Here is info will come in handy when thinking about fills/adjustments. Great information. I have seen this information before and it is really good.

How to Tell When You Are Perfectly Adjusted

You are losing 1-2 pounds per week.

If you are not losing 1-2 pounds per week:

A. You may need an eating adjustment

1. Are you eating 60 grams of Protein a day

2. Are you eating 25 grams of Fiber

3. Are you avoiding all liquid calories

a. Soup can be sign of “soft calorie syndrome”

b. Alcohol contains a lot of calories – 7 calories per gram

(1) It’s also a stomach irritant

c. fruit juice is just sugar Water

4. Are you making healthy food choices from a wide variety of

foods?

a. Are you avoiding soft foods

b. You can’t just eat what’s easy

c. cheese is glorified fat

5. Are you drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day between meals

6. Are you eating too much junk

a. chips, chocolate, nuts, ice cream, Cookies and other highly

processed junk foods are too calorically dense to be regular parts of a

healthy diet. But don’t avoid them completely to the point where you

feel deprived.

b. Stay out of fast food places

7. Are you getting in two servings of Calcium daily

8. Do you always eat the protein first

9. Then the vegetables or fruits

a. Five servings a day

b. Potatoes are NOT a vegetable

10. Is your portion size appropriate?

a. meat or fish

(1) 3 ounces – the size of a deck of cards

b. Vegetables

(1) ½ cup – the size of your fist

c. Starch

(1) If you eat the protein and the vegetables first you don’t need

much

(2) Avoid: rice, potatoes, Pasta

11. You might try avoiding artificial sweeteners

a. Some people think that artificial sweeteners stimulate the

appetite

b. They are HUNDREDS of times sweeter than sugar

c. They teach you to like things too sweet

d. There is no evidence that people who use them are any thinner

than people who don’t

12. Avoid most diet foods

a. Real food usually tastes better

b. Real food is more satisfying than low calorie substitutes

c. When you are only eating a tiny bit the caloric savings is not

that great

(1) Use a teaspoon of real butter instead of a tablespoon of diet

margarine

(2) The body has no way to break down artificial fats

a. They may go into permanent storage

b. Some people think liposuction is the only way to remove

hydrolyzed fats from the body

B. You may need a behavior adjustment

1. Are you eating only when you are hungry?

a. If you’re not sure drink 8 ounces of water and wait.

2. Are you eating three meals a day?

a. With maybe 1 or 2 small Snacks

3. Are you sitting down to eat?

4. Are you eating consciously?

a. No distractions, turn off the TV, put the book or newspaper

away, pay attention to your food and your companions

5. Are you eating slowly?

a. Put the fork down between bites

b. Take 20 to 30 minutes to finish a meal

c. Taking longer might cause the pouch to begin emptying

6. Are you taking small bites?

a. Tiny spoon, chopsticks, cocktail fork

7. Are you chewing well?

8. Are you drinking with your meals or too soon after your meals?

a. Practice water loading between meals

b. You won’t be thirsty if you are well hydrated before the meal

9. Are you stopping at the first sign of fullness?

a. Sometimes it’s a whisper: not hungry, had enough

b. Hard stop versus soft stop

10. Do not eat between meals. Stop grazing.

11. Do not eat when you are not hungry

C. You may need an activity adjustment

1. Are you getting in 30 minutes of physical activity at least 3

times a week?

a. Over and above what you would do in the usual course of your day

b. Could you make it 4 or 5 times a week?

c. Could you make it 45 or 60 minutes?

2. Are you taking advantage of opportunities to increase your

physical activity?

a. Taking the stairs instead of the elevators or escalators

b. Walking on the escalators instead of riding

c. Parking your car further away from the entrance

d. Getting out of the car instead of using the drive through

e. Getting off the bus one stop before your destination

f. Washing you car by hand instead of the car wash

g. Playing with your kids

D. You may need an attitude adjustment

1. Are you committed to your weight loss journey?

2. Are you totally honest with yourself about how much you are

eating and exercising?

a. Log your food and activity on ww.fitday.com for 3 days

3. Are you using food inappropriately to deal with emotional

issues?

a. Have you identified what the emotions are that drive your

eating?

b. Can you think of more appropriate ways to deal with those

emotions?

c. Are you willing to seek help from a qualified counselor?

