Calling all boring DSers...stop hiding. Come bore us with your ordinary life. LONG.

I have been lurking here recently, posting only occasionally, seldom starting my own threads. Not sure if THIS thread is going to make sense or not.

Up until the present, I feel like I have had a pretty easy DS experience. Lost 200 pounds easily, no complications, etc. Oh sure, I needed an iron infusion recently and I had a kidney stone back in the spring, but still, pretty damn easy. Not sure I even posted my own thread about those incidents.

I haven't felt that I have much to share, experience-wise. No drama, no unusal stuff. No bowel issues, no gas, no head issues. So I remain virtually silent on my own DS experience. Or maybe I have been afraid that the DS gods will hear of my pleasure trip and send down a stricture or some diarrhea or a shart to mess up my life (and pants, LOL). 

But I got to thinking.  If newbies only hear the high-drama stories/worst-case scenarios or extreme highs/wows, then they're likely to draw the conclusion that the DS is a nightmare, fraught with drama and fear or that it works for only a select few motivated people. Since I have met so many of you in person, I know that is not the case.

So, I challenge each of you boring, low-drama DSers to post your boring, low-drama crap, too. Your hum-drum, day-to-day nothingness when it appeals to you. Now, let me be clear here--do NOT clog up the board with tales of your trip to Costco or the nose-picking you did or the phone call you have with so-and-so if it does not relate to your DS journey. Even I don't want to hear that crap (LOL).

I'm talking changes in you, changes in your head game thanks to the DS. I'll start.

1) I am sooo grateful for my OH family! As some of you know, I now serve as a support group leader for DSers in Chicago. The folks who go to our meeting are great. Smart, funny, open, kind and successful. Some of them own their own businesses, some are lawyers, realtors, stay-at-home moms, one is even a judge. I like them all, but they do NOT keep current on their DS and the information out there. It's sad when Nicolle is the most up-to-date DS patient, as I am a bit of slug around here, the DS forum. (Seriously, ask Kimberely and Lori! They will vouch for my lackluster performance.)

A few examples of routine stuff we know on this site that emerged in last night's meeting:

a) From a smart, beautiful 5.5-year DS veteran: "We need to take calcium? Really? How much?"

b) From a brilliant, pioneering 9-year DS veteran: "My doctor put me on Flagyll. I never heard of it before. It changed my life from years of smelling like a sewer to living and loving life again."

So, thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for all of the pioneering and sharing you do. I will try and do better about sharing my imperfect and boring DS journey with you all--maybe someone can learn from my stories.

2) I went to an Old Country Buffet last week with my little boys. It's been two years since I went there. My boys thought it was cool that they could eat whatever they wanted and as much as they wanted. Naturally, we had several discussions about how much you should eat, etc. They ate only a little bit of the main foods kids love today--hot dog, pizza, mac and cheese. But they also gobbled some carrots and corn. Yay, us. Then they each had one tiny dessert--one had a cookie and one had an ice cream. God, I hope they can stay that moderate way for life.

While were there, I actually became sick with what I saw and had to stop looking at people. I saw hoards of people shoveling obscene amounts of food on their plates and carrying these monsters back to their table. I saw a 12-year old girl--already obese--eating from a plate that was piled 4-5 inches high with food, layers of fried chicken and potatoes and cornbread. And this little girl went back for more. Yes, her parents were morbidly obese.

Before my DS, I know I was one of those people, eating plates of carb-heavy, bland-yet-overly salted food as if the food supply was drying up. I had no "off" switch on my eating.

So when people hint or even say that DSers eat like pigs, I get a little pissed. As a former "pig," I take exception to that!

I think about my old buffet days and compare it to now. This time, I went up and got a salad with tons of bacon, sunflower seeds, dressing and hard-boiled eggs on it. Then  I moved on to meatloaf and mashed potatoes with gravy. I had a few bites of stuffing and then had an ice cream. I washed it down with a Diet Coke.

DSers are not pigs. Most of us eat like naturally lean people. Naturally lean people who do not have to count calories or fat grams, ha, ha.
 
There ya go. Now it's YOUR turn to bore us. Show us how ordinary your post-DS life is!

Nicolle

Great post!

Boring DSers here. No sob stories. No stalls. No problems eating...believe me...I eat!

Biggest wow. I eat till I'm satisfied. No need to stuff my face anymore. I have finally learned- food has no legs. It'll be there. Went to dinner with some MADS Friday. As usual my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Ordered lobster stuffed mushrooms, crab alfredo meal, side salad, and a add-on lobster tail. Ahalf the mushrooms...automatically asked for a box for the other half, the whole lobster tail and salad, and two bites of the crab alfredo. I still want a tatse of everything. But instead of gorging my face for one meal I savor the 3 meals I make of it!!!

Jeesh I love my DS!

I am definetely one of those boring DSrs.  I am one of those that have tolerance for carbs and even while eating carbs and getting pregnant managed to lose 200 lbs in 1.5 yrs.  I didn't have any complications at all and have had it pretty easy since surgery.  I feel very blessed that I was able to have a healthy baby and still lost all my excess weight and more.  Now my only struggle at times is maintaining as if I go a day or two without eating much (I have days that food just doesn't call my name) I lose a few lbs.  I LOVE MY DS and I am so greatful for learning about it before going through with a revision to RNY.

Edit: My biggest wow other than having my baby boy is that my relationship with food is so different now.  Where before I lived to eat now I eat to live.  I eat what I want when I want but I no longer have the urge to over do it.  My biggest downfall before was sweets and now I have them when I am in the mood.  It's wonderful having the energy to handle a very active 7 month old baby boy. 

Great idea Nicolle!!!  I love hearing boring, uneventful stories about DSers!  You're my true role model!   Thanks!!!

Another boring DSers heard from!  No gas issues, no bathroom issues, no food intolerances.  I DID do flagyl, and it was the best thing I ever did - I THOUGHT I had food issues that developed after a year out.  Nope!  My lesson learned?  I wasted 4 months trying to pinpoint the culprit, just to find out it had nothing to do with food or my protein shakes (yes, I still drink them, because they're easy, and I don't feel the need to eat all the time anymore).

Now, at goal for some time, I eat what pleases me - whi*****ludes pizza with the crust, whoppers with the bun, and chimichanga's with the flour tortilla.  I've had 2 rounds of plastic surgery with no complications.  My labs are 'adequate' but I'm still trying to pump some of them higher to MY standards.  Life post-op DS is fantastic.

Now, if someone would clean my house and employ me, life would be GRAND!

 I too am a boring DS'er.  I take my supplements, eat 3 to 4 meals daily with treats in the evenings.  Bathroom habits are usually twice in the first hour I am up and am done for the day.  Don't have any gas problems but I do watch what I eat earlier in the day.   My weight stays pretty much the same, 135 pounds and I am 5'6".

I read this forum daily for the first 2 years and now about once a week or so.  The important thing is to learn all you can about the surgery and what it takes to stay healthy.


 

Another boring DS'er here.

I was off the boards for a while, long story, saving it for another time.. I found that when I came back, I had really missed being here and so I am here to stay.

Very few issues and the ones I do have are very minimal.  I tend to be constipated from the calcium and iron, some brands of calcium give me gas so I avoid those. (I am assuming it is something in the fillers they use) I can eat most carbs with no problems although I still have a huge problem with flour tortillas or too much white flour at a sitting. Actually, it really isn't much of a problem because I really don't like white flour anymore.

I tend to run on the 'not hungry' side so I started using shakes again, some days I just don't want to eat very much!  I am a total waste of money at a buffet depending on who I am with.  I can eat a somewhat normal amount but it takes a while so if I am with someone who is in a hurry I usually order off the menu so I can take mine to go..

I am below goal so I eat whenever I can, whatever I want.  I still weigh every day (always have) so I can keep track of what is happening.  I think that I am probably just slow on the rebound thing.

I am employed and thankful for that but I would like a better job, preferably with insurance!! This is the first time in my life I have been without it and it makes me nervous.

Jeez, it doesn't get much more boring than that!

Michele

This is a great post, Nicole! Thank you. I think it's very easy to get a skewed perception of post-DS life because people are more compelled to post if they're having a problem.

On a related note, I have a wish that more DSers would post to the "Bites and Vites" threads. Perhaps some who are happily in maintenance mode may be reluctant to post there because they don't want to set a bad example for the newbies. For me, I'd love to see the whole spectrum of what more long-term DSers are eating. 

So far, I've been a pretty boring DSer too. My recovery thus far has been 10 times easier than I anticipated. 

On the 'good' days I'm boring, on the not so good days, I'm embarrassing :)  But I'll think about trying to post there - as long as nobody takes it as 'gloating' cuz sometimes that's how I feel!  It is kind of tough, though, since I don't pay attention to what I eat half the time.