Wheetsin

Very normal. We can't digest plant cell walls - or most plant matter (for that matter, haha). This - along with chewing behavior - is why most people poop corn, tomato skins, cabbage, etc. Spinach is no different. Plus think of the consistency of cooked spinach - flat, and slippery when creamed. No way that's getting chewed up like something like a crouton would.

For proein drinks, or anything blender?

Ousooner, kudos to you for taking a stand against one of the most disgusting things our species is capable of. As I have said to Lisa25, I want to thank you for the stimulation and enlightenment that you bring to these discussions. While the larger "we" may not agree on much, it's refreshing and humbling to see threads of common human civility and not just tolerance but appreciation for human differences. And that's a lot of words that really boil down to thank you, also, for being a breath of fresh air.

:clap2: Even today we've seen the perpetuating of racial stereotyping and race discrimination. Perhaps some day people will learn to just "be".

No, I won't find that. But that's not to say YOU won't. Come on, Ron Cusano - realize that 10 people who read the bible will get what, 4, 5, maybe 6 different messages from it. And no, that's not a "low blow", it's at most a fact that you don't like. And yes, we know you're "right", but what I quoted wasn't my own work it was from Pastor Ken Coulter, as compiled and edited by Reverend Bob Ellis. And both of those men agree that: So since my post was to Laurend, if you disagree with the message I gave her, take it up with those two. Tell them they are wrong because they don't agree with you. Cheers.

Always a good practice! And IMO there are a few guidelines that indicate you're steering away from good debate and into bickering or argument, and even desperation: When things start moving toward personal attacks or condescension When people heavily engaged in debate suddenly cry foul When someone must have the last word - even if it's the maturity equivalent of "I'm rubber, you're glue!" When someone cannot express independent thought and can only pinpoint a very specific set of criteria (I had a co-worker who did this. You would ask, "Sean, what do you think?" And he would answer, "According to so and so..." "Ok, but what do YOU THINK?" "Well I once read..." When someone enters under the premise of being "right" versus the premise of trying to share information, explain a perspective, and potentially share insight or expand horizons I'm not usually active in R&R type threads on most boards. Intentionally. I really enjoyed this one, though, because except for a few bumps in the road we rarely saw any of the above.

I use Six Star, and I truly enjoy my Protein drinks. I can also do Isopure. For me the trick is to mix it with milk instead of Water. That makes a TOTAL different. I cannot drink them if they are just mixed in water, but even using 0 carb fat free milk makes a huge difference. My Protein Drinks made my gag when I mixed them with water, I couldn't even stand the smell of them. And before surgery I didn't drink milk so it never occurred to me. Then out of desperation to get my protein in I used some of DH's milk one day, and it was a definite A-HA! moment. I also use some sort of flavor enhancer. For my chocolate powder I will blend in some reduced fat Peanut Butter, or some sugar free Kahlua flavoring or Hazlenut, or some 0 carb cocoa mix, or about 1/3 package of Butterfinger brand cocoa mix, etc. In my vamilla powder I will add peanut butter, or 1 packet of Splenda and half/OJ half milk, or some sugar free macadamia flavoring, or a handful of cashews, or a half packet of Mott's cider mix (tastes kind of like an applie pie a la mode shake). Or some sugar free egg nog flavoring. Or whatever else I can find that sounds good.

I honestly don't. But absolutely, it's entirely possible. And I haven't read any of her posts outside of this thread, so perhaps other stories have been shared that I'm not considering.

Best wishes TOM!

I don't know what shows you're watching or newspapers you're reading, but most crime is intraracial not interracial. Take homicide as an example. Current through 2004: 86% of white victims were killed by whites 94% of black victims were killed by blacks (From the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.)

I feel drinks going down. They don't pinch me, but I can feel the temperature change from cold or warm drinks. You're still healing, which could be why you're twinging.

:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: Growing up I was the only one of my friends whose parents were still married. DH and I talked about the kids thing before we were married. Even though we didn't want them at the time, we agreed that IF we ever did, we would not have them right away. We both believe it's very important to establish yourselves as a couple and to know your husband and wife identity before you have to bring in the new identity of mother and father. That's part of why, even though we knew we eventually wanted to have a child a handful of years ago, we haven't done it yet. Part of it (my obesity was another part). I know everyone says "there's no perfect time to have kids, you can never wait until you're ready" but I never believed that, and it wasn't true for us. In a way I now wish I had done everything sooner - but the regret is weak because I KNOW that I wasn't ready to have a child before. There's no way DH and I were mature enough, or responsible enough. Jobs, careers, income, etc. aside, mentally - and in our relationsip - we weren't mature enough. It's amazing how much things can change in a year.

As stated, it's a logical fallacy. Ice cream sales go up in summer. Crime goes up in summer. Ice cream causes crime. Then again, a pint of Chubby Hubby could probably drive me to crime. :heh: :heh:

The only thing papya does for me is taste bad, and make my PB orange.

