I think I am beginning to understand my band!

[Froggie D 1]

Got my second fill today. I had no fill at surgery but felt restriction from swelling. Got 1.5cc the first fill and felt restriction from that and kept to good choices. Got 1cc today and I am hoping to be back to better restriction in a few days. The last week or so has been much tougher.

I asked my doc about how many cc's it takes for people to get to the sweet spot and about the size of portions I should be eating. He told me to stop thinking about numbers of ccs and amounts of food. His goal is for me to be able to eat, feel comfortable, not be hungry for 5-6 hours and still loose weight. If all those things are happening, I am at good restriction. It is a balance.

Here is what I have figured out - if I eat lean meats (chicken breast, fish, etc) and veggies, I can eat more quantity and still lose weight than if I eat the wrong stuff (high calorie and especially high carbs). That way I do not have to be over filled and face PBing and vomiting. The restriction I have keeps me satisfied for hours, so portions really don't matter so much.

I have always been one to eat a lot of quantity, eat until full (or over full) and eat again as soon as that full feeling goes away (it used to not take very long). If I just chose the right things (low calorie, high nutrition) I can keep that full, satisfied feeling for a long time with less restriction. I can get more quantity for my calories. I like that!

This is quite a revelation for me. I no longer feel deprived as I have adequate (but not too much) restriction, I can enjoy a bit more quantity, and am losing well. I have been very scared of getting too restricted and vomiting all the time.

I think I am finally getting the hang of this. This band is really working for me. This is so cool!!!!!!

[monkeymama 0]

That's great Froggie! I love how you put it. Keep up the great work

[NewMrs.Smith 0]

I feel the same way with eating bigger proportions with salad and healthier stuff it seems. I also was concerned on how much should I really be eating and all and my doctor pretty much said the samething. I told him I like feeling the fullnest earlier than later and he said not to go by that....but isen't that why we all got the band? I don't know maybe I'm wrong here. I think we all establish the relationship with our band....I love how you said you came up with a revelation about the band....my husband would have never understood what you said if I would have said it....so thank you for making me feel that ahhh haa moment!

[illuminationlady 7]

I'm right there with ya! Love my band!!!!

[Froggie D 1]

So glad what I said seemed to make sense. It was an AHA moment and I feel like now I am abit more relaxed about the process. It is great!

Had my second fill on Wed and am feeling it. Feels good to not get hungry quite so fast.

Today I entered ONEderland. Hurray! That is a big accomplishment. I am so happy!

[montynic 1]

Congrats on reaching Onederland!!! Glad to hear you are doing so well. Keep up the great work.

[oldoneyoungagain 200]

Got my second fill today. I had no fill at surgery but felt restriction from swelling. Got 1.5cc the first fill and felt restriction from that and kept to good choices. Got 1cc today and I am hoping to be back to better restriction in a few days. The last week or so has been much tougher.

I asked my doc about how many cc's it takes for people to get to the sweet spot and about the size of portions I should be eating. He told me to stop thinking about numbers of ccs and amounts of food. His goal is for me to be able to eat, feel comfortable, not be hungry for 5-6 hours and still loose weight. If all those things are happening, I am at good restriction. It is a balance.

Here is what I have figured out - if I eat lean meats (chicken breast, fish, etc) and veggies, I can eat more quantity and still lose weight than if I eat the wrong stuff (high calorie and especially high carbs). That way I do not have to be over filled and face PBing and vomiting. The restriction I have keeps me satisfied for hours, so portions really don't matter so much.

I have always been one to eat a lot of quantity, eat until full (or over full) and eat again as soon as that full feeling goes away (it used to not take very long). If I just chose the right things (low calorie, high nutrition) I can keep that full, satisfied feeling for a long time with less restriction. I can get more quantity for my calories. I like that!

This is quite a revelation for me. I no longer feel deprived as I have adequate (but not too much) restriction, I can enjoy a bit more quantity, and am losing well. I have been very scared of getting too restricted and vomiting all the time.

I think I am finally getting the hang of this. This band is really working for me. This is so cool!!!!!!

Froggie-Thanks for your thoughts. I hadn't given it a thought that I could eat large qty of meat and veggies, just thought I was eating too much of them:tongue_smilie:. So I called the dr's office yesterday, to have my fourth fill moved up. I was banded on 3/17/10 and have 3.8 cc's in the band as of 6/2/10. Dr said I didn't have to come back for one month but could move up the appointment if I wasn't feeling any restriction. So I probably didn't need too. I guess it should be called patience, I was just scared I wouldn't keep taking off the pounds if I didn't feel some sort of restriction. Congrats on the weight loss. Once again thanks for the imput, I should have just stopped and thought.

[kells0802 0]

Congrats Froggy I think I am beginning to understand mine as well only took me 5 months but hey better late than never lol I too was hung up on numbers of cc's but now I realize its so different for everyone that they really don't matter. I also thought puking was going to be a daily part of life for me but now that I had an unfill a few weeks ago I am finally feeling good restriction and haven't puked since!! I am beginning to like my band much better now too!!! So anyone having regrets hang in there it eventually all makes sense even if it takes a while!!

[msparkert 0]

Omg..I so happy I read your post. I was banded on 5/24/2010. I didn't receive a fill on my surgery date but felt restrictions because of swelling. Lately I've not been feeling restrictions and was a little scared. I'm schedule for my fill on 6/28/2010

Before I was banded I used to overeat until I was about to burst. (I guess thats why I was overweight) I scared the band wouldn't work for me or I would eat until I broke it; so I opt for the gastric bypass. My doctor told me that LAP-BAND® would be a better option because I only needed to lose about a 100lbs to be healthy. It took me a long time because I didn't want to waste time and money on the LAP-BAND® just so it would fail. But I decide to do it anyway.

So when I wasn't feeling much restrictions, I started to panic.

Thanks so much for the info....