I've started this thread before but didn't get the answers I was looking for. I know that everyone's sweet spots are different, but please explain to me what your's feels like, I need details!!!

I thought I found my sweet spot but then I wasn't sure.. is it like love and when you fall in it you just KNOW? lol. I can feel my food go down but it doesn't stay in my pouch, is it supposed to? Or is it supposed to pass? I thought I had good restriction but I have never felt "full" from it, do you think that means I need more saline?

Help.. I'm a flippin goon here and I'm all sorts of confused.

I sure hope you get answers this time.....I have the very same questions!!!!LOL:unsure:

I, too, am in search of my "sweet spot" and at 1/4 cc and $500 a fill it is taking a long time because my docs won't do it more often than 6 weeks.

Mimi

My sweet spot is where I feel satisfied with a 3 oz portion of Protein and a 1/2 to 1 cup of veggies for about 3 - 4 hours. It's hard to explain because NO you don't feel the full feelings like you used to feel. At least you shouldn't get to that point for fear of stretching your pouch. When you get to the proper amount of "full" you will maybe give a little sigh, hiccup or believe it or not your nose may run. Don't ask my why your body does things like that cause I don't know.

My sweet spot makes it a doable thing to eat smaller portions and make it 3 - 4 hours in between meals. I still sometimes feel hunger but not often if I eat the right things. My sweet spot makes it where I'm not all consumed with thoughts of food but of other things in life.

Sometimes I can eat more and sometimes I can eat less. Things like stress, hormones and stuff will affect it. I had my first and I pray only experience with PBing this last month and it wasn't fun. I had to have a little Fluid removed because I don't want to have to tiptoe around everything I eat and I absolutely HATE heartburn.

Some people want the strangle hold feeling but it causes lots of problems. Me, I want to live my life without constantly worrying about what I'm eating. I know my trouble foods and I have learned to listen to my body.

I hope this helps. It is hard to explain and yes everyone will explain it differently. If I can help anymore, please feel free to contact me. I will try my darndest to answer you.

Mimilou2004 - don't rush up on that sweet spot. You'll be paying more trying to readjust the band than you would if you just creep up on it. One tenth of a cc can put you into dire straights.

The full feeling you're seeking isn't the right thing. As overweight people, what we always thought was "full" was actually "too full".

Satiety is what you should experience once you reach your sweet spot. You should be able to eat a cup or less of food and no longer feel hungry and you should continue to feel that way for at least 4 hours. Less than 4 hours and you aren't quite there.

Thank you for your input.. this has helped me. I never thought that it would confuse me like it has recently. I think I do have good restriction right now and will wait another week or so for a fill, or at least see how I am feeling by then.

I have never felt full so I didnt know if I needed more restriction or not. But I do measure my foods and eat just that amount to feel satiety, same as what my NP says to look for.

I have gone down a couple pounds which is GREAT to finally see.. I was wondering what the hell was going on and when things would start moving for me. I'll just keep up with what I'm doing now and hopefully get good results.. thanks!!

Here's what it feels like to me: (Im 6 months post-op with 6cc's in a 10cc band)

When Im out with friends for dinner, I order a chopped barbeque chicken salad, the lunch portion. I eat about 1/3 of the lunch portion--maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup and am totally stuffed. About 3 hours later, when we stop in the mall for frozen yogurt, I get a kiddie size cup of non-fat yogurt, have a half a dozen bites and throw the rest out.

It feels like food no longer controls me. I eat when Im hungry. I stop when Im not. I dont feel compelled to BINGE. (Binge eating was a huge issue for me) I feel...dare I say it, NORMAL.

Oh how jealous I am of those of you who have found your happy spot!!! I think I've got too much in my band now. I just had my 7th fill this week and am at 7.75 in a 10 cc. . . I think I might fall back to the 7.5 simply because life was easier. I'll just diet more. It helped, but I think I might have expect it to do too much. . . at 7.75 I couldn't even take 2 sips of a slim fast this morning. That's not right is it?

For me, being properly filled means that I am not "grazing" for food. No between meals hunger and I rarely get to the point of STARVING even if I've gone too long without eating.

