In the middle of my first week, so I am a ways away, but what is the average time before your first fill? Do you have any restriction before your first fill? What I mean is that once you're back to your regular diet and before the first fill, are you still capable of eating anything you want with no consequences? (besides no weight loss)

My other question is this. If you are still losing weight at a decent rate when its time for your first fill, do they postpone it until your weight loss has stopped?

For me, it was six weeks of full liquids after surgery. Then my first fill two days later. I lost a lot of weight but I won't lie, it was basically a liquid diet. I eased into foods that two days, got a fill, and went back on liquids for 48 hours. Not easy, but I lost a lot of weight. Once foods were in my diet, I followed 800-900 calories for a long time per my doctor's instructions. Now I have around 1000. Not sure if I could have eaten more that early. I was pretty compliant. I went to Italy 17 days after my first fill. I watched my intake but didn't deprive myself. Two weeks later I weighed the same as when I left, and resumed weight loss that week. Good luck.

my doctor didn't go by how much weight I lost but how hungry I was. I had my first fill about 6 weeks after surgery.

I didn't get any fills till a month after surgery , but after when I could do solids again I did feel I could eat like I did , but I chose not to become I thought to myself I paid much for this to go wrong and I didn't want to have surgery again , I had already put my body through enough by over eating everyday all day .

First, there is no correct answer to your question. Every doctor has their own protocol on how and when to give fills. My first fill was 5 weeks post op and yes I was very hungry. My doctor asked me if I was hungry and did I feel like I needed a fill?

Some doctors won't give a fill if you're losing weight at fill time. Some patients don't need a fill for many months post op. Depends on how hungry you are?

It took me 3 fills before the crazy hunger went away and I started losing fat again.

Great feed back.

So what I get is that it depends a lot on your hunger level. Is that based on a sub 1000 calorie (or what your dr.s target goal is). Or is it that based on what your band allows you to consume in a meal?

Depends on your doctor? Mine just went by how hungry I was. He didn't even ask if I was keeping to a 1 cup per meal program. In fact, I never adhered to that policy. I tried, but dieting was always failure for me so I just tried to eat healthy foods and I probably kept my calorie intake to around 2000/day and my metabolic rate is 2000/day. So after the initial 12 lbs lost the first 2 weeks I didn't lose anything till my 3rd fill.

Don't mean to scare you but some surgeons bow out of the fill sequence and allow a NP(nurse practitioner) or PA to give fills. Usually they're quite easy to work with but I've read of many who are petty little despots(control freaks) and are stingy with fills.

I had my first fill a month out. My surgeon looks for being satisfied after a tennis-ball sized portion and not hungry again for 4-5 hours. I had one but not the other -- would feel hungry again after a couple of hours. We kept going with small fills until I has both. As TMF says, each surgeon has their own protocol. Some people have primed bands (some fluid at time of placement), other people -- especially those with band plus Plication -- never need a fill. I was lucky post-op not to be ravenous but by a month out I knew I needed a fill. Glad I kept at it to find the green zone as it's so much easier with the appetite really dimmed. You will get there -- persevere, keep all your appointments and practice mindfulness. Most of us will say that even though it was frustrating at times to have to go through the process rather than just being there, it was actually very good to have the staged approach so that we could address behavior modification. Learning to chew and paying attention to portions, listening to the body, etc. all required a learning curve. But looking back it was no time at all, really. I wanted to get the show on the road and now I realize it was on the road -- the road to success. Pat yourself on the back because you are, too!