Restriction question

[Stephy5 33]

I hope someone can please answer this question...

How do you know when you have restriction after a fill? How do you know when you have hit the sweet spot?

Just had my first fill so I know this will take a few to find this. But I am curious how you fully know.

I have read about fills and restriction, but like to hear peoples personal experience.

Thanks for answering

[Noturningback15 45]

I think I am at a good fill now. I don't get hungry (except after 4 to 5 hrs) and I am satisfied after eating about 2 to 3 oz of meat and about 3 oz of veggies or sides. I would say if you are always getting hungry you are not at a good spot. I didn't get hungry one time yesterday but I was still trying to eat which made me mad because now I got to battle the head hunger now that the physical hunger is gone! Good luck!

[ElfiePoo 109]

I think I am at a good fill now. I don't get hungry (except after 4 to 5 hrs) and I am satisfied after eating about 2 to 3 oz of meat and about 3 oz of veggies or sides. I would say if you are always getting hungry you are not at a good spot.

^^THIS^^

The hardest part for me was breaking the *habit* eating whenever or wherever just because I knew it would taste good.

At 6 cc (in a 14cc band) I didn't have hunger, but I still *wanted* to eat and I could still eat anything I wanted. The surgeon's office said to come in for a fill because they're finding that the sweet spot is not just a cessation of hunger for some people, but the loss of the 'desire' to eat as well. So 2 weeks ago last Tuesday I went in and they put in another cc, taking me up to 7.

For some reason, it takes about 2 weeks for me to feel any reaction to a fill and this was no exception. Almost like clockwork, last Tuesday my band suddenly tightened. I was unable to eat little more than Protein shakes for almost 2 days. At this point, I have to be very careful to take small bites (baby spoon size) and chew well and wait between bites...something I didn't have to do at 6cc...BUT my surgeon was right. In addition to a cessation of hunger, I've lost the desire to eat. I eat my 3 meals because my body tells me it's time and I feel the signs of hunger...but as soon as I eat, I'm good for about 4 hours or so.

The band works differently for everyone, so you just have to pay attention to what your body is telling you and then work with that. Good luck.

.

[Humming Bird 275]

Both of the above posters said it well. My sweet spot is not exactly like anyone else's, but I know when I'm there. I have to stop eating after a small amount of food. I have reached a point where much of the time food just doesn't sound good. I have lost the desire to eat some types of foods. I don't usually go 5 hours without eating a tiny bit of something, but if I got another fill I would be so tight I would be on a liquid diet. My sweet spot just requires a snack now and then I guess. Sometimes it is just where you get tight enough where you can accept it and live a normal life and keep losing weight or maintain at goal. I think lifestyle and mindset go along with your own personal sweet spot. If you exercise like they do on "The Biggest Loser" you can keep your band looser. That just does not fit my lifestyle and I do not exercise like that, so in order for me to lose weight or maintain where I'm at I have to eat less food.

[dk4k 15]

For me it's all about being "satisfied". I don't feel stuffed, but I don't feel hungry. I am satisfied with a small amount of food at meals and 2 small Protein Snacks (a shake, cottage cheese, almonds, etc). If I stay busy, I don't get head hunger. I still do if I'm lounging around the house, so better to stay busy.

I DO get hungry if I'm out running around and it's way past my lunch time. My Protein monster comes out and growls, "GIVE ME SOME FOOD!"

I had read that the band feels tighter during your time of the month, and that was true for me. I would take a bite of certain things (like chicken, which is usually no problem) and I could really feel it. So watch out for that. If I got any more fill at this point, I think the time of the month would have me on liquids.

[Stephy5 33]

Thank you everyone! The head hunger has been bad for me the last few days. I have to sit there and think my way through it. Well I have another fill in 4 weeks so hopefully it won't take to many for me to get there. I am ready for the train to get moving. For now I am hanging tough.

You guys are great!!! Good luck!

[mattie7632 24]

Hummingbird you are describing the "sweet spot" I am aiming for. Honestly, what others describe as restriction doesn't seem to be what I would expect. I have "restriction" right now, but by all means it's not doing enough. I'm waiting for things to be as you describe....which is what I have each time my stomach is swollen. I don't think we should have to work that hard if we've reached perfect restriction.

Both of the above posters said it well. My sweet spot is not exactly like anyone else's, but I know when I'm there. I have to stop eating after a small amount of food. I have reached a point where much of the time food just doesn't sound good. I have lost the desire to eat some types of foods. I don't usually go 5 hours without eating a tiny bit of something, but if I got another fill I would be so tight I would be on a liquid diet. My sweet spot just requires a snack now and then I guess. Sometimes it is just where you get tight enough where you can accept it and live a normal life and keep losing weight or maintain at goal. I think lifestyle and mindset go along with your own personal sweet spot. If you exercise like they do on "The Biggest Loser" you can keep your band looser. That just does not fit my lifestyle and I do not exercise like that, so in order for me to lose weight or maintain where I'm at I have to eat less food.

[Acadia 20]

I just had my first fill last Thursday (the 17th) - no food after midnight then the fill at 0900 then liquid diet for 12 hours, I tried some mushroom risotto at night because I was hungry for solids and it seemed to go down okay.

On the 18th I had oatmeal in the morning with blueberries and almond slivers, and then had a crisis with my kitty (diagnosed with Stage 4 Renal Failure) so I didn't eat anything until around 10 PM and then I tried some mushroom linguine and noticed that it got stuck. Despite chewing well.

Then yesterday I had oatmeal for Breakfast again, tried some mashed potatoes and those got stuck, then tried some dry ramen noodles as a snack and those got stuck.

