I was just wondering....Is it better to have restriction or not? Sounds silly...right? Well, my husband, who has been supportive, wants me to just leave my band alone. He thinks that if I obtain restriction I will be miserable. He knows about getting "stuck" and PBing and is worried that's all I'll do when I get my fills to that sweet spot. How many of you struggle with restriction? I have met people who don't like restriction and wonder....

i would say if you're having problems , then do not get another fill yet. I didn't really start feeling restricted until i had at least 7.2 cc in a 10cc band. Make sure you are taking small bites and chewing well Please do not drink right after you eat. That will just make it worst. Good luck to you

If you have restriction you should not PB or get stuck though it happens if you eat to big of a bite. I have limited restriction but get stuck if I take too big of a bite. If you stay away from obtaining restriction due to thinking you will be miserable it will make it tough to succeed. Good luck,

GReg

It's nice that your husband wants to spare you discomfort, but his logic is a little fuzzy, IMO. You can achieve restriction and avoid PB and sliming and all of the unpleasantness, at least most of the time. Over-restriction is something to be avoided--but achieving appropriate restriction is sort of the band's raison d'etre. Otherwise, why even bother with it?

Agree completely with BetseyB..if we could do this without the band's restriction, well, we would have already!!

I think I am at perfect restriction now and have no problems at all..a very rare pain or PB which is the bitch slap I need because I ate too much or too fast. It happens maybe once a month nowadays. I just feel so lucky to have this band!!!

GREG. I just sent you a message. Our journeys are exactly the same. Even down to weight loss so far..

It seems kind of foolish to get the band and not work with it the way it was designed. I'm just say'n.......

I used to be excessively tight. I was so tight it didn't matter how slow or many times I chewed my foods. I really was only able to eat liquids, which morphed into high calorie high fat high sugar foods. I then gained weight.

Then I started getting bad night coughs, acid reflux and my voice went deep and scratchy. My Dr. then immediately demanded he take some out. Even with the first slight unfill I was still too tight. He then took out quite a bit more.

I was not happy about that at first, I thought I would gain weight and worse. Well the opposite happened. I am able to eat normally again and I can sustain high energy workouts and more. I am a calorie burning machine and I"m doing fabulous.

However, I do know I need to get a little bit tighter. I'm scheduled for a fill on the 12th. I think it will be my last one for a good long time.

So, what I'm trying to say is - do not be afraid to continue getting fills. You will know you reached your Max at the time if your meals are lasting 4-5 hours and you can get by with no more than half of what you used to eat pre-band.

I am hugely against considering being too tight called the sweet spot. The sweet spot is again as mentioned above, your meals lasting 4-5 hours and greatly reducing your normal intake.

All the best!!

Heed the Diva...she said it best!

Thanks to all who repied. I WANT restriction but I wanted to know if anyone out there struggles. I'm in Bandster Hell right now and wouldn't miss my next fill for the end of the world. However, I have a little birdie who keeps saying "you're fine the way you are", and "you don't need a fill, you're doing fine". Was just curious about the subject. Mind you, I'll be gettin' those fills....

Illumination: I got banded a week or so after you. I am already up to 6 ccs in a 10 cc band and I dont feel anything yet either. I'm hoping around 7 ccs I will be all set. I just got my 2nd fill today so I dont know if I have restriction yet but like you I dont really know what restiction is... I've eaten a couple things that seemed stuck when I ate really fast. I've been able to eat anything as long as I chew it up. I'll keep you posted.

Over-restriction is something to be avoided--but achieving appropriate restriction is sort of the band's raison d'etre. Otherwise, why even bother with it?

Ditto.

Restriction doesn't necessarily mean 'stuck'...and vice versa. I don't have restriction but do have problems with certain foods. So we take small bites, chew well, eat slowly and make note of the foods we have difficulty with.

If I intended to avoid restriction, I'd just have them remove the band because it serves no purpose.

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