Just Curious about cc you were at for green zone.

[Hope41 13]

I feel the same way, a year in October I have 7cc in a 10cc band had 7 fills since December 2014, sometimes 0.3cc sometime 0.2cc which makes no sense to me why very small amounts but it is what it is. I have no restrictions at all, if I want I could eat as much and anything I want like I never had a surgery. Have not lost any weight in 6 months but have not gained any either. Working out 4-5 times a week. I hope one day I will start losing weight

[45678 3]

Oh gosh hope41! These ppl are getting like 4ml fills!!! What should we do? Do you think the doc's are taking advantage to get more visits out of us to make more money?

[Hope41 13]

I do believe that, we are lucky here in Canada that fills and visits are covered for 5 years but also we paid $16000 CAD which is twice as it cost to get it done in US.

What you do we cant make them do any different than what they are already doing

[45678 3]

HELLO GREEN ZONE! Okay guys I went to see the PA yesterday and told him I do not want to do 1ml at a time. We agreed on 2ml so I now have 3ml in a 11ml band and I just threw up. Oh shit! I need to do my research and figure out how to work this thing!

[Hope41 13]

I guess slow and steady is the way to go, yes it sucks that we have to wait a year to be where we need to be but its better than having issues of throwing up and not being able to keep anything down.

[Hope41 13]

Yes I lost over 30lbs in two months after the surgery and that's it. I'm still at that weight today. Green Zone is around the corner I know it

[vwdriver95 11]

I have had only three fills totalling 3.5 mls and I am no where in the green zone. And to be totally honest, it sucks. I have a ten ml band, but this waiting in between fills blows. I am trying to wait patiently for the slightest feeling of restriction, but it's driving me nuts.

[TheProfessor 378]

My surgeon believes in "creeping towards the green". Tiny fills, nicely spaced apart (4-6 weeks)... Now that I'm in the green zone I cannot help but agree.

I had surgery on December 18th, 2014 (7 months ago), and started out with 4.1 ccs of Fluid in my 10 cc band. Here's my fill history:

5 weeks later: Fill #1 was .5ccs

2 months later: Fill #2 was .3ccs

1 month later: Fill #3 was .3ccs

1 month later: Fill #4 was .2ccs

1 month later: Fill #5 was .1ccs

2 months later: Fill #6 was .2ccs

I am now in the green zone with 5.7 ccs of Fluid in my band. Hooray!

I was reminded by very experienced, professional and compassionate nurses at each fill to be PATIENT, and trust in the process. At the time, it made no sense to me why the fills had to be so small. I was like, "Fill me up! Let's get this show on the road!"

I was told that I needed to go slow and approach the green zone, as an overfill would result in vomiting, food sticking, etc., and would require a de-fill that would be GREATER than what I had been overfilled. In other words, one large mistake forward, 2 enormous steps backwards.

In my experience fills can take up to two weeks to 'settle' in. (This delay is, apparently, a mystery to bariatric surgeons). This has been true of 4 of my fills. My last 2 fills took effect almost immediately, and this one in particular I have struggled to eat even 1000 calories each day since being filled as the feeling of satiety was so strong. (Yay!)

Not one fill has resulted in heartburn, night cough, vomiting or discomfort.

It's been a 7-month test of my patience to get here. Now I'm here it feels SO GOOD. I am immensely grateful to my surgeon and his team for their wisdom around fills. Had it been up to me, I would have way overdone it.

Every BODY is different. I'm in the green zone at 5.7ccs. Some people finally get that elusive sense of satiety after 1 fill, some after 8 or 9.

All I know is my surgeons were right. "Creeping towards the green" has been a terrific way to get there.

[tootyoyo 8]

That's interesting professor. Could I ask you to describe what the green zone feels like for you? Are you getting a hard stop or just little signs? I'm still confused about whether I'm there or not.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

My surgeon believes in "creeping towards the green". Tiny fills, nicely spaced apart (4-6 weeks)... Now that I'm in the green zone I cannot help but agree.