Then today I wasn't hungry for Breakfast, just had crystal light, and then tonight I tried mushroom risotto again and no go except in teeny tiny bites.

I can drink fluids just fine, but apparently my band would prefer I don't eat rice anymore. I won't be trying bread, which I was able to eat prior to my fill.

So, my guess is that I'm at a good point since I'm not all that hungry, I can stay full on a little for over 5 hours, can still drink fluids fine, and am back to losing.

I must say, getting stuck is a horrendous feeling.

[HeatherinCA 10]

I think I am at a good fill now. I don't get hungry (except after 4 to 5 hrs) and I am satisfied after eating about 2 to 3 oz of meat and about 3 oz of veggies or sides. I would say if you are always getting hungry you are not at a good spot. I didn't get hungry one time yesterday but I was still trying to eat which made me mad because now I got to battle the head hunger now that the physical hunger is gone! Good luck!

Same here. 4 to 5 hours without hunger, and you should be good. I'm never hungry to be honest, unless something happens and I'm way off my regular schedule. I still get head hunger all the time, I always want food, but it is easier to say no because I'm not physically hungry. I'm starting to unravel my old habits of eating all the time, hungry or not. I'm not at the point like the other posters said about not wanting food... I don't think I need or want to be at that point, that almost says to me I'm scared to eat because it might get stuck. I don't have any stuck issues now, I can eat a wide variety of food.< /p>

I have 5.5ccs in an 11cc band.

[beergut 2]

I can drink fluids just fine, but apparently my band would prefer I don't eat rice anymore. I won't be trying bread, which I was able to eat prior to my fill.

So, my guess is that I'm at a good point since I'm not all that hungry, I can stay full on a little for over 5 hours, can still drink fluids fine, and am back to losing.

I must say, getting stuck is a horrendous feeling.

I just got upped to 5 cc on Thursday and now it's a whole new world for me. Before I could eat pretty much everything, no restrictions, but now I have to eat super slow and chew well even on soft things. Even then I still get a slight stuck feeling and it is horrible. I think I've gotten seriously stuck once, and PB'd it up w/ some slime. Other than that, I've had some rough pain and it suuuuuuucks ! But, I've started losing quicker in the past few days, and now I'm to the point where I've got head hungry, just no physical hunger, unless I am busy for 5+ hrs then my stomach starts to growl fiercely.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to supplement my daily DIET w/ at least 2 Protein shakes a day just to reach my min. Protein intake, which isn't bad, I love my Protein Shakes.

Definitely a new world in learning how to eat.

[Stephy5 33]

I love hearing from everyone and about their experiences. It really helps. We are all different but working towards the same goal.

My fill I had Friday was my first. I got 1.5 cc in a 10 cc band. I had some restriction after surgery up until 3 days before fill. Now with this fill I am noticing I am not hungry as often 4-5 hours and get full much faster. I also have to really chew my food. I know this can loosen up in a few days or closer to next fill. But I just keep hoping this will get me back on track of weight loss.

The head hunger has been awful and I am really battling that. But so far winning!

Again thanks to those that are sharing

[honk 780]

beergut, It sounds to me like you are too tight. I think it is a slippery slope to start having Protein Shakes to get your Protein in because you can't get solids down. There have been enough stories on this board of people have slipped bands because they were kept to tight for a long period of time.

[Humming Bird 275]

Hummingbird you are describing the "sweet spot" I am aiming for. Honestly, what others describe as restriction doesn't seem to be what I would expect. I have "restriction" right now, but by all means it's not doing enough. I'm waiting for things to be as you describe....which is what I have each time my stomach is swollen. I don't think we should have to work that hard if we've reached perfect restriction.

I have not worked hard at all. For me finding my sweet spot was the key to success. When you get close a very tiny fill can put you over. I reached my sweet spot on fill number 2. Fill #3 & #4 were both just .1cc and after that I went back and had the .2 taken out (in a round about way). That took me back to my original sweet spot I had at fill #2. You may have to play around with it a bit. I think another key to success is listening to my full signal and not taking even one more tiny bite. I am the pro at leaving food on my plate, even if it is just a bite or 1/2 of what my eyes thought I could eat. With proper restriction I simply can not overeat and if I do I pay the price with pain or worse. I have not thrown up in a very long time ......proper restriction and lessons learned.

[Jachut 487]

Its individual - a lot of the descriptions above scream TOO TIGHT, WAY WAY TOO TIGHT to me. I could not live one step from a liquid diet for example and its not the way that my surgeon described the way the band is meant to work. To me, a sweet spot means being able to eat from all food groups in appropriate amounts, sticking to about 1500 calories a day and not being starving doing that. But it will definitely incude head hunger and wanting to eat simply for the sake of it. I also didnt work for months to get to that point, each and every single fill bought that for me but eventually it would wane, it just lasted longer and longer the more fill I had in my band. It never entered my head to go tighter than that sort of level as I lost weight well there. For my part, I am prepared to employ some self control and willpower, to run for up to an hour a day and to go to bootcamp.

That's just me though. But it goes to show that a sweet spot is not definable, its different for everyone and you will most probably just "know" when you get there.

[Joyle265 0]

To me restriction is not being hungry for 4 hours. Being satisfied. Right now I am beyond restriction and it is painful and not a good thing. I get little sleep at night because of acid reflux which is horrible. I have never had it before. Everything gets stuck including my antacids, Biotin, etc that I cut in 1/4. I am going to the doctor March 1 to have some liquid removed. I don't eat much now which is great, but it is not worth it. It is a fine line between restriction and too much. Good luck to all.