Sugar Addiction

[VDB 800]

VSGAnn2014, great list!! Inspirational! Thank you.

[gpmed 623]

Imma say something blunt: If alcoholics can kick alcohol and diabetics can kick sugar, you can kick sugar, too.

I don't know everything you'll need to do, but here are some obvious changes to make:

* Don't buy it.

* Don't let anyone else in your house buy it and bring it home where you could eat it.

* Become more personally accountable and become more accountable to others, e.g., tell those you spend time with that you're not going to eat any more sugar.

* Invite the support of those who love you (see above) and ask them to support your new sugar-free lifestyle.

* If you really think you're an addict (you used that word, I think), then treat it like an addiction and get yourself into an addiction program, either out- or in-residence.

* Stop regarding and using sugar like a treat. If you're an addict, it's dangerous to you. Treat it like poison.

* Figure out what other activities or things you can use as rewards instead of sugar.

* Don't hang out with people who eat a lot of sugar.

* Identify all the hidden sugar in foods you are now eating that you think are sugar-free. I'll guarantee you there are some sugar-laden foods somewhere in your diet right now that you don't know about yet.

* ... and other things.

I know you know this, but the longer you go without eating any sugar, the less you will crave it.

Good luck!

I appreciate that you replied to my post and offered some tips. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but some of what you said reminds me of people who say no one really needs bariatric surgery. We just need to be more personally accountable and diet and exercise. Do you not see bariatric surgery as a tool for dealing with obesity and kicking the things that made people obese in the first place?

Edited July 21, 2015 by letitbeatles9

[HappygoSusan 296]

I'm almost embarrassingly weak to admit I have to not bring sugary items Into the house.

I am not always strong enough to leave it in the store, but I absolutely agree with this statement. Saying no in the store is always easier than resisting something that's calling from the kitchen!

Susan

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I appreciate that you replied to my post and offered some tips. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but some of what you said reminds me of people who say no one really needs bariatric surgery. We just need to be more personally accountable and diet and exercise. Do you not see bariatric surgery as a tool for dealing with obesity and kicking the things that made people obese in the first place?

I have some hard news for you: There is nothing about WLS that will STOP you from overeating, eating to numb emotional discomforts, grazing / nibbling all day, falling prey to environmental cues that lead you to overeat, or that will MAKE you go to work each day, walk or swim for exercise, go to the gym or even make your bed in the morning.

Nothing.

WLS does have many benefits for us who suffer from obesity (it's a complex disease, not a moral challenge). Depending on the procedure you choose, those benefits may differ. Those benefits may also vary from patient to patient in ways that medical fields are still comprehending. But yes, WLS offers the obese and formerly obese (that's pretty much all of us on this forum) many advantages we did not have pre-surgery.

Not everyone who has WLS is successful long-term, by which I mean they either reach their goal or lose a substantial amount of excess weight and maintain their weight losses long-term. Under the most generous definition of long-term success, only 50% of WLS patients lose / maintain a significant amount of excess weight loss.

The things that make the difference between those who are successful and those who are not is a big bucket of new behaviors that lead us to a different lifestyle than we had pre-surgery. Those involve what and how much we choose to eat, when we eat, what we eat first (protein), how long our meals last, moving lots more than we used to move, drinking more Water than we (probably) used to drink, taking vitamins/minersals/appropriate meds daily, etc.

After WLS, it's a lot easier to build those behaviors. For instance, I could barely move when I was at my highest weight. And now that I'm 90+ pounds lighter, I move it, move it, move it. I keep my house cleaner, travel more, walk more, go to the gym more, fidget more. That means that now that I'm in maintenance my body burns more calories (per pound) than it used to require.

Do I think most of us were personally complicit in creating our obesity? Of course, I do. Do I think some of us were dealt some unfortunate cards -- like slightly lower metabolism, medical conditions and diseases that exacerbated our obesity, personal traumas, poor nutritional education, tough life conditions, and worse -- yes. For many of us, we reached a tipping point beyond which it has been extremely difficult (impossible, many say) to get back across that point into the land where healthy people live. WLS is GREAT for helping us to get back across that point.

