Help!

Okay, I need a little tough love here. I'm getting back into SUGAR! I have been able to handle a cookie now and then. But my sugar-addiction kicked back into major gear this week when we had some fudge icing in the fridge. I began taking fingerfuls. Lots of 'em. Today I bought a bag of peanut M&M's. The sugar is calling to me like it hasn't since before surgery! I need everyone to tell me, in blunt terms, how stupid I'm being and how I can get back to what I need to be doing. I am terribly frightened of this development!!!

Okay Tom, here goes: You have worked so hard and been so successful so far -- YOU DO NOT WANT TO RUIN ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK AND TREMENDOUS SUCCESS by letting sugar call to you! It isn't worth it! Remember how good it felt to ride the roller coaster with your son? That's the kind of pleasure we now get to enjoy -- that's worth a lot more than the taste of sugar! Gosh I know it's hard after years and years of the addiction that I've had, but WLS has made it possible for all of us to get a new start! Don't blow it! I will keep you in my prayers and post here anytime you need a kick in the butt or some encouragement. I always smile when I see your posts knowing how successful you've been. You need to have that same sense of accomplishment every time you look in the mirror! Hang in there!!! Hugs, Wanda

PUT THE CHOCOLATE DOWN AND NOBODY GETS HURT! But most of all, put the chocolate down and the cravings will diminsh. Tom, eating sugar keeps that craving alive. Sugar is addictive, plain and simple. If you can turn your back on it for a few days...things will be better. It is a bad time of year. I don't know about your office but I guarantee on Monday there will be a TON of leftover halloween candy on the table just outside my office door. It isn't easy having it there but in the past... if I didn't eat any (when I was low carbing) - I didn't have the taste for it...no craving it and I was able to walk past it without the blink of an eye. You've come too far Tom to slip back into old bad habits. I know this is a hard battle. I've been dealing with some depression-induced "I wanna eat something" feelings lately. It has been hard to step away. But I've got my routine...my schedule of my "feedings" if you will and I just gotta stick to them. Three shakes, three meals and if I'm late on a meal and gotta have something to tide me over 1 oz of nuts (premeasured bags from Costco). Go back to the basics that got you this far. Protein first. Then non-starchy vegies. Only then some fruit (stick with low sugar, high fiber ones) and eat them with protein. Stick with whole grains if you eat grains at all. Regroup. Step back and take a good deep long breath. YOU CAN DO THIS! Kathy

Kathy- Awesome advice from beginning to end. No wonder you have done so well. Thanks for reminding us of the basics- you can all use that from time to time... Diane

Drop that sugar NOW!!!!! I too have slipped into the sugar thing. Mine is Dots... The good thing is Oscar the grouch won't let me eat more than 2. 2 is 2 more than I should eat. STOP NOW before it gets to the point of no return. You have done so well don't ruin it. Kat

Hi Tom, Just a little tip from me- it is not too late to stop until AFTER you swallow. If you pop something in your mouth and then think "why am I eating this, I know better"... SPIT IT OUT!! Just politely and discreetly use your napkin. Many a pound has been gained because of the "I shouldn't be eating this- oh well, it's already in my mouth..." approach. Look how well you have done so far. YOU KNOW BETTER! Now cut it out ;)

Lord knows I've been tempted - but not by sugar, it makes me too sick. But snack foods... ughhh... My DH bought a bag of Gardettos big enough to feed a small army at Sam's the other day and I've caught myself dipping into it. This is a big for me, as I've been known to sit down and eat a whole bag (the army-sized kind) in a single afternoon, pre-WLS. I finally had to tell him this will be the last bag in the house for a while, unless he stashes it some place I can't find it. I went back to sf popsicles - and lots of them. I ate a ton early out, 4-6 a day. There's a really good sf fudgescicle that's only about 20 calories each. Try that. DO NOT LET THIS TAKE CONTROL OF YOU TOM!!!! You're way too strong for that. Get rid of the frosting, get a picture of your son, - you know, the cute little guy you rode the rollercoaster with? - and put it on the fridge where you see it everytime you go to the door. Not gonna tell you how stupid you are, cuz I don't think you are, but I AM gonna tell you that you know better. I say this with love: "Put an end to it now!"

I had an idea of what you guys were gonna say, but you've gone some directions here I didn't expect (in a good way), and that's exactly why I love coming here. Going back to my memory about the roller coaster...that was a blow I wasn't expecting from you guys (again, in a good way). And yet as I sit here, if you offered me a choice of sugar right now or that memory, it would be NO contest...I want that memory!!! Sitting here tonight at 10:30, now about 5 hours removed since my last eating of sugar, I'm recommitting. I will come back here every day for the next 7 days and describe my situation with the sugar. I need the accountability. (Not that I won't come back after that, but I don't always get here every single day. The next 7 I will!) Thank you folks. I knew I could count on you.

I think all has been said Tom! But....Just remember how attractive women are finding you these days!!!!!