Madam Reverie

Try to stay away from artificial sweeteners... And things with lots of fat and fake flavouring.. They definitely promote that 'ickie' feeling...

Is this a genuine question?

To defuse the tension, how's about winking at him and saying .. 'Yo, Richard Simmons, you can always come over here and help me burn some of this off ;)'

It's probably the tethering stitch and gas. Perfectly normal. Will disappear at the three week mark -ish - if not sooner.

What beautiful eyes they both have. Where'd they get those peepers from?

Is the survey active? The poor undergrad who has to compile the results and interpret them might have already concluded their research?!

Well, I'm taking enough codeine for it.. I want to take declofenac or ibuprofen but I'm unsure whether with the sleeve, I can.... Apparently it 'sticks'...

It's all cracking until one starts crying and the other one starts spewing Sleeve or no sleeve laura-ven can hold her tequila Ok imma going to have to imagine your pretty eyes to go with the rest of the fabulousness I'm seeing... : Don't kill me I can't draw! LOL Brilliant! The sad thing about that? You're actually not far wrong from reality.. Could have just done with a few fine red veins where the alcohol had started getting into my system!

I don't do full disclosure on t'internet. You and the girls look like you're having a cracking time, btw!

I nearly broke my ankle instead.. In fact, we're not sure whether I need to go and get it x-rayed. Its black and blue and quite a bit swollen where it shouldn't really be. Odd shaped. I am looking at it as I type.. All wrapped up in a bandage with my hue of blue toes pointing out at the bottom. It's a bit of a mess! Least I didn't feel much when I did it!

I'm getting it on my hip bones when I wake up... Its not nice... and also my shoulders... I was actually giving consideration to get some of that padding they use for people who are bed-bound, it's that sore!

This is an average - seeing as we're right in the middle of Christmas and all rules go out of the window. Breakfast - Protein shake or Protein bar - both 20gs of protein, so all good. Failing that - an egg and perhaps a sausage and cooked tomato and perhaps some baked Beans or mushrooms lunch - Small tortilla, deli ham/chicken/sweetcorn, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, smearing of salad cream. Cut in half, eat in two goes. dinner - Roasted meat (chicken drumstick/lamb chop), half a very small jacket potato, mixed salad, smearing of salad cream. Snacks - pot of yoghurt, nuts, dried cranberries - that sort of thing.

Welcome to the madness and the best of luck for your surgery. Nice touch on the first class, btw... You'll be grateful for that

Charideeeeeeee for the day-to-day stuff. For the 'not so' day-to-day, I shall consider selling the stuff that I know my larger friends won't want - or would like, but know they wouldn't wear... (No point in offering a red floor length leather coat by Anna Scholtz to people who are fairly conservative) If you want them to go to a 'good home' and rather than making them feel self conscious about their size? Why not have a girly 'get-together', with all your stuff hung up on a couple of racks. Fill them full of wine and canapes and ask them to help themselves? Or even get them to bring some of their stuff over for a 'swap shop'.. I don't think any of us will recoup the money we spent on most of our items, but if you managed to swap something for something else that might not be in the same price bracket, but appeals to you for this season? Might be a winner?

The difference between symbolism and 'actual'?! Pah.. who cares?!

Yep, that's a seriously cute baby

eggs, to me, sank in my stomach like a brick. Could only eat half an egg - at best. Roasted meats and veggies and gravy made me feel like a normal human being. It was the best feeling ever

and don't panic, Jim. We've all been there. Just holla whenever you need to ask anything.

In the pureed stage, you're looking for the consistency of runny custard. So, make the mash a bit watery with extra milk and perhaps cheese (I struggled with cheese early on) and make sure the chicken is so well cooked, it disintegrates in the gravy like you would see it in canned Soup. I am not sure about canned 'salad' consistency, because I don't use canned foods. As for Tuna, I think you might find that a bit fibrous. I'd go with the chicken mash and gravy option first and work your way up to the others.

EVERYONE gets the jitters. Put the video out of your mind. Deep breath, head down and ATTACK!!! You can do this, honey. Walk into that hospital with your head held high, distract yourself with things to do until the time, then you only have one mission, which is to rock it. As the military say - Failure, is NOT an option... As for your son - give him lots of love and hugs - because he's right. You brought life into this world, Lady?! This is going to be a cake-walk x

Jim, Laura is absolutely right. Do you have children? If so, when they were wee little babies, what did you feed them? To add to what Laura has told you, go on google, search 'baby food recipes' and go from there. Or search 'recipe's' or 'pureed stage' in the forum topics and there are a plethora of food ideas on there. If you're on a tight budget and have to cook for the whole family - or even just the two of you - as Laura said; boil a chicken, shred it, make instant mash and a bit of gravy. Cant go wrong with that and it'll taste heavenly. It'll also last you for quite a few days.... if it's cooking techniques you're both unsure of - let us know what you'd like to eat (within reason, of course!) and we might be able to give you step-by-step instructions on what to do when you get the raw ingredients to the kitchen.

if it was me, I'd be going on mushies now. I ate prawn cocktail in marie-rose sauce 11 days out. Chewed it like anything and it felt good - really good. The real Protein made me feel like a new human being. Before anyone flails me, I got approval for it from the surgeon and the bariatric nurse. Whatever you eat, take it really slowly and chew like a mofo... Mushies should be the consistency of runny custard. Don't worry about calories too much at this stage. You physically won't be able to get down so many that it'll detrimentally impact upon your weight loss. Unless, of course, you start sucking down chocolate and ice cream. That way lies grave danger. Jim, I wouldn't worry too much. You got a food plan from your doctor, didn't you? If not, stick to the basics. Very lean meat, nothing too spicy/seasoned, vegetables well boiled and the whole lot blitzed beyond recognition in a blender. Stay away from crap like processed burgers/fried foods. They will make you sick. Think healthy baby-food. Once you get on them, you'll feel very different and the nutrients will do you good.