I had my first fill today. I have lost 8 lbs since surgery. I'm riding my bike 5 miles 3 X a week but now it's turned winter and that may not continue.

I've been getting hungrier as I was recovering especially at night. This isn't just in my head because after I eat my stomach is still rumbling

Today I had my first fill, there was 6cc already in there and the NP added 1 cc. I'm still hungry. She had asked me if I could eat a whole chicken breast and I sad yes. Well I still can now

I had Soup afterwords but I'm ok to eat a nothing tonight nothing is bothering me and I'm not feeling full or "restricted". I was tuning of giving it till Monday and if necessary move up my next appointment which is in 4 weeks.

Any suggestions ?

@@wincha Your doing pretty good, looks like you just had surgery this month?

It can take up to 2 weeks for a fill to settle in around the band. Do you know how big your band is? 10CC or 14CC?

You don't want to have difficulty eating, that's not the point of how the band works. It's not about feeling "restriction" as much as it's about not feeling hungry between meals.

You should be able to eat about a cup or 3-4 oz of Protein without any problems chewing and swallowing. If you find your hungry after that much, eat some vegetables.Just because you "can" eat a whole chicken breast doesn't mean you "should" be eating the whole thing.

Start with the 3-4 oz serving and after eating wait about an hour or two assess how you are feeling. If you find your hungry 2-3 hours later then you very well may need an additional fill. If you are not hungry at 4-5 hours after eating then your band is working just as it was meant to and your in a good place. It takes some practice and disapline to eat only the serving size necessary. The band is there to let you know when you have over eaten, but waiting to that point of feeling sick is not fun, and you never want to be so tight you get stuck on food because trust me that is really not fun.

Keep up with the exercise and you will soon start to see the pounds melting away.

Well I let another pound snd ad less hungry today

In my opinion, Everyone looses weight post surgery...from the post surgery diet alone, not because of the band.

I did, and then had my first fill of 4cc's 4 weeks after surgery.....the next fill was 4 weeks after that...

Between my first and second fill I GAINED weight...the weight I lost from the post surgery diet began to come back.

It was not until my second fill that I felt that the band began to make a difference, and it took three fills before I can say it was doing something significant.

So for 12 weeks from surgery, it was a struggle...probably the hardest phase of this procedure. That's why it is referred to "Banders Hell"

All I could do was hang in there and apply good old fashion diet principals, which I am not very good at. The reason I needed surgery after all.

But I did get through it, took some time and some hard learned lessons, and now I can say it is the greatest thing I could have ever done...5 years and it can't be any better.

It's wasnt till fill 6 I think before I re felt it.

I am some one who needed several fills to find the green zone. In hindsight grateful for the time it took as I had to get used to the whole new lifestyle of eating slowly, etc. the links below in my signature helped me a lot -- maybe they will help you, too!

I had my first fill today. I have lost 8 lbs since surgery. I'm riding my bike 5 miles 3 X a week but now it's turned winter and that may not continue.

I've been getting hungrier as I was recovering especially at night. This isn't just in my head because after I eat my stomach is still rumbling

Today I had my first fill, there was 6cc already in there and the NP added 1 cc. I'm still hungry. She had asked me if I could eat a whole chicken breast and I sad yes. Well I still can now

I had soup afterwords but I'm ok to eat a nothing tonight nothing is bothering me and I'm not feeling full or "restricted". I was tuning of giving it till Monday and if necessary move up my next appointment which is in 4 weeks.

Any suggestions ?

How was it?? Did it hurt to get the fill??? I dread it

Fills don't hurt I have had a fill every month since surgery thought I had to. That lasted for 13 months then stopped now I have gained 20 lbs the last 3 months. Now nothing goes down not even fluid something is wrong!! Guess if I can't swallow and eat will lose this 20 lbs In no time. Not sure what to do. Moved away from Doctor now in WA state. Guess will take it one day at a time.

B-52 used to have a saying in his signature that was so true but I think he removed it because the term "restriction" connotes an image of the band squeezing the stomach and restricting food to the stomach? I could be wrong?

"Until there's restriction, it's just another diet" I still love this comment. And I understand the restriction term is negotiable?

I think most of us understand now that it's not the restriction, it's the satiety we achieve through peristalsis? It's been a while since I've posted this from Dr. O'Brien but it's still true, at least for me it is? And it can take some band adjustment tweaking to get there.

There are 3 other parts to this that are also very important to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jYJipQ7vc

Here's all 4 segments of O'Briens videos. O'Brien may have a different take on how we should tackle our weight loss journey. We should follow our own doctors wishes or at least speak to our doctor about any differences we may want to try? I spoke to mine and he said as long as it(sipping fluids) worked for me, I should continue(as long as I was maintaining or losing weight).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3Lwt6ElIs&list=UL Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jYJipQ7vc part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbdhf44ZweI&feature=relmfu Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3TCKUn3YI Part 4

Thank you this was so informative. My surgeon doesn't allow for drinking anything during meals until 2 hours after! And don't get me started on wine or alcohol I am 10 days post op and I am struggling with hunger. But I'm hoping the office will call me to help me out with this.

Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

It took me quite a few visits to find my sweet spot where I could go 3 to 4 hrs between meals before getting hungry. You're doing great .

Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

The green zone? I have had the lap band for 1 year and I'm discouraged

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

The green zone? I have had the lap band for 1 year and I'm discouraged

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Yeah the sweet spot is synonymous with the green zone. Just keep seeing your doctor to find the amount of liquid that you can go 3-4 hrs not being hungry. It really helped when I was filled during a fluoro.