gina beana

Well. I have two days till I leave and only 3 days till surgery! Wow, you were all right when you said time would fly by... Except for this last week, which has crawled by and an absurdly slow pace!!! OMG could a day get any longer? This last few days seem to stretch on forever... But I know that I am almost there so I am trying to just stay buys. Busy really helps.
 
So this pre op diet has been a little tough at times. I think by starting my diet so early and working my way into it I have really helped my body not go into the shock of "no food". When I first got my surgery date scheduled last month I started rite away on a low carb diet. I knew I had to loose at least 15lb before surgery and I was not going to play around with my time. I had 4 weeks to go before surgery and i was going to make the best of it.
 
I started the first week by replacing one meal a day with a protein shake. This was easy. I was never really hungry and I eat when I wanted. I just made sure it was all very low carb. The 2nd week I replaced 2 meals a day with protein shakes. Again, not too hard for me. I was a little deprived but I still felt good and I always had dinner to look forward to. By the end of the first two weeks I was already down 12lb. Yay for me! I was very happy with myself. Then to the hard part. 2 weeks of full liquids only... Oh boy
 
By starting off slow I think I really helped myself be acclimated to not eating much. Even though it was hard the first few days (well most days were hard) I don't think it was as hard as it could have been. I had already found a couple shakes I liked, I was able to keep myself busy enough to keep my mind off of things and I was loosing weight. Which we all know is a huge boost of motivation!
 
Yes, I did cheat... But I cheated with things that I knew were not going to mess up my weight loss. During those times that I "JUST HAD TO EAT SOMETHING!" I would choose a pure protein. I had a few ounces of chicken one night. I had a grilled hamburger patty one evening, and last night I had 1/2 a can of tuna. The crazy thing! Even now without surgery those little tiny meals made me feel satisfied. That made me supper happy
 
So now, I have 2 days of liquid left before surgery. I can totally do this!
I am a little nervous, but I am so much more excited that I hardly notice the nervous side of me. Maybe I will break down the day before or the morning of surgery, but I really don't think so. Only time will tell. But I know for a fact that this is what God wants for my life. There is no other way things would have fallen into place so effortlessly. Between, the money being there, to the timing of my scheduling and even two of my sisters being able to come with me. Its just amazing...
 
So stay tuned Ill keep you all updated. I know I have many friends who are waiting to see how everything goes and I have promised a detailed account of my time at OCC and the care I receive from Dr Ortiz and his staff.
 
Later

Hi guys...
 
So, I am the person who if I can find a natural, fresh way to make something I will do it...
I know everyone is told drink Chrystal Light... Well, its not bad for me, but what if I can make something that tastes better that is even good for me and adding to my health not just my fluid intake...
 
I put together two different detox drink recopies and it tastes great! And its great for you!
Not only would it be good for pre op when we are trying to shrink our livers, but its good for after surgery too because of all the toxins that are released in our system when the storage cell (fat cells) are being burned. I just had to share this with you all...
 
2 gallons of water
3 or 4 bags of dandelion tea (or liver detox tea)
1 lemon sliced up
1/2 a fresh mango sliced up
2 oz fresh ginger sliced
1/2 cup pure cranberry juice (no sugar added)
 
I added 3 or 4 little packs of Splenda for taste
Let it all sit in a pitcher for an hour or two and drink away! I leave all the fruit in it the whole time and just keep adding more water with a litle more juice and splenda till all the flavor is gone from the fruit.
It should stay good in the fridge for about 2 or 3 days
 
Its pretty good stuff!!!