Will it hinder any of the process if you lose alot in the months leading up to surgery? I am 344 and could probably lose 45-50 pounds in the next 3-4 months if I tried really really hard. Should I work on "crash" dieting and lose that much?

Crash dieting usually means you are not eating a balanced healthy diet. It takes a toll on your organs, your complexion, your hair and your energy level. This is NOT a good thing to do before surgery!

You want to be as healthy as possible so you heal quickly and are less likely to have complications. A far better option is to eat well, but restrict your calories as suggested by your doctor and dietician, and get plenty of exercise. You will look and feel so much better! Take good care of yourself!

Will it hinder any of the process if you lose alot in the months leading up to surgery? I am 344 and could probably lose 45-50 pounds in the next 3-4 months if I tried really really hard. Should I work on "crash" dieting and lose that much?

Maybe u can just the liquid diet early..... Or cut down on carb intakes

Will it hinder any of the process if you lose alot in the months leading up to surgery? I am 344 and could probably lose 45-50 pounds in the next 3-4 months if I tried really really hard. Should I work on "crash" dieting and lose that much?

Juldga, speak with your physician first. Chances are, he or your insurance company (if you're using insurance) is going to have some requirements for pre-surgery weight loss. I'm not sure "crash" dieting should be attempted but I would encourage anyone to start transitioning to eating healthy, eliminating sugar, white flour and start an exercise program as soon as possible. I would also caution you to consider your surgery date too, if it's not for another 3-4 months and you spend the next 3-4 months crash dieting, a two week pre-op liquid diet might be quite the challenge. Then again, your physician may allow you to forego the 2 week pre-op liquid diet if you're made significant progress on losing weight as s/he may believe your liver has reduced in size enough that you won't need the additional 2 weeks of liquids. I've been meeting with a registered dietitian since July and it's taken this long for me to incorporate enough lifestyle changes that I'm finally starting to lose weight very slowly. In all honesty, I've taken a very slow and steady approach to the lifestyle changes and didn't try and do everything at once. I started with eliminating diet cokes, then added eliminating sugar and white flour, then eliminating fried foods, added exercise, drinking water, replacing 2-3 meals a day with protein shakes and now I'm starting to only eat what's on the post-op diet and I don't have a surgery date as of yet (hoping for December). I also recently added vitamins to start building up my levels before surgery. So, all that to say, talk with your physician or his/her office staff first and they will coach you through what to achieve between now and your surgery date. I wish you the very best results both pre and post surgery. God bless, Sandy

I guess the main problem is I will not be able to have an appointment with the bariatric clinic until January when my insurance changes, but via phone advice they want me to see my PCP monthly starting now so that I can be ahead in January when i see them

My highest weight was 344. When I started my whole process back in May, I had the same questions you did. Once I met with my nutritionist, she put me on a 1700 calorie plan. I really didn't change how I was eating, just HOW MUCH I was eating. I stopped drinking soda and caffeinated stuff and cut out about 95% of sugary drinks. I am at about 330 now and am getting ready to start my pre-op diet on the 7th for surgery on the 22nd. I was worried that if I lost TOO much or was TOO successful that insurance wouldn't cover it but that isn't the case. I would say talk to your PCP about things you can do NOW until you get an appointment in January, that way you are already implementing healthy eating.

And to add to that, my nutritionist said once I started the pre-op diet that she would estimate I would lose another 10-20 pounds before surgery. I know it seems like a lot all at once, but if you consider that you are starting at 344 pounds or around there and lose 15 pounds because you are exercising a bit more and then lose another 10 or 15 because of a pre-op diet, you're already closer to 300 pounds than you thought! I'd say - no "crash dieting" needed. Just stay on a healthy path and make good food choices (even though we've all thrown a couple bad ones in there, too)...