Struggling !

congrats on a fab wgt loss to date - try to look at the over all wgt loss rather than the last 3 wks when you lost 1lb - your wgt loss will slow down as time goes on and to date you have lost a tremendous amount o f wgt in a relatively short space of time so it could be your body is catching up - take some photos or your measurements as the scales are not the only way to measure your progress - to have 4.5mls in your band at the time of your surgery does seem to be quite a lot but then it might depend on the size of your band too as diff sized bands can take more fluid than others - you poss need a few more small fills and slow and steady is the best way to do this so that you build up the restriction gradually and you should not experience the dreadful feelings you had previously when you were obviously too tight - are you following the rules and not eating and drinking at the same time as this would was any food you eat through your band - try to eat food that will not go through your band - you need to eat foods that will keep you feeling fuller for longer - so keep off the slider foods such as ice cream - try something like fishcakes or that kind of texture as that is soft enough not to get stuck but solid enough not to slip straight through and this might help you feel full at tea time -  have plenty to drink during the course of the day (except at meal times) cos apparently sometimes our body thinks it is hungry but infact we are thirsty as the body gets confused -   you should tell your fill provider how you feel at your next appointment and ask for their advice - it is early days and you have done amazingly well with your wgt loss to date - wgt loss surgery is not the easy route that many think it is - it is hard - it is a tool to help with the wgt loss and not a magic wand - i wish it was that magic wand but alas that is not the case - perhaps if you kept a food diary you could show this to the dietician if you cont not to lose wgt and could be he/she will be able to pinpoint anything you could be doing better - good luck 

you say you dont get much support at home so have you considered joining a support group or a forum online where you could swop ideas, tips and info - some hosps have thier own groups so this might be a good place to start looking if you are interested in meeting other people in the same boat as yourself or you could try somewhere like WLSinfo that runs groups and also a forum online - I didnt know anyone who had undergone wgt loss surgery till  i joined a local group and found there were lots of people just like me who were not celebrities or media stars but we were all bound by that common thread of wgt loss surgery - to be fair your family and friends probs just dont understand what being you is like but somebody who has already walked in your shoes before you and had the op would and that i think is where a support group might be the answer but of course it is entirely your choice - personally i would say that if you can eat sticky toffee pudding you still have some way to building up that ultimate level of restriction cos it is quite a  solid claggy consistency and if you were at that 'sweet spot' i think you could find it difficult to get down - ice cream of course will just slide through no prob but it will not sustain you or stop you from feeling full so i would keep of things like that cos they are empty callories - i would say that sometimes i feel a bit peckish but not starving hungry and i thank my band for that - i carry what i call my emergency cereal bar with me and if i get that hungry feeling the cereal bar generally is enough to tide me over to the next meal - or a milky drink can do the same for me if i was out n about - i can be satisfied with a relatively small amount of food if i do get hunger pangs and something like a small banana would equally have the same effect as the cereal bar -  there is a lot of trial and error getting the restriction just right and often bandsters overshoot the mark and have to have a little taken out  and everyone is different so its how you feel personally - there is no magic 'one size fits all rule' -mhow about just not having the rubbish in the house - if there were no ice cream or crisps in your house then you could not eat them - damage limitation  is what i am kinda saying - its all very easy saying we should eat this and should not eat the other but if it is there and its nice then you want it - if its not there then that is a diff matter so put some strategies in place to stop yourself eating the rubbish - the band is only a tool to help with wgt loss - it something you have to work with but you have a great tool so why not have a rethink - you really know what you are doing wrong and there is only yourself who can overcome these bad habits which have crept in very early after lyour op

you're welcome - it really is early days for you in the great scheme of things and it is unfortunate that you got off to a bad start but that is all behind you now - its good that you are just having small fills and taking it steady so good luck with your future wgt loss - its a big learning curve and with each fill you might have to relearn what you already knew as your restriction changes and there will be some foods that will become problematic - once again good luck