How long to reach restriction???

 
As most of you on here know, I never reached restriction, even after 16 fills. Well someone posted on OH a day or 2 ago that that it took her 3 years and 8 months to reach restriction. So I was wondering how many of you are out there that had to wait a long period for restriction.

Are you still waiting for restriction, and if so how far out are you. If you finally got it after a prolonged period, how long did it take you???

It took me about a year to get restriction and once I did it was too tight. Me and restriction haven't really met on good terms. I've thought I had restriction only to lose it or puke too much so I really don't know...... My coworker doesn't even need fluid to have restriction with the type of band she has...WTH????

 
For me there was never that happy medium. I would be too loose, and the few times I got "restriction" I was too tight and had to have a little fluid removed. There seem to be so many out there like us that never reach the right point. I just gave up after 16 fills. :-(

I wish I had seen posts like the lady that didn't reach restriction till 3 1/2 years out BEFORE I had my band put in. I never would have done it if I knew that was a possibility!!! :-(

My surgeon warned me not to have it....not looking forward to hearing him say I told you so...

I don't know if I ever reached "restriction"... after all, I can pretty much eat whatever I want and as much of it as I want.  There is not a single food I've found that I just can't tolerate. If I eat slowly enough and chew well enough I can eat unlimited quantities of anything and if I'm eating cookies, brownies, cake, ice cream, I don't even have to eat slowly, I can just eat as much as I want as fast as I want. But that's not the point, is it? 

The real secret to success with my band is that I realized what hungry really feels like and what satisfied really feels like. The band cannot stop me from choosing junk foods and it can't stop me from eating nonstop for hours if I really wanted to. Believe me... I've had my moments! There have been days when I simply wanted to experience the buffet of life and I did and my band didn't stop me.  But for the most part, I've accepted that if I'm really hungry I need to eat (and eat good quality food) and if I'm satisfied I need to stop eating.  And most of the time that has nothing to do with getting to the point where I feel like I'm going to puke if I eat one more bite or any kind of physical restriction. 

I really hate hearing people's failed band stories cause it just sucks. I can't imagine going through all of this and not feeling any differently than I did before. I can't empathize because I haven't been there but I can imagine how infuriating it would be and how disappointed I'd be with the whole thing. But with a little imagination, I can easily see myself as a failed band patient because there is nothing except me keeping me from choosing the wrong foods or choosing too much of them.  Unlike other surgeries, we all knew going into this one that every single thing we eat "counts" to our bodies.  There's no leg up from malabsorbtion.

I am not saying that those of you who say you haven't found restriction are doing something wrong or aren't trying hard enough, I promise! I can't put myself in your shoes because that hasn't been my experience. But what I'm saying is I wonder how much the idea of the perfect level of restriction doesn't really exist. I was too tight for a while and didn't want to believe it but I was. My eating was very abnormal and what I could eat varied so much from day to day or even morning to night. Getting a slight unfill did put me back to where I want to say "I'm too loose" because I can "eat whatever I want" but when I am honest with myself I find that what I want to cry "too loose" on is actually a place where I can eat any type of food I want and eat a normal portion of it, and be satisfied for hours between meals without constantly wondering when my next snack is, but the trade off for this is that if I am not vigilant with measuring things or counting things, I can easily overeat because my band is not some kind of disciplinarian waiting to slap me with pain the minute I make a mistake.

I would say that it took me about 6 months and 4.75 CCs to get good restriction, with the caveat that to me, that means almost nothing since I could easily cirumvent the benefits of having it.

 
~And most of the time that has nothing to do with getting to the point where I feel like I'm going to puke if I eat one more bite or any kind of physical restriction.~

That's how you define restriction??? I may be misspeaking, but I don't think most of us consider that to be the meaning of "restriction"?

~I can't empathize because I haven't been there but I can imagine how infuriating it would be and how disappointed I'd be with the whole thing.~

I appriciate that. It has been devistating for many of us. And I can undertand how the bandsters that reached restriction and have lost well could feel. You would just assume that if you did the right things and the band worked for you that it should work for everyone, unfortunately that's so not the case for many of us. :-(

~there is nothing except me keeping me from choosing the wrong foods or choosing too much of them.~

I hear that statement a lot on here. And we must all take responsibility for what we eat and the choices we make. However I think most of us understand that, and know we must make changes in our diet..........We just want the band to help as it was advertised that it would.

It also has surprised me the number of ppl on here that love their band.........but say that they don't believe there is true "restriction".

