For the Benefit of Pre-Ops: DSers, what are YOU eating today??

I think I got a different message than most people get from their docs (RNY).  Many are told they will never eat certain foods again, but my doc seemed more realistic, he understood everything is a choice.  I never BELIEVED I would not eat good foods again.

Volume/Binge Eating was one of my biggest issues.  I could recount what I ate, but frankly I am too ashamed.  DS would have allowed me to continue Binging.  With RNY, if I chose to binge I either wouldn't be able to, or worse, my RNY would slap me down for it.  As it turned out, I got slapped down an amazingly few number of times before binge eating was no longer attractive.

After about 1-1.5 years, I can eat anything I want, and I want it in reasonable portions.  I've had every fine meal I ever had before, and enjoyed it as much, if not more since there was no shame or guilt involved.

Now, I can't eat 5 gallons of Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice-Cream, but I can eat 2 scoops.  I can no longer eat a 32 oz Prime Rib, but I can put a good hurt on an 8 oz one.  I can eat fine chocolate, drink fine liqueur, and virtually anything I desire, but in rational quantities, which makes me very happy.

Again, *I* had an issue with *my* food quantities.  DS wouldn't have changed that dramatically, where RNY would.  It seems many/most DSers are happy with their results which is great.  *I* wouldn't have been, and *I* am just as thrilled ('more' would be arrogant) with my results.

Well, the RNY surgeon I saw didn't really tell me anything---he was, pure and simple, an RNY-mill surgeon. Get 'em in, get 'em out, send the bill.

Most of the post-op RNY eating info I got, I got right here at OH. I read far too many posts about living on three bites of food, never knowing when something would get stuck and/or come back up, dumping, food intolerances, and "oh, I could NEVER eat that!". Scared the crap outta me.

Nope, the DS would NOT have allowed you to keep bingeing. It *might* have eventually allowed you to RETURN to bingeing, but trust me, there is most definitely restriction. The eating "freedom" for me is more in the nature of the foods---it tickles me no end to malabsorb 80% of the fat I eat. Fatty foods are much more satisfying for me, and fat makes up a huge per centage of the calories I consume each day.

A 'normal' meal for me, for example, would be a small garden salad, part of a baked potato---slathered with LOTS of butter and sour cream---a 6-ounce well-marbled ribeye, a yeast roll---slathered in butter---a couple of glasses of tea, and a piece of cheesecake. Not a really large volume of food, but a lot of calories consumed but not fully absorbed.

I do agree that no surgery is the best choice for everyone, because we all have different needs and wants. I just hate for people to choose one without knowing about them ALL, and we see people every day who had surgery without ever hearing about the DS.

So we're a mouthy bunch. (*grin*)

Mouthy?  Perhaps.  I think it just shows that two reasonable people can have both extremely opposite opinions and still be able to talk about them reasonably.  I think we both get that everyone's experience is their own.

Frankly, and I've said this before... OH Message Boards, actually pretty much all WLS message boards, are very bad sources of information.  I've also said before, frequently, that here on OH, you will read that someone eats, drinks, smokes, injects everything possible from the day of surgery onward.  If you want to find someone doing it, just ask, you will.  "OH Gospel" is that whatever is repeated often enough is truth, whether it's true or not.  I was, and still am amazed at the misinformation spouted as gospel here.

When I was researching/reading, I was less concerned with eating and more concerned with life activities.  I spent a lot of time on journals, particularly people who had problems.  I spent a lot of time looking at my surgeons patients, and talking to them.

Early Post-Op, no surgery allows binging.  My previous statement was simplistic for brevity (LOL).  Returning to binging would have been a step by step process.  The RNY stops those steps early on, where DS wouldn't have [most likely, based on often reported abilities by DS patients.]

Another reason the RNY fit me is that I am a meat eater... I love cooked meats.

I don't really have a 'normal' meal, I still go in streaks of eating the same thing for months, then changing to another food, which I eat for months.  OCD is such a joy sometimes.  But, to compare our meals, I'll use yours to show my comparable meal:

6oz Rib eye sounds GREAT. or Prime Rib.  I might throw in a Lobster Tail.
I'm not a big bread fan, but will sometimes have a piece, slathered with butter;
I'm also not a big salad fan, but will have a small one with blue cheese dressing;
Baked Potato with the works (Sour Cream, Cheese, Butter, Chives, Bacon...)
Tea? Eh... Soda.
Never been a big desert kinda guy.

As you can see, not a whole lot different.  There might be a few bites of each item left on my plate.

The only time recently I wish I didn't have surgery was on our last cruise a month ago.  We went the the premium steak house, and got a Rib Eye that literally melted in your mouth, it had to be the best I've ever tasted.  I managed about 6-7oz.  Interestingly, my Non-Op wife felt the same way about the Rib Eye, and could also only manage 6-7 oz.  We both wished we could take a doggy bag.

I had that experience several times in Montana last summer. You can get a drop dead fabulous steak in any of many places, and quite a few times I found myself eyeballing the last five or six bites of my smallest hunk o meat on the menu and whining that NOTHING more would fit.

I think Montana just went up a few slots in my "places to visit" list.

If you should decide to pay a visit next summer, I would be honored to be your tour guide :-).

I think you might have been surprised with the DS. My list of food from yesterday amounted to about a plate and a half of food, total, eaten over about a three hour period. It's a NORMAL amount of food, and a fraction of what the other guests ate, including my husband. They all ate to the point of groaning and, in a couple of cases, needing a nap. I was happy as a clam and ready for my next round of protein and goodies two hours later, just like I always am.

As with all things, each of our experiences are our own.

The best thing is that you, I, and many others are happy with our choice of WLS, and are living life better than ever before.

What many people don't realize in the "Surgery Wars" that often errupt is that we are all different: Physically, Emotionally, Historically.  We all evaluate the features of each WLS, and along with our experiences, arrive at what we feel is the appropriate option for us.  Many people don't understand or accept that what one person may object to another blesses.  The aspects of each WLS that create success for one person can create failure in the next.

We don't have to understand others choices.  We just have to accept that they've thought out their choices every bit as much as we have.  AND... that people are different.

I was also unhappy with my relationship with food, but I didn't need to get it right, the food did.  Now I can eat like the rest of my *normal*, skinny family and I don't gain weight.  Previously when I ate like the rest of the family, I did gain weight but they did not.

That's why I say that I didn't need to get right with food, food needed to get right with me!  (I stole that from someone but I can't remember who or I would give them the credit.)

I am happy that we both got what we wanted.

Michele

"I didn't need to get right with food, food needed to get right with me" is a quote from Melanie Magruder. Perfectly describes how I feel as well.