Hate sugar free stuff. What do I do?

[LisaMergs 2,854]

@@Hammer_Down

Each bariatric patient, WLS patient, comes to this point-surgery- in a different ship.

I applaud your dedication to your new life style, and agree that people much older than us are not going to recognize many of the Frankenfoods out there.

That said, enjoying something sweet or not 100% "whole food" is perfectly fine, if- IF- it doesn't act as a gateway. Let us not forget that the cocaine from cocoa plants provided us with the ability to anesthetize people prior to surgical and dental procedures, and has since morphed into lidocaine, marcaine, prilocaine...

And I KNOW there are few people who would have lacerations repaired or a tooth worked on without the benefits of those injections,lol!!!

Stevia- I grow it along with the rest of my herbs. Do i LOVE it? Not really. Actually, I'm fine with aspartame or sucralose. Not a fan of Monk Fruit.

Point is- we need to find what works for us as individuals and proceed accordingly to achieve our ultimate goals.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[Butterflywarrior 241]

@@Hammer_DownEach bariatric patient, WLS patient, comes to this point-surgery- in a different ship. I applaud your dedication to your new life style, and agree that people much older than us are not going to recognize many of the Frankenfoods out there. That said, enjoying something sweet or not 100% "whole food" is perfectly fine, if- IF- it doesn't act as a gateway. Let us not forget that the cocaine from cocoa plants provided us with the ability to anesthetize people prior to surgical and dental procedures, and has since morphed into lidocaine, marcaine, prilocaine...And I KNOW there are few people who would have lacerations repaired or a tooth worked on without the benefits of those injections,lol!!!Stevia- I grow it along with the rest of my herbs. Do i LOVE it? Not really. Actually, I'm fine with aspartame or sucralose. Not a fan of Monk Fruit. Point is- we need to find what works for us as individuals and proceed accordingly to achieve our ultimate goals. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

that's so cool you grow it! I've been thinking about buying a plant but was wondering how to use it in food, just throw it in the good processor and sprinkle? Lolol when I tried the leaf, I was surprised that I could still tge bitterness! That's my angst with stevia. But my g6 sport vanilla powder us made with it and it's yummy with no bitterness yay!

I'm a whole foods believer too but obviously in fat and I mostly ate whole foods before so anything good can be bad as you said..a gateway! I like that.

[Hammer_Down 631]

@@Hammer_Down I agree to a degree...the sweet thing you eat has to cause some sort of a glycemic response to trigger further cravings. I can eat 'sweet' foods that aren't full of carbs and have no glycemic response thus no accompanying desire for more carbs.

I'm less concerned with whether or not something is 'sweet' and more concerned with the carb load. Rice will send me into a bad loop a lot faster than a cup of coffee with a little stevia or Monkfruit in it.

I am concerned with both starches, whole grains as well as sweets, regardless of their caloric value or carb count.

I haven't been able to enjoy breads and pastas since I was a teenager anyway, since I quickly put together that they made me gain weight. And yes, all the breads and pastas we had were whole grain, fibrous, supposedly "healthy" grains. MY mother baked a lot of her own bread and made her own Pasta.

I was surprised to learn that artificial sweeteners create an insulinemic response similar to table sugar. That was when I gave up Diet Coke once and for all, after many years of being addicted to and thinking I was sparing myself the worst by indulging in a carb free, calorie free drink.

[Hammer_Down 631]

@@Hammer_DownEach bariatric patient, WLS patient, comes to this point-surgery- in a different ship. I applaud your dedication to your new life style, and agree that people much older than us are not going to recognize many of the Frankenfoods out there. That said, enjoying something sweet or not 100% "whole food" is perfectly fine, if- IF- it doesn't act as a gateway. Let us not forget that the cocaine from cocoa plants provided us with the ability to anesthetize people prior to surgical and dental procedures, and has since morphed into lidocaine, marcaine, prilocaine...And I KNOW there are few people who would have lacerations repaired or a tooth worked on without the benefits of those injections,lol!!!Stevia- I grow it along with the rest of my herbs. Do i LOVE it? Not really. Actually, I'm fine with aspartame or sucralose. Not a fan of Monk Fruit. Point is- we need to find what works for us as individuals and proceed accordingly to achieve our ultimate goals. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I totally 100% agree with you about the gateway principles. I was given morphine and fentanyl during my surgery, and while I felt euphoric at the time, I don't plan to pursue a career as an opiate addict, either.

