Vex

I made this soup last night for supper. It has helped me maintain what little sanity I have left, 12 days after surgery and still in the full liquids phase, now that I am hungry and near-desperate for "real foods." Also, I have a big sweet tooth, but have wearied of so many sweet protein shakes, sweet yogurt drinks, sweet popsicles and juices. So coming up with good, savory soups has been really important during this stage for me. baked potato soup 4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds) 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces) 6 cups 2% milk 1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I had ground white pepper so that's what I used) 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream 3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided (I omitted) 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (I omitted) 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce potatoes with a fork, bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes, coarsely mash. (I didn't want to take the time to do this. I peeled and quartered the potatoes, and boiled them on the stovetop in well-salted water. This also made them a lot moister and, I think, easier to mash into oblivion. However, I think this recipe would work awesome with leftover baked potatoes from a previous evening or, for bandsters, on a night when they are baking potatoes for their families.) 2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, about 8 minutes. Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat. 3. Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper. Yield: 8 servings (I made a half-recipe as my boyfriend does not care for soup. I had it for dinner last night and lunch today and I haven't even eaten a whole serving yet.) Calories: 329 (30% from fat) Fat: 10.8 g (sat 5.9 g, mono 3.5 g, poly 0.7 g) Carb: 44.5 g Protein: 13.6 g Fiber: 2.8 g Chol: 38 mg Iron: 1.1 mg Sodium: 587 mg Calc: 407 mg Stolen from September 2007 Cooking Light issue, page 140.

Yikes! Do you have any skinny acquaintances that you hate? Put that powder in an empty Slimfast container or something and give it away. Then buy some Unjury. I am a huge, huge, huge Unjury fan now! I had 1 scoop of the chocolate Unjury mixed with 8 oz. of 2% milk (all that was available at work-- normally I go for 1%), and it was ridiculously tasty. Very much like a chocolate malted milkshake. I highly recommend it! And its been 3 hours and I'm not even really hungry yet.

I ordered it from their website. I went to GNC and they didn't have it. In fact, I tried several other kinds of protein drinks from GNC and were really disappointed with them. Yes! That was us! Me with blonde hair and glasses, him with dark hair and glasses! Did you see us eating our Last Meal at Rivoli?! Ha!

Ah, well, I think you're in good hands at the OCC then, because they explained to me (its all a bit fuzzy now though) that they use the latest type of anaesthesia. Its very light. They explained it to me that you go under two minutes before surgery, and come out two minutes after. Its so light they say that some people can remember watching the clock on the wall! In any case, I do remember being groggy, but since you are staying overnight at the clinic, all you have to do is lie in bed and nap it off. They have nice private rooms with TVs and telephones right at your fingertips. You only need to get up for the bathroom, and the nurses can and will help you with that. It was really the least trouble I've had with anaesthesia, and I've had my wisdom teeth out (about 5 years ago) and my tonsils out (2 years ago) to compare it to. I really truly think it will go better than you imagine it will!

Don't sweat the anaesthesia too much-- you get to talk to the surgeons and the anaesthesiologist before you go in for surgery. Let him know about your past experiences and I'm sure he'll take that into consideration. My anaesthesia problem was not as bad this time as it was 2 years ago when I had my tonsils out. What's your issue-- nausea also?

Since I started the pre-op diet on August 15th, I've lost 13.6 lbs! That's a pound a day. Totally insane. I know its going to taper off soon, especially as I get my appetite back and start eating solid foods, but for now, I'm thrilled. Yay!

I am at the very beginning of my second week (day 8) and I've been fearing the hunger you guys are talking about. Mostly, I've been head hungry (I begged my boyfriend to let me LICK a Reese's mini he had and I SWORE I'd give it back-- he wouldn't let me). Physical hunger has been really minimal, because the 1/2 cup servings of soups, protein shakes, etc. have been leaving me STUFFED for about 2-3 hours afterwards. I did want to recommend Unjury though. Yesterday I made my first Unjury smoothie. It came out more like a malted strawberry milkshake because of the Unjury, and that sucker was HUGE. I had to work very hard all day to get the whole thing-- just one!-- down. Recipe: 1 small very berry juice box (6 oz) - 100 cals ~8 frozen strawberries - 31 cals heaping tablespoon of Splenda - 0 cals 1 scoop of unflavored Unjury (20 g of protein!) - 80 cals Blend! I made the mistake of blending the Unjury with the the other ingredients-- it makes it VERY fluffy. Today I'm going to do the same thing, but stir the Unjury in gently after everything else is blended. Anyway, try it. I swear you won't be hungry after!

Hi Sarah! I've recently been banded, but I felt compelled to respond since the day I started my pre-op diet (7 days before surgery), I weighed 229! I have set a first goal of losing 80 lbs but I am eventually hoping for 90 or more total. I'm 5'2". Are you getting banded with Dr. Ortiz? He's awesome! I have a blog if you want to read about my experiences thus far (bottom of my sig). Good luck! Mae

I second LaurenLeigh's assessment of the restaurants at the Lucerna. We had (great shame in admitting this) calamari fritte and coconut shrimp at Rivoli as our "last meal" and it was pretty good. Heh, or maybe it just seemed so after a week of heinous protein shake torture. But later, my boyfriend tried a couple different things at the regular restaurant and they were all just kinda "eh". I did have the chicken consomme at the regular restaurant on the day after surgery and enjoyed it. It was hearty and flavorful. I wonder if they make it on-site.

Thanks, CLynn, I am! And Dr. Miranda was not at all perturbed that I didn't make it to 12. She weighed me, noted out loud that I'd lost 8, and said, "very good," before moving on.

Total: 8.4 lbs in 7 days. I hope its enough!

In case you guys are curious, I'm down 7.2 lbs on my vicious, torturous pre-op liquid diet! Better than half but I've only got 3 more days before my surgery. I'm white-knuckling it through these last days and hoping for 10 lbs (out of my prescribed 12).

Hi! I'm in Atlanta, and I'm getting banded next week. I am planning to use Fill Centers USA for my fills. I've heard good things about Darlene Zebley; she has recently opened up a location in Roswell, which is a northern suburb of Atlanta. I am also considering (undecided) joining the Emory Bariatrics support group for lap banded patients. They accept patients who were not banded at Emory for the support group-- I can't say for sure if they will accept patients for fills, though. Emory is located in Decatur, which is an intown neighborhood in Atlanta.

I can't say that I have; I am scheduled with Dr. Ortiz for this coming Wednesday. Have you, perchance, discovered LapBandTalk.com yet? They have several threads there with patients of Dr. Acevez. If I recall, he gets rave reviews: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f11/mexico-doctor-32778/

I haven't strayed... yet. Its only been 2 and a half days, though. I have to spend most of tomorrow (1 p.m. - evening) at a friend's party/barbeque. Its celebrating a very big accomplishment for him, so bowing out is not an option. But, oh lord, just the thought of all that yummy food spread out over a huge table is making me sad. Good luck with the rest of your pre-op diet, Lauren. Please PM me IMMEDIATELY if Dr. Miranda scolds you. Heehee. I'm kidding... sorta.