Sticky Toffee Pudding

I am 3.5 weeks out. I did indulge in a small spoonful of Sticky Toffee Pudding. I did so with full intent (given the cir****tance) and I completely enjoyed.

That said, I thought I was celebrating an event with actual pudding topped with whip cream, not Sticky Toffee Pudding. If I had known, I would have paused. But I didn't. At any rate, I love Sticky Toffee pudding. It's the only sweet I really enjoy. If any of you have not had it I recommend you avoid as it is scathingly delicious.

What I would like to know is if I could have put myself in danger (the white bread will clog your stoma danger) from this even at a spoonful? These are the ingredients and for those of you who are unfamiliar it is a moist, soft spongy cake a lot like tiramisu but made with dates...

Cake: Fresh dates, Sugar, Unbleached Flour, Butter, Eggs, Espresso, Vanilla Extract, Bicarbonate Soda, Baking Powder, Salt.

If you started eating this at 3.5 weeks out, you are in serious, serious trouble. I realize this is likely to really make you mad, but there is no way to sugarcoat this advice. Stop eating crap like this now. Now. 

Bad habits creep back in over time. For every one of us. But if you are doing this now, I can't imagine where you'll be in a year.

Be good to yourself. Stop.

I am 3.5 weeks out. I did indulge in a small spoonful of Sticky Toffee Pudding. I did so with full intent (given the cir****tance) and I completely enjoyed.

That said, I thought I was celebrating an event with actual pudding topped with whip cream, not Sticky Toffee Pudding. If I had known, I would have paused. But I didn't. At any rate, I love Sticky Toffee pudding. It's the only sweet I really enjoy. If any of you have not had it I recommend you avoid as it is scathingly delicious.

What I would like to know is if I could have put myself in danger (the white bread will clog your stoma danger) from this even at a spoonful? These are the ingredients and for those of you who are unfamiliar it is a moist, soft spongy cake a lot like tiramisu but made with dates...

Cake: Fresh dates, Sugar, Unbleached Flour, Butter, Eggs, Espresso, Vanilla Extract, Bicarbonate Soda, Baking Powder, Salt.

You had the Sleeve? Right? If so You don't have a stoma... RNY - we have a stoma at the bottom of our pouch. 

VSG - you should have a fully functioning stomach - small in a very narrow banana like shape. 

But eating food like that - even a bite or 2 - make slow down or completely stop your weight loss.  The sugar and carbs in that affects your hormone levels worse that just the total calories would indicate...

And posting about something like that is like talking about great new alcoholic drink during an AA meeting. 

Just don't. 

Thanks Hala

You don't have a stoma, that's an RNY thing.  You've got a fully operational stomach + pyloric valve.  

A spoonful will not cause you physical damage.  

OK Gwen,

I am not sure how I missed that but I sincerely appreciate your input. I guess I knew the pyloric valve was operational but I had the pieces mixed up. You've  been a great resource.

One thing to keep in mind too is that the sleeve can actually be jammed chock full of quite a lot of slider-y carbs.  Sadly, sticky toffee pudding definitely is a slider.  Processed carbs like baked goods compress a lot when chewed (obviously).  This is one of many reasons why we are protein first, always.  The #1 way to eat around the sleeve, aside from drinking while eating, is to mix processed and compressible carbs/baked goods in with our meals before we have protein.  I assure you that at a year out it is astoundingly easy to do this without realizing it.  As people have mentioned, now is the time for strict habit, so that when you are more comfortable eating you have already reinforced them.  

We also do not have malabsorption like the DS patients (who also have sleeves) do, so we must be way more strict in the long run to maintain and lose.  It is the one downside to the VSG having no malabsorption. In many ways the DS compensates for some behavior much better than the VSG, and even with the powerful DS, they too have to be fastidious about carbs.  The most successful VSG patients who have kept lots of EWL off are very fastidious.

The mental shift is the hardest after surgery.  It's the shift that certain foods are, well, poison.  Literally.  I found myself staring at a whole pie in the grocery store, struggling with buying it.  I had a thought: I wouldn't eat rat poison, so why would I eat dessert?  It was hard to hear and wrap my head around.  It was revolutionary in a way.  Food must become fuel for survival rather than a repository of pleasure.  Sure, we can enjoy it, but there is a fine line there we must be wary of.  If moderation worked, many of us would not have had WLS, probably. :)

Sometimes for us WLS patients, the danger isn't physiological but psychological.  I know many would say, "come on Donna, it's just one bite for chrissakes."  That is a very slippery slope especially lacking malabsorption.  A gastrectomy is easy to repair, comparitively.  Surgery takes an hour.  Habits take years to change.  That's the hidden sneaky damage.

Thanks Donna,

You always have great insight. I appreciate the balance of science and psychology. I was looking for the science of it which you provided. I can assure you, without a doubt that sweets are not my bailiwick. I consumed for a specific reason but it was not desire. I have never liked sweets enough to have more than a bite, and had no problems at Christmas walking by a table of gorgeous delicacies. So I a not concerned about the slippery slope. Now if you provided a table of buttery escargot and a baguette I would would probably be next to you in the store stoned with desire.

So to your point, sweets are not a habit for me. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and have learned a lot.