I have had 3 fills in an 11cc Realize band. Now, from day one, felt no restriction, no tightness, didn't know anything about "sliming", etc. I had lost some weight, but to be expected when liquids are your only source of nutrition.

Now, first fill was 5 cc....nada. Lost maybe 1 pound in a month and no restriction. So, 2.5 cc more added, and still.. maybe 3 lbs in one month and no restriction. Could finish whatever was on my plate.

Now, as of October, 2010, I'm at 9.5 cc. I did lose about 20-34 lbs since then. But, have plateaued. Now, there was restriction....and BOY what restriction. Not only that, maybe one day I could eat a couple of bites of eggs. Next day, none without feeling like I was having an angina attack.

The first week was like forced bulemia. Now, I only wind up vomiting maybe if I've gone passed feeling slight tightness, which then tells me 'tank is full" to coin a phrase. I've explained this to the surgeon who nodded. I don't want anything fill portion removed since previously I had no restriction.

The only consistent thing about the Realize band is that I have not had any real hunger. More "see it and want it" type. So, please don't feel there is a sweet spot. Oh sure, like anything else, if you go back to drinking more Protein drinks in place of a meal, or change your exercise routine, you'll have a period of more pounds going down...but, like anything else, your body stops so it can adjust.

I truly believed people hit a sweet spot and rushed to get the last fill....don't rush it if you're new to this. Sweet spot is like the word normal it's different for everyone and not always existing

I have had 3 fills in an 11cc Realize band. Now, from day one, felt no restriction, no tightness, didn't know anything about "sliming", etc. I had lost some weight, but to be expected when liquids are your only source of nutrition.

Now, first fill was 5 cc....nada. Lost maybe 1 pound in a month and no restriction. So, 2.5 cc more added, and still.. maybe 3 lbs in one month and no restriction. Could finish whatever was on my plate.

Now, as of October, 2010, I'm at 9.5 cc. I did lose about 20-34 lbs since then. But, have plateaued. Now, there was restriction....and BOY what restriction. Not only that, maybe one day I could eat a couple of bites of eggs. Next day, none without feeling like I was having an angina attack.

The first week was like forced bulemia. Now, I only wind up vomiting maybe if I've gone passed feeling slight tightness, which then tells me 'tank is full" to coin a phrase. I've explained this to the surgeon who nodded. I don't want anything fill portion removed since previously I had no restriction.

The only consistent thing about the Realize band is that I have not had any real hunger. More "see it and want it" type. So, please don't feel there is a sweet spot. Oh sure, like anything else, if you go back to drinking more Protein drinks in place of a meal, or change your exercise routine, you'll have a period of more pounds going down...but, like anything else, your body stops so it can adjust.

I truly believed people hit a sweet spot and rushed to get the last fill....don't rush it if you're new to this. Sweet spot is like the word normal it's different for everyone and not always existing

Kathy, I'm not any kind of expert in all this, but I found this article to be quite helpful: http://drsimpson.net/newsletter/March-2010-Lap-band-surgery-newsletter/content-March-2010-Lap-band-surgery-newsletter.html#LETTER.BLOCK7

Dave

Dave interesting article. Thanks for sharing it. like the rest of this process...restriction vs finding the sweet spot both are an individual thing and how we interpret them.

Kathy, just a suggestion ...you may already be doing this...are you keeping a log of your exercise and food habits? I also know that there are a few folks here on the website that have done everything they were told to do and still hit plateaus, they continue to struggle with their weight loss, some have found out what works for them by trial and error.

Good luck.

I agree, I don't think there is one. My band is 5.5ccs full, and I'm never hungry, so it's doing it's job. I still wanna eat though. It's all mental, I went so many years loving food, eating whenever and whatever I wanted. I'm working on training myself to not want it all the time. I know I have to control what goes in. I think too many people have the illusion that eventually the band will stop them from eating.