Head Hunger/Cravings

I belong to several gastric bypass support groups on facebook. Today someone who is pre-op asked about head hunger and cravings. This got me thinking about those two topics. Here are my thoughts on them:

There are times, especially close to that time of the month, where I crave certain things. I know without a doubt that if I were to give in to the sweet cravings and have that cupcake that I used to have before surgery I would get sick. Instead of having the cupcake full of sugar, I find a way to have something that is sugar free. For instance today I made sugar free cookies with sugar free frosting. They were pretty good, but alot sweeter than regular sugar cookies are.

I had also been craving something fried. So I went to McDonalds. Before surgery I would have had two cheeseburgers, a large fry, a large sweet tea, a mcchicken, a 6 piece nugget and an extra cheeseburger. I would eat all of that in one sitting. Today when I went to McDonald's I had a 4 piece chicken nugget Happy meal. It came with the 4 chicken nuggets and a kids size fry. I shared 1 of my chicken nuggets with my dogs, so I ate 3 and I shared some of my fries with the dogs so I didn't eat all the kids size fry. I would have to say that is a drastic difference!!! My head totally wanted to get the extra stuff, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat it and the only reason I had thought about getting it was because it had become habit from before.

I truly have not gone out and had the donuts and cupcakes and sweets that I used to eat before surgery. Sure I do crave them quite a bit, but I haven't done it because I knew I would be sick. I used to have a ritual of getting a Starbucks drink every pay day. I have only had Starbucks a few times since surgery. There isn't a lot at Starbucks that I can drink that doesn't have sugar. My husband and I used to have a ritual of going and getting donuts every couple of weeks. There is an amazing donut place just down the road from us. I have found myself driving there before and then realizing I can't go there so I turn and go the other way.

I have found some really great recipes online that help me get my cravings out of the way with stuff that I can eat. I made some really yummy lemon bars for Christmas that were sugar free. I found that Walmart carries sugar free chocolate chips that make amazing sugar free chocolate chip cookies!

So here is what I have to say about head hunger and cravings. If you can find a way to make what you are craving in a way that won't make you sick, go for it. If you have to have something you are craving that may not be the best for you such as fatty foods, have just a bite or two of it. I have found that since surgery my taste buds have changed and what I crave may not taste the same now as it did before surgery.