I had surgery on December 18th, 2014 (7 months ago), and started out with 4.1 ccs of Fluid in my 10 cc band. Here's my fill history:

5 weeks later: Fill #1 was .5ccs

2 months later: Fill #2 was .3ccs

1 month later: Fill #3 was .3ccs

1 month later: Fill #4 was .2ccs

1 month later: Fill #5 was .1ccs

2 months later: Fill #6 was .2ccs

I am now in the green zone with 5.7 ccs of Fluid in my band. Hooray!

I was reminded by very experienced, professional and compassionate nurses at each fill to be PATIENT, and trust in the process. At the time, it made no sense to me why the fills had to be so small. I was like, "Fill me up! Let's get this show on the road!"

I was told that I needed to go slow and approach the green zone, as an overfill would result in vomiting, food sticking, etc., and would require a de-fill that would be GREATER than what I had been overfilled. In other words, one large mistake forward, 2 enormous steps backwards.

In my experience fills can take up to two weeks to 'settle' in. (This delay is, apparently, a mystery to bariatric surgeons). This has been true of 4 of my fills. My last 2 fills took effect almost immediately, and this one in particular I have struggled to eat even 1000 calories each day since being filled as the feeling of satiety was so strong. (Yay!)

Not one fill has resulted in heartburn, night cough, vomiting or discomfort.

It's been a 7-month test of my patience to get here. Now I'm here it feels SO GOOD. I am immensely grateful to my surgeon and his team for their wisdom around fills. Had it been up to me, I would have way overdone it.

Every BODY is different. I'm in the green zone at 5.7ccs. Some people finally get that elusive sense of satiety after 1 fill, some after 8 or 9.

All I know is my surgeons were right. "Creeping towards the green" has been a terrific way to get there.

I second this. I feel I'm at green because my hunger is sated for 3-4 hours and even longer if my meal is Protein heavy and low carb. Additionally, I have no reflux or heartburn and I can eat almost any food. However, if I eat dry meat too quickly or don't chew certain foods to paste, I get stuck. To me this is green.

Here is my fill history:

Fills

03/31/2015 0.10 seventh fill 07.80

02/17/2015 0.10 sixth fill 07.70

12/02/2014 0.10 fifth fill 07.60

09/02/2014 0.25 fourth fill 07.50

0.25 third fill 07.25

2.50 second fill 07.00

4.50 first fill 04.50

I have fifty pounds left to lose and have been at this weight for over seven months. I don't want another fill. I'm scared of the harm that being too tight can cause. I want my band to last. My solution has to be cleaner eating and more exercise. But I believe my band is in a good spot now.

[TheProfessor 378]

@Tootyoyo:

The green zone feels like heaven! Hmm... its tough to describe it, and of course, I can only speak for myself. Here I go:

Being in the green zone feels like an absence of hunger. It doesn't feel like being "full", as in when someone scarfs down a turkey dinner at Thanksgiving. It feels simply like satiation - not thinking about food, not dreaming about food, not being anywhere near tempted to snack...

Like walking by a vending machine or driving by a McDonald's and being utterly disinterested.

I also know I'm 'green' because of my portions. I don't get a hard stop, so much as a 'soft' stop. I can have about 10 or 15 bites of whatever it is - a chopped salad, omelette, lamb chops, etc. and I find myself taking in a deep breath and sighing - a happy sigh of having had enough. That's the signal! For me it's waiting for the sigh. As soon as the sigh happens, I stop.

A green zone example: Yesterday I woke up early and had a Protein shake with a drop of skim milk (170 calories) at 8:15 am. I spent the morning running errands and at 1pm found myself at the mall shopping for a new bra (I've dropped a cup size in the past two weeks!)