4. Are you attending and participating in support group meetings?

5. Have you drummed up some support from your family and friends?

6. Have you dealt with saboteurs realistically?

7. Do you have realistic expectations about the weight loss

journey?

8. Are you still obsessing about food, weight, dieting, eating?

a. Obsessive – compulsive thoughts

(1) Obsess about something else

b. Perfectionism

(1) All or none, black and white thinking

c. Patience with the pace of healthy weight loss

9. Are you acknowledging your successes with non-food rewards?

10. Have you learned how to take a compliment?

11. Are you giving up diet mentality?

a. Stop weighing yourself several times a day or every day

b. Stop dieting

c. Stop depriving yourself

d. Stop defining food as “good” and “bad”

e. Stop rewarding and punishing yourself with food

12. How do you feel about all the changes taking place?

E. You may need a band adjustment

1. You feel like you are making healthy food choices in appropriate

portion sizes but getting hungry between meals?

2. You can still eat white bread, fibrous vegetables and large

portions.

3. You are having to struggle to lose

4. You are gaining weight in spite of eating right, exercising and

having a good mind set.

F. You may need your band loosened

1. There are times when you can’t get fluids down

2. You are vomiting too much

a. How much is too much?

3. Do you have frequent reflux or heartburn at night?

a. Do not lie flat or bend over soon after eating

b. Do not eat late at night or just before bedtime

c. Rinse your pouch with a glass or water an hour before bedtime

d. Certain foods or drinks are more likely to cause reflux:

(1) Rich, spicy, fatty and fried foods

(2) Chocolate

(3) Caffeine

(4) Alcohol

(5) Some fruits and vegetables

a. Oranges, lemons, tomatoes, peppers

(6) Peppermint

a. Baking soda toothpaste

(7) Carbonated drinks

e. Eat slowly and do not eat big meals

f. If you smoke, quit smoking

g. Reduce stress

h. Exercise promotes digestion

i. Raise the head of your bed

j. Wear loose fitting clothing around your waist

k. Stress increases reflux

l. Take estrogen containing medications in the morning

m. Avoid aspirin, Aleve and ibuprofen at bedtime

(1) Tylenol is OK

n. Take an antacid (Pepcid complete) before retiring

o. Try other over-the-counter heartburn medications

p. See your health care provider

4. See your health care provider immediately (or call 911) if

a. You have a squeezing, tightness or heaviness in your chest,

especially if the discomfort spreads to your shoulder, arm or jaw or is

accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, irregular or fast

heartbeat or nausea. These could be symptoms of a heart attack.

b. If your symptoms are triggered by exercise.

c. If your pain localizes to your right side, especially if you

also have nausea or fever

d. If you throw up vomit that looks like black sand or coffee

grounds. Or if your stool is black, deep red or looks like it has tar

in it. These are symptoms of bleeding and need immediate attention.

(Note: Pepto-Bismol or other medications with bismuth will turn your

stool black. Iron supplements can also make the stool tarry.)

e. If your pain is severe

I am hoping someone knows the answer to this.

I have a Allergan/Inamed 10. cm.

How many cc's does it hold?

I have got my first fill at 2 cc's and wasn't sure how much it holds.

Thanks

"Do you guys think it is possible that my doctor MISSED PUTTING THE SALINE IN THE PORT WHEN I WAS AT MY TWO OTHER DOCTOR VISITS?"

No I think that the saline leaked out at your port site. The missing liquid is seeping into your organs and they will soon turn green and pop.

Just kidding. This has happened to me several times. Each fill process has resulted in different reactions by my body. I remember having one like yours where I decided I surely had a leak in the port or that the doctor took out the saline to measure it and forgot to put it back. As long as you are having positive results, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. Keep up the good work!

I went in today for a fill, the first one in a year. The Dr. said he would only give me 0.5cc since I already had 8cc's in my size 11 band, then he checked and said I only had 6cc's so he gave me 1.0cc and wants me to come back in 2 months. He didn't seem too concerned that the fill didn't compare with his notes, should I be????

