Question:
Are sugar free cookies, cakes, ice cream..o.k to eat
I do not always crave these "sweet" foods, mostly around my period. Is it o.k. to eat the sugar free "sweets" as opposed to the ones filled with sugar? Or should you just avoid them altogether? — shalandar (posted on May 28, 2004)
May 28, 2004
This could be a can of worms, as everyone's surgeon has their own post-op
diet protocol and everyone thinks that their doctor is right!!! But with
that aside, as much as your surgeon can instruct you on your post-op diet,
the choices come down to you. They make a lot of sugar-free treats now and
I think that they're ok to partake in so long as they're worked into your
diet-you need to make sure you still get all the healthy things in your
body needs and then go for it, IMHO. Personally, I stay away from these
things because I'd rather have the REAL thing far less often than a
replacement a few times a week...meaning that I would rather have a REAL
sugar chocolate chip cookie once a month than a sugar free one every week.
I have plenty of post-op friends that are the opposite and they'll have the
sugar-free, low-carb versions and stay away from the real stuff. It's up to
you and your surgeon, really. One thing I have noticed is that when I do
have anything sweet, it makes me want MORE sweet stuff-that goes for the
fake or real stuff. It's as though my body gets a small taste and then just
craves like crazy...so tough! I've gotten pretty good at this point and
I'll make myself eat all protein the rest of the day that I have my sweet
treat-no veggies, fruit, side dishes, anything. Just meat. Only on that
day, though. Oh, the sacrifices we post-ops make for our beautiful figures,
eh?
— jenn_jenn
May 28, 2004
Depends on your personality type. Can you stop with one? If not, then I'd
say stay away from them. I don't partake of them very often because of the
carb content of most of them. Just don't feel as good when I eat a lot of
carbs and carbs make your hungry.
— Cathy S.
May 28, 2004
I personally wouldn't eat that crap.
— Jim F
May 28, 2004
I haven't tried any of the sugar free stuff except for some sugar free hard
candy. I have to take some pain meds for an injury and that medicine makes
my mouth so dry I can't even talk normally. I keep a bottle of water with
me at all times (even at church) but if I happen to run out of water and
don't have easy access at that time, I suck on the sugar free hard candy.
I got mine at Walmart and it's the cheap "Great Value" brand. I
personally wouldn't trust any type of sweets, whether real or fake. I have
worked too hard and given up too much to risk gaining my weight back. I'm
21 weeks (almost) post op and have lost 76 pounds.
— Katherine F.
May 29, 2004
Sugar-free sweets are still loaded with calories and an enormous amount of
nasty chemicals. Before making your own personal decision, please take a
few minutes and search on the Net for more information on aspartame,
splenda, etc. There are some findings that possibly connecting the
increasing rise of MS to the nerve-damaging effects of aspartame (when
processed by our bodies, it changes to a form of wood alcohol). All very
scary. I researched this area months before my surgery (and I still
couldn't give up my Diet Coke addiction). About one month before my
surgery, I gave up all forms of caffeine (so that I wouldn't have to deal
with the withdrawal while recovering from surgery). Well, that meant no
more Diet Coke - and I elected to stop drinking all forms of soda, per
surgeon's suggestion. Now, over 1 year post-op, I still do not ingest
caffeine and I still don't drink soda. On a few occasions, I have sipped
from my DH's soda (real Coke). Anyway, I digress. Everyone needs to make
this artificial sweetener vs. real sugar decision. My surgeon and dietician
are 100% for sugar-free junk. I refused. Those chemicals make me violently
ill - bad stomach cramps and I am in the bathroom for hours. Anything that
affects me that strongly cannot be good for me. I, too, choose to eat real
sugar when I want. Sometimes I have a sweet treat every day (notice I did
NOT type sweet treatS). I control it very carefully and, if I start feeling
sluggish or just not very well, I cut out the sweet treat for a few days -
it seems to allow my body to get back into balance. Good luck on your
journey. RNY 05-02-03 336/172/??
— Jodie P.
May 29, 2004
I think you should avoid them until you get to goal since they're empty
calories. Then see if you can handle them... they cause cravings for me,
and I end up on a slippery slope right into the real thing.
— mom2jtx3
May 29, 2004
It's all personal, so all I can tell you is about me...
I'm almost 2/3 of the way to my goal, and I do have sugar free yummies once
in awhile. The trick is to keep yourself from doing it all the time. It is
true that it can make you want more. Sometimes it kinda triggers something
in my brain that wants to binge like the old days. Also, keep in mind when
shopping tht sugar free doesn't necessarily mean "good for you."
Lots of sugar free stuff still has tons of fat, carbs and calories. So I
limit my intake to special occasions. Like for my birthday, I made a sugar
free cake, For Christmas, made a couple of sugar free treats so I could
avoid all the other stuff around me. When I go to the movies, I carry some
sugar free candy in my purse because it helps me avoid worse stuff like
popcorn and nachos. That's one of the hardest things for me, being at movie
theaters and carnivals where people are eating and luscious smells are all
around me. SO I guess my SF stuff is kind of a placebo in those situations.
I don't do this a lot, and I do try to avoid aspartame because of recent
research on that, and I try to avoid sugar substitutes with sugar alcohols
like maltitol because they can cause some horrendous gas and diarrhea. That
said, I've still lost 190 pounds in 9 months. It's all a matter of deciding
what's worth it to you and how much you can control yourself. Some people
prefer to go cold turkey until they get to goal just to avoid temptation.
Good luck!
— christied
May 29, 2004
You can eat the but if you eat too many they will give you the craps.
— Rebecca K.
May 30, 2004
These things are sugar free but most still have a lot of calories. You
need to figure in the calories in with your daily intake. Also they do
make you go poo like some others have said.
— Cameron Van Winkle
May 30, 2004
I started with sugar free everything, and have graduated to being hooked on
sugar again. <sigh> :(
— Danmark
Click Here to Return