I wish my doctor and his PAs had told me about the signs that I had hit my elusive "sweet spot." I only found out about these signs a few months ago and realize now that I pay attention to see if they happen that they've been there all along for at least the past year. In a way, I feel duped.

My sweet spot is where I feel satisfied with a 3 oz portion of Protein and a 1/2 to 1 cup of veggies for about 3 - 4 hours. It's hard to explain because NO you don't feel the full feelings like you used to feel. At least you shouldn't get to that point for fear of stretching your pouch. When you get to the proper amount of "full" you will maybe give a little sigh, hiccup or believe it or not your nose may run. Don't ask my why your body does things like that cause I don't know.

My sweet spot makes it a doable thing to eat smaller portions and make it 3 - 4 hours in between meals. I still sometimes feel hunger but not often if I eat the right things. My sweet spot makes it where I'm not all consumed with thoughts of food but of other things in life.

Sometimes I can eat more and sometimes I can eat less. Things like stress, hormones and stuff will affect it. I had my first and I pray only experience with PBing this last month and it wasn't fun. I had to have a little Fluid removed because I don't want to have to tiptoe around everything I eat and I absolutely HATE heartburn.

Some people want the strangle hold feeling but it causes lots of problems. Me, I want to live my life without constantly worrying about what I'm eating. I know my trouble foods and I have learned to listen to my body.

I hope this helps. It is hard to explain and yes everyone will explain it differently. If I can help anymore, please feel free to contact me. I will try my darndest to answer you.

You kind of do know it when you see it. For me it means that I can eat tomatoes, salad and chicken breast (these are the first things to go if I'm too tight) and chug a big bottle of water before I go to sleep without any reflux. It is, however, an imperfect science. Right now I need to chew slowly and need to work pretty hard to eat grapes, for example, but I do find myself feeling a little too hungry. I make good choices (a few almonds here, some bites of something there), but with perfect restriction I should be ok for the four or five hours between meals and I'm not. I've also ALWAYS eaten way more than that half a cup thing people talk about. It's really a line you have to walk, although it doesn't sound like you're up to it yet. I had two fills early on that did absolutely nothing and then a magical fill which helped me lose the lion's share of this weight. Don't be too ambitious, I'd advise, Being over-full is no fun and counter-productive. Patience and baby steps!

I felt it today!! I just ate an omlette with shredded salt fish and cheese in it (don't judge me, I needed the protein) and my band stopped me! YEA!!!!

I eat 2-3 cups of food and am not searching for food and can easily say no to it for up to 3-5 hours. My sweet spot is 7.5-7.75 in my 11 cc band. If I try to eat bread or something bulky more than once a day, it hurts my chest and when I start to get full I hiccup a couple times and then after 2-3 more bites I feel tightening and am no longer hungry. I can honestly say somedays I feel too tight, but then I think of the alternative of being able to eat what and however much I want...Fatsville! I don't get full in my belly anymore, I feel food in my throat sorta and no longer hungry.

Here's what it feels like to me: (Im 6 months post-op with 6cc's in a 10cc band)

When Im out with friends for dinner, I order a chopped barbeque chicken salad, the lunch portion. I eat about 1/3 of the lunch portion--maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup and am totally stuffed. About 3 hours later, when we stop in the mall for frozen yogurt, I get a kiddie size cup of non-fat yogurt, have a half a dozen bites and throw the rest out.

It feels like food no longer controls me. I eat when Im hungry. I stop when Im not. I dont feel compelled to BINGE. (Binge eating was a huge issue for me) I feel...dare I say it, NORMAL.

I'm so inspired by your post! This is how I aspire to be!

I'm paying closer attention to the signs that its time for me to stop eating. Sometime I get the signs and sometimes I don't. For my first 2 meals today...nothing. Granted, the 1st meal was a fruit and protein smoothie. Just now I had some chicken breast, "no pasta lasagne" and spinach and I felt it. The lump in my throat and a sigh happened so I stopped eating. Now if I could just get this to happen for all my meals I'd be golden.