...until I feel somewhat full. Is that normal?

I have 1.5 cc's in a 4 cc band. Just got the fill last month with a lot of swelling afterwards.

I'd appreciate any input and thank you in advance.

LOL Leener, it's normal for me but not for you I don't think.

Friends say they eat 3 - 4 bites of food and they are done. That's supposed to be good restriction

hey bups!

i think it will be really hard to get a good idea of "normal" from others. i am currently filled to 3cc's, but i am scheduled for another fill in two weeks. (only been at 3cc's since mid august) i could eat a full sandwich, but i really have no desire for bread. ((sounds crazy right?))

Yikes.

I have no idea what's going on. I really have no idea what is normal, etc.

hey leener,

whats ON your sandwich? to me condiments can change a sandwich to a mushy type food....tomatoes are juicey!

how long do you feel full? 1 sandwich doesnt sound so bad to me.

i take it you want more restriction? when you get fills in the future i would be cautous because it sounds like you have SOME restriction. when you get close it only takes a small amount for a BIG change!

how long has it been since your fill? they really can 'kick in' like a month later.

good luck leenerbups!

Well so can I and its often what I have for lunch. What's wrong with eating a sandwich. I'm full afterwards and it "lasts" better for me than many other meal possibilities, probably due to the bread. Its hardly a binge! I call that good restriction - eat a salad sandwhich, feel full, stay full till dinner time. Its healthy, it provides fibre, Vitamins and minerals.

I've lost plenty of weight eating what seems to be a lot compared to other bandsters. I must burn it off.

I'd be worried if I could only eat 3 or 4 bites at a time personally. There's no way you can eat a balanced meal if that's all you're eating, there's no way over the long term you're not going to become deficient in vitamins and minerals and its no mystery at all to me that people's hair falls out if that's all their eating.

I think you can go too far with a band personally. I dont think tighter is better in terms of general health and I wouldnt call eating a sandwich excessive. If I were eating that much and not losing, my first thought wouldnt be go tighter and eat less, it would be to examine my diet and see where I could cut out empty calories - fat, sugar, white carbs.

Jachut I agree 100% with what you said. I do the same, eat more than others might, and still lose weight.

Well, alot of factors here...are you losing weight? Is it less than you ate before? Is it a foot long piled high deal or PBJ on whole wheat?

I can eat a whole chicken salad sandwich with a fresh tomato (my favorite), and sometimes a little piece of fruit with it! I'm also a year out (next week). If you're not losing, go get a fill, but if you're happy with your loss then why get one? I'm at 2.8 cc's in a 4cc band and can eat as much as my 12-year-old brother. But the weight seems to come off so I'm sticking it out.

Everyone is different. I myself can not eat o whole sandwich. I don't do bread at all. It's just too uncomfortable. I did try a piece of toast the otherday with some egg salad on it. could only really eat half of that (1/4 of a sandwich)

<start tone="">[begin analytical engineering tone now]

Well, I am very, very new to this process so this reply isn't based on personal experience but on research. I have read many, many posts on this site and also read every lap band site, Dr. Site, Advocate site, Negative site, Before and After site that I can locate multiple times over. For two years now, I have been doing this, I am the kind of person that likes to know every single detail good or bad, so that I know what to expect.

So, now that you know the history of where this comes from, out of all of the research that I have gathered via websites, Dr.'s, statistics and real life people, I have concluded that the best recommended way to maintain your 4oz pouch "for life" and to not have it dialate, slip or erode, is to only eat 4-6oz in a sitting. This includes people restricted and non-restricted. The Restriction is designed to keep you full longer, not necessarily to allow you to eat more. So, if you are non-restricted and 6oz does not keep full for long, then it is recommened to have two 6oz. snack/meals when you feel hungry, instead of one big 12oz meal.

It is a proven fact that your pouch will dialate over time, it is body tissue and cannot be prevented. (If supervised and caught early enough, it is a very, very simple procedure to get you back down to your oringinal 4oz. pouch size, which is why you should never skip an annual appointment) So, it would be easy to surmize that a person eating 8-10oz in a sitting is going to dialate their original 4oz pouch over time faster than one who eats 4-6oz. in a sitting.

Can you eat a sandwich? Yes, you stated that you can.

Can others eat the same amount? Yes, people have stated they can.

Is it good for you to do so? I don't know, measuring and using a scale is the best determination to calcuate the proper amount.

Do you have to only eat 4-6oz at a sitting? No, that is a personal choice and commitment that only you can make.