The problem for me, is that I am already a food addict. I am in food rehab now, and no one would suggest to a alcoholic that having a glass of wine for a special occasion is ok, or to an opiate addict that just a little shot is fine on your birthday, but don't let it get out of hand. For reformed smokers to go ahead and have a smoke at the game, just don't buy anymore on your way home.

We all got to be overweight because of or disordered eating and food addictions. Eventually, the restriction in a sleeve will only do so much and people can, and often do, eat around their sleeve and regain weight.

The first few years post op is your time to straighten up, and prepare for the rest of your life without the food that made you fat and sick to begin with, or face being one of statistics whose diabetes returns, weight returns, heart disease return surgery and is facing being "resleeved" or worse.

Inability to acknowledge or recognize addiction IS the face of addiction.

[KristenLe 5,979]

Well, there's always another option: eat real foods.

I am post op on full liquids, and avoiding food with little or no nutritional value to prepare myself for the rest of my life. puddings, popsicles, cereals, Gatorade etc are all things that people 75 years ago would not even recognize. Most of the grocery store aisles are full of crap that humans never ate until recently, when people started getting fat and sick.

Why not stick to real food? If it has no nutrients, has to be fortified just to give it any nutritional value whatsoever and adds nothing to your nutritional profile then why bother?

I made a butternut and acorn squash Soup for full liquids. Puréed the squash, some cream cheese, butter and cayenne pepper. I made a puréed spinach, green onion and garlic dip that I watered down to Soup like consistency. I drink broths with only 3 ingredients on the label.

sugar free Oreo ice cream is not going to help me reform my eating habits. 100 calorie packets of microwave popcorn are not going to help me reform my eating habits. Eventually, the sleeve will only do so much and if I don't clean up my act, I am going to gain weight again. Period.

It's much easier to accomplish this once you're able to eat more and get enough Protein from foods alone. That's not possible for most for a while. I need to supplement. Protein shakes or powder are required. How do you plan to get thru that stage eating only real foods? I'm not being snarky - I'm truly wondering how it can be done?

[Butterflywarrior 241]

Well, there's always another option: eat real foods.

I am post op on full liquids, and avoiding food with little or no nutritional value to prepare myself for the rest of my life. puddings, popsicles, cereals, Gatorade etc are all things that people 75 years ago would not even recognize. Most of the grocery store aisles are full of crap that humans never ate until recently, when people started getting fat and sick.

Why not stick to real food? If it has no nutrients, has to be fortified just to give it any nutritional value whatsoever and adds nothing to your nutritional profile then why bother?

I made a butternut and acorn squash Soup for full liquids. Puréed the squash, some cream cheese, butter and cayenne pepper. I made a puréed spinach, green onion and garlic dip that I watered down to Soup like consistency. I drink broths with only 3 ingredients on the label.

sugar free Oreo ice cream is not going to help me reform my eating habits. 100 calorie packets of microwave popcorn are not going to help me reform my eating habits. Eventually, the sleeve will only do so much and if I don't clean up my act, I am going to gain weight again. Period.

It's much easier to accomplish this once you're able to eat more and get enough Protein from foods alone. That's not possible for most for a while. I need to supplement. Protein shakes or powder are required. How do you plan to get thru that stage eating only real foods? I'm not being snarky - I'm truly wondering how it can be done?

that's what I was thinking to which was why I suggested the stevia sweetened Protein powders but I believe unflavored Protein Powder like Isopure whey isolate has no sugar or sweeteners in it but so far, I personally think it taste horrible in at least Tomato soup...

