How much carbs/fat can I eat?
OMG! My surgeon is scaring the heck out of me with his diet list. Jeesh, by looking at it, it appears as though there is nothing left in the world to eat! I don't want to live on puny amounts of well chewed Broccoli and steak! Looks like the Atkins diet all over again! Gosh, if I could do that, I wouldn't need the WLS.
Will I ever eat another ice cream cone? Milk shake? French fries? Pasta?
How much gas and dumping should I expect if I eat those things?
Will I ever be able to be more than 50ft from running water? They say 2 - 4 evacuations per day! That's kind of inconvenient don't you think? I only go once a day now!
Would like to hear from all with DS's that can give me some good news please!
I don't limit fat at all. I drink whole milk. I have full fat dressing. I add full fat greek yogurt / butter to make sauces, etc.
If you over-indulge in carbs, especially simple carbs, you will likely have more difficulty losing all of your excess weight and have significant bowel issues like excess smelly gas and loose, urgent, frequent stools. We don't dump, though.
SW / BMI / SIZE: 312 / 49.5 / 26-28W CW / BMI / SIZE: 159.1 / 25.1/ 10-12
I need to lose about 2 more pounds for a normal BMI . I still seem to be slowly losing at over 2 yrs out...so may get there yet.
on 9/14/11 11:48 pm
OMG! My surgeon is scaring the heck out of me with his diet list. Jeesh, by looking at it, it appears as though there is nothing left in the world to eat! I don't want to live on puny amounts of well chewed Broccoli and steak! Looks like the Atkins diet all over again! Gosh, if I could do that, I wouldn't need the WLS.
Will I ever eat another ice cream cone? Milk shake? French fries? Pasta?
How much gas and dumping should I expect if I eat those things?
Will I ever be able to be more than 50ft from running water? They say 2 - 4 evacuations per day! That's kind of inconvenient don't you think? I only go once a day now!
Would like to hear from all with DS's that can give me some good news please!
The post op diet is protein-centric because if you do not eat 100grams of protein per day you will face malnutrition. This is not negotiable or open to interpretation. DSers do not get "dumping" that is with the RNY only, a completely different surgery alltogether. Sometimes a food may give you uncomfortable gas and bloating (this differs per individual), this is not dumping.
However, if you have room after eating your protein first, over time you can incorporate other foods. Veggies and low glycemic carbs are recommended over white flour products (pasta, white bread, etc). This does not mean that- on occasion- you cannot enjoy these things from time to time. But you must make good food choices most of the time, especially during the first year when you are in the weight loss phase, docs will advise to keep carbs to a minimum during this time for good reason: you don't want to slow down your weight loss. Once you are in maintenance, the diet is more forgiving but you still need 100grams of protein every day for the rest of your life (plus vitamins). Again, that is not negotiable.
Take note, and responsibility, because you wil absorb 100% of simple carbs (sugar, ice cream, cookies, sweets) and you can very easily sabotage your weight loss and cause weight gain if you have a sweet carb additicion that you cannot control. Enjoying them on occasion is fine, but if you have an additiction for these foods you may end up shooting yourself in the foot.
If this is not the diet you can live with, I would reconsider whether the DS is for you.
The BMs aren't bad once the intestines adjust. I'd poop 1-2 times a day, post op that is 2-4 times a day but it is spaced out. I get up in the AM and poop, sometimes once during lunch time, once around 6pm and again before I go to bed. It is not a big deal.
Personally, I love the DS now that my stomach is healed enough to enjoy a wide range of foods. If I have room for low glyemic carbs after the protein is in, I have some. I also eat veggies. On rare occasions I have a bit of ice cream. I do not feel deprived.
This means the diet is "strictest" in terms of limiting carbs during your WL phase. There's also a lot of variability in the amount of gas that is caused by carb foods. Almost everyone can eat fruit without gas. Many people can eat chocolate (regular chocolate, not chocolate that has flour in it) without causing gas, but some people can't. Most people cannot eat something with flour in it without producing some level of gas & the exact amount depends on the food for the individual person, as well as, in general, the individual person - some digest it better than others. Many people find that pasta is one of the worse foods in its regular form, but can handle smaller amount of pasta made from rice (gluten free pasta) and so will have that when they want pasta. Many people can handle open-faced sandwhiches with regular bread just fine, or taking 1 slice and cutting it in half & making an extra thick sandwhich - which works out well with that double protein to carb ratio the prior poster wrote about.
