How much carbs/fat can I eat?

I'm scheduled for DS with VSG next month. BMI is now 40. I'm not afraid of the surgery itself (I've had many non-WLS's).  I am concerned though about not being able to satisfy my desires for high carb/fatty meals!
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 eat a moderate fat / low carb diet.  I evacuate once to twice daily.  I have little to no issue with flatulence.  I do on occasion indulge in high carb things.  It was not the norm, especially when I was actively  trying to lose weight.  My mantra that I try to stick to that I stole from another vet (Kayla) was twice as much protein as carbs.  So whatever meal or snack I had needed to have a net total of twice as many protein as carbs.  It was a very easy way to make sure I got at least 100 grams of protein and keeping carbs to a minnimum.  My diet is very similar to Atkins Maintenance Faze.  The exception is:  if I choose to eat a high carb item,  I don't gain weight immediately.  I don't worry about ketosis, etc.

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.

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.

You should try to limit your carbs as if you're actively dieting with an Atkin's diet while in your weight loss phase, especially the first year b/c that's your window of maximum weight loss.  With that said, though, there's a lot of individual variability on exactly how many carbs one can eat and still lose weight at a good rate.  Some can simply eat more carbs than others - both in the weight loss phase and in the maintenance phase.  In any case, you will always be more able to eat occasional high carb foods while maintaining your weight loss vs what you're used to prior to WLS.

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.

WOW! Those were informative replies! What would happen if I mix protein powder in a small amount of water just before I eat some pasta until I am full? During the maintainence phase that is. Also, could Bean-O or Gas-X help with gas formation if I take some with the pasta for example?

I will on occassion eat a very small bit of pasta with lots of meat and sauce.  I will then have very stinky gas and a bloated, uncomfortable stomach. I don't think the Gas X helps much.

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. 

It looks like you're looking for ways to keep your diet carb centric. This is not going to work with the DS, shakes are not easy to get down, they don't taste very good for starters. The best source of protein is animal protien. If you are hoping to get the liquid protein down in a small of a volume as possible in order to leave LOTS of room for carbs like pasta, you are going to have trouble losing weight. Your DS malabsorbtion absorbs more carbs than protein. 60% of complex carbs will be absorbed. If you fill your tummy with carbs, what do you think will happen during maitenance?

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 that list, the Cornell one and the selection of foods once you are back on full foods is so vast that I would narrow it down on my own to exclude many of the carbs.

I have never heard anyone describe the DS operation as DS with VSG before??

I read your post and it made me a little nervous.  You are having VERY serious surgery and there seem to be some key knowledge gaps that you need to get filled ASAP.

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. 

 Seriously.....you need to do a lot of research and reading before your surgery.  Read everything you can get your hands on.  This is a big step that will change your life.

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.