[LisaMergs 2,854]

Ok. I'm on a new iPad so forgive me for not multi quoting... still trying to get used to this sucker.

@@Hammer_Down

I understand what you are saying. Perhaps my issue is that I didn't come to wls because of a food addiction. Mine was medication induced as well as a debilitating illness that left me unable to do anything physical... and I'm talking simple things like walking across the room without aides or excruciating pain... did I like less than healthy foodstuff occasionally? Sure! But it was never a mainstay in my diet. What I'm saying is that my perspective is likely skewed from many others here. The game plan is the same though...bypass gave me back my life and there is NO WAY I'm blowing this!!!!

@@KristenLe

I truly believe that it will be necessary for early post op's to just wave the white flag in the beginning and use whatever one needs to get through even if it goes against core beliefs on natural products etc. Those things can be tossed once they're able to eat a more "normal" bariatric-friendly diet. Kind of a "means to an end" mentality.

@@Butterflywarrior

I didn't say it was good! Lmao

But I use it... like if I have an occasional taste for a sweet tea (rare) I'll toss in a few leaves with some other herbs like peppermint and kind of muddle it into the drink. I think I grow it to make myself feel better lol.

Like I'm making an ATTEMPT at a healthy sweetener alternative... then I reach for the Splenda

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[Hammer_Down 631]

[quote name="KristenLe" post="4310390" timestamp="

It's much easier to accomplish this once you're able to eat more and get enough Protein from foods alone. That's not possible for most for a while. I need to supplement. Protein shakes or powder are required. How do you plan to get thru that stage eating only real foods? I'm not being snarky - I'm truly wondering how it can be done?

It's definitely easier when you can ingest solid foots like meats to eat your protein. I bought a $10 blender and proceeded to purée some higher protein vegetables, but mostly legumes. I love split pea Soup, and while I can't jazz It up with ham or bacon yet, I can fire in some cream cheese (an ok source of protein as well as delicious) and melt it all down.

Pea purée and spinach dips and puréed bean soup tastes pretty good with a few cloves of roasted garlic (then puréed of course) and all cooked together in a broth of your choice.

I hope this answers your question. When I transition to more solid foods, I'll add some extra cream cheese and less broth to thicken it up. Once I can tolerate meats again, this problem will correct itself as meat is my most favourite thing to cook, and eat.

While this is all very interesting, it is a distraction from the problem at hand:

How does sugar free Jello help increase protein during post op? puddings? Popsicles?

[KristenLe 5,979]

I am putting Protein Powder in pudding. I also bought some Protein pudding but haven't been brave enough to try it. I only did Jello or popsicles when I couldn't get enough fluids and sick of everything else. I have been doing ok eating whole foods but have to add protein powder to meet protein goals.

[ShelterDog64 2,364]

@@Hammer_Down I don't think sugar-free Jello or popsicles are considered to be protein-rich foods in any way, but when I was newly sleeved and had a hard time ingesting *anything*, they were ways to get something into my stomach and they're Fluid so helped hydrate me. My stomach disliked anything warm, so it was great to get a break from Water and Isopure!

I don't touch Jello now, but I do still love a sugar-free popsicle, something I wouldn't have considered eating pre-op. I treat it as a vice, know it's not contributing to my health and well-being but I count the 15 calories and am on watch to ensure I'm not craving more sugars because I'm eating it.

[Aggiemae 739]

I am putting Protein powder in pudding. I also bought some protein pudding but haven't been brave enough to try it. I only did Jello or popsicles when I couldn't get enough fluids and sick of everything else. I have been doing ok eating whole foods but have to add protein powder to meet protein goals.

The protein power is an amazing addition to our bag of tricks. 20 gr 100 calories and zero fat in such a small volume? I didn't know it existed until I ordered supplies right before surgery. plan to include some in my diet until I an at goal. Also love unsolvable Vitamins. They take 10 minutes to resolve I look forward to them.

