Sorry......Honey.

[Crosby 303]

I am working on wrapping my mind on this no sugar thing. Intellectually I get it and can cite all the reasons to " just do it". But emotionally...pow! Hits me like a bag of quarter rolls. I gave up refined sugar and processed foods for 4 years ..but there was raw honey. Bees were my friends. And the option was still there. I guess it still will be but I don't wanna get dumped!

No doubt I am a sugar addict. I can eat Healthy meals very easily but then binge on 6 donuts. I know me well enough that I know will get this but for today...it is making me dizzy.

But hey I quit smoking after 21 years and haven't looked back so anything is possibly.

[revision in TX 38]

Hey Crosby...believe me, I am right there with you on sugar!!! I had my revision 18 months ago; I've only lost 76 pounds, but I'm sure a LOT of it has to do with me still eating "sugar", of sorts. I just am not willing to go 100% sugar-free...the idea of living my life without any sugar is just too overwhelming and unpleasant psychologically.

Many (if not most) of the bypass folks I know eat WAY more sugar than I do...they CONSTANTLY sip soda (carbonation...bad too!) and/or "graze" on sugary foods all day long. I guess I am sorta guilty of the latter, because I fix myself a (Starbucks-like) White chocolate Mocha and drink through the day!!!

1. DO NOT eat m sugar IMMEDIATELY after surgery...more than likely, it will make you feel very sick (and, remember, with bypass you can rarely throw up, so you just have to be in misery until it passes)

2. Once you are healed/accustomed to what YOUR body can tolerate...eat only VERY SMALL portions when you just MUST have sweets. For example...I used to EASILY eat a 6-pak of "doughnettes" all at once. Now, if I am just CRAVING for that time of thing...I can eat ONE little do-nette and be okay. However, for me, it is best to eat it with very little "other" food in my stomach and DEFINITELY not with any other sweet (like a drink or whatever) I also try to drink some Water with it, so sorta "dilute" the sugar!

3. For me, I can eat "most" things that are 15g CARB/<=9 sugar carbs and do okay. Above that, I have to really choose my environment (at home vs. out in public) as to whether the "risk" is worth it.

4. I use a substance called Whey-Low (www.wheylow.com, I think)...it is a sugar that is of a higher glcemic index (originally designed for diabetics) and it seems to be more tolerable than table sugar. (PS-I cannot use ANY artificial sweeteners; they make me turn red and swell up!)

5. I think, for the most part, AFTER you completely heal from surgery...you may be able to tolerate honey on a VERY SMALL scale. I am fortunate...I rarely have any dumping...could just be my "lucky" metabolism...but I still misjudge sometimes and get the "bellyache so bad I wish I could throw up" and I just have to sit back and wait for it to pass. It's actually a good behavior modification thing, because it put that mental image in me of what I will feel like if I overdo it.

That has been my experience; I am STILL a sugar addict...but, I have still been pretty successful in losing weight and keeping it off long-term. I know I COULD do even better, but I haven't reached that "a-ha" moment where I can embrace living totally sugar-free....I'm still weak to my addiction.

Sorry to ramble, but I remember pre-surgery thinking like you...how will "life go on" with any pleasure if I have to give up all sugar/sweets????!!!!! For me, it has been great because I can enjoy my sugary things from time to time, but only 2-3 bites satisfies me and fills me up...and I still think 2 bites of a tiny doughnette is MUCH improved over a 6-pack (or two) a couple times a day!!!

(BTW...I can now keep a small bag of M&M's in my fridge...eat 1-2 here and there....and that will stay in my fridge for a month!!! I used to eat several of those in one sitting!!!!!

Best Wishes on your journey...maybe you will be better on conquering your addiction than I have been!! Either way, I believe you will still be successful with surgery and weight loss.

Keep us posted, okay?

[Crosby 303]

Thanks Revision ( is that a family name? ). What you describe is how I ate when I lost 135 pounds. I probably went 6 months without any sweets. I then found it easy to just have a bite or two and was very discriminate about what I chose.

