapBandBobbi 8]

adagray - My surgeon told me the same thing. My daughter has been banded for 2 years now and she said she is never hungry. I can't wait to get there! I've only had 2 fills so far.

[Astrasmom 1]

adagray - My surgeon told me the same thing. My daughter has been banded for 2 years now and she said she is never hungry. I can't wait to get there! I've only had 2 fills so far.

After my 4th fill I am NOW not feeling hungry at all. I finally hit the sweet spot and I'm loving it.

[MrsCabes 2]

I have a question, in regard to hunger - I've had 2 fills and am not at my "sweet spot". I can feel my "top" getting full and I stop but the "bottom" of my stomach is still hungry and growling. Is this normal? Will that stop when I hit perfect restriction?

[geniseg_2000 0]

This was a post from a LAP-BAND®® Dr. and I just wanted to copy and save it because I like the way he explains. The thread it came from is: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/i-dont-understand-110373/

All weight loss comes from calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume). Burning more and consuming less is what causes weight loss.

The band will not force you to burn calories. The band helps with the consuming less part. It helps with this in three major ways:

1. Reduced appetite - some surgeons argue that the band is an appetite reduction operation. It has been shown to reduce appetite hormones. Patients say they don't feel hungry - they don't feel like they are on a diet. The band reduces true physical hunger. Some of us struggle with emotional hunger, phantom hunger which is not cured by the band but reducing physical hunger is very helpful at combatting head hunger. Emotional hunger comes from deep rooted emotional pain causing negative emotion that is unfortunately temporarily cured by food.

2. Fullness on small portions - the amount of stomach above the band is small. You will feel full on a much smaller portion of food if the band is properly adjusted. The fullness feeling is not a "pat your lower belly" kind of fullness. Band fullness is a very high sensation - in the chest - the feeling that the last bite of food is somewhere near the base of the tongue and another crumb will not be physically allowed.

3. The impossible nature of overeating - let's say you feel full and not hungry but you decide that you will overeat anyway. A properly adjusted band simply will not allow this. A point will be reached where the system will reject anything more. The esophagus (swallowing tube) is a transport organ; not a storage organ. The esophagus has two buttons: down and up. It will try down first. If that doesn't work, it switches to up and you get to see the food again.

We've been banding for eight years and we see three groups of patients in our practice:

Group 1 - gold medal superstar patients who lose easily and steadily after band surgery and send us Christmas cards that will bring tears to your eyes.

Group 2 - patients who acheive the same ultimate results as Group 1 but it takes longer with more office visits and more education and slower weight loss but we still get there. The race car crosses the finish line but it's on fire and badly damaged.

Group 3 - patients that will be three years out from band surgery and only down 20 or 30 pounds. The three biggest reasons patients are in this group are: 1.) unsolved emotional eating 2.) zero calorie burning 3.) Quit, give up, stop coming to the practice for band adjustments, education, etc

One of the best books I've seen on emotional eating is: "Shrink Yourself" by Dr. Gould. Many patients have told me this helps. The secret to curing emotional eating is to identify the root cause of this negative emotional pain and work through it. This is the most difficult aspect of successful weight loss.

Thank you for posting this. Very helpful information :thumbup: