I was banded almost a year ago. I've lost 75 lbs and am 25 lbs away from reaching my goal weight. It took 4 fills for me to feel restriction. However, I was only in the 'green zone' for about 3 months before I started to get hungry every 2 or 3 hours. Since about the second fill, I've been unable to eat any amount of bread at all. At my last dr's appt, I received another fill to attempt to get back into the green zone. That was 2 weeks ago and now I am hungry ALL THE TIME! I can eat small amounts of bread now also. I'm sooooo disappointed! I have only lost about 6-7 lbs this year, but my size 14's are falling off of me! I can't understand why the green zone keeps eluding me!!!

Muscles that massage food through the stoma strengthen when you have the band. Before the band there was no restriction at all. Food just fell through the lower esophageal sphincter. With the band in place, it's harder for food to push through the band/stoma. This can enable those muscles to become a little stronger.

It can appear your band is looser but in many cases it's not. Keep getting fills. It took me 6 fills to reach the green zone. I've had about 9 adjustments now. Band maintenance is important.

BTW-Bread can cause insulin spikes that make you hungry an hour or two after consumption. How much Protein do you eat?

2muchfun, thanks for the great info! I eat about 60 grams of protein a day, which might not be enough. Even though I'm able to tolerate bread now, I'll only eat one slice and I refuse to eat it every day! I've gone so long without it, I don't HAVE to have it like I used to.