I made a mistake, but you live and learn, had a no-no to eat last night and today

I truly DO NOT want anyone on here to get the wrong idea about how long it takes before you can "eat anything you want" with a DS. 


Hi Jazzbabe,
Thanks for your clear posts.

About the quote I took from your post above, "about how long it takes before you can "eat anything you want" with a DS....well, I'd just like to take issue with this for just a moment, if I may, and perhaps within this thread isn't the most appropriate place to do it, but hopefully it is, since some of us would like to help Karen understand that the DS is not really a "free pass" to "eat anything we want."

As you can see, I was a good "loser" for a time, but now my weight loss has pretty much stopped.

I was NOT eating ONLY PROTEIN during my first 18 months out from surgery.

If I could do it over, I would have PUT myself on an Atkin's Diet of ALMOST ALL PROTEIN for the first 2 years, and I would have GIVEN MYSELF THAT EXPECTATION FROM THE BEGINNING of my DS journey.

I did not. I pay the consequences. My journey is not over yet, however. I still have control, and I still have the ability to change my intake, my output, and my DS outcome.

The issue I'd like to raise here is this: The DS WORKS DIFFERENTLY FOR EVERY BODY.

The DS is not a PASS TO EAT ANYTHING YOU WANT.

Some people like to tout that the DS is SUPERIOR to any and all other Weight Loss Surgeries, because, well, it is. (My opinion.)

Yet, for each and every person who has the DS, the OUTCOME may be different, given their own parameters (what BMI did they begin with, how low is their metabolism, what mobility issues prevent caloric output, is your body completely carb sensitive, what length is your alimentary limb, common channel, stomach size).

In other words, KAREN, this is for YOU, specifically, the DS is NOT a CURE for obesity. It HELPS us gain CONTROL of what's controlled us for most of our lives.

Please do NOT go all out with eating things that are rough for you to digest this early out (hamburger, ribs), unless almost pureed or chewed to absolute mush. 

It sounds like to me you're "chomping at the bit" to eat anything and everything you want. Please KNOW that the DS is not a cart blanch to do so.

I'd like to implore you to stay the heck away from anything with carbs for the first 18 months out from surgery. It's not easy, and of course carbs will sneak in, but if you have the ability to stay the heck away from them, then do so.

Just my two cents for now,
anne s.

P.S. Anybody agree with me?

Thanks, Anne-

I wasn't implying that the DS gives one carte blanche to eat any and every thing they want.

That couldn't be further from the truth.  DSer's -do-- have a much broader diet than other WLS types.

However, I disagree about not eating *anything* with carbs.  Complex carbs, such as those in fruits and vegetables are fine, as long as your carb intake doesn't go over 50 g daily.

-edit-

For me, carbs were added at point to -slow- weight loss.  I've lost 91 pounds in 3 months! 
For me, that's way too fast, even thoughn my labs were within normal limits.

Another poster on this board says Karen has the rulebook from her program, and knows what to do. I was under the impression she might have had one of those programs that lets DSer's "figure it out" - and those kinds of programs do exist!

They both have the same surgeon, so, I'm leaving it alone at this point. 

Having the rules and ignoring them is not a mistake.  It's just plain nuts!

Karen, we've had a private chat, so here's hoping that you will take the information here to heart.

We care about you, girl! 

Excellent post, and great points.

Thanks, Jazzbabe.

:-)
anne s.

I agree with you.  I was cleared to eat anything I wanted at 1 week out.  Karen didn't mention how much she ate.  If it was protein first, a couple bites of salad, & 1-2 small bites of bread, I don't see that it's a problem so long as she's following her surgeon's instructions.  Different surgeons do give different food instructions, both pre-op & post-op.  I tried 1 piece of bacon at 1 week out & had little chunks show up later on.  That taught me that I needed to weight longer before trying something else that dense.  I waited 1 more week & no problems with bacon, BUT, I had been cleared to do so &, of course, to stop eating as soon as I felt full so that I wouldn't risk stretching the stitches holding my new tummy together.  Again, Karen did not mention exactly how much she ate.  Since different surgeons also make different tummy sizes, there also is some room for individual variability in how much you can eat as a post-op at different stages.

To be truly fair, Dr. K doesn't want you to be on anything but soft foods at two weeks out - no ground beef, no lettuce. It's in the very thick handbook Karen has had in her hands for MONTHS. I still have mine around here somewhere. While he gives you the caveat of eat what you can tolerate, thinking that you can handle something like that this early is just, well, stupid. No one that I have ever seen on the boards and in real life can eat ground sirloin at this early. If she goes to him and tells him this tale, I can tell you that he will give her "the look" and a verbal smack-down. She knows what she should be doing. And she's not doing it.

Thank you for the reality check. As usual, Karen is in outer space somewhere.

I can't believe that all of those things even appeal to you at 10 days out. I was still on soft foods, yogurt, pudding, cottage cheese and creamed soups, soft cheeses. Anything dense just didn't appeal to my healing tummy. I was about 4 weeks out when I tried the insides of a  soft taco and I only ate about half of it. It made me so sick and up it came. You need to take it a little slower Karen. Let yourself heal and help yourself to heal by making better choices.

All I have to say is WOW!!  Not to U Karen, but to someone else that was rather rude with the post...

So Karen, we don't know what ur aftercare instructions are, I know that some people are cleared to eat whatever by now (my angle told me that she was given the go on whatever food she wanted by the time she went home from the hospital).... so with that in mind I could never judge u on ur choice w/o knowing what u should have been doing.... if u have the full go orders then hats off to u for not having to go through some of the painful diet restrictions that others had to go through.....

my only advice to u is this.....  DON'T TRY ANYTHING NEW UNLESS UR @ HOME!!  LOL!!  then no matter what, u can poo in peace!! lol!!


Congrats on getting the surg!!  welcome to the loosers bench!! 

There's lots of history here, my dear. Karen has been a thorn in many sides on this board for YEARS, and so some of us were tired of her ignorant bull**** and chronic victimhood long before she ever had surgery. We would LIKE for her stupidity to not kill her, so some of us are going to get in her face. Not that she hears ANY of it, but that's just FYI.

On May 30, 2009 at 10:20 AM Pacific Time, Elizabeth N. wrote:
We would LIKE for her stupidity to not kill her


Ain't that the truth!  Although, I think she is a lost cause.  Hopefully her stupidity, and those blowing sunshine & rainbows up her ass, won't kill or harm somebody else who may think that they can attempt even a small portion of the stupid **** she does.