my journey with restriction

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

right now I have 2.5 CC in my 14cc lapband (i also have plication on my stomach). my dr said in about 2 weeks (when i had fill) i would begin to feel the fill...

now i understand what (restriction) is

i have always not been able to (eat) much due to the plication.

i have had restriction from the beginning. lost most of my weight w/o fills.

i have now have 2 fills in 3 yrs

but i can eat past my (boundaries and fullness signals) if i want too

and have this past week, i ate and i ate and i kept on eating.for the last 8 months, i have had a really hard time personal wise with 3 deaths in the immediate family one after the other and life issues and well, food tastes good when you are stressed..so i ate...no excuse.no woe is me...it was my reality...i was (full) or aka felt full and kept on even when it got uncomfy ...however we know we must always STOP before its get that the feeling of being stuffed or uncomfy...picture eating a huge thanksgiving dinner and you are like.....OMGod

this is how i feel after eating a very small amount now

its pretty cool but also i admit, i am missing eating..BUT
i know since i am a volume eater, that is the only way i can lose weight so i had my WLS of choice..i had WLS to help me lose weight but i have to help the WLS also

so what does it feel like besides what i wrote above (the full) feeling

well, if i eat too fast, my chest can feel some what tight...and my left shoulder can twinge a smidge (not hurt)..but what i am experiencing the most is that my stomach feels like i am full and i am not wanting to eat...couldnt care less...someone from this forum named B-52 writes that is how he feels..couldnt care less/no desire.......this is exactly how i am feeling

and i am enjoying it...its new..in a couple weeks, going back to get a little more..my dr is filling me slowly..he thinks i am very nearly that sweet spot (people call green) but i prefer to call it pink spot

BUT us WLS patients must eat *protein* to continue to lose weight..it is hard when you are not hungry let me tell you...but i am trying and i can tell that to me, in my words, this is what restriction feels like to me.

from Dr Simpson:

When you eat Thanksgiving dinner, you can feel stuffed. Contrast that with the sensation two hours after you eat your big meal, at that point your appetite is suppressed. It is the subtle dimming of the appetite that the band should provide. Being stuffed after a large meal is a complicated sensation of the abdominal wall stretching and a lot of gas in the bowel, in addition to feeling a diminution of appetite. You will not, and should not, feel the abdominal wall stretch with the band. You should not feel the "near nausea" and you should not feel bloated.

Key point:
You should NEVER eat until you feel full. It is best to stop eating before you "feel full." If you do eat until you feel full you will most likely be overstuffed. This leads to the universal key to success -- patients who eat a small volume of food (which, if you measure, is consistent) will be successful with the band. If you want to succeed, you need to know how much you are eating, and then stop eating -- it is in your control, but the band will help you -- not by stopping you, but by allowing you to feel satisfied after the small volume.

http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html

[B-52 7,113]

One thing people never mention....after eating so little over a period of time, our stomachs shrink...no more beer belly for me....

Having said that, if I were to eat some sort of slider food, like ice cream, I will get that stuffed feeling VERY FAST!

Like Beer...back in the day, well sometimes it was a contest to see how many beers one consumed....NOW, 1/2 beer and there is no room....have to nurse one beer....

I read here all the time from Banded people talking about "Feeling Full"...I have never felt full with the band.

As said concerning the Thanksgiving analogy, my brain acts as though I just finished that big dinner, even though I have no actual physical feeling...even if I have not eaten at all....

It's all mental somehow....the band is sending signals to my brain, telling me I'm not hungry, I don't need to eat.

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

CG,

You continue to amaze me with the lessons you've learned, even before your surgery. I am so, so proud to see how you've worked through your WLS journey and lots of personal issues that would make a saint cry for mercy. Please, please believe me when I say,

You are a rock star!

J

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

CG,

You continue to amaze me with the lessons you've learned, even before your surgery. I am so, so proud to see how you've worked through your WLS journey and lots of personal issues that would make a saint cry for mercy. Please, please believe me when I say,

You are a rock star!

J

Jeannie I love you 4ever ♥

[lisacaron 5,075]

@@☠carolinagirl☠ Your doing amazing my friend!!! I wish that I could say I felt that restriction right out the gate with my plication and band surgery but I didn't and it took me forever to find that green zone and then lose it again because of a dilated pouch. I started all over again with my fills but you know it kind of took the wind out of my sails...but I learned so much about myself and my relationship to food and my stress and emotional eating habits along the way.

Things like ice cream for me @@B-52 I wish I could say were not an issue and I get full fast...but NOPE I can eat that all day long and never feel full!!

I don't do carbonation at all because it makes me feel like I swallowed a balloon and I don't like beer at all so that's a big help

It is true that if I forget about food or eating for the most part I am not hungry...but I notice that the higher my output is during the day/week the hungrier I am on certain days and my need for Protein is that much higher and I guess I can understand that as muscle is looking for some extra Protein to repair itself and build.

[♕ajtexas♕ 3,771]

OMG, I have been MIA for how long...& the princess has had a fill (not just one, but more....) I lost touch with you & all my online band friends, my bad! I didn't like the change from lapbandtalk.com to bariaticpal.com so I left. I'm snooping back in because I'm up 20 pounds, feeling frustrated, needing friends that understand.