I have not posted for nearly 2 years. The band has helped me lose a lot of weight. Even though I haven't reached my goal weight (about 30 pounds away) I am still pretty happy I did this. I have found that old habits die hard. The last few months those old habits have been creeping up on me like eating cereal before bedtime, drinking wine in the evenings, eating what ever for dinner. The scale is moving up a little, and I am struggling with that helpless out of control feeling. I know that emotions are playing a big part in this struggle. Thinking maybe I am having some pre-menopause symptoms or maybe depression and my job is stressing me out big time so I have turned to food and booze to sooth myself. I don't think I have done enough over the past 2 years to break those habits that helped me get over weight.

How do you break that helpless, hopeless feeling? I don't want a few pounds to turn into a bunch of pounds. :thumbup:

I am in the beginning of my journey with the band but years of yo-yo dieting help me understand what you are going through. I would think it is time to get in touch with your band doctor or find a new one if you don't have one. I went to a seminar last night to answer questions for the audience and one of the things my surgeon said was she felt bad when a patient feels like they have waited too long and are afraid to come back and see her and they just continue to spiral out of control. Then, by the time she sees them again, they almost have to start over. She said she wished they would just come in and she would be so happy to help them get jump started again. Also, have you considered a therapist for a little while just to help you through this rough spot? I really hope you go back to your doctor and get him/her to help you. Good Luck.

I'm so with you. I was about 15 lbs away from my goal, and had been there for about a year, when I started self medicating with food and alcohol. I have now stopped drinking, am taking anti-depressants, but continue to gain weight. My 149 with 15 to go is now 165. This weight loss is causing me to become even more depressed, besides still working on the reasons I was depressed to begin with. I would suggest if you think you are depressed go to your internist and ask for suggestions.

I, myself, am working on getting my a$$ back on a regular exercise schedule. I think this is key, not only is it good for you physically, but exercise tends to have positive psychological effects. Perhaps this is an option for you as well.

I also think I need to post on here more and look for more support than always trying to do things alone.

Good luck to you and I hope you work thru this tough time :thumbup:

For me, its a bit of a case of not letting myself panic, that I can indeed eat more normally now and not gain. Afterall, I"m a healthy weight and NOT on a diet so why not have a glass of wine?

But on the other hand, I cant break the diet cycle. I cant stop trying to lose weight - just four more kilograms - I'm falling into the same trap that that's what would finally make me happy with my body, as if the last 45 or so dont count.

Its stupid. I dont know the answer, I think the actuall weight is only a part of this disease, and the only part we can fix. If I just ate what I wanted every day and didnt think about losing any more weight, I bet I'd eat a LOT better than I do and not this on a diet Monday morning, off it by Wednesday cycle.

Luckily, I DO exercise regularly, I've gotten to the point where that's just part of my life and not related to what I'm eating or not eating. I love it. And its why I've never regained an ounce.

I was banded on September 19, 2007 and I could have started this thread. I started out at 252, got down to 192 and am now hovering around 205. I cannot let this get out of control. For the past three days, I have been eating a low carb diet - no added sugar and it has really been working well for me. We are doing a biggest loser contest at work so I am curious to see what the scale says on Friday when we weigh. Unfortunately, the truth is it will be a neverending battle. I am just glad the band helped me lose the weight I have lost.

I, too, could have written this post :confused:

I actually just posted a very similar post...

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f255/does-weight-gain-make-your-band-tighter-106228/#post1369941

Ditto I could have wrote this post too, except I'm three years out, and I didn't write this post when I was in the OP's shoes, I just kept spiraling further and further out of control.

OP, you are on the right track. You are noticing things that are getting you side-tracked. That's the first step. I just ignored them. Make small steps to get back to where you were before. Usually it's a matter of this- we stop doing the things that were working. Why do we do this? I have no clue. My guess is, it's a lot of work. Maintenance sucks.

In addition to going back to things that worked, you can also try something different, like a therapist or getting back in touch with your dr. I kind of wish I had called him when I was having problems instead of waiting two years and finding out he had moved to CA and now I can't get my medical records lol