Question:
Please help I am sooo confused
I have a friend who just had this surgery and soon I go in for my intial intake appointment but my friend tells me things that are horrifing me like for instance You will never be able to have anything with sugar in it? or You cant have any fat what so ever for the rest of your life? Are these things true. I understand I will have to change my eating habits but am I going to be limited to fat free broth the rest of my life? — Dana W. (posted on January 6, 2002)
January 5, 2002
Dana, I am 6 1/2 months post open prox. RNY. I can eat almost anything that
I want to. Never is a long time to not have a bite of something. But, by
choice, I avoid certain foods that for me trigger "binge eating."
Old habits die hard. I cannot eat my binge foods because they are what got
me to 321 lbs. to begin with! I want my excess weight gone forever, not
just temporary like the other times I have yo-yo'd. I also have a few foods
that do not agree with me and this is ok. I don't really mind avoiding
those few. As for fats? I live at the coast & am allergic to shellfish.
So, I do eat "fish & chips" (yes, fried fish) almost every
day--out in a restaurant. I replace the "chips" with a baked
potato or cottage cheese. I use the regular white tartar sauce. On
occasion, I will eat pringles baked chips. I also eat Pistachio nuts for
the protein & they are higher in fat than something else I COULD eat
instead. My tastes have changed a lot, so I don't really miss Pizza &
breads...which got me obese more than candy did. I had a sliver of pie at
the holiday. Several slivers, just not in the same day. Life is good -123
pounds from where I was six months ago. I live normally, eat out, eat at
home, cook, and life goes on. The only difference is I do exercise now and
take vitamins and protein supplements. Good luck.
— Barbara B.
January 5, 2002
There are some that cannot tolerate certain foods that contain sugar,
greasy foods, milk products, eggs. I tolerate all of them. What is
strange is that my tastes have changed and after a couple of teeny tiny
bites of sugar or fried foods, I don't want anymore. I peel the fried
breading off of the meat. I can have it if I want a couple of bites
though. Also, you will malabsorb fats, and your body needs fats for
different things like hair, skin, nails, so you don't want to cut out fats
completely. Anything in small amounts is fine, if tolerated.
— Cheri M.
January 5, 2002
Barb has explained it perfectly... I go through the day and can eat what I
want... but my wants are different post op. True that I will never again
eat an entire Entennmen's Ultimate Crumb Cake in a day and a half, but I
truly dont want to! I am a gourmet cook pre op and still am post op... I
just am more aware of my ingredients... lower fat and low sugar and low
carbohydrate still means great food. Instead of a pint of Ben and Jerrys I
eat a 1/2 cup of No Sugar Added Breyers Vanilla and it tastes heavenly and
I am perfectly happy with it. I make low sugar cream puffs and eclairs,
napoleans, banana cream pie, pumpkin pie, cheesecakes... and still
entertain family and guests for dinners and parties. Except now, everyone
eats healthier and I am a size 12 instead of a size 26. You have to decide
what is more important, being healthy and enjoying life and food OR
steadily gaining more weight as the years go on, having more medical
problems in coming years and devouring food without even tasting it. You
have to be in a place where you want to make the change and it is a natural
proression for you. Good luck in coming to terms.
— SusanMaria
January 5, 2002
I am only five weeks post-op but I enjoy a variety of foods. I am careful
about fats but eat any kind of meat I wish as long as I chew it well. I
haven't eaten any refined sugar - I don't want to know if I dump - I will
just assume that I do and that keeps me honest. When I feel the urge for
something sweet (and that is rare - it seems I've lost my taste for very
sweet things) I eat a sugar-free popscicle or fudge bar. Blue Bunny makes
some wonderful no sugar added ones that are sweetened with Splenda. Before
surgery I drank at least 60 ounces of Coke (not diet) a day. In the last 5
1/2 weeks since my surgery, I haven't even wanted a Coke - and my son keeps
them in the house all the time. Now I drink 60 - 80 ounces of water and
Crystal Lite a day. My hands, feet and ankles are no longer so swollen
that I can hardly move them.
I would say that you are not giving up good foods - just exchanging bad
foods that taste good for good foods that are good for you and taste good.
Best of luck with your decision - only you can decide what is going to work
for you. As for me, I thank God everyday for this tool.
Patty
— Patty_Butler
January 5, 2002
Cheri made an excellent point. We (and I mean most of this country, not
just MO) have been brainwashed in the last few years to believe that fat is
BAD and we should not eat any. Well, too much fat is not good for you, but
your body needs protein, carbs and fat to function properly. I know I see
a lot of posts about avoiding carbs and then people talke about eating
fruits and veggies. Well those are carbs. They're not starches like bread
and pasta, but they are carbs. As a very good friend of mine once said,
everything in moderation. I haven't had the surgery yet and I think about
the foods I won't be able to pig out on but I also read of all the people
who say they don't want those things post-op. I'm trusting that these
many, many, many people aren't wrong. I just have to believe that I'll be
able to do it. Otherwise I am looking at being unable to care for myself
in the very near future and I do NOT want that to happen.
