What does "restriction" feel like?

[NinnyEd]

I was emailing with another gal who had surgery the same day as I did and we are wondering what exactly does restriction feel like?? I know it is a goofy question, but I assume it is feeling full after only eating a small amount of food?

Do any of you more experienced bandsters have a clear explination as to what restriction feels like?

[NWMarc]

I was emailing with another gal who had surgery the same day as I did and we are wondering what exactly does restriction feel like?? I know it is a goofy question, but I assume it is feeling full after only eating a small amount of food?

Do any of you more experienced bandsters have a clear explination as to what restriction feels like?

Hi,

Well, I can tell you what restriction feels like for me.

I don't know how long you've had the band so describing the feeling is weird. As I chew and swallow a feel a bit of preasure mid to lower part of my chest. I can then actually feel the food pass and the preasure releases. I can even get this feeling a little if I take a huge gulp of lilquid.

With low restriction I can "get away with" not chewing as good and the presure releases faster. With tight restriction I need to be VERY careful on what I eat and how much I chew. If something gets stuck the presure becomes VERY uncomfortable, even painful, and I start to wonder what's going to happen. DO NOT make the mistake of taking a sip of liquid to see if that helps. It almost always makes it worse. One time the liquid just came back immediately. I've never PB'ed food but I think I've been close a couple of times. Another term you may have heard is Slimeing. That's when you get a bunch of saliva in your mouth and you know you don't want to swallow it because something is stuck. As if you didn't already know, you know you're in trouble when you slime.

For me, more restriction is better. It makes me use the tool more like it should be used.

Marc

[ClaireinCO]

For me it is a tightness in the chest, right under my breastbone. To keep my fullness in check, I take a deep breath. If I feel a bit of a catch on the full deep breath, that is also a sign of the retsriction and getting full. Fullness is much higher than it used to feel, much more in the chest. Don't worry, you will know! But do try to really slow down and pay attention to the little cues of pre-fullness. Like a sigh or a little hiccup. The thing I have learned with the band is that you don't ever want to GET full by eating continuously. You want to stop just before full and then wait a few minutes --- the fullness WILL come. Then, if it doesn't, you can go ahead and have a bit more. It is SO much better to undereat and maybe nee dto go back for more than to overeat and be in pain or risk stretching your pouch.

Ok, that said, it is really hard to sctually DO. I find myself time and time again just trying ot get in a few more bites. After a lifetime of pushing myself I have to totally re-learn my limits.