Got a fill last week (1.5cc) that puts me at 6.5 cc in a 14cc band. I can now definitely feel the restriction. Now when eating I have about 3-4 (small) bites or about 1/2 cup of food and I am full & satisfied for at least 4 hours. I believe I am in the green zone. What do you all think?

Sounds like what my doc considers the green zone.

I hope you are at least drinking Protein shakes because three to four bites will not give you the nutrition you need. You will lose weight but also lose muscle with that.

After a lot of failed attempts at this lap band thing. I think I hit my green zone as of yesterday, 5cc in an 11cc band. The only question I have for you is do you actually get feel full our is it that you literally can't eat anymore. I too can only take a few bites at a time and it is almost painfully uncomfortable so I stop. Drinking also feels very filing. I have only eaten mushy foods I can't even imagine how bread or hard foods are going to be like.

Just be warned...it can come and then disappear....especially in the beginning....like a little tease....

Also, for myself, I have never felt "Full" since being banded.....and I am with no doubt in the Green Zone for 2-1/2 years, also my last fill...

Feeling full is but a memory from those days before surgery where I would eat without stop.....

Yes I am having Protein shakes. I should have said more like a 1/2-1 cup of food instead of 3-4 small bites. (kinda depends on what I am trying to eat.) Seems like a learning curve all over again after you get tightened. After the last tightening I felt restriction then none at all a few weeks later & plateaued for 2 months. Now I feel full & if I wanted to eat another bite Im 99% sure it would come back up. It seems to be a mind over matter thing with portion size. I am making right choices, small bites & chewing. It also takes a while, minimum 20 minutes to eat a meal. Also seems like every meal I have now get cold.

Hi there, it sounds like you are doing very well. I thought I might be in the green zone but it is a bit elusive -- or maybe it was just a little honeymoon period and I wasn't really there there yet. Today I measured my food and it was more like a cup and a half to satisfy, even eating very slowly and intentionally -- plus I am not really lasting the 4-5 hours without being hungry again. I can make it fine -- I can actually go for a long time without food -- but that's not the point. The idea is to be at that place where a small serving holds me well and I'm not even thinking about food. Or dieting. I really want this to be a lifestyle change, not another diet, and I know I need the right fills for that. But without being too tight. I definitely don't want that. So it's baby steps for me. I am going to watch everything very carefully the next few days then call the surgeon's office this week to see about another fill. I've had five, but I think they are very small fills -- that my surgeon is of the small fills often school of thought, giving the patient time to adjust to various stages in-between each one. Good luck to you! We are getting there. Of course even without being in the green zone I am eating so much less than before, and notably less food-obsessed. That is such a pleasure, the freedom from that. Best wishes with all that is ahead!

Yes you are

When you read the characteristics of being within the Green Zone....the last thing mentioned is "Patient Satisfaction"

Are you satisfied? Pleased? Happy with this surgery? Your weight loss? Hunger/cravings? Any complaints?

Then that is all that matters.....

If you're not happy, as many seem to be around here sometimes, then keep at it until you are...then you have arrived and don't need other people to tell you if you are pleased or not....

Edited February 9, 201412 yr by B-52

B-52, That is great advise….and to answer all the Q's….Yes! Any complaints…..No !