So I had surgery on May 15, 2014. I'm at about 7.0 ml in my band. I was at 6.0 and was barely feeling restriction. Then two weeks ago I got my fill for the month putting me at 7.0 and after the initial first few days of liquids to soft to normal I never got to normal. I have literally only been able to eat yogurt, liquids, ice cream, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes...hopefully you get the picture. Yesterday I tried some chicken nuggets. Really really real chewed them up and it was pretty difficult. Even these mushy foods can be hard to have sometimes. I have thrown up a lot just figuring out what I can and cannot eat. Don't get me wrong I'm glad to FINALLY be feeling restriction bc up till now it was like I didn't even have the band. When I eat now I feel the food. Am I feeling it when it goes from my throat to my stomach/pouch or from in the pouch thru the band to the rest of my stomach. It is so uncomfortable. Does this mean I am in my green zone. I'm just confused by what I am feeling. After literally two weeks shouldn't I be able to eat more solid food. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!!!

That sounds like you are a bit too tight if you can't get anything but soft foods down. You might want to talk to your doc about going down to about 6.5ish. When I had my band, I couldn't go over 4.8cc without having terrible heartburn and not being able to eat solid food. You have to be careful because if you stay too tight you are at risk for a slip and those and very much not fun.

re: "Does this mean I am in my green zone." I don't think so.

And "restriction" has a wide range of interpretations:

for ME it means "not WANTING to over eat". BEING unable to overeat AND having to PB is a step past what *my* personal notion of 'restriction' really is.

My early PB episodes finally left me with the understanding the difference between "being hungry" vs "being satiated".

For far too long I over ate with the concept that unless I felt "FULL" I should consume every bite of every thing in the house and seek out more until I simply was too physically stuffed to eat more.

That of course is nonsense...yet is how I was raised and how I continued into my young adult hood...."too much is not enough if I can stuff more down with my eating shovel"...

re: "After literally two weeks shouldn't I be able to eat more solid food." The "ART" of the Bandster is to understand that SOMETIMES, just ONE bite, or ONE nibble, really IS all you actually want/need/ to escape 'hunger'.

For me learning what "NOT hungry" means, is way more important that worrying about 'full' vs 'not full'.

Try to define the terms you use and what you mean. Then analyze where you want to be. THEN modify your eating behavior and old BAD eating habits to conform with action that will move you toward your goal.

In fact, even now, I abhor 'chicken nuggets' for a variety of reasons. There was a time I too tried to gauge whether eating 2 or 4 or 6 indicated some kind of success. In reality for *me* "just ONE" chicken nugget is plenty to make me not want more.

You sound too tight. My fills were small leading up to green and I still have to chew well and eat slowly or I get stuck. But when I chew well and eat slowly I can eat solid foods just fine. Good luck.

Sometimes, my doc increases a fill of .1 or .2 cc's at a time....... That's how much a difference can make when you are close to green.

I have had many phone conversations with my Doctors office as I have not had a fill yet. I have been advised that it isn't about feeling full. Am I feeling hungry between meals after small meals from my meal plan. I have no heart burn. It is still hard for me to stop the bad habits but I am learning as I go on my Journey