My band fills to about 10-11 CCs. I have 4CCs in it now and I feel like I am still eating too much. I KNOW i'm eating more than I expected.

So I'm curious.

Here are my limits for one meal of the bad stuff - which I am trying to limit (not completely remove, just limit):

- Two eggs Benedict with one potato on the side and one pancake for desert! I thought I'd eat half of each plate - but I ate them all!!

- 13 pieces of sushi rolls

- Two grilled cheese sandwiches

- a cup of rice

- 4 slices of a medium pizza

- A turkey Panini sandwich

- A BIG chicken breast

I got my fill exactly 3 weeks ago. It was my first one. The doc said I need minimum 3 weeks between each fill, so I am definitely going for another fill.

I stop eating when I am satisfied. And I am satisfied with way less than my pre-banded self (i could have easily eaten twice as much as what is above) and I haven't thrown up. At all! And I've lost 4.4 pounds, but i have no idea how i've lost those! I definitely eat less, but I still eat! I read that sometimes your esophagus expands to take in more food when you're banded. Could that be happening to me already?

What were your limits when you had 4CCs?

We will all be different because the amount/thickness of tissue and fat inside the stoma varies with all of us.

I could never eat as much as you listed from day one and I reached my sweet spot and stayed there for about a year at 5.3cc. Other people don't reach it until they are around 7cc. You just have to play around with fills until you get to that place where you are satisfied for a few hours on a small amount of food. I could never eat bread, sandwiches, rice. It is rare when I am able to eat pizza, and that would be one small slice and only part of the crust.

At 4cc's I felt no restriction. I portioned out what was on my diet plan, for instance 3-4 oz piece of fish, 1/2 c veggies and maybe a tiny bit of fruit, I quit eating regardless of being satisfied. In my situation this worked for the first 4 months util I hit the green zone. I didn't try to see how much I could et. but how LITTLE I could eat. Good luck and just remember the first few months are more will power than the band. Once you hit your green zone, you'll be mazed how much easier it gets! Good Luck!

My band officially holds a max of 4 cc. If you have 4 cc in a 10-11 cc band, then you've got a 38% fill level. I don't honestly recall exactly how much I could eat at one sitting when my band was 38% full, but I do remember that I had begun to notice my restriction then, in the sense that I experienced early satiety. I didn't "test" my band's capacity the way you've been testing yours, but I'm pretty sure I could not possibly have eaten two eggs Benedict or 13 sushi rolls at one sitting. Even if I could, I wouldn't, because that's the way I ate before surgery, and that's the kind of eating that made me so obese I qualified for WLS.

It concerns me that you can and are eating so much at one sitting before feeling "satisfied". As bandsters most of us have to re-learn what "satisfied" means. My idea of satisfied or full used to be overstuffed (like Thanksgiving Dinner). Even at over 4 years post-op, I sometimes want to go on eating because emotionally or mentally I'm not "satisfied" even though physically, I've had enough. It can hard to tell the difference between the satisfaction that my body feels versus the satisfaction that my overeater's brain feels. If I'm enjoying the food and love the taste and the experience of eating it, I want to go on prolonging that feeling by eating more and more, In my mind, I'm not satisfied yet.

In medical terms, satiety is actually the feeling of having eaten enough food for your present needs - no more, no less. You don't physically need any more food. Messages about that kind of satiety don't come directly from your mind. Instead of thinking, "Ah, that was great, I'm done," you may notice a more subtle signal - a hiccup, a sneeze, a sigh, a running nose, a tickling or fullness in the back of your throat, or even a sudden distaste for the food you were just enjoying. This is why it's so important to eat slowly and play very close attention to how you feel while you eat.

If you go on eating for non-physical satiety, several unfortunate things will happen. You won't learn your body's satiety signals - the signals you need to know and heed not just to lose weight but to maintain that weight for the rest of your life. You'll be overloading your upper stomach pouch and esophagus, which can cause serious complications like esophageal or pouch dilation and/or band slippage. Those complications can be treated by discontinuing the behavior that's causing them and/or by unfilling the band, but sometimes those steps don't help at all. You may require further surgery to correct it...or even removal of your band.