But on the way there and when we get there we have to change our lifestyles to be successful. WLS helps us get back across that tipping point. But WLS by itself won't fix us. We still have to fix us.

(I think I've been redundant here. Sorry.)

[gpmed 623]

I appreciate that you replied to my post and offered some tips. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but some of what you said reminds me of people who say no one really needs bariatric surgery. We just need to be more personally accountable and diet and exercise. Do you not see bariatric surgery as a tool for dealing with obesity and kicking the things that made people obese in the first place?

I have some hard news for you: There is nothing about WLS that will STOP you from overeating, eating to numb emotional discomforts, grazing / nibbling all day, falling prey to environmental cues that lead you to overeat, or that will MAKE you go to work each day, walk or swim for exercise, go to the gym or even make your bed in the morning.

This isn't particularly newsworthy to me, as I hadn't made those assumptions to begin with. Not sure where that idea came from? I view WLS as a tool that can help one lose weight and tackle some of the unhealthy behaviors that lead to obesity. I posted so I could hear from others who had a sweet tooth and used WLS as a tool and learn how things are going for them post-surgery.

Edited July 21, 2015 by letitbeatles9

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Best wishes to you.

[gpmed 623]

Best wishes to you.

Thank you. And you as well.

[SlimJill 291]

I think we can all agree that WLS makes things easier, but not easy...

Although reading a lot of here saying that you wished you hadn't let sugar back into your life have given me something to seriously think about... I never want to get back to where I was with feeling helpless and the only sure fire way to make that happen is to not allow it back into my diet.

[pink dahlia 2,513]

Don't know if this will help or not, but I found that if I slowly cut back on certain things, it was easier on me. I was never a big soda drinker, but slowly changed from regular Coke to Diet Coke, then spaced them farther and farther in between. Now I cant remember the last time I had soda or juice either. I used to eat carbs , bread, potatoes, Pasta 1-3x a day , now maybe a few bites here and there. I just cut down gradually and found that I dont miss them at all. Try it ! Good luck !

[Veronica Page 488]

I'm an admitting food addict but in that addiction my was the sugar. So I went and still go to therapy. I learned how to cope with it and how to avert my attention to something else when I really want it and to try to understand why I have such a need for it, Its tough and since I have kids in my house and other family members I can't be selfish and say they are not allowed the occasion treat here and there. My addiction to things is not their fault so I locked it up in a pantry and don't have access to it. Its a fight that I hope I can win and while I love my sleeve and I'm so grateful I've done so well with it I have to remind myself that everyday I need to keep working at it and when I feel like I'm about to slip I need to get back to my therapy and figure out why I want to. Good luck to you and your struggle I definitely know what it is like to kick the habit.

[VDB 800]

I support what PinkDahlia said. For me, sudden change, cold turkey does not work well, but planned methodical decrease of a food item worked well. Three years ago after a heart attack, I set about eliminating the "whites"... white sugar, white flour, rice, etc. in favor of good carbs such as whole wheat flour, quinoa, etc. At the end of a year, had them 90% reduced. Now, just don't buy any of the whites and almost never eat anything with that stuff in it. Gradual works for me, cold turkey produces deprivation thinking which leads to cheating. For some, cold turkey is the way to go, though!

[drmeow 323]

@@James Marusek, I am still pre-op but this sounds very much like what my plans are. I have always done much better on a low-carb, no sugar, high fat plan like Atkins or other ketogenic diets. It does seem like most post-bypass patients avoid fat like the plague, and I do think eating plenty of good fat is the key, but was worried that maybe it would not be possible. I'm glad to know that perhaps after some healing time it can probably be done.

[VDB 800]

@@drmeow, my nut recommended several teaspoons of good fat (I use olive) per day, at 3 months post, still using it....

[choosehope 233]

Regarding sugar addiction, I know

there are a ton of good books out there on the topic. But I'd highly recommend Good Junkies by Phil Werdell and the documentary Fed Up. The latter will both enlighten and anger you if you are anything like I.

[swissmiss62 1]

From what I understand people that had the gastric sleeve put in are still able to eat things with sugar but those that have the gastric bypass cannot eat foods That are fatty, greasy or have things with refined sugar such as cakes, Cookies, soda ect. Because it will cause Dumping syndrome