In the last two weeks I have had somewhat of an epiphany in understanding the term satiated. When I began this journey I was told that the Lap Band would moderate my food intake as well as help me to feel satiated even though I had consumed less. When I heard this I assumed that feeling satiated meant I would feel full.

I have included a definition of satiated to help explain my point.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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Sa·ti·ate<o:p></o:p>

Pronunciation: 'sA-shE-"At<o:p></o:p>

Function: transitive verb<o:p></o:p>

Inflected Form(s): -at·ed; -at·ing<o:p></o:p>

Etymology: Latin satiatus, past paiticiple of satiare, from satis enough<o:p></o:p>

Date: 15th century<o:p></o:p>

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It turns out that satiated does not mean full or at least it doesn’t (Didn’t) meat my interpretation of the term full. I have realized that to me full meant exactly that, full of food. In most cases being full meant a feeling that my stomach was full to capacity and on special occasions a feeling of fullness that was an uncomfortable sense that not another morsel could be eaten.<o:p></o:p>

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Interestingly enough while discussing this with my DW who is average weight, she could not understand, at first what I was talking about. She actually ate till she was “satiated” or had enough; she very seldom, if ever felt full but rather stopped eating at satiated. That feeling was the trigger that made her stop.<o:p></o:p>

I on the other hand stopped when I felt full I my have been satiated by the middle of my first big plate but I was not full. Somehow I think I had lost my ability to read the signals.<o:p></o:p>

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Since I have had the band I have been able to once again feel satiated and understand what it is. It is actually funny but this has come about because I have stopped eating many times because I did not feel like fighting the band or heading back to the bathroom to throw up. It dawned on me that I wasn’t really hungry anyway so why continue. One day I realized that the reason that I could stop eating was because I was satiated. A light soon went on and I began to understand my eating a little better. <o:p></o:p>

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I have read many posts on this board that described why people thought they had become obese and each one of those stories has touched my heart. The truth is none of those stories represented what I thought was a reason for my obesity. <o:p></o:p>

I realize that over time I had stopped eating to the point of satiety and began eating to a point where my stomach was full. And it was this sense of fullness that I was looking for. Even worse was that when I was particularly anxious or upset or happy for that matter, I would eat to the point of overfull, all in an attempt to feel satisfied.<o:p></o:p>

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My band has reintroduced me to the concept of satiety and I think that I am slowly re-learning this signal. There are times when I still crave full but many more times when I stop at satiated. <o:p></o:p>

Many folks here talk about hitting their sweet spot and I think that the sweet spot is a point where satiety and full is once again the same thing.<o:p></o:p>

I am currently at 98 lbs lost and struggling to break the 100 lb mark mainly because it’s summer and I love steaks on the BBQ and cold beer along with a glass or 4 of great wine. Maybe, just maybe it’s okay to slow down the weight loss to allow oneself to enjoy some of the fine things in life. <o:p></o:p>

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So I raise a glass and offer a toast, a toast not to full or bursting or stuffed but rather to Satiated<o:p></o:p>

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Cheers<o:p></o:p>

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TommyO

Thats really awesome Tommy.... I look forward to the day when I also learn the true meaning of satiety *CHEERS*

Congratulations on the 98 WHOPPIN LBS !!!! WTG :clap2:

This is an issue that a lot of us struggle with.

Not eating until we're full is pretty common for us, I believe.

As obese people (or formerly obese people) I think our stomach signals get mixed up, not heard or just ignored.

I am hoping the band will help me with this, but I really need to get my restriction back because I personally do better when I get the "satiated" signal earlier, rather than later.

Good Luck!

That's really kewl Tommy; tks for sharing.

I eagerly anticipate the day when the light bulb goes off in my head too. Well, it goes off in my head, but not in my body; I await patiently and meanwhile do my best!

Congrats on the 98 lbs!!!!

WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

I wish there was a way to tell someone like me what satiety feels like. I eat until my tummy hurts, and then I know I need to stop... but think that might be a little too late.

:rofl:

What a great lesson you gave us! I, too, have been trying to tell the difference between the two. I've been reading alot about it. Congrats on the 98lbs! WTG!

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">I believe strongly that we learn as we go, meaning we learned to think feeling full means achieving a sense fullness in the stomach. I think as a child I gradually began to work towards that sensation and over time it took more and more volume to get that feeling of full.

I was sitting down the other night after eating, and because I had been a bad bandster I had been back and forth to the bathroom PB'ing. I noticed that I did not feel full but rather I had a sense that I had eaten enough. It struck me that this was a feeling that I had begun to be aware of since the band. Keep in mind I had been feeling frustrated because my Doctor had told me that with the band I would feel full sooner and that was not the case.

At that very moment the light went on, this is what he was talking about. My doctor is a very slim man who has no weight issues. It occurred to me that we were speaking two different languages. When I said full I was talking about a stretched feeling in my stomach when he said full he was talking about a sense of Sateity.

TA DA!!!

It seemed to all to make sense now, it was a matter of interpretation.

I would be lying if I were to say that all of my problems with eating were solved at that moment, I still struggle with the beast everyday. But I now realize that I can get there if I work towards making eating to achieve satiety my goal.

Getting back to my earlier theme I believe I can re-learn how to eat because of my Band. I would be foolish to think it will happen overnight. I think it is important to also state that I believe that when we measure our success solely by the numbers on the scale we probably do not understand what it is we are trying to accomplish. (But that's a topic for another post)

The band is a tool that helps me on my journey and I am grateful for it. It took me 47 years to get to this point and it will take time to re-learn all of the things I need to re-learn. The good news is now that I have lost my 98 lb's and because I will lose another 50-60 I now have a lot's of time to get it all figured out

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step" Confucius

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Tommy, the things you have said are right on target, and sound very much like another of my favorite guys on the board, Jack...have you read his posts? Ya'll think alike, and have some of the same experiences.

DEFINITELY, you have described the very key to learning how to handle our head hunger issues. Our willingness to learn it will determine our success. Thank you so much for taking the time to write about your experience, and sharing it with us!

Congratulations on your incredible success, and many more to come!

Cindy

Thanks, Tommy...that was great. I've been working on that same issue of learning to recognize when I'm not hungry any more vs. being "full". You described the difference so well. Thanks for sharing your insight.

Emily