post lap band weight gain

I am having a LOT of trouble eating healthy foods but have no problem consuming large amounts of sweets, cookies, chips etc.  My surgery was Nov. 2009, had lost 97#, had 20# left to lose. I have regained over 35# and am panicking that I may re-gain all the weight.  I felt so great losing but turn to candy and junk food to deal w/stress....same old story.  Very disappointed that I can consume thousands of calories!  Looked into it and plan to attend, my hospital only offers one support group per month. Anyone else struggling?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
THANK YOU,
louie8

BTDT but you know what? It's not accurate that you can't get any good food down. If you can get chips and sweets down you can get dried veggies down. If you can eat ice cream you can drink a protein shake. There are alternatives.

Thank you so much for replying. I apologize, I was not clear. I struggle w/sugar addiction and emotional eating.  Consuming healthy food is definitely do-able but certain foods are difficult and quantities are restricted. What I meant to convey is I wish I had that restriction with junk food as well.  Obviously I have no self-control or willpower or I wouldn't have had the band in the first place.  There are many times I regret having it as I did not overeat at meals.... my weakness is sugar and junk. Before surgery it was nothing for me to consume 5000 to 7000cal/day and I feel myself slipping that way again.  Thank you again for your suggestions.

Also BTDT. You need to deal with the sweet addiction & using food for comfort. Until you do, you will keep using food as your drug of choice. The band will not stop the chips, chocolate & ice cream. Trust me. I re-gained the majority of my weight due to binging on ice cream.

I have been seeing a therapist and have FINALLY kicked the ice cream to the curb. It isn't easy. It is DAMN hard. You CAN do it. don't give up. Don't look at what you have re-gained, just keep looking forward at what you want to accomplish.

Support groups, therapy, overeaters anonymous... find some way to work with the food issues so you can be 100% on board with working your band. ((hugs))

I have to ask, what is BTDT?  Thank you for seeing what I was trying to say. I will definitely look into overeaters annonymous and some support options.  This, I believe, is my only hope. 
I appreciate your kindness.  Good luck to you as well!!

I am not going to lie... the emotional eating is going to be the hardest thing to kick. In the beginning when I was gung ho I dropped the weight pretty easily. Once I started having leak issues with my band my bubble deflated and I got depressed and ate crap. I was in denial for a long long time.

I still am weak on the volume eating right now since I am waiting to get back up to restriction... but I am comforted in knowing that my band can at least help me with that. So I concentrate most of my energy right now on resisting the sweets.

One thing that has worked for me is to recognize WHEN I was eating the sweets etc. Once I examined my pattern (coming home from work, watching TV, and mindlessly munching/mowing down ice cream)... I worked with a plan to change the "routine".

I don't ALLOW myself to come home and plop in front of the TV right away. Instead I pick up my Nook (e-reader) and read.

It serves two purposes. It literally takes my mind OFF eating... AND it occupies my hands (holding the Nook). I don't want to be eating greasy chips, or trying to balance an ice cream bowl in my lap while holding the Nook.

That was MY solution. Maybe yours will be as simple as counting to 5 when you have the urge. And after your 5 second count say something positive about yourself... or remind yourself of one of your goals.

1...2...3...4...5... I want to be healthy enough to (fill in the blank)...

And the best thing you can ever do for yourself is NEVER LOOK BACK. The what ifs will drag you back down every time!! Don't let the what-if monster take you down. Kick him in the face.

I am looking forward to finally being able to get the band and have insurance pay for it. I had paid for the surgery a couple of years ago, was having the preop stuff being done, then had to have some emergency repairs done to the house. And, since I was a self-pay, I was able to get my money back and had to repair the house (thousands of dollars). Now  I have insurance, but have had to go through hoops to get here and hopefully will get to have the surgery over the spring break. One of my requirements of my insurance is to go through a 6-month doctor supervised diet. I went through that with one doctor, but because he was out of town a whole month, my insurance didn't accept the time I went through and I had to start over.  I did start over with a new doctor. This one asked me something, no one has ever asked me in 25 years, but has had a freeing affect on me.  He asked me (after 5 months dieting with his guidance), "How do you see yourself?"  No one has ever asked me and I had never thought about it.  Because, while I know I'm double the size I was in high school, I still saw myself as that healthy athletic body when I look in the mirror, though I know I'm not. When I see pictures of myself I can't phathom who that person is, but I know its me. The freeing thing was being able to ask myself, "How DO I see myself?" Since he asked me that last week, I've been able to drop 6 pounds without a lot of effort. It's like an alcoholic having to recognize he is an alcoholic before he can help himself.

Been There Done That. ;o)

Can I suggest trying 10,000 IUs of Vit D for a month and see if it helps with the sweets craving? Does the trick for me. Most of the US population is low in Vit D, probably 100% of the obese population is low in Vit D. One glaring symptom of low D is sugar cravings.

I test my own Vit D at home with a kit and I can tell just by my candy cravings if my D is low.

I order my kits here:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

I think I will try the vit d. Do you take a pill or liquid? Thanks for the idea. I will try anything once.

 
Tablets.  You can usually get 1000 or 2000 IUs at Walgreens type places but you have to take between 5-10 a day!  So I cheat, I order mine from VitaLady.  She sells the 50,000 IU strength and I take one every 5-7 days.  Well... when I remember.  I am soooo bad about vitamins.

BA sells the 5,000 IU strength.

I get this, it's a 1.5 - 2.0 year supply, just one bottle:

www.vitalady.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi