Jobber

So this might be a stupid question, but does everyone save leftovers for subsequent meals or is there a lot of food being thrown out? Seems very wasteful if you're not eating everything prepared.

My main nemesis is cheese, glorious cheese. I have a love/hate relationship with it and it's mostly why I've gotten to the point I am at now. I'm hoping this surgery is going to help me with this obsession. Thanks for sharing, I'm learning a lot about WLS from this site, much more than in the classes and Dr visits.

@leebick may I ask what foods you know "go down way too easily"? I want to get a feel of things I want to start letting go now while I'm in the "pre-op" phase. Thanks

Thanks Ash, I think this sounds like solid advice. If I haven't learned that from using slimfast, it sounds like it's going to be a similar experience with these.

*pork

Sort of like when I did Atkins diet for a couple months in the early 2000's. I like turkey and port more than anything, but recently I've gotten into Bison meat. It seems to be even better for you than chicken since it's so lean.

I can understand getting burned out on shakes, about 15 years ago I did slimfast and lost about 50 lbs and by the time I stopped, I was so sick of the shakes it started making me nauseous when I smelled vanilla. Thanks for the advice.

I had my first NUT appt and they mentioned making sure to keep protein levels high while dieting during the pre-op 6 month phase and I know she meant through food, but has anyone used protein shakes or powder as meal replacement prior to surgery or any liquid diet? I'm tracking my nutrition using my fitness pal and seem to be lacking in the protein department. I searched protein in this forum and only got 300K results so I couldn't find this easily, most were about supplementing protein post-op. Thanks in advance

I agree with this. it was my PCP who started me on the path to WLS and straight told me that she would write a letter of medical necessity if I needed one. This was after almost 5 years now of attempts under her supervision using various dieting, appetite suppressants and pills that turn your poo to grease, etc. How would you start this process by not consulting with your PCP first, that seems unusual to me, no offense?

I second this. Every Ins co is different and has different requirements.

Yes. My wife said somethign similar before I even had my first surgeon appointment. I posted about it here and got some very good advice to invite her to my first surgeon and NUT appointment. I changed my user name because she's smart and may find this board now that I'm in the process and mentioned that I'm frequenting online forums to get educated, so she would know it was me asking why she doesn't support me, etc... and that would be a big problem. Good news is that I followed the advice and played it cool. Once we had the surgeon and his supporting resident sit down with us to talk about the process, he also explained why so many struggle and fail. I consider myself very lucky to have had him do that and it was based on some strategic questions I had lined up prior. I really want my wife to be on board and I was taken aback when she asked me after the appt if I had decided if I was going to go through with the surgery. This doesn't seem like much, but to me, it was a huge win because when we've talked about it before, it wasn't even a question she would ask, it was more of "you don't need this, just diet and exercise and stick to it". I repeat your sentiment of "DUH". I've been doing this for 20 years now and not had much luck... Anyways, I played it cool when she asked me and said I hadn't decided and that I wanted to go through some of the process and get further along the 6 months before deciding. I knew that was probably the best way to let her know that I'm not just deciding to do this emotionally and that I'm doing this based on my research and experience instead. That will strike the final blow in swaying her to my side, I have no doubt. She's my everything so making sure she's on board is everything to me. Good luck to you. I don't have any good advice beyond making sure that your SO knows why you want to do this, which is to be around longer for them and for your family, not because you want to lose weight and run off with someone else which is probably what some spouses think.

I think this is why I'm hesitant to even go through the process of WLS. I have my first consult in a couple weeks and if I'm still struggling with cravings after wls, I'm going to struggle with this, big time. I know it's a complete change in behavior, but I am very much scared that this will be a waste of time and money for me, not to mention all the "I told you so's" i'm going to get after I fail. I'm very weak when it comes to coping tools, I have an alter-ego (I'm not crazy, I swear) that likes to sabotage me. How many people actually lose their cravings by having wls vs how many don't and struggle with this beyond? I've read a lot here and I'm seeing both. How do I know if it's worth it for me?

@FluffyChix very solid advice, I think this is my best option because debating (as well as getting too emotional) has never worked for me. I will quietly let this happen organically and hope for the best. thanks!!

Thanks for the nice words Sue.

This is a great idea, I will do that. Thanks MM

I will definitely prepare myself for this. I probably need to not put the cart before the horse and see what happens during this process. Once again my anxiousness about all this is probably clouding my judgement of the situation a bit too. Thanks GT

thanks @AshAsh1 I really appreciate the feedback. I really don't think it has anything to do with jealousy or potential jealousy, she's never been the type, which is one of her best qualities. I think she just needs someone in an authoritative position to let her know more about it. That's my hope as to what happens next. thanks again

So.......I tried testing the waters this weekend and I brought the subject of WLS up with my wife. I might as well have asked for the Red Ryder BB Gun from a Christmas Story because she basically gave me the "you'll shoot your eye out" response I was dreading.....ugh I started by telling her that I had done some research on the options, the surgeon, the recovery and looked at a WLS forum to get patient experience information as well. I approached it very "matter of fact" explaining what our insurance required, how long the different surgeries took, the recoveries, the pros/cons, etc. When I got to the part about insurance requiring psych eval, gastrointestinal exams, and visits to a nutritionist with a 6 month diet, I was basically told, "well, if you have to do a 6 month diet first, you might as well not get the surgery because you will already have changed your ways and can lose the weight naturally." After that, there was no more convincing or facts or anything I could say except, "lets talk to the surgeon next month and see what he has to say". I didn't say much about it after that because I was stunned and upset, but I didn't want to show it in an emotional way so I just said nothing and changed the subject. I'm not sure what to do at this point except wait for my initial consultation and go from there. Maybe 6 months from now I will have been able to show her why I need this and why WLS is not "elective" for someone like me with my eating behaviors.

I thought about doing this, but every time I call my insurance I get the most useless people that don't seem to want to help or just don't even know. I may still give it a shot, though, thanks.

Thanks Chris, I'm just a little eager to get going now that i'm in the mindset where I'm ready to do this.

So is it 6 months for most folks altogether or is it 6 months of the diet, then a month to get approved, then 2 more months to get scheduled?

I certainly hope so, thanks GT. I can give up the sugar, carbonated beverages and I don't smoke, but boy o boy, giving up caffeine is going to be a killer...

Looks like I just need to strap in and let it happen how it's supposed to. thanks Wanda!

UGH.... thanks Chris!

I tried searching for this question in the forum, but I want a more recent answer, if possible. My PCP said that she would write me a letter of medical necessity for the surgeon/insurance if need be to help me get qualified for WLS as well as provide any records of mine where she was monitoring my use of prescription appetite suppressants. Does anyone think the insurance would accept this instead of needing to spend 6 months trying another failed diet again? I know insurance companies will always err on the side of not having to pay for surgery, but I'm just curious if anyone got past that 6 month supervised diet with a note from their PCP before.