Here is a good website that I found on this board that help you determine what your pouch size is now:

http://www.geocities.com/sweetartz1975/cottagecheese.html

I sincerely apologize if this isn't what you wanted to hear. I am the kind of person that this type of explaination would greatly help me understand the mechanics of the tool that I have purchased for myself (self-pay). Everything is a choice from this point forward, however I hope this information helps you to understand the pros and cons of the choices you make so that you are not dissapointed or surprised in the future.

<end analytical="" engineering="" tone="" now=""></end></start>[end analytical engineering tone now]

<start now="" tone="" engineering=""><end analytical="" engineering="" tone="" now="">

Now, if I could approach all of my eating disorders with the type of logic that I layed out above, I wouldn't be over weight to begin with. I am only 9 days out and my Mind Hunger is really trying to take over right now. If I didn't have this demon, I wouldn't be here in the first place, right? So I, as much as anyone, know that food choices are for the most part not chosen based on logic. LOL. However, having this knowledge in my pocket has helped me fight back so far.</end></start>

(Sorry - this is a short hijack.)

I'd be worried if I could only eat 3 or 4 bites at a time personally. There's no way you can eat a balanced meal if that's all you're eating, there's no way over the long term you're not going to become deficient in Vitamins and minerals and its no mystery at all to me that people's hair falls out if that's all their eating.

This statement makes it sound as though people suffering from hair loss are responsible or at fault for the loss. I have very little restriction because I, like Jachut, don't think an over-tight band is a good idea, and is often counterproductive. I get a reasonable quantity of food and am careful to get a wide variety of food. Additionally, I take a Multivitamin and supplements in the form of Biotin, Flax Seed Oil, and Vitamin E. Unfortunately, like many, many others, I am losing my hair at an alarming rate. To casually imply that the very common side effect of hair loss in WLS patients could be alleviated by a looser band and by eating more, comes off as flip, or even worse, condescending.

Jachut, I read your posts and, usually, I agree with your perspective. I am fairly sure - as sure as anyone can be in a text-driven support group - that you did not intend to condescend or insult anyone. The only reason I am replying to your post, is so that others do not make the same assumption - that hair loss is the result of a too-tight band or too little food consumption. That is simply not the case.

(Hijack over.)

OMG, I'd love to be able to eat 1/2 a sandwich, LOL. Bread, I haven't had a sandwich in two years, but with my weakness for bread, I guess that's a good thing.

I would suggest using wheat bread and make healthy choices for the filler .

<START tone="">[begin analytical engineering tone now]

Here is a good website that I found on this board that help you determine what your pouch size is now:

http://www.geocities.com/sweetartz1975/cottagecheese.html

That website is for gastric bypass. I think for those of us that have little restriction the food flows out faster than it would for a GB patient. Nonetheless, it's probably generally an accurate test. I'm going to try it! Of course, cottage cheese sort of makes me gag, but I'll try it anyway.

my nurse once wrote: THERE ARE TYPES OF RESTRICTIONS, 1) NOT ENOUGH 2) JUST RIGHT AND 3) TOO MUCH. HOW LARGE YOUR BAND AND HOW MANY FILLS IS RELATIVE. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. i guess we just need to get fills when we are not losing 1-2 lbs weekly (uh, i dont lose for a week or two, then all of a sudden, i drop 3lbs or more. who knows).

That website is for gastric bypass. I think for those of us that have little restriction the food flows out faster than it would for a GB patient. Nonetheless, it's probably generally an accurate test. I'm going to try it! Of course, cottage cheese sort of makes me gag, but I'll try it anyway.

True. True. This test comes from a RNY bypass suggestion and even the lady who hosts the information is not even a WLS patient of any kind. I just found it to be very interesting.

faybie[/b]][begin analytical engineering tone now]

Here is a good website that I found on this board that help you determine what your pouch size is now:

http://www.geocities.com/sweetartz19...agecheese.html

I could have worded that statement much better. I should have said "Here is a good website that I found on this board that is suggested to help you determine what your pouch size is now:"

I imagine that this could work with other food other than cottage cheese as long as it wasn't liquid, soft serve frozen yogurt maybe? as long as you had the container to do the measuring and started with a specific measured amount. I also would not do this test in the recommended time myself. A lapband patient doing this test in the recommended time may very well cause a PB. I would do it in the normal amount of time that I eat, because that is in fact what I would want to measure. .....How much you are eating in a sitting, not how much you can shovel down in 5 minutes.

Those days of shoveling are long gone for us. Although, my first bite sometimes goes down like this until I realize what I have just done. LOL. Like your first bite ever of a mushy after surgery.

**Pureed strawberries and a dash of splenda added to the cottage cheese may also help eliminate the desire to gag over the cottage cheese.