Hi! I'm 3 weeks postop and I've been watching what I eat. The hubster has been doing a major food overhaul along with me. We have been not been eating out, eating more Protein, and have cut out most carbs. I've also been watching my calories, using My Fitness Pal, and walking on the treadmill.

The thing is, I have been craving something sweet for 2 or 3 days now. The sugar free pudding cup is just not solving the problem. Tonight I had a 100 calorie pack of blonde brownies and one sheet of cinnamon graham crackers. They were really good and low cal, but I felt kinda guilty about the sugar and the carbs.

I know sometimes we just have to satisfy an itch and then move on. Don't make a habit out of it.

I wanna know, what is your go-to guilt free or mostly guilt free sweet?

Whatever I'm craving. It can be a certain type of cake, cookie, ice cream, or chocolate. I give in to my cravings because if I don't, it will haunt me. I do not overindulge. I will have a taste (small piece) or a couple spoonfuls of ice cream or one maybe two cookies or that piece of chocolate and then that's it.

Have you tried any of the protein bars yet? Someone on here suggested the quest bars to me the other day for protein replacement because I had asked for advice on protein bards. Quest makes a double chocolate chunk and a chocolate brownie (amongst others) but I've tried those and they are really good. When I ate the chocolate ones though, I really felt like I was cheating! They are delicious! And they're good for you.

I think it's great that you and the hubster are doing a major food overhaul. That will be a great benefit to you and your family, but I have to ask...

You're only 3 weeks post-op and allowed to eat anything you want? I'm not a medical professional and not employed by your bariatric surgeon, but at 3 weeks post-op, I wasn't allowed to eat brownies and graham crackers. I was allowed to eat liquid and pureed food. The reason for that is that the post-op period is all about healing and not so much about weight loss. In order to digest stuff like brownies and graham crackers, your stomach has to expand and contract to break the food down enough to pass into your intestines. That movement can disturb the position of your band against your stomach. In fact, one of the most common causes of band slips (which could require more surgery to fix) is failure to follow the post-op diet progression (Clear liquids, full liquids, purees, soft foods, solid foods).

But...if your surgeon's post-op regime allows you to eat anything, so be it. And now I'll go on to answer your question about go-to sweets.

The failure of sugar-free pudding cups to satisfy your sweet tooth doesn't surprise me. I felt the same was as new post-op, mostly because I was accustomed to eating 1/2 gallon of ice cream every night, plus Cookies and donuts and candy whenever I wanted. Most successful WLS patients find that they need to go through an uncomfortable period of weaning off sweets before they can give up that stuff forever. I'm not saying that you can never eat sweets again, but if sweets are your weakness, your ability to limit them may be totally absent, and if you want to lose weight and maintain that weight loss, sweets may be something you need to give up for the foreseeable future. The more you eat sweets, the more your body depends on and craves them.

For a while I played with eating candy like sugar-free Reese's PB cups. I found that it was just as easy to eat a dozen of those as it was to eat a dozen of the regular stuff, so I ended up with a bad case of diarrhea from the sugar substitutes and (guess what?) stalled weight loss. Then I tried Atkins indulgence bars (or whatever they're called), especially one that tasted like a Mounds bar. I would tell myself I'd eat just half...ha! And then I'd have the diarrhea again and tell myself again that I'd never eat that stuff again.

Finally I found some treats that worked. Now, you may be able to eat any amount of this stuff now, but may not be able to eat that much later on when you've had some fills, so I'm afraid you're going to have to exercise some self-restraint. Your band is not ever going to jump out of your throat and fling that naughty food aside. It's not going to ring alarms or flash red warning lights or scream, "Leepers! Cease and desist!"

OK, finally I'll get to the sweet stuff. Thank you for bearing with me this far.

When I'm in the mood for chocolate, I eat 1/2 of a chocolate Protein bar. Be sure to read the nutritional info on the package because a lot of Protein Bars are meant to appeal to body builders who want to gain weight. If there's more than 15 grams of carbs or sugars in a Protein Bar, I give it a pass.

When I'm in the mood for ice cream, I peel a banana, put it in a zip-lock bag, and stick it in the freezer until it's very cold. It might look kind of brown after that, but once I stir a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips into it, it tastes like fabulous. You could even stir it into that blah sugar-free pudding, top it with sugar-free Cool Whip, and have yourself a choco-banana Sunday. Even better, combine 1 tablespoon of Peanut Butter with the banana, and you have a choco-monkey treat.

If you're truly allowed to eat any food now, including solid foods like fruits and veggies, I can give you some more suggestions. Just let me know.

Jean

I'm not normally a sweets person. My problem is overeating. I'm just a little PMS-ish.lol.

As far as preop diet, I had two days of clear liquid, five days of full liquid, and then one week of of puree. I'm now in the soft food part of the postop diet. My surgeon told me this past Thursday that he wanted me to spend the next couple of weeks trying out most foods and seeing how I tolerate them but to stay away from tough, chewy foods and tough meats. I'm just being a compliant bander! Graham crackers, when you chew them thoroughly, become mushy quickly.

