I am on my third fill, and recieved it just before Christmas. I was pretty tight over the holidays, and experienced some nasty pb's etc.... I have been diligent with the workouts, and if I eat slow now I don't experience any problems.

I delayed my next fill date because I think I am in my sweet spot. I am losing about 1-2 lbs per week, last week I lost 5! I'm not super hungry when I follow the band rules.

Question is, is this a moving target? Will I eventually start eating more and fall out of the "zone"?

Mike

340/285/225

-55!

I have had 2 fills--the last one being in July of 06!!! My restriction has definitely lessened from what it was in the 2-3 months following the fill, but it has settled in, and I am still restricted as to how much I can eat, that I must chew well---but I am able to eat any food I choose to eat. meat is not an issue.

I feel good where I am. Tight enough to remind me---not so tight so as to run my life!

I might get the last 25 pounds or so off faster if I were to get another fill, but I am going with the old idea of "if it ain't broke---don't fix it!"

Sounds like you are doing great!!! Keep up the good work!

Welcome to LBT!

Kat

My experience is you will eventually loose the restriction and hope to hit that sweet spot again with a fill. My Doctor explained to me that there is a layer of fat around the stomach and as we loose that fat - the band requires adjustment. Congrats on the big loss numbers - isn't it fun when it working so well! Gotta love the band.

Kat I totally agree with you.

I have been really slow with my fills. I figure I have this band in me for the rest of my life what is the rush in filling it up. If I've lost fantastic if I've stayed the same great, if I've gained then it's time.

I think you'll know when it's time for a fill. You'll start to feel hungry after eating the same amount of food you where eating before.

As you lose, the fat around your band goes down and the band loosens. Many people need 3 to 5 fills or more along the way. Enjoy your current sweet spot while it lasts!

Seems to me, reading the complication threads, that trouble often begins when the process of having to be unfilled begins. Once you have been overtight, and swell---then it is hard to get back to a point of restriction, without it bouncing from too tight, to no restriction at all.

Seems like an evil cycle----one I am terribly afraid of! So if it takes awhile to get the last little bit off, then it takes awhile. I am able to do things I had not done in years, I am in misses size clothes, take no prescription meds. The next 20-30 pounds are just bonus!!! I consider my band a success!!!

Kat

Kat I totally agree with you.

I have been really slow with my fills. I figure I have this band in me for the rest of my life what is the rush in filling it up. If I've lost fantastic if I've stayed the same great, if I've gained then it's time.

Hi Diane and Katy,

I was banded in July of last year and had my second fill around Halloween. I'm considering another one now but haven't really made a firm decision. For the past month my weight has fluctuated between 194 and 199. I notice you've both been members for a while and wondered if there were weeks or months even when you felt you might need a fill but you'd just wait and see for a little while? When my weight goes up to the high end of this curve I'm desperate, when it starts to drop and/or stabilise I'm no longer sure. I don't want to be a fill junkie.

Any personal experience you can share about plateaus would be greatly appreciated. This is open to any and all.

Yeah I had to be unfilled once, 4 days after a fill, and said - homey don't play that. So I made him take 2 or 3 months to slowly bring me back up to the point I was at before the fill that proved to be too much.

My last fill was probably Feb - March of last year, so about a year ago, and I'm neither too restricted nor wide open.

Ruby I have been told it is not whether or not you will hit plateaus, it is when will you hit them. Everyone does---sooner or later, and sometimes it seems I just break a plateau in time to hit another!!!

I based not needing another fill on the fact that I am not hungry between my meal times, I snack on occasion, but the snacking is not actual stomach hunger induced, it is head hunger wanting to eat for the sake of eating!

It is my understanding, if you are properly restricted, you can eat most foods, including hard Proteins without pain, providing you have small well chewed bites. I am able to eat meats, and fibrous veggies, I just am cautious with them. I still eat much, much less than I ever dreamed of before my band. I have pretty tight restriction in the morning. I can only get part of a container of yogurt with granola down. Then as the day goes on, my restriction lessens. But I do not get hungry. As long as I drink a lot of fluids, and eat what I consider to be a fairly healthy diet---I don't ever feel hunger.

For years I think I confused thirst with hunger. Now I find if I do not drink enough, I don't lose anything! So I drink minimally 60 ounces a day. With that I stay well hydrated, and my weight stalls less.

I would base whether you need another fill upon how you feel as opposed to what the scale is or is not doing. But yes, I have gone for as much as 2-3 months with no discernible weight change...constant up a pound down a pound....

Kat

Hi Kat..

I've been lurking on these boards for a month or so as I have my surgery on 2/5. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy your posts!! You are so well versed and have provided me such valuable info thru your lap band experience. I really appreciate your willingness to share and I wanted th THANK YOU for already helping me thru this journey. You really are an inspiration and I know you have helped many people on these boards.

Cheers!!

Amy

I would base whether you need another fill upon how you feel as opposed to what the scale is or is not doing. But yes, I have gone for as much as 2-3 months with no discernible weight change...constant up a pound down a pound....

Kat

Thank you Kat. Your post was extremely helpful. I have the same tight restriction in the morning and it eases as the day goes on. For me, my trouble time as far as food goes has always been in the afternoon. If I can make it to 7pm without emptying the fridge into myself, I've done well, lol.

I still struggle with any kind of bread and have a 50/50 shot with chicken. Other meats seem to go down alright. I still haven't tried the more fibrous vegetables yet. I don't know that I'm ready. But yes, my eating habits now are so much different than they were 6 months ago and that's something to be proud of.

You made an excellent point about the Water. I've gotten lazy with that recently and it's time I was more diligent about my intake.

Thank you again for your post. It was most helpful. I'll hold off a little while longer and see what this latest strategy does for me.

Thanks girls! Just trying to do for others what was done for me when I showed up here unsure, and full of questions!!

LBT saved my sanity!!! Not to mention that of my family and friends!!

Kat