I went to my primary care Dr today and she was all for the lap band surgery! I called the Dr that will be doing it and scheduled my Orientation! It is set for August 9th. I was told that I have to lose 10% of my weight before I can have the surgery. My question is, do I start doing that now, or do I wait until after orientation? Is it hard to lose the 10%? What did you all find as the easiest and quickest way to lose it? I am going to have to lose about 26.5 pounds as of right now. I can schedule my surgery after losing 5%. How long should it take me to lose that weight? I am so excited, I cant wait!!

I would get my records from my primary to show weight at this time and then diet until your consult in August. There you can give them the starting weight records.

Hopefully the doctor doing the surgery has some sort of support program set up to to help you loose the required weight pre op. Every doctor is different. Mine (and my insurance) required at least 6 months of a combination doctor appointment/support group meeting along with visits with a nutritionist and psych eval. I lost 70 lbs between August '11 and my surgery in April. If you have the support are the right tools it is not hard to do. I was on a modified very low calorie diet for the majority of that time and would supplement healthy meals with protein shakes and bars. I found it to be extremely helpful, it also helped to have an idea of what life would be like post surgery.

Most bariatric surgeons have a plan for you to follow two weeks prior to your surgery. But if you want in the meantime, try to stay on a high protein, low carb diet. No sugar or starches. Drink plenty of water or Crystal Lite and have sugar free jello or popsicles in between meals. Try to limit your calories to about 800-1000 calories a day and you should get good results until your surgeon puts you on a plan. Good luck and God Bless!

Also try the my fitness pal website it is very helpful with tracking your meals, calories, exercise etc.