I am do for my first fill on Wendesday the 20th so this may no longer be an issue but there are times ( a lot of times) that I cannot imagine only eating a 1/2 cup of food at a time. I watch my portions and I have also been loosing weight but I eat closer to a cup and unforntunelty sometimes a little more. I make sure that I don't eat more than 1200 calories, as a matter of fact I have never made it to 1200. I am starving and I keep thinking that maybe I have stretched out my pouch. I know that all of my worries will be resolved when I see the surgeon, but is 1/2 cup of food keeping you full?

No. 1/2 cup of food does not keep me full and I was never told to eat only 1/2 cup of food. First of all, you haven't had a fill yet, so your band isn't even working yet. You are basically the same person as you were before surgery. The only restriction you get after surgery is from the swelling from surgery. I have had 4 fills, am scheduled for my 5th and still am not at my sweet spot. I was told that once I am at the right restriction I should be able to eat 1/3-1/2 of what I ate before surgery. Depending on the food (how dense) I can still eat a cup of food easily. Were you really told to eat only 1/2 cup of food? That would give you a really low caloric intake, I think. I think the wisest thing to do, especially before you have your first fill (that is the very hardest part of the whole band journey- hunger has returned, no fill yet) Is to eat and listen to what your body is telling you. Eat according to 'the rules' (slowly, small bites, no drinking etc...) and don't worry that much about quantity. Stop eating when you are satisfied, not necessarily full. Don't torture yourself by only allowing a certain amount regardless of how you feel. That is what we were all trying to do before band surgery and it is not a nice way to live. Once you get enough fills to give you restriction, you will be limited in how much you can eat and won't have to suffer to do it. Don't try to eat like a restricted person without restriction,it is going to make you miserable. If you are starving, eat.

My doctor has never told me what amount, i.e., .5 or 1 cup per meal. I am supposed to keep my daily intake to around 1200 calories. I have been told to eat until I feel full, which honestly, doesn't take long. I've done enough weighing and measuring through out my diet career. That is what has often been my downfall. When I watch my family and friends eat (they're all thin), they eat until they are full. That is what I want to do...eat like a "normal" person and not have to weigh and measure.

Thanks for the wonderful advice. I follow all of the eating and drinking rules and I was having a lot of guilt for eating so much. I feel a lot better now. I have had friends that have had the surgery and they said that after they started getting fills they no longer even needed to count their calories because they were eating enough to really worry about it.

I am glad you posted this, I have been feeling the exact same way in the last week. I was banded on 1/24 and I was doing so well until recently. My doc also said 1/2 cup and I have been STARVING and losing the battle. I've decided until I get my first fill I am going to eat when I am hungry, because if I do not, I'm going to really make bad decisions. I'm scared to death of a fill but I'm going to beg for one this week.

I was banded 2/5. I have experienced the same hunger since a week after banding. I was told that initally the swelling is keeping you feeling full but after that you will feel empty often until the first fill. I was cautioned against eating too much or the wrong things because it will cause slippage or the sutures to break (my surgeon sutures the stomach around the band to make a tunnel the band sits in). They told me to add a cup of milked down oatmeal a day. I have further modified it to my taste and have not had a problem. Once daily I will eat a 6 oz can of tuna with FF mayo and a little pickle juice until it is down to a very liquid consitency. This had helped my hunger and it has been satisfying to me for some odd reason. I also drink a protein drink when hungry and it helps to keep the hunger pangs down. I have found that I can not live off of 6oz tomato soup, 6 oz of yogurt and 6 oz of pudding a day along with the clear liquids.

I watch what I eat and incorporated more fish into my diet so that the protein will also keep me full. I have been eating a lot of Tilapia which for me is a miracle because the only fish that I would eat before being banded was a BK Big Fish. I made a pot of potato soup for dinner tonight and I plan on adding shrimp (Thanks Paula Deen) to help me with my hunger.

My doctor always told me to eat when I was hungry and he put no limits on how much. He said I shouldn't be hungry except when it was time to eat again. He also didn't limit calories. My main rules were to eat Protein first and to get 60-70 grams per day, to eat slowly and chew well, don't drink while I'm eating or an hour after, and avoid Snacks. After I was on solid foods, he also wanted me to avoid taking in too many calories from liquids.

Before I got restriction, I did my best to follow his rules with two exceptions -- due to my schedule (I'm on the road from one campus to another) I still had a couple of Slimfast shakes a day and I did have snacks (pudding, Luna Bar, cheese.) However, now that I have good restriction, I'm finding that I don't need the snacks. So I'm only breaking one rule but I'm down to just one shake a day for one of my meals. I have a cooler than plugs in my car to keep shakes and drinks cold during the day.

I think there are two reasons for "Bandster Hell" -- either you're hungry all the time because you're relying on willpower OR you eat when you're hungry and then you get depressed because you aren't losing weight "quickly enough." (Note: It's NEVER quick enough! ) I wasn't hungry and when I realized that I was doing too much comparing my weight loss to others, I changed my attitude and pretty much avoided Bandster Hell.

That's just a guideline. Sometimes I can eat three bites and I have to put the food away. Sometimes I can eat an entire meal (in moderation). There is no set rule and it fluctuates daily with the band. In the mornings sometimes if I try to drink milk it comes back up. By dinnertime I can eat a whole japanese dinner (stir fry, soup, chicken and shrimp....no rice). There is just no hard and fast rule. You eat until you are full but you HAVE to learn how to ANTICIPATE fullness. You eat till just before you are full....then you are fine. If you eat until you ARE full, sometimes your body rejects that. That's where the learning curve is.