Sweet Spot or Green Zone

It took me a long time to get to the green zone.  I think the green zone means different things to different people.  All I was looking for was to be satisfied (not hungry) after a band approved meal and stay satisfied for 3-4 hours.  It took me almost 16 months and 9 fills to get where I wanted to be.  I am at 9.8 ccs.  I haven't gone in for a fill since August of last year.  I have lost 150 lbs so far.  I am very happy with the restriction of my band.  There are some days I feel a little too tight or a little too lose...but most days I am content with my band. 

I forget I have a band sometimes.  I am so focused on eating healthy and working out...I forget about my little friend....sorry friend, I don't mean to forget about you.

So far I have 4.7cc in my 10cc band. I'm in the green zone according to my doctor. I have great restriction and I've lost 30 pounds since I got a fill 2 months ago. I'm assuming my doctor will not want to give me a fill at my next appointment either. :) I think it's different for everyone!

I’ve written before about my experience – I had my lapband in late October 2010 and it is just in the last month that I think I’ve come close to the “sweet spot." I think I have 7.25 cc in my lapband.

As for how long it takes to “feel the fill," it took me three weeks and two days to feel the first one. In fact, I didn’t even recognize what was happening. I did recognize that what I was experiencing had to do with the lapband, but I thought something terrible had happened to it. I called the doctor’s office in a panic and they actually removed two ccs of the four the doctor had put in three weeks and two days earlier.  After that I got 1 cc fills, but did not “feel" anything.

What helped me most was recognizing what others have said in this forum and in this particular discussion.  I had thought that “restriction" meant that my stomach would send me signals and in some way inform me not to send any more food down. That almost never happened to me in this journey. And because I COULD eat, I DID eat. A couple of months ago I began reading up more on “restriction," and came to understand that restriction is what happens when you eat smaller portions and feel “satisfied" and not hungry for several hours.  Some people do get that message from their stomachs. I just don’t happen to be one of them.

A friend of mine at work who had the lapband in December has pretty much had the same experience. At his most recent visit, his doctor told him he needed to “work more with the lapband." I always knew there was no “magic bullet," and yet I think many of us came into this thinking that somehow there was going to be some kind of “magic" that would overcome years of bad eating habits.

There is no magic. But if you can trust that you can eat smaller portions and still be satisfied -- and actually EAT smaller portions – you will see the weight start coming off. As a person for whom it took a long time to get to that point, I recommend you get to that point sooner rather than later!