How do I know if my band is too tight and may need to have some saline removed?

I had my first fill 1 1/2 weeks ago and everything I eat seems to feel like it gets stuck in my throat. Talk about PAIN! I cant get any meat protien down, not even my friend chicken. I have been very careful to chew thoroughly and slowly making sure my bite sizes are small and it still feels stuck and wont go down or up. Even tomato soup the day I recieved the feel got "stuck".

I had 2cc placed in my band at surgery and my first fill was another 2cc. I go back today to see about taking some out.

Is this normal, am I just being a wuss? Should I give it more time before I go through having them take some out? I am just so tired of getting sick every day and before the fill I have NEVER gotten sick from anything and felt I had decent restriction.

Please help, advise would be great!

Thanks:confused:

How do I know if my band is too tight and may need to have some saline removed?

I had my first fill 1 1/2 weeks ago and everything I eat seems to feel like it gets stuck in my throat. Talk about PAIN! I cant get any meat protien down, not even my friend chicken. I have been very careful to chew thoroughly and slowly making sure my bite sizes are small and it still feels stuck and wont go down or up. Even tomato soup the day I recieved the feel got "stuck".

I had 2cc placed in my band at surgery and my first fill was another 2cc. I go back today to see about taking some out.

Is this normal, am I just being a wuss? Should I give it more time before I go through having them take some out? I am just so tired of getting sick every day and before the fill I have NEVER gotten sick from anything and felt I had decent restriction.

Please help, advise would be great!

Thanks:confused:

Hi Shearhunny,

First of all,try to stay relaxed. I know it is difficult, especially with that G-d awful pain when something feels stuck, but staying calm and relatively "ho hum" about it seems to help a lot in terms of dealing with the occasional PB issue (productive burp).

Next, you might try something a little less dry for your protein for a few days or a week or so. I go with eggs, tuna salad, even chicken salad (fat free mayo of course). Or instead of fried chicken, try roasted chicken or boiled chicken, or add some soup to your roasted chicken or beef stock to your meat. Ground beef in VERY small bites with no buns and then let one bite go through before taking another.

It takes a while to figure out what solid proteins will work for you as you start to get fills that really restrict, but it sure can be done. Sometimes I can eat steak! (Sometimes, not so much, LOL.) I find fish is pretty easy for me to get down most of the time. I stay away from breaded things and fried things as much as I possibly can.

By the way, I grew up in Harrisburg & used to come to Duncannon with my father for business when I was a kid. Small town, still neat.

Hope this helps!

Amy

Thanks Amy:smile2:

I think I will just try to be more patient and more diligent for another week before I go to see about a reduction in my fill.

I do have another concern though. My weight loss has stalled since the fill. I had stalled for a couple weeks prior to the fill but then lost 2 pounds in 2 days right before the fill. Now nothing in over a week. Am I asking too much of my weight loss? The doc said after the fill I should expect another rapid loss for another 20 pounds loss by Sept 1st.

Whadda ya think?

ps: nice to hear from someone from my neck of the woods:smile2:

Thanks Amy:smile2:

I think I will just try to be more patient and more diligent for another week before I go to see about a reduction in my fill.

I do have another concern though. My weight loss has stalled since the fill. I had stalled for a couple weeks prior to the fill but then lost 2 pounds in 2 days right before the fill. Now nothing in over a week. Am I asking too much of my weight loss? The doc said after the fill I should expect another rapid loss for another 20 pounds loss by Sept 1st.

Whadda ya think?

ps: nice to hear from someone from my neck of the woods:smile2:

Shearhunny, honey,

Don't expect so much of yourself. Everyone loses weight on their own schedule based on the way that the body responds to everything, not just eating and exercise. Could be time of the month, heat and drinking more fluids, etc. Could just be that you are having a short term plateau. They happen. Thankfully I'd read that some people experience them for months and then with no reason to stop they just start losing again. I can tell you it happened to me over the winter/spring. I just started losing again in May after about a two-three month plateau when I hit my 22 pound loss.

