Hi all,

I’ve been having my band for 6 months so far. I got 2 fills. Nevertheless I don’t think I’m restricted as I should be.

<O:p

Now whenever I eat, I feel discomfort with the first 2 to 3 bites (I guess as the food is passing from the pouch to the lower stomach) , after that I feel the food flies through the pouch and rest in the lower stomach right away, which make me eat a lot. Question is: Is that normal with a good restriction, or it means I would need more fills?

<O:p

2<SUP>nd</SUP> question: how long should the food stay in the upper stomach (the pouch) after eating? And do you think some of it passes down while you are eating? Or all the food stays in the pouch, until it starts to digest later on<O:p

A question of my own, and then I will get to yours. You say "I feel the food flies through the pouch and rest in the lower stomach right away, which make me eat a lot." I would challenge that a bit - and ask how food going through the pouch makes you eat a lot? What does it do that forces you to eat more? A lot of the things we say to ourselves justify actions, even ones we know we shouldn't be taking. Just be careful, and when you think something to yourself, think twice -- and hear what it is you're really saying. That alone may help you quite a bit.

Q1: I think that by definition "good restriction" pretty much means food doesn't move quickly through the pouch. Assuming we're talking "food" and not "water".

Q2: Probably varies greatly person by person. Sometimes I don't feel the food at all, sometimes I feel the tiniest bites for several minutes. When I feel food, I don't eat more until I feel it clear. What's it's clearing exactly I can't tell you. Maybe it's just settling into the pouch, or maybe it's passing through the stoma... I don't know.

The food will not stay in the pouch until it starts to digest, your pouch doesn't contain the right "ingredients" to digest food. The food will have to pass into your stomach before it can be digested.

And forgive any misspells... I'm showing a pattern of typing "puch" instead of "pouch" today.

Are you eating good dense Proteins at the first of the meal? A dense Protein (meat, egg, etc) will move more slowly thru than other foods (Soups, yogurt, etc). A good protien meal should satisfy you for about 4 hours.

What size band do you have? Most people have to have more than 2 fills to reach a good restriction.

And as for eating a lot.....'just because you can, doesn't mean you should.' 'just because you can, doesn't mean you have to.' The band is a tool, not a magic wand. The secret to successful banding lies in your head, not your tummy.

Best wishes.......

And as for eating a lot.....'just because you can, doesn't mean you should.' 'just because you can, doesn't mean you have to.' The band is a tool, not a magic wand. The secret to successful binding lies in your head, not your tummy.

Did you listen to allegories like that when you were fat?

The secret to success pre-banding was in your head too.... yet people still get fat? Most likely because we don't listen to our heads and that's why we get the band.

The secret to the band is proper restriction.

I've already tried working on my head and that failed... now I'm trying the band!

To put it simply, you cannot rely on the band to do all the work. You have to work with the band. This is not easy, so don't think that I am scolding here.

You may need a little top off on the fill. You also need to adjust your "head band." Work on eating hard protein, small bites, chewing a lot. That will keep you feeling full, longer. Nothing and nobody makes us eat a lot...we do that to ourselves. That's something to think about.

The secret to the band is proper restriction.

I've already tried working on my head and that failed... now I'm trying the band!

Politely butting in - in my opinion, the secret is BOTH in equal measure. The band alone will not do the job for you. Otherwise, we wouldn't know of so many ways to "cheat" the band.

Cashley: FYI - an 'allegory' is a fable, a fairy tale. The opposite of an allegory is a 'factual statement.' I love allegories, but I was not utilizing one in my post. I was simply stating a fact that succesful banded losers have learned....and most of us have had to learn it the hard way, unfortunately. I was just attempting to remind the reader of a 'fact' of life. And, as SleepyJean says, it is both in equal measure.

Continued success to all of us.....whatever it takes!!

Ok - What I should have said was "Did you listen to bull-shit like that when you were fat?"

I mean telling someone who is overweight that "Just because you can eat a lot does that mean you should"... is bull - did you listen to that crap pre-banding?

Overweight people have a problem and the band is supposed to help us not "eat a lot"... that was the original posters point... is "why can I still eat a lot".... she didn't say "Should I still eat a lot?"

Obviously, we shouldn't eat a lot with or without the band! The band is a tool to help us not eat a lot.... Yes it still takes the head to make decisions about not eating Ice Cream! (or milk-shakes or candy)

So I agree it is a combination of the head and the band.... I just don't think BS "sayings" are helpful!

And as for eating a lot.....'just because you can, doesn't mean you should.' 'just because you can, doesn't mean you have to.'

did you find stupid statements like that helpful to you when you tried to loss weight in the past?

