Okay. I go in for my first fill this coming wednesday, which is good, because I'm geting hungrier SOONER!(I'm in the mushies phase..) My portions are small(I'm really watching that..lol..) so as NOT to stretch the band or pouch-my question is: how do I know I'm eating enough? I don't want to eat TOO much, yet I know if I don't eat enough calories, I won't lose. I've read that as you heal, and head towards your first fill, you get hungrier sooner. is that true for any of you? I had a few tablespoons of Wendy's chili with a few mashed carrots about two and a half hour ago, and I'm indeed hungry again..sigh...I think I'll try and sip a bit of protein shake. Maybe that'll do it....

Well, I would starve on a few tablespoons of food at a time! I've never eaten that little, no wonder you're hungry. I dont eat big meals compared to the average person, but I can eat most of a small sandwich, a decent sized bowl of Cereal, an egg and a piece of toast and most of the time, my dinner would fill a bread and butter plate. So perhaps you really are eating too little, although I'm sure many people here eat about the same.

I just never needed to cut it down that low.

But ify ou're coming up for fill time, then yes, you will feel hungrier sooner.

Yeah, I think you should eat a little more, and drink water when you start to feel a little hungry. I do that and can usually push back my eating for another hour or so, although, it is fine to eat something every 3 to 4 hours. 3-4 hours is the "green zone". I bet eating a few more bites of food would get you there. I had the same problem and now try to eat about a half a cup.

The truth is that everybody is different. I was a fast healer and I got hungry before a lot of people did after my surgery. Remember you are in the first stages of getting fills and you haven't found your sweet spot yet. Pace yourself. I find that some people on here make drastic changes very soon. If they can do that good for them, but I realized that I was use to eating a certain way and my body and mine could not adjust that fast. People forget the lapband unlike any other weight loss surgery tends to be slower than the others. I think its a good thing because think about it if we lost the weight really fast we would really be dealing with a lot of lose skin. Don't be so hard on yourself, eat. Give your metabolism time to adjust if you are starving your self you could be pulling down your metabolism, pace, pace. The weight will come off and the other person was right about the water as well. Protein will keep you fuller longer than anything else.

Thanks for the encouraging words everybody! I know now I need to eat more. I weighed at the nutritionist 's office today-ONE lousy pound!.. in over 1 1/2 weeks! whereas, I lost 10 pounds two weeks after surgery. The good thing is I go in for my first fill tomorrow-so at least I'll get a little restriction-finally!..lol.... But I didn't gain it in days, so I can't expect to lose it in days either! I LOVE this board!

I was banded on June 28th and just had my first fill on Monday. I understand where you are coming from and I had too finally start really measuring out my food and writing it down. That way I could see what I was eating and how much. That is when I realized that I was not eating enough. Hang in there I keep telling myself that no matter how prepaired I was for this journey it is still a learning game... They are right about the water... I can usually hold back about 45 min if I drink some water... Hang in there!!