Sweetaholic here

Ok I need tips to avoid those sugary foods especially chocolate.... I mean the cravings I don`t mean put it away etc etc... I mean getting over the fact that I even want it...  I rarely dump... I have a bit which I have gone away from the foods that make me dump but it`s like an addiction I don`t go one day without something sweet and I do have my greek yogurt and berries and my chocolate shakes... but does anyone else have this issue it`s a big one for me....

It is a common experience and the reason many people never reach their goal and ultimately fail their surgery.  The surgery gives you a tool that makes it easier to follow the food plan, but it does not do the work for you.

You are in the honeymoon phase of your surgery.  It will get a lot harder to keep your weight under control.  The habits you develop now will determine how you do long term.

You will never get over wanting the delicious and tempting foods that made you heavy enough to need surgery.  There is no magic button for that.  I love the same things that I did before surgery.  I know that if I indulge in those foods that I will gain my weight back.

Working with a therapist can help you get some help with why you are giving in to the cravings and sabotaging your surgery.  Food addiction is as real as drug or alcohol addiction.  

Ditto for me.  You and Iare bumping into reality - that WLS is just a tool.  If I did not exercise good management - don't keep much of the hi fat, hi carb, food in the house, etc, I would have not be as successful. 

I took a class in Midfull Eating that helped me put food in its proper perspective and retrain me to eating more consciously.  I did it at 3 months and now that I just had my one-yr anniversary, about at my goal weight, I am thinking about taking it again to work on new issues that have cropped up. 

I am hoping that over time, as other behavior changes become more ingrained, that Triple Zero yogurt (or even plain yogurt with a few berrier) will be enough for me.  I do my diet snapple with plain tea to reduce the amount of art sweeteners, but I probably still have too much art sweetener.  Right now, I usually do OK, but I feel I am doing the best I can with my current skills, that's why I'm thinking about taking the Mindful Eating class again.

We have identified issues for us to continue to work on - so further progress will happen as we work on them. May the Force be with us.

Personally I'm one that has to have an 'healthier' option-- total avoidance will typically end with me caving and eating far more than I should. And i agree, I hate the don't keep is around advice...I thin we need to be able to learn to successfully co-exist around things that tempt us. 

As far as chocolate goes for me-- SF chocolate pudding usually satisfies that chocolate craving. Recently someone gave me a dark chocolate which I don't care for. I have a STRONG preference for milk chocolate, but I I tried the dark chocolate anyway. For me its one of those things I don't like enough to gorge on, but it will satisfy a chocolate craving.

I do find that there is less of a siren call from 'goodies' than before WLS.  However, I am not taking any big chances.  There are some goodies in my house from time to time, but not enough to do real damage if I lose perspective.  I still follow the advice: The best way to resist temptation is to avoid it.  Because, if I bring it into the house, for the most part, eventually I will eat it.

No easy fixes for this one!  Craving sweets is a core issue that we have to manage through using a variety of strategies - counseling, avoidance, etc.  

Personally, in weight loss phase I avoided all sweets because they're empty calories. And it's amazing how much easier it was mentally when I took the 'choice' away. In maintenance I do indulge at times if I can fit them in my calorie limit, but it's a slippery slope that requires constant vigilence because it's very easy to over indulge. 

All grest replies thanks everyone I thought I did good today but then that chocolate bar hiding in the cupboard made its way over to me I do need serious help I got over pepsi I can get over this it's so hard to do but I know I can tomorrow is a new day 

For me sugar is like alcohol.  I cannot have just a little.  And since I dump the temptation is definitely easier to avoid.  Maybe I could get by with a little bit but never in my life have I wanted a little of anything. 

I do have treats, they are sugar free and factored into my eating for the day.  But give me real sugar and it's a free for all.  Thankfully I haven't intentionally tested this.  The few times I accidentally ate things with sugar were enough of a wake up call for me.

Recently I was at a diabetic bakery and I decided to try one of their sugar free, gluten free brownies.  I could have cut it in half but if I'm going to eat something I want the whole thing or die trying.

I asked the girl what sweeteners were used but she wasn't certain other than it wasn't sugar.  It was a sugar free bakery for gods sake.

I should have checked more into it but I ate that brownie and before I could finish that last bite I was in the bathroom.  Worse dumping episode ever.  And I was out shopping.  Fortunately for me the dumping only lasts about 30 minutes but those are long minutes when you are hoping for death.

When I got home I checked out the ingredients and sure enough one of the sweeteners was called "Fruit Sweet", made from, as the name implies, fruit.  It also had 10 grams of sugar a serving.  No wonder I was sick.

I thought about informing the owner but the bakery is advertised as a diabetic bakery and maybe diabetics can handle the stuff but I sure couldn't.

Taught me a lesson.  Just because something is called "sugar free" or "no added sugar" doesn't mean it is safe for me to eat.

^^^ Everything she said...times 3!  I have VSG and don't dump but I can't do just a "little bit" of sugar.  I'm a true addict - one little taste will set me off on a bender that can last for days, weeks and months.  I'm just coming off of that right now. And sugar-free tends to get me in trouble every. single. time.  

The good news is this:  the longer you abstain from anything sweet tasting the easier and easier it gets.  After about 5-7 days of super-clean eating the obsessive thoughts of sugar tend to leave me and the cravings are usually gone after 3-4 days.  

The best thing you can do for yourself is to get ALL of the recreational sugar out of your house and to white-knuckle it for the next week.  There's no magic pill here...you either do it or you don't.  If you don't you'll be on the roller-coaster for the rest of your life and it is NOT a fun ride! 

I find that there are 2 schools of thought on this one --- there are the 'moderaters' and the 'abstainers'.

Some people can find a substitute that is healthier, or sugar-reduced/sugar-free --- and eat sweets in smaller quantities, less frequently and do fine.

Some people (I am in this camp) have to abstain from sweets -- I cannot eat sugar-free pie without it giving me permission to eat real pie.  I can't eat 2 Oreo's today if there are 3 in the house --- I have to eat them all --- and I am mentally tortured by the thought of them.

It honestly is easier for me to just say "not my food" --- and leave it all alone, than it is for me to have the voices in my head trying to convince me that I will just have 1, or just have it today and eat it all to get it out of the house, blah, blah, blah.

I gave up sweets about 2 months before my surgery --- no cookies, ice cream, candy, baked goods, etc for 5 years.

Then, I went on vacation and hiked 200km in 10 days ---- we celebrated with Gelato ---- all of a sudden, the sugar monster was un-hinged in me.

I started to have ice cream whenever I was 'on vacation' --- then, it was 'on weekends' ----- then it was not just ice cream, but all kinds of sweets .......... hello, 30 pound weight gain in about a year.

Now, I am back on track -- NOT MY FOOD -- I don't buy it, I don't eat it --- but it is harder -- so much harder to get back into that space where I did not crave it.

I have tried for 57 years to be a 'moderater' -- but have to just 'suck it up, buttercup' and admit that I am an abstainer -- and that food will kill me if I let it.