I just have no idea what is normal. I'd love to be able to eat a shot glass worth of food for meals, but, that just doesn't cut it - do I need a fill?

I can eat a half bagel, with cream cheese, thin sliced meat, and a bit of lettuce and onion - is that a normal amount?

I can eat almost a whole sausage biscuit from mcdonalds (one bit less) - is that too much?

What can everyone else eat?

That is a very hard question to answer..

Everyone is so different, I'm sure I could eat a whole lot more then I do but just because I can does not mean I do

I eat when my stomach is growling, I then eat until that growl goes away.

For example it is 2:30 here and so far all I have had today is 2 scrambled eggs with chorizo & cheese scrambled in it with a tsp of sour cream. Ive been up since 3:30 a, this morning and go to work at 4:30 am I ate around 8:30 am My tummy is starting to growl a bit now so I will go have a slice of cheese to tide me over until dinner at 6:00 I normally eat lunch at 1:00 which is a small salad with 1/2 chicken breast. but to day I had no time busy work day for me today.

Ive been questioning that too... today i ate a semi normal meal that was half of a lean pocket and alittle bit of turkey lunchmeat .. I have no idea if thats normal or what.... I felt full but i dont know how much is too much.....

Kim

I have experienced that I can eat drastically less during 'that time of the month' and I'm thrilled with the amount I can eat - it feels normal (small normal) but for the weight loss period, I wonder if I wouldn't be better served only being able to eat 'extra small' bits of food

You are better off eating the most that you can while still losing weight. This way, you can back off a little bit if you hit a rough spot while not starving yourself, you know?

I try to stick to 1300 calories a day. I try not to get too hung up on the amount of food I eat at once, as long as it fits into that (and I don't feel hungry). Today so far I have had 1 Powercrunch bar for Breakfast, 135 cals, for snack I had a Pria bar, 110 cals. Then for lunch I had a salad with ranch (190 cals, real ranch), and some "Beef Jerky Crisps" that I found at the store. The whole bag is 200 calories, and I had some with lunch and some a little later. Then a serving of some pretzel sticks for 110 calories.

I have about 550 calories to play with for dinner and desert, and that shouldn't be a problem. Hope this helps.

yeah it seems to depend on each persona and varies greatly-

For last 2 days all Ive eaten PERIOD is a cup of yogurt with granola and 2 pieces of ham-I am only eating when hungry and I havent been hungry-I was always a boredom eater and havent been bored-lol.

I have no fill (I am going tomorrow) For breakfast I had 1 hard boiled egg, 4 or 6 small bites of steak and the centers of 2 pieces of toast with some jam. (about 1 piece total) I was full until 4 or hours later and then I had some beef-a-roni, I know not the best choice but it does have protien and it was available. For dinner I am having chicken soup and 1/2 a grilled cheese. I will probably have a s/f fudgesicle for dessert. I have also had enough water to sink a small ocean vessel today. I am getting the fill because I am starting to feel hungry too soon and I can handle the bread. I am having a last fling with bread today as I am hoping that it will be a bit more difficult after the fill tomorrow. ~Mandy

I've been told a few times that about a fistful is what any normal person should eat at any one time. That's enough to fill me up now, unbanded (but not for more than an hour or two), I'd imagine a bread and butter plate of dinner would be adequate. But a shot glass? That's starvation.

I will be happy if my band restricts me to the amounts any unbanded person would eat while dieting - 3 smallish meals a day, maybe a piece of fruit in between - maybe Cereal and fruit for breakfast, salad and Protein for lunch, normal family dinner just small. I cant see the point of eating less than that and although I may change my mind later, if I'm eating that and its satisfying me I wont be looking for more fills. I'd rather take longer to lose weight and keep to a more "normal" lifestyle.

When I do eat that way now I lose weight steadily and reliably - a kilo a week easily - its just that my body kicks in 7 or 8kg down the track and drives me to regain the weight.

At the moment, I don't count calories. If I hit a plateau, then I'll start. I've been losing on average (some weeks less, some weeks more) 1kg/week. That's 2.2lbs. I'm content with that. Sure I'd love to lose 4kgs/week, but I realize that not only is that unrealistic, it's unhealthy.