And I will keep you posted. I need this forum!

[terry1118 1,274]

I was a sugar and carb addict for thirty years. My surgery has freed me from that addiction. The dumping threat has kept me from easing back into it. Sugar and simple carbs have very little nutritional value and so are not nutritionally necessary. They are my trigger food so I choose to never eat them again. I know this to be my weakness and have made this my permanent lifestyle change. Complex carbs are good for you and recommended. After surgery you can't eat as much so we eat Protein first, then veggies, then if you can you eat a little complex carb. Most times I can barely get to the vegetables and never to the carbs. I'll occasionally make a meal or snack out of brown rice and quinoa salad, six bean salad, or hummus mixed w/tuna. I mix brown rice or refried Beans into my turkey chili. I use hummus chips or lentil chips for an occasional crunchy snack. I don't have cravings for sugar and simple carbs any more and it's very liberating. food does not control my actions or thoughts any more. I don't plan my life around my next binge. I'm indifferent when other people eat those things in front of me.

I did dump for the very first time a week ago (my surgery was 5/30/13). I had eaten some B&M baked Beans w/o checking the sugar content (I assumed they were lower sugar like another brand I sometimes eat). It was a painful, miserable experience that kept me in the bathroom at work for an hour and left me weak and shaking for even longer. I checked the can afterwards and sure enough it had 13gr of sugar - much higher than I'm used to. I won't be getting lazy on my label reading again...

Some people have found a way to incorporate a little sweet into their diets and make it work for them. Perhaps you will be able to also. Just be careful if you do. Don't let it open the floodgates to the eating habits that made you overweight to begin with. Best of luck to you! :-)

Edited June 14, 2014 by terry1118

[Crosby 303]

Thanks Terry..much appreciated! I believe knowing I need the Protein number one will be a big big help. My regular meals have been quite healthy for sometime although Portion Control is an issue of course. It's the carb/ sugar ( grazing us an understatement) that does me in.

[terry1118 1,274]

Thanks Terry..much appreciated! I believe knowing I need the Protein number one will be a big big help. My regular meals have been quite healthy for sometime although Portion Control is an issue of course. It's the carb/ sugar ( grazing us an understatement) that does me in.

Have you had surgery yet?

[Crosby 303]

Have you had surgery yet?

Oh heck no...I just had my first appt. this week. I am probably looking at December.

[Sparklingbeauty53 202]

Are you ready for this journey? How bad do you want it? Sugar is not your best friend. It is more like your enemy. You gave up cigarettes which is phenomenal but the sugar will have to go too. You don't want to risk it after surgery. Sugar and carbs have you at the place you are at now. You have to let it go and find the inner you that can do it. As a diabetic sugar is sugar is sugar rather it is honey or not. Your body uses it all the same. Perhaps posting like you did is your way of saying you are getting ready to let this go...how cool for you!

[terry1118 1,274]

Oh heck no...I just had my first appt. this week. I am probably looking at December.

It's hard to imagine not being hungry and food tasting differently after surgery but you will experience it. It's a very helpful thing - kind of like aversion therapy. I can remember thinking I wanted a certain food, it sounded delicious and appealing, I'd make it, I'd take a bite, and BLAH - it wouldn't taste how I imagined it would. I'd force a little down and throw the rest out. You'll see...

[Crosby 303]

It's hard to imagine not being hungry and food tasting differently after surgery but you will experience it. It's a very helpful thing - kind of like aversion therapy. I can remember thinking I wanted a certain food, it sounded delicious and appealing, I'd make it, I'd take a bite, and BLAH - it wouldn't taste how I imagined it would. I'd force a little down and throw the rest out. You'll see...

That is really comforting to know. That's how soda worked for me. After drinking none for over a year I got an urge for one when my son had one. One taste and it tasted really salty to me. It made it easy not to drink.