I'm still very new to all of this only being 6 weeks out as of today. I had my first fill on Wednesday. To be honest, I can't say it was pain free like many of you. I got the numbing shot which BURNED and the DR was having a hard time getting to my port. The needle was moved around A LOT until finally I could hear a pretty big POP....ugh...but I digress....

I was filled with 3ccs and I know that most experienced people with this say that it takes a few fills sometimes to finally hit that elusive "sweet spot"...but what exactly DOES it feel like? Do you feel FULL after a small amount of food..or do you feel "Not Hungry"?

I'll be honest..after this first fill... I can eat still... A LOT if I wanted to probably. Do I feel full? NO! Buuuuut......I'm also not hungry. Oh sure, I have head hunger and if I felt inclined could probably go get a 6 pack of Cinnabons and wash it down with a 64 oz. soda (don't worry....I wont )...BUUUUT.... I'm not "hungry".

Before the fill, not long after, my stomach would start to growl. Now? The growling is gone. I definitely don't feel like I'm full and could eat more...but I'm not "HUNGRY". Did all of that make sense???

Anyway, I'm wondering if this is what good restriction is supposed to feel like...or do you actually feel FULL with a much smaller amount of food? Is this it? Should I keep experimenting with more saline?

It's all so new and hard to read..and confusing. I know everyone is so different. I feel like I DEFINITELY can't eat the normal amounts that I used to....but I look at the amounts that some people say that they eat and are full and WOW....I'm no where NEAR that small of an amount. Nothing gets stuck..I haven't had anything come back up or felt like I had to slime anything down. I look at the sites that say how many calories I should have to lose 2 pounds a week..and it sounds like so much! I know that some people need a much smaller amount of calories to lose (600-800), but I KNOW that the sites that say the calories you need are NEVER going to say that low of an amount. I'm working on trying to get to that "not hungry" stage to stop..I'm getting more used to it. Part of me wonders how much of that is because I have cut down the carbs so much and from just getting used to the smaller amount of food instead of it being from the band itself actually giving me any restriction at all.

Well, my experience was that you get an inkling of restriction when you are post-op because you are not hungry for hours at a time, not even thinking about food, and you are full up on a bit of yoghurt.

Then your band settles down and you end up with NO restriction, and it make take quite a few fills to get to your green zone.

It took several fills before I got to full restriction and then I hardly thought about food. I enjoyed it when it was time for a meal, but I did not think about it the rest of the time and I was satisfied with small amounts and I lost weight easily and steadily.

However learning to stop in time before I got too full-that took a long time.

I had my last fill in April and it lasted for ages. However I knew I was due again in July as I was getting hungry again but put it off as we were going away and I did not want to be overfilled when out of the country.

Since we have been back I am thinking about food all the time, eating too fast and getting stuck. I have a fill booked for later this week and I am looking forward to getting back to how I was.

So, that is my story. Remember the lack of interest in food immediately post surgery-that is what you are aiming for. And good restriction tends to come after a quite a few fills but that time is well spent learning to listen to your body so you can stop eating in time!