I have a question concerning how do you feel in between finding your sweet spot (I think thats the term) and being too tight. I see post where people talk about being too tight and having to get unfilled. If you are too tight and cant eat or drink, are you hungry? Is that the reason for being unfilled? My thought is this and please let me know if Im wrong, I would love to be so tight that I cant hardly eat anything. This way I would not beable to get down things that I shouldnt. But on the other hand if Im too tight and still hungry that would be a problem. I know you have to get in enough food to get all of your nutrients and things, but couldnt you just take a muti vitamin?

I hear you. I'm at my sweet spot. I can only eat 1/2 cup of food at a time and I'm still losing. I am going in next week for a slight tweak though. I always need another fill when I lose 15 lbs. You don't want to get too tight that you can't eat solids. That is what sustains hunger. Hope this helps.

Being too tight can cause a slip. The band is designed so that you can eat solid food, just in smaller portions, not so you can live on liquids. It may be tempting for rapid weight loss, but many doctors will also tell you that you won't lose if you are too tight. Sure, you can live on protein shakes and liquid vitamin supplements, but is that any way to LIVE? Even if you are tight, you can still have things that you shouldn't like milkshakes, etc. The goal is to be able to eat healthy foods and lose slowly. I've been so tight before that I couldn't get water down-then you risk dehydration.

I was overfilled briefly in November. In the morning I couldn't eat any solids at all, and even had to sip liquids, which I could feel gurgle through the stoma. Later in the day, I could eat, but struggled with every other bite of solids, getting a lump in my throat. I felt deprived and yes, hungry! So, I ended up eating a lot of soft foods that would go down without any problem. The problem is that those kinds of foods are often high in calories and don't provide long-lasting satiety like solid foods do. So, an hour or two later I was hungry again and grabbing another milkshake or smoothie, or whatever. I ended up going back a week later to get a slight unfill, and then I was "just right". For me, "just right" means I can eat Breakfast, I can eat solid meats/poultry and veggies, and I don't get hungry for 3-4 hours after I eat. But I still can eat. It's up to me, not the band, to choose the right foods, and not to snack throughout the day.

If you want the band so tight that you are forced not eat, you're setting yourself up for possible complications such as a dilated pouch, or slippage. It's just not meant to be used like that. The band is only part of the equation. It will do it's part, if you are willing to do your part.

Tami

Thanks for the advise. I guess if I really be honest with myself Im afraid that after all is said and done that just eating less is not going to be enough. I know I have to work out too. But I have done this before. I have counted calories and kept them to no more than 1200 a day and done some type of workout, probably should have done more but I did do what I could and still didnt lose much weight. So now Im second guessing myself and trying to figure out how this is going to be different. In my mind the only way to make it different is to keep my calories as low as possible without feeling hungry, thus being as tight as possible. And if I cant eat I wont throw up so I wont risk a slip. Or is that not what causes a slip?

Let me tell you what the difference is with the band. Before, when you dieted, you deprived yourself of foods you loved, and you felt hungry, right? It was a struggle, but you knew it was temporary, because as soon as you lost a certain amount of weight, you'd be able to eat again. With the band, it's a lifetime change. You have it there to help you all the time, not just for a few months to get off the weight. So, for me, the band gave me hope. Hope that this time would be the last time. And, it made it do-able. It makes it easier to eat the right foods in the right quantities to lose weight and keep it off forever. Isn't that what you want? If you decide on the band, give it a shot to work the way it was designed, and give yourself some credit that you are capable of making some changes.

Tami

I've never been overfilled. I did find a very brief sweet spot - in that it fit the general description, half a cup of food at a time sort of thing, but all that meant was not that I lost weight but that I'd eat and be starving an hour later.

Its simply fact, I need to eat more than that to keep running. So a sweet spot for me would be more like a cup to a cup and a half of food, I lose eating that much and I dont get so hungry.

Its different for everyone. Its also defined by your lifestyle, to me a sweet spot does not mean I cant eat bread for example, whereas for lots of people it does mean that.

GREAT question...so glad to hear the answers!

I was banded 3/21/07....I have been able to eat almost anything in any quantity...little to no restriction. I cannot wait to get my first fill and start losing weight. If I could have lost weight without feeling restriction I never would have needed the surgery! I just hope I can find a sweet spot...because I've been so unsuccessful at losing weight and keeping it off for so many years I just feel skeptical that I will ever do it ! Please give me hope, you experienced bandsters !

I was banded 3/21/07....I have been able to eat almost anything in any quantity...little to no restriction. I cannot wait to get my first fill and start losing weight. If I could have lost weight without feeling restriction I never would have needed the surgery! I just hope I can find a sweet spot...because I've been so unsuccessful at losing weight and keeping it off for so many years I just feel skeptical that I will ever do it ! Please give me hope, you experienced bandsters !

Last night I had thick Soup as in a creamy soup. An hour later I was on the toilet. For three hours plus it was so painful. I haven't been filled and I am suppose to be able to eat because I have no restriction but that doesn't seem to be the case. I can handle about a half cup of soup and maybe one saltine in the broth until it is mush.

I'm feeling like I'm the odd one out. This doesn't feel like a sweet spot but more like the flu.