Woah woah... slow down for a sec. My cursed objectivity, perhaps, but I see lots of "divorce" and "use him to get your surgery, then leave him" being thrown around. But you haven't indicated any ongoing relationship problems. Everything you've mentioned is around his threatening to remove you from his policy. Are there more problems? Or is it possible that you're not seeing some turmoil that he's going through? (power, insecurities, uncertainties, etc.) My husband was a little Jerky before I had my surgery because he was afraid something would go wrong and he would lose me. He didn't know wha to do with those fears, and they ended up coming out in less-than-desirable behavior. Do you guys really think that "when he gets mad he threatens to remove me from his coverage" really warrants ending a marriage, or compromising integrity and happiness in order to use someone for a surgery? Obviously we don't know much about your situation, but I think that him threatening to remove you from his policy is FAR from reason to end the marriage, or use him just to get the surgery and dump him afterwards. Surgery can be a very emotionally charged situation. Especially weightloss surgery and all the hype around risks and complications, and fear of future changes. Will she leave me once she loses the weight? Will I have more "competition" and need to worry about things? Will I still be attractive to her if she loses weight and I haven't? Etc. And if it happens around more than the surgery, then its his way of feeling in control. A lot of people refue to go to counseling. It doesn't mean they don't care. Especially in the case of insecure men, they fear being told "it's your fault". You know how guys sometimes won't go to the doctor even though they know something is wrong, because they don't want to "officially" hear what the problem is? This is the same kind of situation. Girls, too - for sure - but guys in particular are really finicky about this kind of stuff. Maybe just take a step back and consider his situation and see if you can identify anything that would be causing him distress. Marriage is a two-way street. If he's just a jerk, then that's fine. But if this is atypical behavior (and I have the sense that it is, , you need to open up some communication and talk about fears and concerns, what's eating him, and how he's manifesting those emotions. Ok, that's my advice, worth exactly what you paid for it.

Carlene - that sounds familiar! Not the delivery aspect, but one of "his jobs" (we've pretty much split household responsibilities based on what we absolutely can't stand, don't mind, and enjoy) is to pick up the mail. Any "urgent - open immediately!" messages are brought straight to me, because he's afraid it's a late bill. Why? Because ONE TIME we had one bill that was 9 days late. :faint: I have everything set up on automated payments through our online banking. I don't actually have a manual process of paying bills. Once I came across one of those "get our card and save 30% off and get free delivery" deals, so I did it. And paid it off right there, but - I don't remember the details of what happened - somehow I ended up owing exactly $3 more than what I paid. So the combination of being spoiled by auto bill pay, and not expecting to get a bill from this place anyway, resulted in -- well, completely forgetting about it. So when they did send the bill, I assumed it was junk and trashed it w/o opening. And then they sent a late notice and I trashed it also - more junk mail. Then we got the courtesy call and uh-oh, better go pay our $3! DH freaked. He only has a loose idea of how most things here work (remebner - he's from another country). So he heard the voice message that our payment was late and truly believed our credit rating was instantly trashed and we would never be able to qualify for a loan again. I explained it to him, but he still has this sort of worrisome fear about it. So anytime mail comes in that's "urgent", or if an envelope contains a colored piece of paper (the late notice I trashed had green paper instead of white) he tends to overreact.

Is that really how you would reason or explain the why here? Some woud say that a rural area (aka out of the way, sparsely populated, more chances that someone knows someone, etc.) should expect low crime, by virtue of being a rural area, not by virtue of people owning guns.

If someone leads our relationship it's me, but that's only by virtue of having the stronger personality, as Green has said. We still discuss major decisions and we still compromise, and see each other as equal contributors. For the most part, there are just lots of things DH doesn't care about, or prefers not to deal with. If he had his druthers I wouldn't work, but I do and he enjoys that I do. We both enjoy the extra income, he enjoys that I excel at what I do - even though he doesn't really understand what I do. And he would never pressure me to stay at home, but he has made it known that if it's ever my desire, I will have his support. Before we were married he said up front that he wanted me to handle all things money, so I do. We have a joint account, our checks are deposited, and unless I ask him to go look, or he asks me, he couldn't tell you what's in the account at any given point in time. He doesn't know what bills we have (other than the obvious), and has never yet bothered to memorize the login info for our banking. For the most part he doesn't care how much money I spend or what I'm spending it on - in his words, "As long as there's a roof over our head, food on our table, and clothes on our backs - I don't care." I drive most decisions with house things, with his input - when he has any. Meaning decorating, what to do with this space, landscaping, etc. He sees the house as "my" territory, just as I see electronics "his". When we bought a new TV, for the most part he picked out what he wanted, then showed it to me for thumbs up or down. Superficial example, I know, but we recognize each other has strengths and knowledge, and that sometimes things are better if we keep our noses out of them. On the surface we have very little in common. Movies, books, shows, activities with friends -- we're like night and day. But when it comes to the core issues that can really make or break a relationship, we're virtually identical. That works for us, and has left us with very few things we truly disagree on. The only one I can think of in the past year has been where to place lattice around the deck stairs. :faint:

Laurend - seen as immoral by most Christian standards and beliefs

So why the heck didn't you move to Australia?!? J/K My husband is from Sweden. We had several long talks over who would be moving where. Fortunately no one thinks I'm nuts. :heh:

Fills get you to restriction, but a fill in and of itself isn't going to do anything for your appetite. As Jachut said, it may take several fills before you get there.

