Green zone question

[secondchancesally 43]

I get stuck about 3times a week. Eating small and chewing lots but boy do I have a hard time with solid proteins/meats/scrambled eggs. Yet I can still eat more than a cup. I try not to. I portion out a cup and I wait after I've had that but I'm still hungry. So sounds like I need a fill right? But the problem is I'm already having trouble eating and not getting stuck. Starting to feel like maybe I'm just a pig or don't have the discipline to eat so little. Also I'm a single working mom and my day starts at 7 and ends at 2am so I get hungry at night. Needless to say I haven't lost much more than the 25 lbs I lost pre op. do I get a fill? Or am I too tight? Surgery was oct 23

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

I think you have really examine how you're feeling to decide if you need a fill.

First, the band isn't meant to physically stop you from eating anything. It's not meant to control your portions either. In fact, it's not even meant to make you feel "full" and if you're eating until full you're likely eating too much. What the band IS supposed to do is allow you to satisfied on less food for longer periods of time.

So really, the question would be: Can you go for at least 4 hours without being hungry after a cup or less of food? If yes, then you don't need a fill. If no, then perhaps you do. Of course your doctor is always the best one to help you decide.

The foods you listed are common trouble foods for banded people. However, if you can't get enough Protein in, then that would definitely be a problem. Sometimes people think they're taking small bites but they're not small enough. A lot of nutritionists recommend bites the size of your fingernail, chew it until mush, and pause between bites.

Here's a link that I think might help you too: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html

Best wishes.

[kll724 3,055]

I hate to say it, but you sound too tight! If you are getting stuck so often, and not losing, it could be because of that. Talk to your nutritionist. Best wishes.Karen

[B-52 7,113]

I cannot eat meats, or at least have trouble...Dr. Says typical and expected...I stopped eating red meat for over 2 years now.....

I don't eat Breakfast...cannot eat anything solid first thing in the morning, so I rarely eat eggs...and when I do it is usually egg white omelettes with goat cheese.

There is a balancing act between being too tight and eating differently than we are accustomed to....the way I eat now, I could not have imagined it would have been possible....small portions, very healthy foods.....

I compare my self with my friends and peers who have never been fat a day in their life...and I do not eat any less than they do....and I find it interesting that the foods they choose to avoid are almost identical to the foods I now avoid.....theirs by smart choice, mine due to the band....but now a new normal....

So I feel very comfortable, satisfied and above all happy with where I am now because of the band.

BTW, when I had my last fill, hit the green zone, I could get stuck as much as 3 times a day, let alone 3 times a week......but then I learned to adjust my lifestyle and stay within the green....I have not been stuck in well over a year now.....

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

I cannot eat meats, or at least have trouble...Dr. Says typical and expected...I stopped eating red meat for over 2 years now.....

I don't eat breakfast...cannot eat anything solid first thing in the morning, so I rarely eat eggs...and when I do it is usually egg white omelettes with goat cheese.

There is a balancing act between being too tight and eating differently than we are accustomed to....the way I eat now, I could not have imagined it would have been possible....small portions, very healthy foods.....

I compare my self with my friends and peers who have never been fat a day in their life...and I do not eat any less than they do....and I find it interesting that the foods they choose to avoid are almost identical to the foods I now avoid.....theirs by smart choice, mine due to the band....but now a new normal....

So I feel very comfortable, satisfied and above all happy with where I am now because of the band.

BTW, when I had my last fill, hit the green zone, I could get stuck as much as 3 times a day, let alone 3 times a week......but then I learned to adjust my lifestyle and stay within the green....I have not been stuck in well over a year now.....

when you said (learned to adjust your lifestyle) what do you mean B?

[2muchfun 8,927]

All previous comments are great, but, one of the most difficult issues with the band is, are you really hungry or is your mind telling you to continue to eat because you love the taste of food?

Learning the difference between true hunger and a simple craving or conditioned habit can take months or even years to discern. It's still a struggle for me but I'm getting there.

There are signals we get when we're no longer hungry. Burps, yawns, runny nose are a few of them. I like to stop eating and just sit back for a couple of minutes to listen to my stomach and see if it's telling me more food or is it my mind saying, this stuff is good, keep going? If it's the latter, it's time to stop and I'm the only one who can pull that trigger.

"When a craving doesn't come from hunger, eating will never satisfy it"...Dr. Michelle May

tmf

[B-52 7,113]

when you said (learned to adjust your lifestyle) what do you mean B?

Many people here talk about following the "Rules" as a path to loose weight....

A month after being banded, I told my Dr. I did not need surgery to follow another set of rules like I did, and failed at in the past...

He advised me, to "practice and learn" the rules, because when restriction comes and you want to be in the Green Zone, it will be the ONLY way I will be ale to live day to day wit the band....the band will only work if I adhere to the basic principals.....

Needless to say, I went along not adhering the rules well, but when I hit tha Green Zone....BAM! Suddenly it all made sense.....and what I should have been practicing all along I had to make second nature, or else.....I learned many lessons, the hard way...but learn I did, and now it is all very natural and I don't even need to think about it all that much.

[sunflower26 9]

i dont think ive ever been in the green zone going for fill monday i just cant handle much fill in my band it make me feel tight under my ribs so they have to take it out every time so its in and out 3 times now omg