So my advice (though I know you didn't directly ask for it) is to weigh and measure your planned portion of healthy food (according to the portion sizes recommended by your surgeon or nutritionist), eat it, and when it's done, stop eating no matter how badly you want to go on eating. If you feel you are still physically hungry (rumbling tummy, hollow feeling, etc.) an hour later, go ahead and eat some more. Just don't overpack that pouch!

I wasn't planning on testing it to be honest - i am really paranoid about throwing up or being in pain, I just found myself gradually eating more over the past 3 weeks, getting hungrier quicker. And whatever I ate, i hardly felt any pain - unless I ate really quickly and didn't chew properly - and I haven't thrown up or anything. Which is why I'm surprised - i was mentally prepared for eating much less and I did so the first week, then it was gradual, i got hungrier, i got headaches - which I usually get when I don't eat enough...

Yesterday I started measuring what I pack for lunch - I am trying to stick to 1-1.5 cups of food per meal for now before gradually getting it down to the recommended 1/2 cup. And I packed fruits for when I get hungry between meals. It seems Highland was right - it's still more will power than band at this point....

I definitely DO feel some restriction - since before getting tightened I could eat WAY more than what I do now. But 4ccs felt like a big number... Perhaps when I go in next time he'll put in another 2ccs to step things up a bit. I hate feeling like a failure - i'm only just beginning - i still have 74 pounds of my 88 target to lose - the first pounds should be the easiest to lose......

I wasn't planning on testing it to be honest - i am really paranoid about throwing up or being in pain, I just found myself gradually eating more over the past 3 weeks, getting hungrier quicker. And whatever I ate, i hardly felt any pain - unless I ate really quickly and didn't chew properly - and I haven't thrown up or anything. Which is why I'm surprised - i was mentally prepared for eating much less and I did so the first week, then it was gradual, i got hungrier, i got headaches - which I usually get when I don't eat enough...

Yesterday I started measuring what I pack for lunch - I am trying to stick to 1-1.5 cups of food per meal for now before gradually getting it down to the recommended 1/2 cup. And I packed fruits for when I get hungry between meals. It seems Highland was right - it's still more will power than band at this point....

I definitely DO feel some restriction - since before getting tightened I could eat WAY more than what I do now. But 4ccs felt like a big number... Perhaps when I go in next time he'll put in another 2ccs to step things up a bit. I hate feeling like a failure - i'm only just beginning - i still have 74 pounds of my 88 target to lose - the first pounds should be the easiest to lose......

Just because you're not having negative symptoms doesn't mean it's OK to go on eating that much. And please, please don't call yourself a failure. It's way too soon for that! The first pounds aren't necessariy the easiest to lose, and one of the things about the band that a lot of people don't realize is that weight loss is not necessarily immediate. Hang in there!

Jean

That sure seems like a lot of food to me.

I have a 4cc band, that's the original Band.

This depends on you, and how you choose to eat, exercise, and live your life.

I belong to myfitnesspal.com It helps me keep track of everything that I eat, Proteins, Calories, Exercise, and much more.

It's also kept in Memory, and I can View other people's Diary, to get ideas from what other people are eating, and stay under 1200 calories a day. It's FREE too !

You can go on site and look around. Look me up if you want,and I will Friend you in. I'm Losingintime on that site, and a lot of us are over there from here.

I only have 1.5cc's in my band, and I need a fill big time. I go in next Thursday, and will be glad to get a fill.

I'm sure you need one to.

Anyway once you do get another one, it might bring up the tightness in your band, and believe me,,, there ewill be certain foods that you just won't cut back on ! They might not even go down at all.

So start fresh ! Eat low cal, get some exercise, and eventually get a adjutment.

Shirley.

I have an 11cc band as well and I could still eat anything I wanted even with with no vomiting or other negative consequence, though I tried to keep my amount to no more than a cup. After my first fill of 10ccs I was in the SAME situation- anything would go down with NO trouble! I would get hungry about 2.5-3 hours after a meal, but I eat about every 4 hours, so I would make myself wait or just drink something. I just got my 2nd fill yesterday- I'm at 10.3ccs and I can already tell a difference (technically it's my third because my 2nd one was 0.5cc but I had it taken back out about an hour later because I was having chest and back pain). I tried to drink some Sprite this morning and it just wouldn't go down very well (I have been drinking carbonated beverages occassionally since banding with no issues). I stopped after about 3 sips. For Breakfast I could barely eat my egg but did manage a little tuna.

