Could I Be At My Sweet Spot & Just Don't Know It???

[Shrinkin'Sistah 0]

OK. I got a fill 6 weeks ago. When I first got my band filled, everything seemed pretty good. I was able to eat but not much...still enough to keep me satisfied. But for the past 2-3 weeks it seems as though I can hardly eat anything. I eat 2-3 teaspoons of something & then all of a sudden I'm full!!

I can't understand why it would take 2-3 weeks for me to get tight after a fill. :scared: I mean, I'm tighter NOW than I was when I first got the fill. This seems crazy to me!

I guess my question is, is this the amount I'm suppossed to be eating??? I know I should only be able to eat a certain amount but I thought I would at least get to eat a whole cup of food! :cry I've seriously been thinking of calling my surgeon for a slight unfill but I'm not sure if I should...

Maybe I'm just stressing because I know Thanksgiving will be here & I won't get to eat anything. Sometimes when I eat I slime or even PB. Don't know if I'm not eating slow enough, taking small enough bites or what. Some mornings I'm even too tight to swallow my pills.

What should I do? HELP!!!

[Shrinkin'Sistah 0]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I HAVE been losing about 2.8 lbs. a week since my fill. But still... I don't feel like I'm eating enough!

[mbanja 1]

If you are having problems with any kind of food getting stuck and you are PBing alot I would suggest a slight unfill. Some people don't feel their maximum restriction until about 3 weeks after their fill. Stress and not getting enough Water can leave you tighter still. If you think you'd be more comfortable a little less tight go back to the doc and have a small amount removed. You never know even as little as .1cc can make all the difference in the world.

[juliegeraci 7]

I agree with Jack. I too have restriction like you. It is very important to find the balance. If you can lose 1-2 lbs a week eating 1 cup of food I would have an unfill. If not, then this may be your sweet spot. Make sure you get enough Protein. I always start my day with a 30 gram Protein Shake just to make sure. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Shrinkin'Sistah 0]

Thanks for the replies! I went in yesterday & my surgeon removed .25 cc's, leaving me with 2.25 instead of 2.5. Let's see if this works... He agreed that I needed a VERY slight unfill since I was PBing almost on an everyday basis. PBing that much is not good for the band & could cause slippage. I think I will be more comfortable now. But don't get me wrong, I don't want to OVEREAT! It's just that I was barely able to get & keep anything down. NOT GOOD!!

[Jezaamphilyn 0]

I can eat as much as I want as long as I chew it really well. I guess I don't understand exactly how I am supposed to feel. If I eat bread or don't chew well I can feel it get stuck and it really hurts. I can usually walk it off but I don't know that I ever feel really full. I usually just stop eating or try to only eat half of my meal. What does full feel like?

[hollyu48 0]

i had to go back and unfill a bit I was at 5 after the first fill and I was sliming at every meal. ish! So Dr took out 1cc and I am hungry again and looking for food. I can go back mid December to have some put back in I am wondering if Drs will do partial cc's like 1/2 or not. I have a feel of being ill again. But I need to loose weight

[Wheetsin 714]

You guys are into an area of feelings that are virtually impossible to describe. For one because they're so different for everyone, and for two because some things are just hard to describe.

For me, I have two kinds of full. There's band full, and stomach full. They're usually one in the same, but not always. Stomach full, which happens on a bandster portion, feels just like pre-op full (not "pre-op overate like usual and feel sick full", but just normal full). Then there's band full, which I'm feeling right now after eating literally a half a spoon of yogurt. I'm *tight* in the early day, but trying to work on getting some food down. It will probably take 20 - 30 mins for this half bite to clear, and then I will have another half bite, etc. This is a VERY different feeling from when I've eaten too much or have something stuck. This feeling to me = "wait a while." This also feels kind of like having to burp, but not being able to. (But I say that about a few band feelings, and they're all very different situations).

As Jack pointed out, the only way to know you're at your sweet spot is to look at what's happening. Can you eat without PBing? Do you feel restriction? Are you hungry between meals? Are you satisifed at the point that you feel restriction?

I personally don't factor weightloss into whether or not someone is at a sweetspot. Someone can suck down egg nog at their sweet spot and not lose weight.

Lastnight I had some yellowfin sashimi. I was tight, and about 2 oz of it took me a good hour to get down. I still felt hungry, so I took one piece of chicken (melon-ball sized) from DH's Chinese food. In turn I cut that into 4 bites. I ate one of the bites. Almost instantly I got the uncomfortable "gonna have to PB" pressure, and sure enough, about an hour later I was hunched over the sink. Why could I eat the sashimi, but one bite of chicken messed me up? I'm still working on that one. Perhaps my pouch was full, but it didn't register. Perhaps something about it caused it to get stuck. Who knows. Moral of the story being - sometimes we can't clearly define what's going on, we just have to trust what we're feeling, learn to speak our body's language, and pick up on its new patterns. Go with the guidelines above, and hope that you catch on quickly.

[sherilynn 1]

We can EAT and lose weight.

We can OVER eat and NOT lose weight.

Jack, this is my new favorite saying. I've put it in my signature. Something so simple can 'hit ya'...go figure.

Bravo, good man! As always; you inspire.

[Jezaamphilyn 0]

I love this forum! Quick responses. This is what I eat in a typical day.

Breakfast - oatmeal

lunch - Smart Ones from Weight Watchers..I pick the ones with the most protien

snack - powerbar

dinner - meat - preferrably chicken or beef and a veggie.

I have been trying not to snack after dinner but I like to eat Cereal at night. I try to eat South Beach stuff but I really like shredded wheat with raisins.

I want to eat something sweet all the time though and I crave ice cream and mints.

Any suggestions. I feel I am losing way too slow!

[FDATrialGuineaPig 7]

To me the sweet spot means that you feel like you HAVE to be eating way too much (your brain has recalibrated portion sizes and realigned satiety with it) yet you're losing weight and feeling great--no reflux, no barfing, not feeling deprived...feeling, dare I say...normal.