BethFromVA

Ew, sorry to hear it. It's so funny because the nurse told me that I could expect to lose 8-15 pounds pre-op on the liquid phase, and I looked her dead in the eye and said no problem. I lost 15 pounds the first week on a good, healthy, monitored diet where I actually ATE.

Room for one more? Four more days... just four more days! Hello, all!

I know, I can hardly wait! And I don't know how others fared, but I feel very fortunate. I haven't really been horribly hungry since I began liquids on Friday -- but I HAVE lost 10 pounds already!! Five alone were lost from Friday moring to Saturday morning!

I need to get off of this thread... day 4 of liquids, and them eggs is sounding GOOD. :smile2:

I don't know... I just can't hang that much hope on one guy, even if he DOES think he's the messiah. Politicians have been making promises since the beginning of time... and breaking them for just as long. One man can't do anything. The thing that worries me is how even yesterday he's saying he will do ANYTHING to get this country back on track. What does that mean to all of us? More taxes? Fewer jobs as a result? Most of the problems we have are DUE to what our politicians have done to us as a nation. NOW they're gonna fix it?? I just don't have that much faith OR hope. And look at the stock market. Since Obama has been elected, it has plunged. Not just gone down, but plunged. The only thing that is up right now are gun sales. I believe both of these candidates will or would put us in further debt. I only saw McCain's version of it as maybe happening a bit slower, but hell, the death of a country happens whether it's fast or slow. I believe Obama's socialism will be the final nail in the coffin. I hope I'm wrong with all my heart, but my head tells me we're doomed. As for the religious types, you've mentioned it twice now and I guess I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean religions=conservative, I never saw McCain as being religious, so that's not even an issue to me. The people were enough to deny amnesty that was cooked up in late-night behind-door sessions by our illustrious "representatives" -- not once, not twice, but THREE times. The people spoke, blew up the Capitol switchboard, and contacted their representatives (I know I did on many occasions), letter campaigns, e-mails, you name it. The people spoke on this issue, but it's only a matter of time before they try to shove it down our throats again. And I, for one, will NOT stand by while we are bleeding to death and the government is STILL pandering to a bunch of thieves and criminals. I am so concerned for this country right now, you have no idea. No wonder people want to look to Obama like he's the Second Coming. Problem is, he IS just a man, and I believe that when he can't deliver what he promises, he's going to fall harder than anybody -- and yes, sad to say it, partially because he's black.

I've made a promise to myself and to God that I will not complain about being hungry through this process. I am on day 3 of pre-op liquids, and so far so good. I'm amazingly doing better than I ever thought I would. Hunger really hasn't been too bad, and I've been getting in a lot of protein (over 120) without going over my 50 maximum carbs. I just try to space the supplements out, mixing cold with warm (warm seems to make me feel like I ate something), and playing with my Unjury packets to see what works. Last night I blended some 1% milk with a vanilla Unjury packet and added a couple tablespoons of pumpkin, some cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and an ice cube, and blended in my new cute little Hamilton Beach single-serve blender (the blender cup is also a drinking cup!). That was tasty, almost like a dessert! Anyway, this is my promise to myself. ANYthing has got to be better than being fat.

Like I said, I felt we had no good candidates. That McCain would come from a border state and actually try to force amnesty on us time after time after time was absolutely the one thing that made me hate the man. Texas is almost as bad off as Arizona. How could he represent your state and not see the hospitals closing, the extensive costs, and the jobs lost by Americans and still want those people here?? Which, like you, absolutely SHOCKS me that Arizona went for the guy. I don't get it any better than you do. My view on our government is this: ANY president who comes down the pike and talks about raising our taxes one red cent need to be drawn and quartered before meeting the firing squad so long as we have illegals running rampant in our country and the government deals with it by a nod-nod and wink-wink. It's time for the people to start taking our country back. Certainly our asshole politicians aren't going to do it.

It's amazing how different all the post-op instructions are. My doc will have me on liquids for two weeks, then mushies for two weeks. Don't expect to be onto regular food until about 12/19. Oh, and I get pain meds and Ambien for help with sleep.

Not necessarily. I have done some exercises which really work the abdominal cavity. Lay on the floor with legs straight up (if you can) and do crunches where you rais your arms up and try to touch your toes. Or even use a medicine ball (heavy, dense ball used for exercising) to add some weight to your lift. That is one good tool for working the abs that don't typically get worked out via conventional exercises.

I've made a promise to myself and to God that I will not complain about being hungry through this process. I am on day 3 of pre-op liquids, and so far so good. I'm amazingly doing better than I ever thought I would. Hunger really hasn't been too bad, and I've been getting in a lot of protein (over 120) without going over my 50 maximum carbs. I just try to space the supplements out, mixing cold with warm (warm seems to make me feel like I ate something), and playing with my Unjury packets to see what works. Last night I blended some 1% milk with a vanilla Unjury packet and added a couple tablespoons of pumpkin, some cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and an ice cube, and blended in my new cute little Hamilton Beach single-serve blender (the blender cup is also a drinking cup!). That was tasty, almost like a dessert! Anyway, this is my promise to myself. ANYthing has got to be better than being fat.