So, you ultimately will have lots of food choices, but we all strongly urge you to really limit yourself during the first year or until you reach goal. Fat is your friend, don't avoid it. You malabsorb it at such a high rate that it's almost a free food. It will make food taste better and opens up a world of food selections so that you don't feel like you're dieting. This makes sticking to low carb a heck of a lot easier.
As far as BM's, there's also individual variability. Some people have problems with constipation. A few honestly do have issues with going multiple times per day, but the vast majority don't. There's no way to predict where you will fall, except to go by the "average" experience or what the typical person is like . . . which is most people go 1 - 2 per day, depending on what they've eaten (more carbs usually = more poop) and how much you've eaten.
Know also that your bowels will change as you get further out from surgery. What I'm describing is the typical experience at 6 months out & further. Many people, for the first month or two, have very liquidy BM's b/c most of what you're consuming is liquid. This will change and get better as your ability to eat more food increases and the ratio of the total solid food vs liquid you intake changes.
HW / SW / CW / GW 299 / 287 / 160 / 140 Feb '09 / Mar '09 / Dec '13 /Aug '10
Appendicitis/Bowel Obstruction Surgery 8/21/10
Beat Hodgkin's Lymphoma! 7/15/2011 - 1/26/2012
Ran Half-Marathon 10/14/2012
First Pregnancy, Due 8/12/14 I LOVE MY DS!!!
Please don't use protein shakes as a license to get your protein in and still leave plenty of room for simple carbs (which pasta is). This will probably result in poor weight loss/maintenance, lots of stinky farts, and diarrhea. You will have to limit simple carbs more than likely. Please don't look for ways around it.
SW / BMI / SIZE: 312 / 49.5 / 26-28W CW / BMI / SIZE: 159.1 / 25.1/ 10-12
I need to lose about 2 more pounds for a normal BMI . I still seem to be slowly losing at over 2 yrs out...so may get there yet.
on 9/15/11 4:43 am
The DS malabsorbtion is as follows:
50% of protein will be absorbed
20% of fat will be absorbed
60% of carbs will be absorbed
100% of sugars will be absorbed
If you have a carb additction, please take measures to get that under control before proceeding. No WLS will allow anyone to be able to carb out and not gain weight.
Having carbs once in a while is fine, but it is starting to look like you want to be able to eat them all of the time without consequence and that just won't work no matter what surgery you have.
I have never heard anyone describe the DS operation as DS with VSG before??
Thank you Cheri and Holly!
Think twice, cut once! I've had 3 surgeries now, RNY, VSG and DS .
Ask me about the DS or visit dsfacts.com
2002 - RNY
2010 - RNY to VSG
2011 - Full DS-August 24th
HW 311 SW 306 CW 235 GW 150
First of all, go to www.dsfacts.com. Much of the answers you look for are there. Next read the last 6 months of posts on this board. You need to know as much as you can about this before you go into it.
I have never heard it referred to the DS with VSG - the VSG is a part of the DS.
Also, a protein shake with water before pasta will accomplish what exactly? You need to get protein in, both from shakes but also from food.
This is a unique surgery and a big decision, you need to do some more research before you get on the table.
I am pre-op so I definitely don't havell all the answers, but there are some amazing vets on here, read their posts. Learn. Ask questions. THEN have the surgery.
Immediately postop the DS will take over your life. You probably will have periods of diarrhea and it takes time to recover, adjust, and heal. During your active weightloss phase you need to do ATKINS and get the weight off. After you reach your goal, you can find out what you can eat and not gain. Just lose the weight first. After that, life becomes normal and I can eat anything, but I also can gain weight. I still have to watch it.
Sure you can have pasta, ice cream, and french fries. Just lose the weight first! We don't dump, that's RNY. And we chew like anyone else. Your diet needs to be high protein. The majority of us eat moderate to high fat too. The only thing we avoid is sugar, carbs.