— [Anonymous]
January 5, 2002
Well I can eat anything, which is a blessing and a curse. Everyone can eat
a bite or two of ANYTHING, even folks who dump. Your friend is
missinformed, its not a zero tolerance kinda thing. I sometimes think it
would be better if I dumped......
— bob-haller
January 6, 2002
Like everyone here has stated... individual tolerances are just that -
individual. I was never a big chocolate eater before surgery, but I can
tell you now that I have NO want or desire for chocolate or anything sweet
for anymore. I did try a dark chocolate turtle on Christmas Day and 'no' I
did not dump, but will I be trying one anytime soon? No... but that is my
choice. It just didn't "taste" good and I found that I really
did not enjoy it like I thought I would. As far as fats, I don't watch it
too much (or rather I don't obsess out it). Compared to what I ate pre
surgery, the 2 or 3 bites that make up my meals these days won't have
enough fat in them to make any difference... and we need fats to be
healthy. Now don't get me wrong... I watch what kind of fats I consume
and I when I have a chance to buy fat free vs regular I generally will.
But I still eat regular cheese, regular p-nut butter and I prefer sugar
free hot chocolate to fat free. But I do buy Skim milk, lite sour cream,
low fat broth and fat free crackers. To say that you will never ever be
able to eat sugar and fats again is very mis-leading and not true. You
will make of your new way of eating just what you want it to be. Some have
the surgery and go "ultra-healthy", others just "watch"
what they consume and still some will disregard healthy eating altogether
and consume whatever and however much they want. Good luck and don't worry
about it... I think you will find that after the surgery you will be like
most of us and not really want sweets or fats anymore.
— Kellie Jo B.
January 6, 2002
First of all you need to decide how badly you want to lose weight and what
you are in fact willing to give up. I had my surgery in July 2001 and am
able to eat pretty normal, just in a lot smaller quantities. I had no want
for sweets until the last few weeks and have found that I can tolerate
small amounts of the chocolate that I crave. I wish I didn't even want it
but I don't have the dumping that others speak of, though for my own
benefit I wish I did. I still have to work at self control and make the
right food choices and it is hard sometimes. One thing that I do like is
that I can eat things that I couldn't before because I would eat too much
of them, like cheesy pizza and nachos etc, because my stomach is smaller I
can't overeat so I get to enjoy some of the "bad" stuff and not
feel bad. I stay away from sugar and sweets for the most part and am very
selective when I choose something that would possibly make me gain. I have
come too far to go back now. But I would have the surgery again in a minute
if given the chance again, it will all be worth it in the end.
— Monica F.
January 6, 2002
Everyone is different in what they can eat post-op. The biggest factor is
which type of surgery you have. There are several choices available to
you. You need to do research on each of them and decide which is best
suited for you.
— [Anonymous]
January 6, 2002
I believe that if you are really tired of being fat and unhealthy you don't
have any confusion when it comes to having this surgery. For those of us
that have been on the diet yo-yo for years WLS is an answer to our prayers.
Only you can decide if this is for you, but before you decide remember
that if you are ready for this tool you won't miss the sugar, starches, and
all the other bad foods at all. It will actually feel good to you to eat a
healthy diet.
Vicki
— vmize
January 6, 2002
Hi Dana: I am one week short of 5 mos post op and I had open RNY Distal.
I am down 106 pounds even through the holidays. I eat what ever sounds
good and eat all of the sugar or fats that I want. Actually, anything that
is the least bit sweet goes down real well :)......but for the most part,
I stick to my proteins and liquids. I try to make each and every meal well
rounded..a little from each food group. From my understanding most of us
Distal's can eat all the sugar and fats that we want and don't absorb much
of it at all. Proximal patients have to watch sugar and fats very
carefully as they will dump on these. If I feel like 2 small cookies or a
small sliver of cake, I eat it. I deny myself nothing, as it drives me
crazy for days. Good Luck with your decision on which procedure....
— Joi G.
January 6, 2002
Have you looked into the Duodenal Switch procedure? I was not willing to
live with dumping syndrome so this is the procedure I have chosen. Check
out www.duodenalswitch.com for more info.
— [Anonymous]
January 7, 2002
I am 8 months out lap rny. I eat most things with no problem except for
bread and sugar, which I should not be eating anyway! As time passes, most
of us find that we can tolerate more of the things we couldn't at first. My
sugar tolerance has increased from 6-8 grams at a time to near 20. This
means that if I want a couple of bites of dessert, I can have it. I never
had a problem with fats (although some do) and my calorie profile usually
looks like 40% calories from protein, 40% fat, and 20% carbs. I don't feel
deprived and feel that this is something I can maintain for the rest of my
life. Yeah, dumping sucks, but it usually follows you doing something you
KNOW you are not supposed to do and it only lasts about 20-30 minutes. It
keeps you honest. Remember that if your friend just had the surgery she is
probably still swollen inside and on liquids. She may also be going thru
that post-op depression that happens to a lot of us. Take a look thru the
library and you'll see that all of us are affected a little differently and
for the most part once the initial changes are past, the lifestyle changes
required are not that big of a deal. Good luck on your decision!
— ctyst
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