Re: : Re: ruining surgery??

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/6/01 12:02:53 PM, duodenalswitch writes:

<< I have seen lots of folks here ask if they can ruin or out-eat the

surgery.

I have never seen anyone tell them " yes " they could. All I have seen is

protein first, then whatever you have room for. I have not heard anything

against grazing all day long, either, or that you have to eat only meals and

can't snack. Anyone who is post-op care to comment on this and clairify it

for me?

>>

Well, Carole - I'm only almost 9 months post-op, but I honestly am totally

UNABLE to eat like I did pre-op... I really don't see how I could 'eat

around' this surgery... I have one sandwich for a meal and am completely

satisfied... When I'm so full, I honestly CAN'T fit anything else in. LOL

Now, I've had more than my share twice and it was so extremely uncomfortable

(I never threw up, although I've read that some people do when they overeat)

that I will NOT do it frequently and hopefully won't do it again!

So, I really don't think people can 'out-eat' the surgery very easily, if at

all.... I can see how one can eat around the surgery with the RNY since the

amounts are so small and once the food goes through the stomach I think

somone can feel hungry relatively quickly. Once the stomach is empty, it can

be filled again pretty quickly and often. With the DS, I eat a pretty normal

portion --- It is much, much smaller than I used to eat and it may be smaller

than some 'normal' Americans consume but it is significantly more than a

'shotglass'.

I think that one problem post-ops can encounter is getting their body's

nutrition out of whack, either by not consuming enough protein and/or not

eating nutritionally. I think that if one's body allows (i.e. one doesn't

experience severe gas, diahhrea or other problems), one could really eat lots

of sugar and get into some 'bad habits' of focusing on junk foods (and by

this I don't mean fast food burgers and such, which are actually very

nutritious overall for a post-op DSer -- I mean stuff loaded with carbs

and/or empty calories).

Since we can't fit a lot in, every calorie does 'count' and if we eat mainly

carbs or sugars, we can feel 'full' but not provide our bodies with the

nutrition needed to thrive. Couple this with the fact that most nutritional

deficiencies take time (almost a year, more or less) to really manifest

themselves and many post-ops may get bloodwork done only once a year, one

wouldn't really realize how such negative eating habits until the condition

has gotten pretty bad.

In terms of weight loss, I think that the DS is pretty much foolproof and,

not matter how one eats (nutritiously or otherwise), the weight will come

off. The key is to develop good eating habits (protein first, reduce sugars

as much as possible, eating balanced meals with fresh fruits and veggies,

blah, blah, blah) so that we can maintain optimal health. Many rules are

similar to non-DSers (fresh over processed foods, get enough fruit and

veggies as possible) but other rules are different (fat is pretty much our

'friend' except during the first year post-op when we want to maximize weight

loss and minimize intestinal upset, etc.; we require much more protein than

the average person so the advice to 'cut down on meats' really doesn't apply

to us).

So, in a nutshell, I don't think one can ruin the surgery and weight loss

will occur (one may be able to slow it by consuming lots of sugar, etc.) but

I think that one CAN ruin one's health or degrade it if we don't learn to eat

nutritionally and take care of ourselves.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth! LOL

all the best,

lap ds with gallbladder removal

January 25, 2001

Dr Gagner/Mt. Sinai/NYC

eight months post-op and still feelin' fabu!

preop: 307 lbs/bmi 45

now: 213