I feel like a dummy!

I read all these post talking about how many carbs to eat, and to eat complex carbs vs simple carbs.  I am only 7 weeks out from DS surgery and am just concentrating on counting protien. Do you just learn all this other stuff as you go along? I am a dummy when it comes to nutrition anyway, which is how I got where I was. Any advice??

My advice is to post what you eat every day on the Bites and  Vites thread.  That accountability works EXTREMELY well for most people.  You will also get kind feedback if you are eating things that most people try to avoid during the weight loss phase like carbs.

You need to avoid simple carbs because you are going to absorb 100% of them.  Google to find lists of what carbs are what.

You need to make the most of your weight loss window and lose as much weight as you can.  By the time you get to 2 years out, like me, you will be VERY happy that you did that.

Read, read, read the forum.  Set aside time every day to just sit and read posts.  There is a lot of wisdom on these pages.

Start here:  www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ds/4280788/Repost-Request-Advice- for-Pre-Ops-with-Links/

By now you should be on VitaLady's vitamin plan:

www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ProgramDRNY_ERNY_BPDDS3- 2010.pdf

And before you know it (in about 5 weeks?) you are going to need to get your first labs (3 months)so start planning on that now.  Here is the list of labs you must get:

docs.google.com/Doc

~Becky

Hi Gina :) 
Don't be so hard on yourself! You're no dummy!!

Are you working with a nutritionist?

I too felt overwhelmed by the vast amounts of information on these boards. With all things in life, take it a day at a time. And with more exposure and practical experience, you'll find you're knowledge of these things will start to grow. And soon enough, it'll be you dishing out the advice and helping newcomers! 

I prefer to consider myself an eager pupil in the school of DS nutrition. I'm working with a nutritionist myself, as well as a hematologist so i can better understand my body and how to take care of it. 

Wishing you well on your journey. 

 Hi, I sure hope you have more luck with your nutritionist then most of us have had. They don't seem to know a who lot about the DS anatomy, and in turn don't know much of what we require in the amounts of protein, fat etc.

 I'm not relying on my nutritionist to know how much protein, fat, carbs etc I can have post DS. She had made it clear to me that I was her first DS patient during our initial consult. I admire her thirst for knowledge and how much she's educated herself  regarding the DS since taking me on as a patient, but I realize her knowledge is limited with respect to my needs.

I am happy to work with her to develop a better undesrtanding of food. Even some of her exercises such as mindful eating, utlizing the podameter, etc has been beneficial for me. I'm capitalizing on all the resources I can to better educate myself. Much like the DS is a tool, so are the specialists i go to and the these forums. 

That's the spirit :-). And if you have discovered a NUT, as we refer to them here, who can actually have a thought that breaks free of NUT brainwashing and grasps that DSers are DIFFERENT, you have made a great find. Just remember that when it comes to NUT vs. vets, guess who knows better 99% of the time.

The thing that will help you the most is to read this forum from back to front.  Pretty much every question you could ever think to ask - has been asked AND answered on here!

To start with I would suggest the following guidelines:
1.  HYDRATION = a MINIMUM of 64 oz of liquids a day (sugar free).   I personally count everything I drink, as long as it isn't sweetend with sugar.  Other people only count things that are NOT sweetened at all, sugar or sugar free.  You will have to decide how you want to roll with that.

2.  30-60-90 rule for protein = 30 grams by 30 days, 60 grams by 60 days, 90 grams by 90 days and over 100 there after...and that number is dependent upon your labs.

3.  Protein FIRST, always.  Fats next,  Complex carbs. and lastly simple carbs.  Early out you won't have any room for carbs really b/c your tummy is so small.  However if you ARE going to have some carbs I would make sure that they are vehicle for protein...celery sticks with chicken salad, crackers with tuna or egg salad.  Don't just eat the carbs to be eating them - use them to get in MORE protein.

4.  Decide how you want to proceed regarding carbs.  Do you want to be ultra low carber (20-50 grams a day), a lower carber (50-75 grams a day) or a moderate carber (75-125 grams a day)?  Of course those are my personal guidelines...but that choice is yours to make.  The lower carb you go the less gas issues you have and probably the more weight you will take off.

5.  I would start tracking your food intake in an on-line journal - such as www.myfitnesspal.com - this will tell you where you REALLY are for protein, fat, and carb grams...not where you THINK you are.  There is often a huge difference...we over estimate our protein intake and underestimate our carb intake.  I don't personally think it's necessary to use the bites and vites theread, but that's just me. 

6.  Get up to speed on your vites and supplement schedule, whatever you think/feel you should be taking.  I wouldn't go on the recommendation of just your surgeon...they usually don't know as much about post-op life (nutrition and supplements) as we would like...so you have to take what he says and weigh it with what you read on here.  A LOT of peeps follow vitalady's plan to start with and then tweak from there, based on how your labs come back.  That is what I do...but you have to decide what is best for you to do.

7.  Run your labs, every 3 months your first year.  And then every 6 months there after, for life.  Unless something is off on your labs that requires more watching.

The basics of nutrition are a modest body of knowledge that you can learn either along the way or--and I highly recommend this--by doing a class. Most hospitals or health care systems and some insurance companies offer these kinds of classes. They generally take several sessions of 60-90 minutes.  A typical program runs around 6 weeks.

One of the few useful things I got out of being subjected to diets as young as seven years old was the opportunity to learn about nutrition. I was kind of puzzled to discover that so many chronic dieters don't get this stuff :-/.

Of course, whether you do your education in a class or one on one with a nutritionist or dietitician, you'll have to keep in mind that the "rules" they will preach do not apply to you as a DSer in the same way. But once you get the information, it becomes a lot easier to figure out what you need to eat for optimum health and weight loss.