So you are getting or you have an adjustable gastric band and now you want to know how to use this thing everyone keeps referring to as a tool.  Your doctor told you it will help control your portion size.  Other patients have told you to be careful not to get “stuck”.  All you want is to eat a small portion and be able to walk away from the table feeling full, and not be hungry fifteen minutes later, and to get healthy and lose weight.  So the question is, “How do I know when I’m full?” I certainly wanted the answer to that as I first enter the world of lapBanded Living.

My dinner - 3 ounces of Ahi tuna for protein, and sugar snap peas for some resistance.

OK.  It is a trick question.  You do not want to be full.  Webster defines full as follows:  “containing as much as is possible” This says to me that full means that I have gone too far and have eaten too much, since it’s not “as much as is possible”, rather it is as much as is needed that I’m looking for.  So full is not what I want, what I want is a state called satiety.  Webster defines satiety as follows:  “the state of being fed or gratified to or beyond capacity.” Well that still doesn’t get it for me since I am not trying to reach or exceed my capacity, but rather I’m trying to figure out what I need to not be physically hungry any more.  So I kept searching on Google and came up with a definition of “satiety center” on The Free Dictionary:  first the definition of center :  ” a collection of neurons in the central nervous system that are concerned with performance of a particular function.” Next, satiety center:  “ a group of cells in the ventromedial hypothalamus that when stimulated suppresses a desire for food”.  BINGO!  That’s what I’m going for, something that tells my brain I don’t want any more food.  That way, when I finish my portion and push away from the table, I am no longer hungry.  Now I just need to figure out how to get my brain to properly interpret the message.  That’s where my band comes in.

I look at it this way - I didn’t get to be 424 pounds by eating dainty, lady like size portions of food in a dainty, lady like manner.  Reality looked more like mouth wide open, shovel food in, finish, repeat as often as necessary to keep from feeling anything.  What I’m saying is, I ate to full, I ate to beyond full, like open the button on your pants because otherwise it would explode Thanksgiving dinner day full.  Now what I go for is enough - enough to not be hungry anymore.  My band helps with portion control.  With my band when I eat to full, I don’t have time to open the button and let down the zipper on my pants because I am running to the nearest restroom to relieve myself of the excess food.  Full is having that "elephant on the chest" feeling while I may be hiccupping, nose running, eyes watering, PBing, sliming....something That is definitely an unpleasant experience that I don’t like to repeat often.  Just enough is when I have finished chewing that little bite 20 times, swallow it, and realize before I pick up my fork again, that I’m not hungry any more.  Not full, not hungry, maybe my satiety center is kicking in, or, let’s just call it satisfied for ease of discussion.  I do a few things each meal in order to work my band and reach this feeling with the fewest calories possible and still have great, tasty meals:

• I do not drink with my meals or for about 45 minutes after my meal
• I have a good, dense protein like chicken, fish, beef, pork with every meal in a portion size of 2-4 ounces depending on the protein source (fish and chicken will be 3-4 ounces, beef and pork 2-3 ounces ) and the meal.  For breakfast I will add fresh blueberries to my yogurt to provide the same type of resistance that dense proteins like chicken does.  I avoid “slider foods”.
• I eat small bites, chewing thoroughly and I put my fork down between bites (this allows that satiety center thing to send the message to my brain and gives ME time to register it)
• My meals last for 20 to 30 minutes because any longer than that and I’m grazing
• I put on my plate the portion I am going to eat, no more, no less, no second helpings necessary

So in our banded living community we refer to full as having too much and it’s coming back up, satisfied as having enough- I can comfortably push away from the table and not worry about being hungry again in 15 minutes.  These are the definitions we will be referring to frequently.

Over the past 7 years I have had to learn my body’s signals to me that I am approaching that state of satiety, as well as the signals that one more bite and I will be over the top and running for the restroom.  You would think that after 7 years I always pay attention, wouldn’t you?  I can say with certainty that I do my best to pay attention to these signals, but life sometimes intervenes and I am not always successful.  I hiccup once when I’ve had enough.  How does your body signal ENOUGH to you?