I love the holidays -- and all of the cooking and baking that goes along with them.. How do you survive the first few holidays with NO SUGAR ??

I have a sweet tooth that rules my life -- I am wondering how I am going to deal with this after my banding ??

Anbody have any suggestions .. PLUS we have 5 Christmas parties to attend every year ( 2 mandatory for husbands work).

NOW for the biggest head problem-- I had a very scary dream last night - - woke up crying becasue the surgery did not go as expected .. Surgical complications .. am I being a scardy cat ???

I LOVE to cook too.. Most of my cooking is for others. BUT when I bake- I use Splenda or SF free applesauce for sweetening things.

My husband is diabetic and we get this magazine called Diabetic living- THey also have a website with excellent alternatives to sugar and how to sweeten foods more naturally....

Not to turn down invites to parties or anything but maybe you could offer a different dish other than something sweet like a salsa and ff chips or a SF Jello recipe... Just a thought...

You will survive the holidays I promise. I had to do thanksgiving on a mushie diet this year so it was tough but I got through it. You actually learn to enjoy the holidays for other reasons, and not have food be the center. When the holidays come about offer to bring dishes. Sugar free pudding dessert, jello. Fruit salad, veggie dishes. A good tool would be to get your hands on a weight loss surgery cook book. They have delicious recipes and ideas. Good luck to you.

My biggest problem is I am highly allergic to artificial sweetners.. Falling down , rib breaking allergies. Tried Steveia-- Y U K !!! So I can't even have jell-o or things like that .. My ice tea is unsweetened (double YUK), my coffee is black, All I can say is I must have beally bad in a previous life to be punished like this in this one ..

I eat real food...no diet, etc, except for the protein shakes. You may eat some cookies over the holidays. Guess what? Even thin people do. They don't pop and you won't either. You may find your taste for them is less, or that you are satisifed with fewer than before. It probably won't be as hard as you are imagining.

Glad to hear that .. My 2 biggest fears are vomiting , and cravings ... Thanks for responding