I can't attest to the nutrition information, but the grocery store sells packets of egg drop soup. You just heat it and add the eggs. It's really REALLY good. I used to make it a few years ago. And it's cheaper and for sure doesn't have the oil issue.

You're preaching to the choir on the illegals. I spent 27 of my 43 years in Texas. And frankly, that was THE major hitch to me where McCain was concerned. How can you be a conservative AND come from a border state and want to give amnesty?????

Not all states have personal property taxes. I came from a state that didn't and moved to one that does. Then again, one has to have a vehicle to pay their share too, and not all do. Actually, far from it. I don't WANT to see more people milking the system. The fact is, too many do. Hell, until recently we had generational welfare recipients! Many have the belief that they are entitled. There are still some good people out there who have pride and want to do it themselves, but then we have the Jerry Springer/Maury Povitch generation who pop out babies they can't afford and just go on the system for us to take care of their problem(s). I agree, there needs to be an incentive. But these people can get an education easier than I can and have have help left and right. For all these single moms, they never wanted to take advantage of the free birth control all over the freakin place, but they sure have no problem sticking their hand out for the money. I too work in the system and see TONS of deadbeat people who fit the mold I mention. I am sure I work on a different end of the system, but when I see one guy coming in who has 12 kids with 10 women and he's only in his early 30's, not paying child support, and seems very proud of himself, I just can't get on the "feel good" bandwagon. As for unemployment, one quick fix would be to start arresting business owners who hire illegals. It's INSANE that we have unemployment, yet allow these lowlifes to stay here and steal jobs from Americans. Yet we pander to them too -- not only by looking the other way, but by forking over BILLIONS to them, their kids, etc. We KNOW where we can start fixing the problems, but for whatever reason, nobody wants to do it.

WAY TO GO STACY!! I know that's gotta feel fantastic!!

Yes, that's exactly what it means. It's not quite the same, but true, people who live in apartments and who are illegals don't pay for schools like everybody else does. Just imagine if everybody did their fair share. More often than not, there IS a correlation. I have seen waaay too many people choose to live off welfare than work two or three jobs to make ends meet. It happens all the time. This certainly isn't the America my grandparents lived in, where you actually did whatever needed to be done (legally) to survive. Today's deadbeats are expensive hangers-on and nothing more.

So we potentially have a saggy pootie to look forward to now? :thumbup:

It's hard to explain, but you'll know. Lordy, will you know! lol I've only had it happen a few times, but wowza... *givin' me ideas* :thumbup:

Okay, what blows my mind is that I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia about 6 years ago when I was having issues (turned out to be my gall bladder which needed an emergency removal), but when I did the barium swallow for this procedure, it showed no hernia! And that just can't be right because I have been going through issues again of issues when I swallow, like it gets stuck and then suddenly releases after a period of time. :cool: What scares me is the doctor not really finding anything, and then I get banded and continue to have problems with swallowing.

I JUST started my pre-op liquid diet today (rumble rumble), and I bought some unjury packets to try out (they can only be gotten online, but I ordered them on a Tuesday night and had them Thursday), and I have to say I LOVE the chicken soup! It's VERY good, I think. I also had the chocolate today, but sadly I accidentally added 1/2 cup of milk to it instead of 1 cup. It tasted good, but I wondered why it was so thick. About 20 grams of Protein a serving. I bought all the flavors, but that's all I've had so far. I think I will make a strawberry here in a few minutes with milk and maybe blend with ice.

I wanted to do something that would, for me, mark the beginning of the new me. This past Sunday I went to a tattoo parlor and go inked. I already had a tattoo from years ago (hidden), but this one is right there for me to see, to remind me. I realize that even though I will have the band, I will still require making good choices and maybe even some willpower. I found a tattoo that I liked that said, in Chinese: God give me strength. I wanted it on the inside of my right wrist (my eating hand, lol) to remind me. Sadly they couldn't do that in the small area I wanted (couldn't shrink it down enough), so I went with a simple Chinese symbol: BELIEVE. I pray that it will help me remember what I am doing, where I am going, and where I came from. It will stare at me every time I pick up a fork or put my hand to my mouth. I know it's a bit drastic for some, but for me, this commemorates the new me that will come out of this journey.

Husbands... can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em. :Dancing_sorry:

Oh wow... :tongue2:

Then I'm in trouble... I'm only hours into my first day of liquid pre-op stuff and I'm famished... Had a couple EAS Myoplex drinks (love those) earlier in the day, but just finished an unjury chicken broth and wow, that was good. Smelled too good, though, cuz it got everything working overtime. :tongue2:

Omg, I just got it... can't.... breathe.... laughing.... hysterically...... BWAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!:thumbdown: