Sorry, I know this has probably been posted a 100 times but I had no luck searching for it. So I guess I'm just going to have to ask . I am having a problem understanding how to know when am satisfied instead of full. I only know when I feel full. I don't know how to tell when I am just satisfied. Is there a feeling that would let me know? Can anyone help me figure out how to tell when I am satisfied? Right know I am just measuring out 4 oz of Protein, 1/2 cup vegi's,and 1/2 cup complex carbs. I am eating that till I finish the plate, and I usually I feel full. In between my meals I think I get hungry, but I can't tell for sure. I'm just forcing myself to stay at 1200 calories a day and the weight loss is slow going. I have my second fill coming up next week, I am trying to figure this out so I'll be ready when I hit the green zone. Thanks in advance.

~~~Stephanie

The way it was explained to me was this:

If you feel like you just ate a big dinner and can't eat another bite, you're full. If you are simply no longer physically hungry, you're satisfied.

This is why I was told pausing between bites was so important- to give your stomach time to send a signal to your brain "Oh, I'm not hungry anymore". (and of course so you don't get stuck by eating too fast).

Honestly? It wasn't easy for me to learn. After spending my entire life stuffing myself silly and eating when I wasn't hungry- I didn't even really know what physical hunger felt like anymore. It's a pretty big learning curve at the beginning with the band.

It's A LOT easier once you have adequate Fluid in your band, too. A lot of us also have "soft soft" signals when we're satisfied, too. Like mine is getting the hiccurps. Some will sigh, or their nose may Water a little. There's all different little body cues we learn to tune into and really listen to our bands and body.

Hope that helps!

I can eat just over a cup of food.

When I eat now I feel satisfied... but never stuffed. I try eat my Protein first (except when I have something like chili or stew, spaghetti).

Tom, Toronto

Banded: July 6 06

Wt. Loss: 160 lbs

I think almost all of us only ever understand 'fullness' and this is what got us here. My boyfriend and I had a long conversation about it when my band was leaking. I experienced hunger for the first time in 3 years, and so I ate, and ate to 'fullness' and started to gain.

He asked me on a couple of occasions "are you still hungry?" when he saw me continue to eat more than I probably should have. That's when we started talking about it. Because I realised he wasn't asking me if I was 'full' but if I was still hungry.

He has never been big, and the reason is, he stops eating once he's no longer hungry. He does not seek out that feeling of 'fullness' like I do. That was a huge a-ha moment for me, because I realised then the fundamental difference between overweight people and normal BMI people - they don't seek out 'fullness', they stop when they're satisfied.

If we can learn to stop when we're satisfied, never again will we need to worry about avoiding certain foods because we will over-indulge. We can eat a variety of foods and stop after just a small taste. We don't have to hate food, or make it our enemy. We don't have to mourn its loss. All we need to learn to do is stop eating once we're no longer hungry.

Satisfied, for me, is where I am no longer physically hungry and I do not feel like I just had thanksgiving dinner. I really pay attention when I eat and when I no longer feel physical hunger, I am done.

Sorry, I know this has probably been posted a 100 times but I had no luck searching for it. So I guess I'm just going to have to ask . I am having a problem understanding how to know when am satisfied instead of full. I only know when I feel full. I don't know how to tell when I am just satisfied. Is there a feeling that would let me know? Can anyone help me figure out how to tell when I am satisfied? Right know I am just measuring out 4 oz of Protein, 1/2 cup vegi's,and 1/2 cup complex carbs. I am eating that till I finish the plate, and I usually I feel full. In between my meals I think I get hungry, but I can't tell for sure. I'm just forcing myself to stay at 1200 calories a day and the weight loss is slow going. I have my second fill coming up next week, I am trying to figure this out so I'll be ready when I hit the green zone. Thanks in advance.

~~~Stephanie

Stephanie - are you taking small bites, and taking 20 minutes to eat? That 20 minute marker really helps.

For instance..... I was SO hungry by the time dinner was finished cooking. I thought.....I'm only going to have one chicken thigh, so I'll take the biggest one of the bunch (probably 2-3 oz of meat). I measured out 1/2 cup of quinoa, and had a few spears of asparagus. Pre-band, I would have looked at that plate & thought that it wouldn't be enough. I was so hungry, I thought "I'm going to finish everything on this plate!". And I wanted to! As usual, I ate very slow, and by the time I ate about 1/4 cup of quinoa, a few bites of asparagus, and about 2/3 of the thigh, I was done. And I mean......done! I tried to eat a bit more, but stopped, thinking to myself "this is ridiculous". I'm full (in the banded world), so why am I trying to push this? So I tossed the rest, and that was that.

The reason I wanted to finish everything on that plate, is because my old mindset told me that it was a small amount of food. Since being banded, what I used to consider small, has dramatically changed. For you, you could still be in bandster hell, along with your mind telling you to "finish up". If you go very slow, and pay attention to each bite going down, I think you'll become aware of when you've had enough. In the beginning, I had no clue what sense I was looking for; same as you. But it came in time, and now I'm acutely aware. Even so, there are some days that I'm able to eat a bit more; not MUCH more, but.....more.

Oops.....ate only 1/4 cup of quinoa. LOVE the edit feature!