[Alex Brecher 10,484]

@sze1109,

You have gotten some good advice about going for savory Protein sources instead of sweet ones. You can add unflavored Protein powder to broth or buy protein Soups while you are on your liquid diet. For fluids to stay hydrated, you can have Water plain or with lemon or lime juice or sprigs of mint, and Decaf tea.

Once you get to pureed foods, the sky is the limit! You can add unflavored protein powder to pureed canned green Beans and carrots, pureed watery mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, and pureed cream of wheat or possibly oatmeal (ask your surgeon). You can also get protein from yogurt, pureed egg whites, pureed lean ground turkey or soy crumbles, and pureed tuna while still on the pureed foods diet.

Another thought about sugar-free sweet options is to check the label to see which kinds of sweeteners are in the food or beverage. There are so many different kinds now, and it is possible that some, but not all, give you stomach troubles. If you want, you could try to sort out whether you might be able to handle sugar alcohols (not likely), aspartame, sucralose, Monk Fruit, stevia, or acesulfame potassium.

Good luck! You can definitely succeed pre-op and post-op without artificial sweeteners or calorie-free sugar substitutes.

[busybeebug 415]

I had the same issue. I use real sugar, raw sugar, honey and pure maple Syrup to sweeten. However it is in very small quantities and frequency. The guidelines I was given is to keep the sugars under 10g at one sitting. Ideally under 5 grams. I put about .5 teaspoon of sugar in tea or 1teaspoon of honey. Check with your surgeon or nutritionist.

[TracyBar 132]

So I am having surgery Nov 9th.

Well I stopped all artificial sweeteners back in April and really noticed a difference in energy level and less aches in my body.

Now I'm concerned after surgery how I have to go back to sugar free crap.

It gives me abdominal cramping and diarrhea. Even eating 2 sf Popsicles , Protein with it or crystal light is bad for me.

So now I see Sf Jello, Popsicles, drinks, pudding etc... Is all standard post op.

Is this just temporary or will I be able to transition to not eating sugar free?

Is there any Protein Drink without it?

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I can't have it either - particularly sugar alcohols (sorbitol, manitol, xylitol, etc.) Nausea an chronic Migraines. I'm also concerned about my options after

[Butterflywarrior 241]

So I am having surgery Nov 9th.

Well I stopped all artificial sweeteners back in April and really noticed a difference in energy level and less aches in my body.

Now I'm concerned after surgery how I have to go back to sugar free crap.

It gives me abdominal cramping and diarrhea. Even eating 2 sf Popsicles , Protein with it or crystal light is bad for me.

So now I see Sf Jello, Popsicles, drinks, pudding etc... Is all standard post op.

Is this just temporary or will I be able to transition to not eating sugar free?

Is there any Protein Drink without it?

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I can't have it either - particularly sugar alcohols (sorbitol, manitol, xylitol, etc.) Nausea an chronic Migraines. I'm also concerned about my options after

sugar alcohols make me even sicker then sucralose... I feel ya

I'm a real stevia fan even though it often has a bitter taste in it bc it is natural unlike the other stuff. My nut also said I can use sugar, honey etc as long as I stated less than 10grams per serving and surprisingly there are alot if options out there like this ....I found vanilla and chocolate Protein powder with 25 grams if protein sweetened with stevia, no after taste and super clean by g6 sports at GNC. They sell it on Amazon too but it's cheaper at GNC if you have one near you and become a member for free vthe give you $25.00 off so it's easier to pay for. I love the stuff

Plus there's the unflavored by a lot if companies suggested here that have no sweeteners or sugar in them at all so you have a lot more options

I think someone needs to write a book on sugar free alternatives for WLS..their missing out on a money topic there

I feel my weight clinic prepared me quite well but not well enough in this area. .I was kinda left on my own to figure it out. It's kinda like ohh you're one of those allergic people, which people dobt understand or take seriously and then like well good luck!! But realky, it's very possible to do this diet wo sugar free crap. You just have to do your research on alternatives like blue agave nectar, coconut sugar, stevia, and find out what tge acceptable limits of regular sugar, honey are...

Plus once you get to purees, then you can use fruit as a sweetener too.