Question:
How do you cope with food cravings, especially sugar addiction, post operatively.

I have never gone more than 2 weeks without some kind of sugar. Substitutes don't cut it when I am craving. Has anyone elso experienced this? What do you do post op?    — Carol A. (posted on November 17, 2002)


November 17, 2002
If I gave into sugar, I'd be back at my start wt in no time. Sigh. It only takes a little slip and here come those lbs chasing me down. FORTUNATELY, my doc instills a terror of sugar, even hidden sugars, so I purged them enough to have NO interest until about 20 months. THAT was a big surprise. Fast forward to now, 8 yrs, and the sugar cravings can be much stronger now than they EVER were pre-op. But I use protein supplement to ward off food & sugar cravings. When the cumulative protein isn't cutting it, I make deals with myself. I can have the _______, but FIRST I have to finish this protein drink. Usually that will get past that 3 minute craving fine. Every now & then, I have to pull out the Big Guns. Putting on jeans that look great. So I want to forfeit them? In any case, I will use whatever tool I can to fight this. It isn't gonna be willpower alone. I could do that for several years, but not for life. Also, hint: the more sugar you get, the more you want. So, to take just ONE cookie can potentially fan a flame that you coulda snuffed out with a glass of protein supp. (made with no form of suagr, BTW, no milk, no juice)
   — vitalady

November 17, 2002
hi there :) im about 9 months out now and have been missing the sugars. i still stay away from them becuase if i find out they dont make me dump, ill return to eating them again. i every now and then will eat sf russel stovers pecan clusters or their truffles which honestly i cannot tell the difference. they taste real to me so that curbs the cravings for me. ive heard that if your craving the sugars real bad to eat something high in protein and that will help take the edge off. best of luck to you, me and everybody! :)
   — carrie M.

November 17, 2002
I never "ate" my sugar preop- I was a major mountain dew junkie for my sugar. Right now when I want something sweet I eat some really cold canned pineapple/ mandarin orange. It really does it for me, but it may be because of the whole citrus thing too. I have tried sugar free candy and like the clusters, peanut butter and carmels. But honestly the fruits are "sweeter" now.
   — Carrie R.

November 17, 2002
i have the same problem..i use splenda when at all possible and i drink sugar free drinks and lots of water..then i do eat the sweet and get it out of my way and off my mind..i buy small suckers for the sugar and i eat lots and lots of gum!! my jaws are sore!! if u find a way to avoid sugar let me know i need an answer too!!
   — denise S.

November 17, 2002
I have tried both SF Nesquik and SF Jello Puddings. I find both of them very satisfying and they don't seem to trigger further sugar cravings in me.......I don't know if they're technically "allowed" (though my nutritionist is the one that suggested the SF Jello puddings (banana cream and pistachio are my favorites!) by other doctors........ just my two centavos.....
   — Karen K.

November 17, 2002
you may not believe this, but I just don't crave sugar anymore. Ever! I did. Badly and I bought some sugar-free chocolates (I still have 75% of a box of sugar-free turtles and half a box of sugar-free whitman chocolates in the fridge) and frankly they were TOO sweet. I eat them now more to get me umm going lol. They are awesome laxatives and one or two pieces do it for me without giving me the runs. Ok 'nough of that. I had a snickers "fun-sized" bar at Halloween - snitched from my kids' trick-or-treat bag and ate half of it. Tossed the rest. It was too sweet too and made me a bit icky in the gut. I think about donuts and cake sometimes, but at birthday parties I find one or two bites of cake cures that thought for a month or two. I just don't crave it. And I was a major sugaraholic pre-op, always had chocolate in the house and ate donuts for breakfast every weekend "as a treat". I know how I am is not the same for everyone and many still crave sugar. It's just going to depend on you. BUT I promise that if you do crave it, and you do give into it, you won't eat nearly the volume of it you can now! I get so scared of not getting in enough protein, I find I push away a lot of my fav foods for meat, eggs, cheese, etc. I went through too much to not stay alive for lack of protein :>)
   — [Deactivated Member]

November 17, 2002
A lot of the time sugar or carb cravings can be eliminated with protein. As long as I keep my protein up to where my surgeon recommends, I don't have sugar or carb cravings. But you still will have to learn the difference between "head hunger" and actual hunger post-op. As long as I listen to my body and no my head, I do pretty well.
   — Cathy S.

November 17, 2002
Hi Carol Ann, I am assuming that you are still pre-op. I know the thought of "NO SUGAR" seems absolutely impossible now. I honestly felt the same way. I was just like you and I honestly would almost gag when it came to anything artificially sweetened. I don't know what it is but now I can't tell the difference. I thought it was because I have been without sugar for a while now and my body just doesn't remember. But looking back, even my sugarfree jello 2 days post-op tasted wonderful. I think your tastes change after surgery. I think you will be suprised at how different everything tastes. I loved my sugar and I was a total Dr. Pepper fiend. I am almost 4 months postop now and have not had anything with sugar added. If I get a sweets craving I can satisfy it with a piece of hard SF candy, or perhaps a SF fudgesicle. There are so many products now that are SF and taste really good. Good luck!
   — Laurel C.

November 18, 2002
Early on post-op, sugary things were too sweet, and things like fruit satisfied any sugar craving. I also discovered SF chocolate and some of them are not bad. However, I have let regular sugar back into my life, in the form of protein bars, mini bite size cookies, fun size candy, and the occasional few bites of birthday cake. If I keep the sugar grams low, I find that I don't crave sugar, but if I slip and have too much, then I find that I do end up craving sugar again. Michelle is right, the more you have, the more you want. If you can stay away from sugar, your better off, if not, then try to just keep the grams low.
   — Cindy R.




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