I have a very hard time losing weight which is why I chose the band. This way it is slower and for me safer. So instead of losing 60% of my weight in my first year, I will only lose about 30%. That works for me. I didn't get heavy in just three years, so if I can slim down to a reasonable weight after three years, I'm fine with that. I'm already enjoying what I've lost to date.

So what I'll say, and I'm hoping others will echo, is that you are probably being harder on yourself than you need to be. This is a tool, not a solution. So sometimes the tools work really fast, and sometimes they just support what we've done while the rest of our body catches up metabolically. At least that is what I believe. As long as you are healthy and eating properly, exercising, and enjoying life, that is what it is all about.

Good luck! By the way, I live near Philly now.

I had a fill 3 days ago. Up until now, I have had little restriction. This fill has been a little bit of a shock to the system:drool: Up until around 5 in the evening I've only been able to have liquids. I'm having a hard time getting soft foods down, it becomes painful so I stop and go back to liquids(warm). I can actually handle this for a little while, because I've had my band 2yrs. with no successful weight loss. I'm actually excited finally to be experiencing some of the things I've read about on this site:lol: I was just wondering when I lose a little weight and/or the swelling goes down from the adjustment, will I be able to graduate to softs and again to solids and maybe even some of the foods I had before? I've waited for so long to reach this point, that I'm am very hesitant to have any of the fill removed.

p.s. I tried a small piece of chicken last night and it got lodged. It was a tiny piece, chewed and chewed and chewed. Was a terrible experience. I couldn't even get saliva down for a loooong while. Tried the pineapple juice trick. I'm am happy to say it worked!!! Going out for Papaya Enzyme today

l can't ever eat chicken, no matter what l do to it..

T Campbell...sounds like you never really had the right restriction from the begining. l read your story .. sounds like maybe you are on the right road now...good luck...

Tks., LisaMarie

I need someone to tell me if I should wait this adj. out. It's 4 days after and water even gives me a fit, when I try to swallow. Lots of gurgling!! I can handle that but also, tight throat and painful chest. If this is just a passing thing and after losing a little weight, I can graduate up to softs and solids, then I will try to tough it out. Will my band loosen, after some weight loss? :crying:

tcampbell, you're too tight. Just a tiny bit removed might do the trick. You should not have trouble drinking water although most of us have trouble gulping water like we used to. Chicken is almost always difficult if you have much restriction unless it is dark meat and falling off the bone. When they tell you to eat teeny bites, they don't mean a really small regular bite, they mean teeny tiny and to keep it in your mouth before swallowing until you think there's aboslutely nothing left. But the real indicator is that you can't drink water and you have a constant pain going on.

It can be counter-productive if you are over-filled, just as much as if you are under-filled. You have to stay with it until you get just the right amount. Enough to keep you from eating too much, but you need to be able to eat some solid food and keep it down!

Thank you so much BJean. That was the info. that I needed. I had pretty much decided to call/go back on Monday for an unfill. I am starting to get headaches and dizziness from not eating. I have found after reading some of the posts here, that I have been able to get some solid food to stay down, after drinking a warm beverage. By the way, when I do eat, I am eating a bite the size of a penny, maybe slightly bigger. How the heck do you ever get full, eating such tiny bites?

You get full because your pouch is so small from the restriction that the fill caused.

The problem with not eating is that you can lose your health if you do it too long. If you don't get protein, your hair can start falling out, your heart muscle can be weakened, etc. Plus if your system is as efficient at storing fat as mine is, your body thinks you are starving and so it will hang onto everything it gets. You'll lose weight, but then when you start eating anything to speak of, you will gain and be extremely frustrated.

A bite the size of a penny is not actually all that small. I have to take a bite about half that size sometimes when my band is really tight. It seems ridiculous but it's the only way I can manage to get food down. Chicken is impossible and lots of other high protein things are too, so you have to be really diligent in finding enough protein to keep you healthy. I usually rely on protein drinks made with skim milk and have to drink them very slowly.

You always have to take your chewable Centrum vitamins and I take biotin (very small pills) for my hair.

I am glad that you're getting some restriction removed. You can get the job done without wrecking your health.

Good luck!

What's the trick with pineapple juice and papaya enzyme?