I think its a head/band thing too, the band wont do it all by itself.

But I would have agreed that my experience was ENTIRELY like yours until my last fill and suddenly I dont have that feeling that I can eat forever anymore. That was my 5th fill taking me up to 2.5. It is a matter of proper restriction, until this fill, if I stopped when I got full and then gradually went back to picking, I could get the whole meal in.

I didnt often do this as a general rule because I shouldnt, but I do get paranoid about getting enough fresh vegetables, so if I fill up and havent finished my veges, I do in fact pick at them over time to get them down.

But since my last fill, once I"m full, I'm full, there's no pushing it.

Cashley,

That line "Just because you can, doesnt mean you should" was quoted by Jessie Ahroni who is a bandster and published author, diabetes specialist, Phd nurse practitioner who is located in Washington and works for a well known bariatric practice. It was used out of context here, but holds very true for many bandsters who say they can eat a whole pizza pie and then complain they aren;t losing weight. Now in this case, it really didn't apply because the person was asking a legitimate question about having first bite syndrome followed by a bottomless pit scenario where they were still able to eat a portion which they felt was too large for a person with proper restriction.

I guess what I am saying is you have a point, but you were rude in making it Gayle made some good points and you were extremely disrespectful.

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

-154 ish

I was trying to be disrespectful to Gayle... for one simple reason and that because when I was over weight (more over weight then now) people would use stupid sayings to act like "Can't you just stop eating"... You shouldn't eat so much and you'd be thin! Blah Blah Blah....

Gayle's statement made it sound like if Magic could just 'Stop Eating' too much then everything would be solved... I was just trying to point out that is easier said then done!

Proper Restriction helps you with making better head choices..... if that wasn't true then no one would need the band!

Thank you for pointing out my rudness... but to be honest I was trying to be rude!

Hi Cashley,

FYI: The secret to the band is NOT only good restriction. If that were the case, I wouldnt be here 3 years out with an empty band due to pouch dilatation or possible slippage which was due to the fact that my band was too tight, my esophagus not working properly etc.. FYI: I did not have any signs to indicated that I was pouch packing and causing dilatation.

My band was too tight , my esophagus does not work properly and I was not geting the full signal and started to eat more and more and more. So restriction was not the problem. I had proper restriction. Probably too much although I was not aware I had a problem. I did not throw up, nor did I have a problem with solid protein etc or any foods for that matter.

Which means that MAYBE I should have been more conscious of my decisions to eat more and more???Just because I could eat a 10 ounce sirloin I shouldnt have??? I was hungry so I ate because I could, but at some point I must use my brain instead. Thats what Gayle was saying.

You do not have a right to be rude because you are not correct.

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

-154 ish

So in my case, just because you can doesnt mean you should did apply to some extent.

Hi Cashley,

FYI: The secret to the band is NOT only good restriction. If that were the case, I wouldnt be here 3 years out with an empty band due to pouch dilatation or possible slippage which was due to the fact that my band was too tight, my esophagus not working properly etc.. FYI: I did not have any signs to indicated that I was pouch packing and causing dilatation.

My band was too tight , my esophagus does not work properly and I was not geting the full signal and started to eat more and more and more. So restriction was not the problem. I had proper restriction. Probably too much although I was not aware I had a problem. I did not throw up, nor did I have a problem with solid protein etc or any foods for that matter.

Which means that MAYBE I should have been more conscious of my decisions to eat more and more???Just because I could eat a 10 ounce sirloin I shouldnt have??? I was hungry so I ate because I could, but at some point I must use my brain instead. Thats what Gayle was saying.

You do not have a right to be rude because you are not correct.

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

-154 ish

So in my case, just because you can doesnt mean you should did apply to some extent.

Proper restriction is not too tight... proper restriction is just right!!! not too tight not too lose

Again it's your opinion on my right to be rude... right or wrong I chose to be rude and that is my right.

Cashely,

You can do whatever you want . Be rude. But you are still wrong. As I mentioned, I was NOT aware my band was too tight. I felt that I did not have enough restriction. Inamed recommends that our portion size should be 4 oz. So just because you can eat 10 ounces doesnt mean you should. Even when I did have proper restriction with no problems, I still could always eat more than 6 oz of food. So come back in a few years and lets see if you still think you know what you are talking about.

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

-154 ish

Ladies - (Cashley / BabsinTX) It doesn't look like either of you are willing to cut the other some slack on the whole issuse. But is it possible to just let it be and let the thread die or be used for more constructive resonses? At this point, I'm sure Magic feels bad for asking in the first place.