Post on the DS board by a lapbander

You are right, of course, but there is one little thing...those cheeseburgers laden with fat.  If my husband and I go to BurgerKing and get a Double Cheeseburger, his body will "accept" 990 calories, 580 of them from fat.  My body will "accept" 526 calories, 116 of them from fat.  (Actually less, because I won't eat much of the bun.) I don't know how long this will go on, but I know that it's happening now because of my labs.  Six days a week, my breakfast consists of a cheese omelette and bacon or ham.  This has been going on for over a year now.  A year post op, my cholesterol was 141, now it's "up to" 157. I know it's really hard to think of eating this stuff that we always have been taught is "bad" for us and not having some price to pay.  It is still sometimes hard for me (and I've been living with this for over a year and a half) to remember that a piece of string cheese rolled up in a deli slice of roast beef or ham is a "good" snack.  I have 3-D friends who with four kinds of wls.  We all got to MO via different paths and may escape it via different paths.  We just need to find which surgery is the best fit with each of us.  

We are told to eat the same way.  RNY rule of thumb is to always eat protein first, and then if you have room, have a bite of vegetables, starch, etc...  I think the diet between all surgeries is the same regardless.  String cheese wrapped in deli meat is a very good snack.  Basically it's like living on Atkins forever.  That's how I think of it anyway.   I understand the difference between a normal person and a DS'r.  I just didn't want any confusion floating out there that RNY doesn't result in malabsorption.  I was told in the beginning we would only absorb about 1/3 of what we eat in the beginning.  That number will gradually increase.  It's natural.  The body is always trying to "heal itself".  (for lack of a better way to put it)  This is true for all surgeries.  DS, RNY, LapBand... they are all GREAT tools and when worked properly, will produce the same results.   None of it is easy.  I will admit however it's a heck of a lot easier than the other "dieting" I did in my "other" life. 

  "We are told to eat the same way.  RNY rule of thumb is to always eat protein first, and then if you have room, have a bite of vegetables, starch, etc...  I think the diet between all surgeries is the same regardless.  String cheese wrapped in deli meat is a very good snack.  Basically it's like living on Atkins forever.  That's how I think of it anyway." No, we are NOT told to eat the same. Yes, RNY and DS both are told to choose protein first.  The similarity ends there!  People with the DS can eat fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat and more fat!  It doesn't cause our cholesterol to go up because we do not absorb it!  It does not cause all the health problems that it can cause in "normal" people or even in those with altered intestinal tracts like in the RNY because people with the DS do not absorb 80% of the fat!  The fat can not cause harm to our health because the fat never gets into our bloodstream!   And, no we are not told to eat the same.  People who have had the DS do not "dump" anymore than the general non-RNY population dumps.  Therefore, we can have our treats! And no, we are not told to eat the same, because, except as a brand new recovering post-op, DSers can drink immediately before, all the time during, and immediately after a meal. And no, we are not told to eat the same, because we are able to eat much larger quantities at a time because we do not have a pouch.  We can't eat as much at a time as an unaltered person, but (after our tummies have healed post-op) we can eat more at one sitting than an RNY patient with a functioning pouch (or a lap bander with a proper fill) and we still lose weight. And, no it is not like living on the Atkin's diet forever!  Good Lord!  Who would want to do that?  I've lost a lot of weight on the Atkin's diet in the past and I could testify in good faith, under oath, that my DS diet is NOT like being on the Atkins diet forever!  On Atkins I never had pasta, or bread, or cereal, or ice cream, or cakes or chips, or many veggies or salads, or rice, or anything, hardly ever, with carbohydrates!  How boring.  And how unsuccessful. in the long run!  My weight lost on Atkin's was regained. If I wanted to stay on a "diet" whether it be Atkin's or Weigh****chers, or a RNY diet, for the rest of my life, I wouldn't have had the DS.  I didn't want to 'diet" for the rest of my life - I wanted a quality life that didn't include stress about what or how much I could eat.  I wanted a lifestyle that had only a few rules, and simple ones at that: 1. Get in all my protein each day (100 grams) 2. Drink at least 64 oz of fluids each day 3. Take my vitamins each day (multi, ADEK, calcium) 4. Get my labs done once a year and adjust vitamins as needed. 5.  Then eat whatever the hell I want, in whatever amount I want the rest of the time. The fun thing about the DS is that since the part of my stomach that produces the "hunger hormone" was removed, I just don't WANT to eat the large, humongous amounts that I used to.  I still want and enjoy that double layered double chocolate with cholcolate fudge icing cake when I want it... But now a little dab of it will do me, where before I would have had a couple of pieces and then eaten it several more times over the next few hours/day/days/whatever. Sooo,  no, the diet between all the surgeries is not the same!  What you think is what you think - - which is not fact, but only your single opinion!  As valid as your feelings and thinkings and beliefs may be or feel to you, that still does not make them accurate or true or factual. So you think the diets are all the same.  Ooops!  You are mistaken. If I think blue is the same color as brown, that doesn't make it any more true than when you think all the WLS diets are the same. The DS isn't inherently superior to any other WLS -  but it IS inherently different than any other WLS.