So there it was, 1pm, and I had had nothing but a wee Protein Shake all day. Even though I had no hunger, it was high time to eat something or risk hypoglycaemia. So I took myself to the food court in the mall - Mama Vinelli's (first time) - a place that has salads. All orders are made fresh, so the place is a good choice (compared to A&W, KFC, Chinese Express, etc). I ordered a large chicken caesar salad... until I saw the person in front of me get hers - hold CRAP it was massive.

My green zone band instantly said, "No way you're going to be able to get through even HALF of that, sister!" so I changed my order to a small with a request for just one Tbsp of dressing, no croutons, no fake bacon bits. Glad I changed my order. I took 20 minutes to leisurely enjoy my salad, and sure enough, after 15 or 20 bites, there was the "satisfaction sigh". I had salad left over. Yay!

SO the green zone for me means feeling full on smaller portions. I'm still in the process of making this adjustment. My "eyes" are only now getting used to NOT being bigger than my belly. For the first few months after getting banded, I would still take big helpings: three chicken thighs, rice, multiple big florets of broccoli... now I know one thigh, no rice and a single floret will see me through for hours.

After my 1pm chicken caesar salad, I went home and started cooking madly as I had company coming for a special Indian dinner. I love to cook and put on a huge spread - butter chicken, shrimp vindaloo, aaloo matter (peas & Potatoes), naan bread, basmati rice, lamb korma kebabs, lentils...we ate at 6:00pm, and I had no appetite. I took a side plate of shrimp and butter chicken, (about 6 Tbsps) and that was me done.

See the pattern here?

Small portions, long satiety (4-6 hours) between meals, feeling satisfied after just a few bites. Beautiful green zone!

[Hope41 13]

If I could avoid my cocktails I would start losing weight again, my meals do last me 3-4 hours but they are still a good size meals smaller than regular but definitely not as small as they should be. Alcohol is my weakness as after a long day at work I do enjoy my drink

How do we not drink alcohol?

[TheProfessor 378]

@@Hope41

Question: "How do we not drink alcohol?"

Answer: You stop drinking alcohol.

Honestly Hope41 I was in the same boat as you. Alcohol was my weakness, too. I loved (nay, FROLICKED) in red wine every single day after work. I had for over a decade.

After stalling for 3 months at only 45 pounds lost, I was frustrated and needed to take a good long look at what the hell I was doing wrong. It was a tough wake-up call, but I realized it was my alcohol consumption. For you it's cocktails, for me, Merlot.

I figured out that 3 glasses a night 6-7 nights a week equalled an extra 5000-7000 per week (HOLY CRAP) of empty, useless weight-fueling calories. I was eating right but de-railing my weight loss through my love of wine.

I spent $16K on this surgery, and here I was self-sabotaging just because of drinking. Silly me.

So I got hard with myself and said THIS STOPS NOW. And so 2 days before my 46th birthday (this past July 19th, 2015), I had my last delicious glass of red wine and polished off the last bottle of wine in our cellar. I have not bought any since. (Not having it in the house helps enormously).

After a 3-month stall, the weight started coming off within 48 hours. After a massive stall where the needle on the scale had not moved, suddenly I was losing again. The needle went from 213 pounds... to 211 pounds... to 208 pounds... to 206 pounds....

In the past 8 alcohol-free days I have lost 7 pounds. I have kick-started my weight loss again and I feel terrific.

For me, the only way to stop drinking those empty calories was to stop drinking. Period.

If I can do it, I think just about anyone can, the exception being someone with alcohol addiction, in which case professional intervention is required!

[Hope41 13]

TheProfessor you are 110% right, if I don't have a drink for 2 days instantly 2 pounds gone but then they come back as soon as I have a drink. Going to strap a set of **** and stop drinking. Have to as there is no other way to it. Like you said we paid 16k for this surgery and we are doing the same habit as before the surgery

Thank you for reply

[TheProfessor 378]

You bet! We are in this together! Woo woo! Tonight when I have my alcohol-free glass of Water after dinner (ye GODS) I will toast you!