VSG Maintenance Group
Kick Me Please... :-(
Well, I did what you told me.... it has been four days now. I also read your comment again to see if I've learned or if something has jumped out at me. Let me give you my results of my "choices" first. I ate what I wanted to eat, no tracking. I noticed I liked the texture of yogurt,.. it was like a dessert to me. :) I like the hot chocolate drinks I made with powdered milk, swiss chocolate which was sugar free and the added protein powder. I also added splenda. I did notice the splenda made me crave more. A few hours later, I wanted another hot chocolate drink. I'm thinking the splenda may have something that makes me crave more, not sure. ?? Also, I made the choice of small candy bites, individually wrapped chocolates. Again, I found myself craving more. I am at the point that I know I can't make that decision to have candy and limit myself to just one. One turns into two... two turns into four, etc. I am understanding more of what you are saying. I am NOT on a diet but I am making CHOICES. What kind of choices is up to ME. I noticed when I have the sweets and the extra calories in carbs, I feel so tired afterwards, sluggish and a big blob! In other words, I feel FAT! I am not at the point to where I can make the choice of having candy, since I can't seem to control myself into just having one and leave it alone. Right now, I feel like I need to make the choice of getting the sugar cravings out of my system. I have no energy at this point. I think I was putting so much pressure on myself and coming down on myself for eating the lemon pie, having the extra hot chocolates with lots of splenda which caused me to feel depressed. From what you said, which I agree...... I just need to make my own choices without the "rules" and just track everything I decide to eat. I am still in weight loss mode,,, wanting to lose 10 pounds. BTW, I went back up to 145 from my choices I made. That's ok because I have learned more about foods and the reaction my body takes from making bad choices. Tomorrow is a NEW day for me. I will eat my 3-4 oz of dense protein, my 1/2 cup of veggies and drink my water from a pretty glass! :) Thank you for all support and help here. I really appreciate all your help! Sorry, I write so much. I just get excited someone is willing to help me and I try so hard to explain my battles. This is such an awesome group here! I am learning so much! :)
Great work! First thing that struck me when I finished reading your post is that I wanted to know what food choices you made that worked for you! Please let me know that, too!
You say that you "...can't seem to control myself into just having one and leave it alone." Given everything you cited in your post, I do not believe it is a matter of self control at all. Instead, I think you have a very strong hormonal reaction to sugar dense foods. I do, too. It's great knowledge to have in your back pocket. For me it's no longer a matter of control, but a choice of whether I want to deal the hormonal reaction. Most of the time that answer is NO! So you see, it's not really a matter of "self control" but understanding that there's a hormone change so powerful and sometimes so immediate that you feel as if you are out of control.
There is nothing wrong with writing a lot. It's sometimes what helps me figure things out for myself.
So, if you're going to go back into WL mode and do a sugar detox please promise yourself to NOT track your your calories for two to three days OR if you do, allow yourself several hundred more per day than you normally would, if you find yourself terribly hungry. A great way to detox from the sugar and Splenda habit is to allow yourself to eat as much protein and as many vegetables and as much fat as you need to feel satisfied. This can often be a lot more than you would normally consider weight lose mode calorie level. After two or three days, go back to weight loss mode calorie level.
The food choices I made over the last few days that worked for me was... turkey meatballs and melted cheese sticks over the meatballs with 1/2 cup baby romaine lettuce. Also, ritz crackers and cheese slices but I'm thinking the Ritz crackers needs to stop since I'm in WL mode. I've been having chocolate protein powder (Nectar Syntrax) mixed in with powdered milk and miss swiss sugar free chocolate powder. That is a comforting hot drink for me. And then sometimes I mix miss swiss SF chocolate powder in with my coffee but add splenda to that one. At other times I will make just hot chocolate (2 packages) and add splenda to that. Sometimes for breakfast it is 3-4 turkey sausages .... snack... chocobani greek yogurt.
I got myself today looking at the small chocolate pieces of candy that are individually wrapped. I told myself,,, now, it's a CHOICE. You can have a piece or you can choose not to have one,,, which will it be? I chose NOT to have one because I knew what it would do to me... causing me to want MORE and MORE! What you said about the hormonal reaction to sugar makes TOTAL sense to me! I never thought of it being hormonal instead of self control. That is one hormone I wish the surgeon would of taken out while during my WLS! lol Ok, I will not keep up with the calories and eat nothing but protein, veggies and fat for the next 3 days. I will only eat til satisfied not stuffed. What do you think of Estevia instead of splenda? Or should I drop all artificial sweeteners? After the 3 days, what do you suggest? .... track calories? The hardest part of this will be to stop the splenda but I need to get in WL mode and I'm thinking the splenda has something in it that is causing me to want more of it too. Thank you again! You have been SO helpful!
I think you already know the answer to your question about the artificial sweeteners. To me it seems as if you've become desensitized to sweetness and need a lot to have your sweet needs filled. I would recommend you stop adding the extra splenda to your SF drinks (hot chocolate, for example) because they are already sweetened. Many hard core detox followers do not use any sweeteners of any kind during a detox (from 2 to 4 weeks for most hard core detox programs) as well as not eating any refined carbs (bread, pastas, cereals, etc...). For you, I'd really recommend reducing the Splenda as much as possible. It may be a good idea to NOT drink the hot chocolate for several days until your sweet receptors readjust. Then, when you do make the not chocolate again, do not put in the added sweetener - even if you want it. You need to retrain your receptors. The best way to do that is to abstain from sweet for as long as possible.
Best!