Try to be strong until you get to the right spot with your fill! I've been having to use a bit of willpower so far, and I'm happy with my progress. I don't want to be at the point where food won't go down, but not getting hungry as quickly would be so nice. I'm hoping my fill yesterday did the trick!

well this last week I feel like I could eat a side of beef w/no problem and i have had to use will power like never before i called my doc and he is getting me in for a fill on the 26th. can't wait cuz this will power thing is something that i have had to work at so hard and every hour i am fighting the refridgerator uit I am not going over a cup of food no matter what and I do eat healthy so I wish you luck in using more will power to eat less I know 1st hand its sooo hard but if I were you i would cut back on the calories if you want to see a loss

whether you can eat a whole lot or a little.... you want your fills to be slow so that you have time to adjust to them. You may think that you want it really full so that you can eat just a crumb, but you'll end up really sick. The trick that I use is that I eat until I'm not hungry. Sometimes that means that I eat a lot more than I think i should. Sometimes it means a few bites. Learn what your body is trying to tell you.

I have an 11cc band and I just got my first fill last week, 3cc. I can not come anywhere close to what you're eating. I can have one grilled cheese sandwich for dinner, but that's it. I can have 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast and I'm stuffed. I know we're all different but that just seems like a lot of food. Before my banding I would eat like it was my job. Now, I just can't (and won't) eat like that again. I don't mean to be rude, but I didn't have this surgery to turn around and eat pizza. It's a lifestyle change for me and pizza/fast food just isn't a part of my life anymore. Good luck!

I have an 11cc band and I just got my first fill last week, 3cc. I can not come anywhere close to what you're eating. I can have one grilled cheese sandwich for dinner, but that's it. I can have 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast and I'm stuffed. I know we're all different but that just seems like a lot of food. Before my banding I would eat like it was my job. Now, I just can't (and won't) eat like that again. I don't mean to be rude, but I didn't have this surgery to turn around and eat pizza. It's a lifestyle change for me and pizza/fast food just isn't a part of my life anymore. Good luck!

Before my banding I would eat like it was my job.

LOL! Me too! And I was very, very good at my job!

In my opinon it seems as though sometimes the people doing really well w/ the band get a little judgy and forget that we all are obese people with the worst eating habits in the world and people come here for support not judgment you know who you are if your one of the ones who forgot the compassion that needs to go with your judgment we all need help or we wouldn't be here right?

Amen insanejane! I'm having a very difficult time with my band.. I am 7 weeks post op and have nothing in my band. I haven't lost a single pound in 3 weeks. I go for my first fill next week, thank goodness, but have been too afraid to discuss my failures on here. I see so many people get slammed for posting the negative truth about how their band process is going. Esp what they can eat. I'm not specifically talking about this post.

We are all on here for the same reason.. why put someone down for their failures.. isn't that what most of us have experienced our entire lives. Speaking for myself, absolutely.

Encouragement goes a long ways.

In my opinon it seems as though sometimes the people doing really well w/ the band get a little judgy and forget that we all are obese people with the worst eating habits in the world and people come here for support not judgment you know who you are if your one of the ones who forgot the compassion that needs to go with your judgment we all need help or we wouldn't be here right?

I hope it wasn't me you were calling "a little judgy." I was just giving the OP some important information about eating with the band that can help her avoid complications. My eating history is just as full of poor choices and bad habits as everyone else on this forum!

Amen insanejane! I'm having a very difficult time with my band.. I am 7 weeks post op and have nothing in my band. I haven't lost a single pound in 3 weeks. I go for my first fill next week, thank goodness, but have been too afraid to discuss my failures on here. I see so many people get slammed for posting the negative truth about how their band process is going. Esp what they can eat. I'm not specifically talking about this post.

We are all on here for the same reason.. why put someone down for their failures.. isn't that what most of us have experienced our entire lives. Speaking for myself, absolutely.

Encouragement goes a long ways.

Please don't call yourself a failure. With no fill in it, your band isn't even working yet. All you can do until you get optimal restriction is to keep on keeping on and do the best you can in the circumstances.