My average day consists of the following:-

Breakfast - a small Protein filled banana and strawberry smoothie with skinny milk, after my workout

lunch - 1/2 cup tuna salad with a bit of a small mixed green salad

dinner - 1/4 - 1/2 cup of meat (sometimes salmon, sometimes beef, sometimes chicken - just whatever I've fixed the family for dinner) with a bit of veggies on the side.

I don't really eat between meals, unless I'm home alone lol. Then it's out of boredom, so I try not to be home alone If I see something that I want though, say a few chips, I have them.

After being filled once I could eat a whole wendy's salad for lunch and about half of a resturant meal. After I ate I could go about 4 hours without getting interested in food again. I was losing about 1 pound a week. I thought this was too much food so I asked for another fill

A shotglass worth of food isn't normal unless you had a micropouch RNY. A bandster meal consists of: 3-4 oz of solid protein, 1 serving of veggies (1/2 cup) and up to 1 serving of starch (1/2 cup) if there's room.

How "much" volume you can eat is not one of the criteria of whether or not you need a fill. First you need to make sure you're actually eating like a bandster. If you're doing so 70-80% of the time, then it's based on weight loss and hunger/satiety:

1. You're losing 1-2 lbs/week on average; and

2. your sensible bandster meals are making you full (full = not hungry anymore, not stuffed/uncomfortable/golfball, PBing/tightness) and you're not getting physically hungry again for 3-4 hours.

Now, the "meals" you listed...well, to be quite frank, not at all good bandster choices. The band can't choose your foods for you...you have to do that and McDonalds breakfast sandwiches are poor choices (very high calorie due to all the grease in them and poor source of protein). Bagel...high calorie, high in simple carbs, low in nutrition...probably not much protein there either.

Try eating like a bandster, and judge your hunger/satiety based on that, and what the scale does over a few weeks. That's the only way to know if you need a fill.

Nancy

394/265/180

I just have no idea what is normal. I'd love to be able to eat a shot glass worth of food for meals, but, that just doesn't cut it - do I need a fill?

I can eat a half bagel, with cream cheese, thin sliced meat, and a bit of lettuce and onion - is that a normal amount?

I can eat almost a whole sausage biscuit from mcdonalds (one bit less) - is that too much?

What can everyone else eat?

I had 1 hard boiled egg,

afer your fill, be careful with hard boiled eggs, that is something I can not eat

1. You're losing 1-2 lbs/week on average; and

2. your sensible bandster meals are making you full (full = not hungry anymore, not stuffed/uncomfortable/golfball, PBing/tightness) and you're not getting physically hungry again for 3-4 hours.

The "full = not hungry" quote is right on and deserves to be a sticky!

That's one of the main points we try to emphasize to our patients when they ask "how much should I eat?"

I can't speak for patients who have had other procedures such as the gastric bypass or the VBG (because we don't do those) but for the Banded patients it's important to change your mindset towards food. We are genetically programmed to eat until we are full, and it takes a lot of work to change your attitude towards food and eat until you are not hungry. It's a completely different approach, but essential for weight loss success for Lap Band patients.

I too have started in the last month not eating until Im full. I eat till I am satisfied and then I walk away. In the first few months I wanted to eat till I was full and couldnt understand why i didnt lose for 7 weeks Duh:). Now I am changing the way I am doing things and working with the band more, the scale is moving. It is soooooo true about protein...I could eat so much and thought I needed a fill until I started eating hard proteins first...I discovered I really do have good restriction.

I stick to the half cup through the day, but at dinner sometimes I have a little more.

If I snack through the day it is generally only something small and it is usually about 4pm when I get the afternoon hunger pangs.

I've read lots of people saying they can't eat more than 1/2 a cup at a meal. I usually eat more than that though I've found that I can hold more of soft foods (like pudding and chicken salad), about 1 cup total, than I can of "real" food (like cooked chicken and vegetables).

I'm not really sure just how much I could eat, because I am very careful not to overfill. I did try to eat a sausage biscuit the other day but couldn't get much in. I took the top half of the biscuit off and pushed the bottom half back a bit so that I would get mostly meat in each bite and still managed to only eat half of that. But I was full and felt good with that until lunch time.

Last night we stopped by Taco Bell. I tried to eat my favorite bean burrito with sour cream. After a couple of bites though, I opened it up and just scooped out the beans leaving the tortilla for the trash.

I just have no desire to overeat like I used to.

Edited to add that I haven't had a fill yet.