Good Lord..... no need to flame me.  I haven't attacked you or the DS.  I think it's great! And since we are speaking about WHAT we eat......  I ALSO never get hungry.  AND I ALSO eat a "dab" or two of whatever the heck I want.  No big deal.  Please don't speak to me this way.  THat is just RUDE. I understand what you are saying, and I understand all the wonderful things you can eat.  If my insurance had paid for DS, I probably would have gotten it.  Give me a break... PLEASE!  I'm a very nice person and am NOT bashing ANYTHING about ANY surgery! I simply meant that we are ALL told to eat protein first.  It is important in our diet.  And to wrap my mind around the "rules" of WLS, I compare my eating habit to Atkins.... not phase 1, 2, etc...  but general things.  Yes you can have carbs... even on Atkins after you've been through the phases... but that's NOT what I'm talking about.  It was just a general statement. Good grief, I never expected that kind of yelling over clarifying a simple statement.  I know that DSr's feel attacked alot or something, but perhaps you are being a little harsh here.  I love the idea of your surgery, and I don't think any one is better than the other.  It's a personal decision. 

Hey, hey, hey!  I'm not "flaming" you!  I haven't attacked you or any surgery.  I didn't call you any names or speak rudely at all.  I spoke to the issue and the topic you presented, which was that your thinking was that all WLS surgeries are instructed to eat alike.  My point, that I was only trying to illustrate by the examples I listed, was that, umm, NO, we are not.     If you would have only said that ~ all weight loss surgeries are instructed to eat protein first ~ that would probably have illicited a different response from me. Please don't take my bold type as yelling.  I use that routinely due to my eyesight... I can see it better that way. I'm glad you can eat a 'dab" or two of whatever you want.  That really adds to the enjoyment  of life for sure!  The difference that I was pointing out is that a "dab" or two is not what I am talking about for DSers.  I can eat as much as I want of whatever I want provided I also get my protein in.  That is not meant as bragging or bashing or anything else.  It is simply a fact of my DS.  I am sharing that information.  I am not making value judgements about you or about any other surgery, at all.

I was speaking to the differences.  As I said, the DS isn't inherently better than any other WLS, but it is sure inherently different than other WLS.

I have no doubt you are a very nice person!  I am not bashing you or any surgery.  I, too, am a very nice person and I was simply responding to what you said. No harshness intended or used from my side of things.  Sorry you chose to see it that way.

I apologize.  I was not offended by your larger bold type, I took the strategically placed all caps words as yelling, which is common board lingo. 

I also did state, as per your copied and pasted section from my post, that all surgeries are instructed to eat protein first.   Congrats on getting to eat all the other stuff.  It's wonderful! (as I sit here and eat my second mini-ice cream sandwich of the day)  Thanks!

Thank you for your explanation and input. I am happy to learn about what DS means. As I mentioned just never considered it or read much about it. I don't know what others believe but I was told vitamins for life. So I supplement and plan to do so forever. This is my life. I don't understand how people just forget. I did this to be healthy and it's working so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. Thanks again so much! Have a Happy 4th! :)

Ohhh... I don't get it, either. My husband mentioned last night that he had read a couple of posts from people who said they often forget to take their supplements. That's not an option. I don't know how someone can have WLS and not find a way to work that into their routine, especially when these posters are not newly post-op. I can see forgetting now and again, but apparently some people miss doses regularly. That's playing with fire. Jeanie

Baby, you will see those posts, and it won't be from people several years out. Also not one single DS post op I know eats double cheese burgers every day, or any of the sweets and carbs they post about. As they said to me, " Anybody who eats thousands of calories a day and expects to maintain a healthy weight is either a liar, or is getting fatter by the day".  Every surgery takes common sense and a reduction in calories in VS calories expended, and a reduction in eating simple carbs. Those who have DS absorb every single carb the same as any other human on earth, RNY, Lapband, or no surgery. Those who have DS malabsorb fats for the first couple of years to a great degree, but their bodies adjust and begin to absorb more fats as time goes on. Also eating excess fats with a very short common channel causes extreme diarrhea and " orange slicks" , and a race to the toilet that sometimes is lost. Do the research, go to any surgeon who does the DS, they have web sites, look for the side effects, or down side to the surgery, in fact do this for all of them. I have yet to see any surgeon say that DS post-ops can eat anything by the pound and not regain weight, or fail to mention what too much fat will do to their stool.  There are other DS sites in the internet, where the people post about their problems, the toilet trouble, the protein malnutrition, the vitamin deficiencies, the anemia, and the weight regain. Anybody researching surgeries will not be served by the DS board on this web site. They will be misinformed and if they make choices based on the BS posted there, they will be in for a rude awakening after the honeymoon period, or they can do what others do, work at it, follow their surgeon's instructions( which is NOT to eat 5000 calories a day)  and then lie about it on the boards.  I truly hope any intelligent people *****ad these boards use common sense and understand that if something sounds too good to be true, that's because it is.