The protein bars are a good suggestion. Feels like you're eating a candy bar and you're getting protein too. I will definitely try some.

please check out south beach diet sweet suggestions. one of them is using bakers chocolate. it has 1/2 the sugar as regular chocolate bar. melt it in a microwave, add some chopped walnuts or pecans and than spoon a dollop on a cookie tray. cool and than place in freezer bag. put bag in freezer so it isn't a constant stare at. nibble on one of those for a chocolate treat the trick is to just nibble not gobble. lol. you can make your own custards and puddings using sugar subsitutes. get your thinking cap on. there are many many treats you can make from scratch by subsituting stuff to make them more healthy for you. the idea for Snacks is that you include the calorie count in your count for the day. good luck

You're only 3 weeks post-op and allowed to eat anything you want? I'm not a medical professional and not employed by your bariatric surgeon, but at 3 weeks post-op, I wasn't allowed to eat brownies and graham crackers. I was allowed to eat liquid and pureed food. The reason for that is that the post-op period is all about healing and not so much about weight loss. In order to digest stuff like brownies and graham crackers, your stomach has to expand and contract to break the food down enough to pass into your intestines. That movement can disturb the position of your band against your stomach. In fact, one of the most common causes of band slips (which could require more surgery to fix) is failure to follow the post-op diet progression (clear liquids, full liquids, purees, soft foods, solid foods).

I was banded just a couple of days after the OP and my surgeon actually recommends getting back to solid foods as soon as possible. He had me do 2 days of clear liquids, 2 days of full liquids and then advance as tolerated. He basically just said to advance through the stages trying foods of different consistencies a little at a time to make sure I could tolerate it ok. As long as I could tolerate each consistency, I was allowed to advance to the next until I got to solid foods. He did say to be careful about foods that tend to be really tough and recommended holding off on steak for awhile but said chicken, turkey, fish, tuna, and even ground beef are ok.

I was banded just a couple of days after the OP and my surgeon actually recommends getting back to solid foods as soon as possible. He had me do 2 days of clear liquids, 2 days of full liquids and then advance as tolerated. He basically just said to advance through the stages trying foods of different consistencies a little at a time to make sure I could tolerate it ok. As long as I could tolerate each consistency, I was allowed to advance to the next until I got to solid foods. He did say to be careful about foods that tend to be really tough and recommended holding off on steak for awhile but said chicken, turkey, fish, tuna, and even ground beef are ok.

You're only 3 weeks post-op and allowed to eat anything you want? I'm not a medical professional and not employed by your bariatric surgeon, but at 3 weeks post-op, I wasn't allowed to eat brownies and graham crackers. I was allowed to eat liquid and pureed food. The reason for that is that the post-op period is all about healing and not so much about weight loss. In order to digest stuff like brownies and graham crackers, your stomach has to expand and contract to break the food down enough to pass into your intestines. That movement can disturb the position of your band against your stomach. In fact, one of the most common causes of band slips (which could require more surgery to fix) is failure to follow the post-op diet progression (clear liquids, full liquids, purees, soft foods, solid foods).

I would tend to follow your Dr.'s instructions above all people here telling you what you should and should not do....it can get confusing listening to "Too Many Voices"

My Dr. had me back on regular food 4 weeks after surgery, with no restrictions. But that was MY Dr., no one else's.

Your protocol is identical to what mine was, Leepers. I have protein shakes sometimes that are more like sorbet. Protein drink and frozen peaches in the blender, oh my. I don't do artificial sweeteners but do use Steevia, a plant-based sweetener also marketed by Truvia as well as lots of other brands. I make sure to get 100% Steevia. If I'm using a protein powder to make a smoothie with frozen strawberries or just ice chips and almond extract, I will put in a pack of Steevia and make it quite thick. Artificial sweeteners set some people off by telling the brain food is on the way.

2 weeks post-op, now in phase three. I am allowed one serving of soft fruit per day. When I want something sweet I go to:

1. sugar free suckers

2. Cool whip lite on sugar free pudding or Jello

3. Peanut Butter mixed with chocolate Protein powder

4. sugar free popsicles

5. Healthwise Protein biscotti..I have choc chip, lemon, almond on hand.

Sorry to say this, but I eat whatever the craving calls for...as long as I think I can get it down that day, it's fair game.

THIS early in your journey...you need to stick to popsicles, Jello, pudding, sugar free ice cream (Bluebell No Sugar Added is also fat free, 90 calories, 8g Protein, 0 carbs). You can also add fruit juice to cottage cheese. If you grew up licking the bowl when your mother baked cakes, then try Muscle Milk Cake Batter flavor. Mix it thick, like you would a cake and eat it like that. Trust me...it's like being a kid in mom's kitchen again for a second.

Edited January 8, 201412 yr by PrettyThick1

The Quest bars are my "go to" for sweet cravings. They're high in Protein and Fiber, and do not spike blood sugar. For me, if I have a regular cookie, cake, candy.....any of it, it sets me up for an out of control eating frenzy. Also, being that I have reactive hypoglycemia, it messes badly with my blood sugar in a way where I have to eat a lot just to balance it. Not worth it... The Quest and Atkins bars are fabulous, and eating one doesn't leave me wanting to eat the entire box.

I too turn to Protein bars when I want that feeling of having something sweet and easy. Love the Muscle Milk idea PT I didn't know they came in all those kind of flavors! Good to shake things up once in a while

I think if you get bored of eating the same things all the time that mess you up also. Variety is the spice of life, or so they say!!

I found out most of the time I just want a sample of something sweet. So I will go to the gas station and buy 2 minis Reese cups or butter fingers for 30 cents. I kid you not. If I have to work for it either I cave in a drive to get it or stay at home. If I make it challenging I start having second thoughts. If I am at the store and see something sweet I tell myself if I eat this I will add 10, 20, or 30 mins more to my workout. I wouldn't make one bad food decision ruin my day. I rather have something sweet every now and then. Rather depriving myself.

oh ice cream would be my all time go-to-sweet. Just can't resist the temptation especially if it looks so yummy! Cookies and cream tames me

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Edited February 7, 201412 yr by qianasiewert