OK. I admit it..this question has been asked in other ways, and I have read through all the posts, but I am still confused....

I have had 2 fills in my 14cc band, and am not sure if I need another..But I think I do.

I have experienced PBing 2-3 times...MY FAULT entirely. Too big a bite of food!!! But, for the most part, I can eat whwtever I want, whenever I want, and I don;t feel full most of the time. Ocassionally, I DO feel full, and can't eat much, but it seems- according to what I have read here- that there are times when you might feel more restriction than usual. Should I go and have anothre fill so I can experience restriction all the time? I am losing really slow- 16-18 pounds in three months.

This whole idea of a sweet spot and understanding how it feels is a lot like that question... "How do you know when you are really in love'?" My answer to that NOW is simple...you JUST KNOW! But, easy to answer when you have found it! Is the whole sweet spot thing the same thing..Do you "just know"when you have found it?

I am going crazy trying to figure out what I should do next....

HELP!!!! :help:

Charlotte, try this thread, there's a few interesting responses there:

Need helpful answers from experienced bandsters

16-18lbs in about 12-14 weeks is good, it's what I will expect once I get out of the immediate post-op period. I was told 1-2lbs per week, and that's where you are. We didn't do bypass. Our loss will be slower. True some people lose 20 lbs a month, I lost 3lbs in the month of April following a rather structured diet. We are all different. It is sooooo hard not to compare ourselves to someone else, especially when that other person is losing leaps and bounds above us. I keep reminding myself weight loss is a journey, not an event.

Are you logging what you are eating on a site like fitday.com or mydailyplate.com or sparkpeople.com? I found it helps to see what I'm taking in. I log all food AND all liquids, lots of calories can be hidden in things like teas and juices. Are you sticking to one calorie level (like 1000 per day)? Many folks find that sticking to a strict amount of calories actually hurts weight loss as the body come to expect that caloric intake, try mixing it up, one day 800, another 1200, another 1000, it all averages out. Are you drinking with meals? I've read some folks say they had to stop drinking for up to 90 mins after to achieve the desired full feeling. From what I've read warm liquids can also ease restriction. So possibly drinking something warm prior to a meal can "open things up" a bit and go against the restricted feeling you desire. I have read over and over again that many bandsters will have different feelings of restriction on different days, depending on stress, Fluid retention, time of the month, etc. Some folks can eat more in the morning, some can eat more in the evening. From what I've gathered, restriction is constantly changing, pre-band there were times you were more hungry than others. Sometimes you could eat a sandwich and be happy, other times you could pig out at a buffet and still want to stop on the way home for ice cream. Why would that be any different now? Well, I guess I would hope that now I couldn't go pig out at the buffet. But perhaps I would be hungrier and able to eat more at one time than at another.

I am by no means an expert, I was only recently banded, but I have read here and other boards for a long time and have tried to retain a lot of the good tips that I see repeated over and over again by what I would call successful bandsters. I hope others respond as well.

This is the second time today you have posted right behind me...are you following me? :eyebrows: haha

THanks for the words of advise. I am NOT sticking to a certain calorie diet or living off any particular foods. I try to mix it up as I always have....But, have stopped eacting certain foods completely and others in moderation. My surgeon said he would like to have seen me lose more weight up to this point, which makes me think I am not going along as I should... I do feel better and I see results in my clothes. I just feel like maybe I haven't yet reached restriction. Somehow I think eating should be a little more "difficult"than it is now. I really need to use fitday. I wantt o start doing that. But, to be totally honest, I have such a busy job that I often forget to even go to the bathroom until my bladder is about to rupture! I said I was going to put me first after surgery, and I guess I have lied to myself. I need to reorganize my prioritites!! Thanks for giving me some things to think about.

I still would like to know what it feels like to hit the sweet spot.... Maybe I need to settle for knowing what it feels like to find real love. lol!

Char

If you are eating 1/2 cup to 1 cup of food and still losing you are at your sweet spot. I can only eat 1/4 cup of food and feel this is a good fill level for me. If you are losing you are doing great.

I am with you on finding the sweet spot...don't know if I'm there or not. I had surgery Jan 29 and have lost 64 pounds. But over the last 7 weeks I've only lost 8 pounds. I think we get impatient because we lose so quickly at first and think yee haw~giddy up! and that's not the way it will be for the remainder of the journey.