I have this idea of what it will be like to be banded. Mostly, in my imagination, I'll eat a few bites and will feel stuffed. It may take more than a few bites, but yeah - that's pretty much it. Does the "full" or satiation sensation happen now if it didn't before? Or is it just that distended-gut-holy-crap-I-ate-a-lot feeling happening more quickly? For me, it didn't just come. I had to learn to "listen" to my body, and recognize the difference between no longer hungry and full. Before surgery full had no meaning to me, because for the most part I was either hungry or so full I was miserable. Having been able to recognize that state, I've felt "gut-busting full" maybe twice since surgery, always a result of Protein Drinks. In the beginning I listened for this no longer hungry state because I was afraid that going over it would mean having to bring the extra back up. Now it happens without conscious thought. So - woohoo - I'm unconsciously competent! Is stomach hunger less intense or more manageable after the band? Well - I felt extraordinarily hungry right after the band, but had no appetite. Sounds weird, huh? He's how I explained it at the time: it feels like I have two stomachs, a top stomach and a bottom stomach. The bottom stomach is growling and growling, and as much as I know that means "feed me", I'm not hungry and have no desire to eat. I was one of the lucky ones (subject to POV) because I lost my appetite on the pre-op diet and it still, nearly a year later, hasn't really returned. I rarely feel true hunger, and when I do I either eat or ignore it because I have no interest in eating. I mean, how much to you guys eat in a meal? I'm having trouble imagining what portions sizes look like on the band... Would one of those little McDonalds Cheeseburgers be a big (if unhealthy) portion size? Quantity-wise I could eat a cheeseburger. If I go to McD's I get the "Fruit n' yogurt parfait" and don't finish it. Once, about a month post-op, I got a chicken nugget happy meal and one nugget in I was stuffed. Part of what you'll realize is that you eat different amounts on different days, because as much as it doesn't make sense what you can eat and the amount is almost constantly changing (though there certainly are some consistents). And I have days where it's just hard to eat anything, no matter how easy it normally is. But back to quantiites... do you ever go to Chipotle? One of my most frequent "grab something on the way home" is a Chipotle bol, no rice, extra black Beans, chicken. I will get at least two meals out of that and most often three. For lunch yesterday I had one of the small Lunchables (I think it's 8 crackers, 8 meats and 8 cheeses) and couldn't finish it, but Sunday I ate a full piece of quiche. I do have direct experience with cravings/head hunger and weight loss. After a few months of Atkins, I didn't ever want to see or eat potatoes ever again- nasty. Only whole grain breads and Pasta tasted right- white bread and normal pasta seemed flavorless. I had the same experience. Wheat flour products began to be the only ones that tasted "right". (I followed induction for over a year, then branched out into the different rungs) But my chocolate addiction was in full-force, perhaps even stronger! LOL. The darker the better, sugar content/sweetness was irrelevant. I was even trying to score real cocoa beans to brew into a coffee-like death-drink! LOL. So I'm ready for that to happen all over again, but maybe the band is different? Did your tastes change drastically as the weight came off? Not a whole lot, but in some areas. I crave completely different foods now. And while my tastes haven't necessarily changed, I've found it very, very easy to give up certain foods for band-related reasons. One of these is red meat. I haven't had a piece of red meat in nearly a year, because for me, by the time I'm done chewing it enough that I feel comfortable swallowing it, it's a tasteless wad of muck in my mouth. And with meats like hamburger, realizing how impossible it is to chew it thoroughly made it that much less appetizing. (With the weight back on and my insulin resistance back up? Potatoes, white bread and pasta started tasting good again... *sigh*) Do you plan to also watch your carb intake in addition to eating the bandster size meals? I watch mine. Just because I feel better when I do, and it does help my weightloss. Weird. I don't watch them like a hawk the way I did on Atkins, but I try to maintain an awareness.

Do you think he would have actually removed you from his policy, or do you think - since he knows how badly you want this - that it has become a power source for him... a way to have control when he needs it? Sounds 95% like a power struggle to me. And his own insecurities can be fueling that as much as any other factor. Think of a newlywed couple (not saying you are, just making an analogy) where the man has professed his love & worship for the female, so the female - knowing this man has essentially no limits in what he will tolerate - uses, "If you do this/that, our relationship is over" as a way to force him into submission over even the most trivial of situations.

I didn't have a test, just therapy type sessions. Part of what the psychologist should do is identify your eating triggers (behavioral, emotional, etc.) and help you identify ways to cope with them. Also to determine your expectations for the surgery, and how you will respond if those expectations are/aren't met. Also to determine any eating disorders that may be present. Just be honest. Any help and advice you get will only benefit you. And don't be nervous.

I showered the morning after surgery. I didn't have steristrips, I had staples covered with a super sticky clear "tape" type stuff, that was pretty much worn off by the time I went to have the staples removed 7 days later. While there they put on steristrips and said leave them for a week, but 3 days in they started falling off.