HELP!!!

Please help!  I am really needing a support group in OKC.  I had lapband surgery on August 1, 2008 and have lost 40 pounds since then, but have recently gained back 10 (I had lost 50 before this gain).  I feel like I am continuing to sabotage my weight loss because I get food stuck pretty badly and have to go back to the doctor to have an unfill.  I am getting very discouraged and feel like maybe I need a support group to help me.  None of my friends or family have a clue how I feel or what I am dealing with.  The recent 10 pound gain has really taken a toll on my self-esteem.  If anyone has any answers, please respond.  I go in for a fill the first week of August, but I have to really take it slow and re-evaluate my eating because I do not want to go backwards anymore.  I would like to lose from here on out.  I realize there may be set-backs, but I feel my set-backs have been going on all summer long and I am ready for them to stop.  Thank yoou for any feedback you may have.

Cheri

Hi, Cheri.
I know there are support groups in your area, so I'm sure someone more "in the know" will respond. I just wanted to say that I'm sure you'll get a handle on this. As you know, weight-loss surgery is merely a tool. There are many issues to face, with how one looks at, uses, and deals with food. I would encourage you to seek out a counselor or therapist, as well as a support group, to help you see why you are struggling. It's not easy, I know, but it will help you so much.
There are 3 great books on emotional eating, that you may want to check out: The Beck Diet Solution (especially the workbook), Life Is Hard, Food Is Easy, and a new book which I'm currently reading Press PAUSE Before You Eat. You can find these books at great new/used prices at www.half.com. Hope this helps.
There is a lap band forum here on OH.com, too, and you may be encouraged by reading posts there, as well as here. Good luck, hon.
Blessings,
Mary

P.S. Check out Luanne's INTEGRIS Support Group post. :)

2nd P.S. :)  One of my favorite OH gals (who has a band) is Angel. She posts really helpful OH posts on her blog (most from lap banders, but not always). Here's an example, and if you click on the link in her blog post, you can read the original post.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/angelarias/blog/2009/07/27 /bandsters-in-denial/
This is Angel's most recent post. I just looked at the topic and didn't want you to think I think you're in denial. :)

Thank you so much for the help.  I will look into reading the suggested books and sights you have posted.  Thanks again!

I think a support group is an excellent idea-because unless you are or have been morbidly obese, and unless you have had WLS, there is no real way to know what it's like.  The surgery (at least in my case) forced me to confront some things about myself that I had avoided knowing all these years.....so I have to believe that maybe people who haven't had surgery yet aren't ready to know those things and can't quite understand them yet.

You gained weight because you are human, and "fell off the wagon"....surgery didn't and won't ever fix that part of it.

Soft food syndrome (it's what the bandsters call it) will guarantee you a weight gain-the band cannot work without solid food-liquids and mushies go right through it and you are as hungry as ever....and any bandster who hasn't fallen in that trap is not being honest or hasn't been banded for long.

Feel free to PM me if you like-we can meet a Starbucks and chat! 

 

The Integris support group meets the  first Saturday of each month , 10 - 11:30 am and the third Tuesday of each month from 6:30 - 8 :00 pm.  We would love to have you !! If you need more info just email me here , I  would be happy to meet you there and introduce you around , we have a really great group