Hi guys, I have a question regarding restriction. When you have good restriction can you ONLY eat a certain amount of food not counting on willpower to stop, or do you always have to have willpower to stop eating at a meal? I got a fill on Jan. 4 (2cc in 4cc band) and I am trying to figure out if I need another one. Thank you,

I have a 2cc also, it is my 2nd fill. I can eat 8 oz in which I measure everyday 8 oz and I get full either right at 8 oz or, 7 oz. The only time I can not eat 8oz is in the evening. I can usually eat 4-6oz and I am full. My first fill was 1.5cc and I could eat alot and it was all based on willpower so I started measuring my food making sure I did not over eat. I would not eat over 8 oz and if I did it was soup 10-13 oz.

Well I think you have to recognise satiety rather than utter fullness and stop there, but I've found it to be recognisable until very recently (like the last 3 or 4 days). So I guess I'm using willpower to stop at a small meal now. Not "OMG I really wanna eat that but I mustnt, I mustnt, I mustnt", more like "Ok, that was perfectly adequate, time to stop now".

But I only lost 1lb in the last week, so I'm obviously eating more.

I would guess - since I've not had a fill - that it will be like this for a while - have fill, feel quick and recognisable fullness, which gradually tapers off as it's time for the next fill?

But I think it's also to do with how satisfied you are between meals too. Are you getting hungry, thinking about food a lot? I still havent gotten to that stage. But I feel like I've gotten to the point where my band does not restrict me so much that I dont have to worry about calories. If I were to remain unfilled after my visit on Thursday I think I'd need to be counting points on Weight Watchers in order to be able to keep to around 1200 calories and keep 1kg a week coming off. But I feel like I could do that without the willpower problems I had pre band.

Hi guys, I have a question regarding restriction. When you have good restriction can you ONLY eat a certain amount of food not counting on willpower to stop, or do you always have to have willpower to stop eating at a meal? I got a fill on Jan. 4 (2cc in 4cc band) and I am trying to figure out if I need another one. Thank you,

When you have good restriction you can definitely feel when one bite is one bite too many. The trick is recognizing that feeling BEFORE you take that last bite. It will always take "willpower" to put the fork down, because some people decide it's more satisfying to take more bites even if they have to chuck them back up. It's something everyone handles in their own way. Personally it didn't take too many incidences of negative reinforcement to make me stop eating after the right amount of food.

After banding=willpower for me

After 1st fill=mostly band would stop me in my tracks (sometimes with a PB), but sometimes willpower (depending upon food)

After 2nd fill=The band stops me at ALL times.

I agree with Alexandra. The trick is to know when NOT to take another bite!

Shawn