Hi everyone!

I'm in my 6 month insurance waiting period, which will be over on January 24th. I don't have a surgery scheduled yet but I expect it to be in February.

Anyway, I'm trying to give myself every head start I can possibly give myself in order to ensure that I'm successful. I have just over 200 lbs to lose. So...11 days ago, I gave up sugar.

8-)

When I say sugar, I mean candy...cookies...cake....baked crap. Any of my sugary vices that give me a cheap thrill...that's what I mean. I do not mean that I've suddenly become a "sugar nazi" and won't eat a certain healthy food because it's got a little sugar in it.

My mother in law had sent me a ton of butter toffee & petit fours for Christmas and I made myself so sick eating them that I threw my hands in the air and said "That's it...I QUIT!" I took what was left and threw it in the trash. That was 11 days ago.

I'm surprised I've been able to do this during the holidays. I work in an office and people kept leaving me goodies for Christmas and I would pick them right up and walk them over to our community kitchen and leave them for others to eat. I had no major issues with any of this...until 2 days ago.

Mother Nature stopped by and I spent Christmas in the Happy Land of Cramps & Bloating. Ugh. The sugar/crap cravings came on hard. I was in such a horrible mood on Saturday. I know I was a challenge for my husband to be around.

It's made me realize that I'm going to need to be ready with healthy behaviors so that I can replace my naughtiness with something good...so I spent yesterday dusting off my needlework supplies & projects. It's extremely difficult to eat and do needlework...because you have to keep your hands totally clean. I do counted cross stitch mostly...which requires focus & counting...so I plan on using that to steal focus away from my cravings and onto something positive.

I'm also lucky to have a hubby who's completely supportive and understanding. We were watching the food network last night, which was totally fine because it was about BBQ and I don't like BBQ (please don't tell...I can get kicked outta Texas for saying that! LOL). The programming switched to one about cake and I said "Okay, time to watch something else babe..." He immediately changed the channel. :-) Thank God for the hubby being so agreeable.

This has really hit home for me and I am a little afraid of what I'm going to be like after surgery when these moods/cravings hit me. I am really glad I chose to take these steps before surgery...because I think I'll have dealt with the no sugar thing enough by the time I have my surgery, which will make me ready to deal with the restriction phase (armed with my hobbies & new determination to focus).

I've got myself down to 1 diet dr pepper a day as well...so this is the week I wean myself off of it completely.

I definitely see the benefit to grabbing the reigns before surgery in order to multiply the chances of success. I can begin to imagine how much more difficult this would be if I'd waited to tackle this stuff after being banded.

Yikes!

Congrats to you! That is a major accomplishment because it is hard to give up sweets once it becomes one of your favorites! I am slowly cutting back:) I went from 4 tsp of sugar in my coffee to 1. I'm taking baby steps lol! I stopped buying M&M's too:) Congrats to you again!

know that it takes between 6 - 8 weeks for sugar cravings to go away. you can do it!!

I use stevia for a sweetener now in my tea.

great idea to start with the crafts, I scrapbook and it has saved my life!

start walking as much as you can too, it will firm up your body. whatever you lose before the surgery will feel so GOOD.

I too have let go of the sugary crap. I only have it in my coffee creamer which I have only once a day. I, like yourself, am preparing myself for lifestyle changes before my surgery so that will be one less thing to think about after surgery. I've also quite sugary drinks and have decided that the only things I will drink with calories in them are protein shakes, coffee and milk (or milk subs). We'll get there

Good for you. Keep making positive steps towards your life change. I too gave up sweets and soda way before my surgery. i do think it made the transition to the liquid diet and ultimately post surgery much easier for me. I still have the occassional chocolate or cookie now. But I can eat one without eating the whole box. The control is a good feeling.

Keep up the good work. Both of you.

Ive done similar recently, ive had a sugar problem all my life and in the past few months ive had issue with anxiety and depression post cancer. Sugar cravings have been out if control yet eventually i figured all the sugar and caffeine i was consuming may have been contributing to my down mood. So i quit, cold turkey. Five or six times. However, once i started HRT, tge cravings returned to my normal level and i was able to kick it - like uou, just the junk, im not going to refuse to eat fruit because it has sugar. I feel remarkably better- do you notice your mood is more stable and you sleep better?

Thanks everyone! And congrats to all of you who are fighting the demons as well!!

Jachut, I haven't noticed any difference yet...I'm only 11 days into my new no sugar lifestyle...and I take Ambien to sleep since I have rampant insomnia.

I've been reading about a supplement called 5-HTP for people who suffer from migraines, depression, and obesity...all of which I have...and I've been taking that lately. I'm going to wean myself off Ambien before my surgery.

Hopefully the healthier lifestyle I'm moving towards will help correct the insomnia and depression...I believe it will!

(the insomnia is not due to sleep apnea...already been down that road)