"Restriction" seems to vary greatly between individuals! I think some have "real restriction" as it is advertised. Others seem to experience "some restriction". There there are others that never seem to reach it.

There are some that have realistic goals as far as the band. (I don't know how many times I've seen posts on here with someone complaining that they just got a fill and don't have restriction.)  But for the most part I think that the majority of those getting the band have realistic expectations based on the band advertisements.

No, sorry, I don't mean that's the way I define restriction but it seems to be what a lot of people mean when they say "I never reached good restriction." You may be the exception to the rule, I see where you defined what you mean when you say it but I get the impression a lot of people expect that the band will magically keep them from eating too much or eating the wrong foods or somehow changing their desire for too much/wrong foods. I get the impression that people who complain about "no restriction" after a number of fills for the most part are expecting something drastic to happen like all of a sudden when they eat 1/2 cup of food they just don't want any more and never wish they could eat more. (For the record, I almost NEVER want to stop eating after a small amount of food! I love food! I just have learned what's "enough" and that it's ok to stop eating even if you still might want more.)

It would be kind of nice to be able to live off 1000 calories a day while at the same time feeling stuffed to the brim full all the time, right? That would make losing weight really easy. And that's what I think many people expect restriction to be like. For me, it's never been that unless I was too tight. When I was too tight, I couldn't physically eat enough to satisfy any hunger so I was constantly hungry or alternately famished/over stuffed.

I agree with you 100% that the band should work as advertised "get full sooner/stay full longer" but I guess these things are so subjective and even if I can say for sure it's worked that way for me, how do you account for the times when I am not really "full" but I know I just ate enough and leave the food I want behind vs. someone else who might say that as long as they are physically capable of eating more they are not full? That's why I say I think restriction is kind of a myth.

Now given that, I can absolutely say that the band has worked as promised for me and I don't have a ravenous appetite that's insatiable the way I used to. If I saw no change in my biological appetite, yes, I'd be furious that they inserted this gimmick into me and I followed all the rules and I still just had to live hungry all the time. On the other hand, I have had to learn to suck it up and deal with the fact that most everyone who keeps their weight in check has to make a choice to stop eating at a certain point even if they'd like to and physically "can" eat more.

I am just saying that I think the number of people who truly aren't experiencing any benefit from the band (like yourself) is less than the number of people who run around crying that they never get any restriction because again, they are expecting the band to physcally keep them from doing something that it's not designed to do.

In no way do I mean this to belittle your or anyone's struggles. It's a sad fact of life that nothing works 100% for everyone. I am eternally grateful that my body took well to this thing and it worked for me. I'd be pissed as hell if it hadn't.  But a person's expectations of what restriction is supposed to be and what it's not, I feel, is 50% of the battle.

 
Glad the band has   worked well for you! :-)

That depends on what you think restriction is. Is your view of restriction where the band keeps you from eating certain food or to much food? Or is restriction where the band helps you feel satisfied so you don't over eat? I have never reached a fill level that kept me from eating certain foods un less I was too tight . But I have reached a fill level that kept me satisfied for up to 5-6 hours after a good balanced meal of protein and veggies . I have had a complete unfill for about 5 months and have started refilling again , I am now at 4.5 and can still eat anything and can eat more than I need. But to lose more weight I need to find the balance again between full and satisfied. So I myself do not believe in there is a thing called restriction. I don't feel the band was intended to restrict what we eat. I feel the band was placed as a tool to help me achieve the right level of fullness. This is only my opinion... I do find it hard for a food addict like my self to always stop when I am satisfied. This is where my problem is, So does the band work for me? the answer is yes. Do I have times where I stall and gain ? the answer is yes. But I take full responsibility for my bad habits that creep back in at times and the amount I eat that makes me stall. I am 34 months out and have never reached restriction unless I was too tight.

 
~Is your view of restriction where the band keeps you from eating certain food or to much food?~

Of course not. That would be my responsibility to limit certain foods that are not good food options.

What I do consider to be "restriction/sweet spot/green zone" is what the band manufacturers advertise: That we will get full sooner and stay full longer, thus being a "tool" for weight loss. I have never expected for the band to do it all! Just to assist.........like they advertise that it would.

Do you mind if I ask why you were unfilled for 5 months?

I agree completely that it is very difficult for a food addict. As I have said numerous times: you can tell a junkie not to do drugs...........u can tell a drunk not to drink..........but you can't tell a food addict not to eat. We have to, and therefore we are constantly surrounded by that temptation. :-(