To fill or not to fill?

claraluz · January 28, 2004

This is a kind of boring subject, I know, but I'm unsure of what to do. I had made an appointment for a fill tomorrow because I hadn't lost anything in three weeks. I can't eat as much as I could pre-band, but usually find that I stop myself from overeating rather than getting any signals from the band. My eating habits still aren't perfect, but they have improved. I'm eating more nutritiously than before and exercising daily walking 1.2 miles on the treadmill (2.4 miles on the weekend). And today that stubborn next pound is gone. I only have 1.1cc in the band. Any thoughts?

Nancy

donali · January 28, 2004

Hi Nancy -

My advice does not necessarily follow what the general fill advice seems to be.

The lack of weightloss is not an immediate signal (in my opinion) that you need a fill. You will experience many plateaus throughout your journey that will resolve themselves WITHOUT a fill.

I personally think that MOST people end up too tight - their calories are extremely restricted (less than 1000 a day), and they have a lot of problems eating a wide variety of foods. Usually they PB often, but don't admit it, thinking this is "normal". It is NOT normal to PB regularly. In my year of being banded, I have PB'd 10 times. Period. Some people have never PB'd.

I think it is more important to evaluate how you feel, and what you are eating. If you are eating healthy, nutritious foods for the most part, keeping everything down, not gaining weight, and are not hungry 98% of the time between meals, double-check your calorie intake. Are you eating enough to meet your basal metabolism needs? (Check at www.fitday.com - enter your info, then go to activities. Enter any regular exercise you do, and there is a little chart that displays what your basal metabolism should be burning. You should be trying to consume up to 200 calories more than your basal metabolism to keep your metabolism running well.)

Are you getting in at least 60grams of Protein a day? Are you drinking .5 oz of Water per pound of body weight?

If you're meeting all of these intake goals, chances are you are just on a plateau, compacting. If you're taking in too many calories because of QUANTITY, or are hungry between meals AND meeting your basal metabolism requirements, then you need a fill. If you are taking in too many calories because of QUALITY, then you need to assess why. Getting ever tighter will only make your quality issues worse, as you will be less and less able to get in good solid Protein and veggies.

If you're not meeting your intake goals, start making an effort to do so. If you are falling short of your basal metabolism caloric requirements, and are unable to eat enough good nutritious food to get there, then you are probably already too tight, and your body may be resisting letting go of weight because it thinks you're in a starvation environment.

I will be the first one to say that everyone is different and there is no one magic formula that works for everyone, so the above may not work well for you. I also think that those of us who have been on the diet rollercoaster for many years have severely impaired our metabolisms, and that repairing that damage by getting in enough calories to meet our basal metabolism requirements is an important first step.

My personal goal is to be able to eat as much as I can and still lose weight. The amount that I can eat while still losing weight will decrease as I lose weight, because my basal metabolism requirements will get less and less (it takes less energy to keep a 135 pound body alive than it does to keep 219 pound body alive).

Good luck, and I hope you find something useful and helpful in the above.

claraluz · January 28, 2004

As usual, you make a lot of sense, Donali. And according to those guidelines, I probably need to take in more, not less, calories. Protein is a challenge because I'm a vegetarian. I drink Protein drinks to help boost my Protein grams. I know most people don't believe in drinking calories, but it's only 80 calories and it's the only way. I eat cheese, yogurt, nuts, etc. but they don't have nearly the protein quantity of meat.

I will do Fitday occasionally on your advice, but in general, I am not into counting calories at all. If I wanted to do that, I could have skipped the band thing entirely. I am definitely not losing as fast as some, but I am reasonably satisfied so far.

And I guess I'll skip the fill for now.

Thank you.

Nancy

donali · January 28, 2004

Hi Nancy -

Please forgive me that I do not remember you are a vegetarian (I doubt I ever will, so please do not become too exasperated with me! :confused: )

I am 100% with you on the calorie counting thing. I only use fitday to get real with myself. I do not, no way, no how, track everyday. I don't care to be focused on that either. I do have to disagree with you about

If I wanted to do that, I could have skipped the band thing entirely.

though. Counting calories without the band does nothing for your hunger level, and would have been unlikely to give you any kind of long term success. Being banded manages that overwhelming drive to eat - the trick is to get your hunger level set at the proper place. Not so low that you're starving your body, even though you don't feel hungry, and not so high that you are consuming too much fuel to lose weight. That is the only reason I occasionally check in at fitday - just so I have a ballpark idea of what I'm consuming so I can judge if my plateaus are regular body resting periods or due to excessive caloric intake.

I also am not one to lecture about liquid Protein calories. The volume required to stretch your pouch enough to give you the "full" feeling can be easily obtained with lo-cal veggies and tofu. There are lots of ways to manage your band journey successfully, and I think Protein shakes are a viable addition for many of us. Many bandsters do not agree, but if I am successful in what I'm doing I tend to tune out the naysayers, no matter how experienced they are.

The "rules" are only a starting point, a place to touch base when we get into trouble to help give us insight and possible solutions. Aside from that, we all find the way that's best for us as individuals.