Hello everyone,

I am in the beginning stages of my journey and am really struggling to stay on track with the Pre surgery weight loss, I was told that if I don't loose 12lbs or close to it I wouldn't be able to meet with the surgeon or get a surgery date..my insurance company does not require any pre weight loss it's the drs which I completely understand.. It just stinks because I know how good I'm going to be after the surgery!!! I'm struggling because I know I've dieted before and nothing has worked for me and I've been trying since I was 14 I'm 27 now, i do the typical lose 30lbs gain 60 back!! I thought this would be easier since I know how bad I want the surgery but I feel like I'm just on another diet that won't work....I did good with phase one of the south beach diet but since I can bring certain starches back into my diet I'm finding it hard to say no to a lot of them!! Has anyone else struggled? What did you do to get back on track??? Thank you for your help!!

I was not required to prove I could fail on another diet (oh wait they expect success) ....so I am sorry that you are stuck in this situation. I know others will disagree,but I find that many "starches" trigger cravings and over eating even 3 years post op. It works best for me to eliminate or severely restrict many of them. So I do eat veggies, Protein, berries,greek yogurt etc. On a daily basis I avoid rice, Pasta, bread and potatoes and I eat very little fruit (sugar!)..even 3 years out and below goal.... I never eat fast food,junky food like chips and Cookies. My advice, go back to stage 1.

Bread is my nemesis and now my kids have moved back home it surrounds me again. It is a delicious demon which i work very hard to minimize. Do not get me wrong we need some carbs for good health but we need way less than our typical diet includes. Some of us are more insulin resistant and prone to the carb crazy train too.

One day at a time. If that doesn't work, one meal at a time. And if that doesn't work, one hour at a time. You can do this. It's You're worth it.

Edited October 6, 201411 yr by LipstickLady

My insurance didn't require that, and my dr didn't either. People who go to him whose insurance does require a 6 month diet program are not required to lose weight, just show up and give a good faith effort.

Either way - you are required (unless you can go to another dr), so one foot in front of the other, lose the 12 pounds (you already said you have done it before) and just jump through this one last hoop. My guess is that the physician wants proof of the good faith effort, to show that yo have the dedication it's going to take to succeed. Maybe change the way you are thinking about it - rather it's the means to the end instead of one more diet that won't work.

Sounds like carbs are an issue for you, so get rid of them. I call bread, sweets, and other simple carbs gateway food. They lead to craving more and bingeing. You are an expert dieter - we all are/were. You know what to do - and you can do it!!

Thank you for the advice, and support...It's not even really like I have to many carbs, we eat whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread..but you guys are def right I found myself in phase 1 not craving anything no sweets no other carbs but now in phase two when I can introduce some into my diet I want sweets, and junk!!! I think I am just going to go back to phase one and completely eliminate them..I was never a fast good junkie I actually

Can't remember the last time I had mcdonalds or burger king, so that's def not my problem!! And yes lipstick lady just one day at a time!!! I'm going to keep my head up and get thru this!!!! I'm hoping that the dr will see how hard I have been trying going to the gym and writing down everything I eat and will just let me schedule a date and heck who knows maybe I've lost more weight then I think(I haven't weighed myself in over a month,) so your right I need to take a new look on it and really try and push myself

Edited October 6, 201411 yr by kimmerzj29

All Pasta and all breads are carbs.

Sounds like adding those foods is the only change you've made, and now you're craving sweets.

I suggest you ditch the pasta / breads.

If what you're doing now isn't working well, go back and do what you were doing when you were doing well.

Good luck.

I suggest using the tools available for pre- and post-op diets. I did the pre-op diet, which included 3 Protein shakes made with unsweetened soymilk. The powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury brand really worked for me. I found it good tasting, especially chocolate Splendor + 1 1/2Tb. malted milk powder. Maybe because I had adequate protein, I found it easy keep my calories between 650 and 750/day. I lost 4lbs. in 9 days--- NEVER happened before. In between, I drank a lot of Crystal Light and ate sugarless pudding. There are a number of flavorings (Torani or DaVinci, PB2) you can add to either the shakes or the pudding to provide variety.

Just a clarifying point - whole wheat breads, pastas and many grains, fruit are considered healthy carbs and many people have them as part of a good diet. I have learned that I am carb sensitive and so if my daily diet includes a regular dose of these foods...I get hungrier and hungrier...and I crave more and more high carb food.

I didn't really learn this about myself until about 7-8 ,months post op so just sharing my experiences since y your remarks hinted that the carbs increased your food cravings.

I have lost over 160 and maintaining. The good (or bad) news is that in order to maintain weight loss you have to more or less do what you did to lose weight...so even nearly 3 years post op, I watch all carbs closely...especially when the scale starts inching up.

Thank you all for your advice and knowledge I'm def going to go back to phase one and restart everything!!! and great job on ur weight lose cowgirljane!!!! That's awesome!!!

Edited October 6, 201411 yr by kimmerzj29

I had the same requirement by my surgeon. I just put my head down and pushed through it. The good news is that those pre-op pounds are gone and it's less that I have to lose now. If I can do it, you can do it. And you'll likely have surgery before you have time to regain any of that weight.

Kimmerjz29 you can do this girl! I wasn't required to lose any before my surgery either. I am sorry your Dr is putting that added pressure on you right now❤️in the end it will all be worth it

Thank u for the support!!! Ya it's hard I do understand their reasons but it's really hard since I feel like my body is just done with me losing weight!! I took advice and I completely stopped with the carbs and went to the gym a lot this week every day so far but wed and even wed I did Zumba at home and my weights and weighted myself and lost only .3 lbs it's just discoursing and just feels like it's going to take me forever go get the surgery done just because of this stupid 12lbs

Edited October 10, 201411 yr by kimmerzj29

@@kimmerzj29, just keep on! Sounds like you're doing the right things! Sometimes the scale takes awhile.

Well here's an update!! I went on Friday to meet with the NP and Nut and even though I only lost 2lbs I lost 3 lbs of fat...I was really worried that I didn't reach where it needed to be and would have to wait another month to lose more weight to even meet with the surgeon and get a surgery date!! But...thankfully the nurse told me that she was very proud of me because I have been working out and eating good and keeping my logs, and im doing exactly what they want me to do..so now I get to meet with the surgeon after my edg November 18th!!! I'm so excited that I get to get this ball rolling!!! After all that worry and stress turned out just fine!!!

Edited October 19, 201411 yr by kimmerzj29

It's important to understand why you are required to lose the weight pre-operatively. The reason is that the fat around your liver is dramatically reduced so that the surgeon is able to see your other organs more easily during surgery.

I have to admit, the weight loss period before surgery was torturous! I had so little energy that I couldn't get up stairs. But when I weighed in the morning of surgery, I had lost 17 lbs!!!!! I also saw my surgical procedure pictures and my liver was spotless. No observable fat at all.

You can do this. I'm 60 and had 40 years of yo-yo dieting. It is 5 months since my surgery and I've lost 95 lbs so far. I still have about 40 lbs to make my goal of a BSI under 25. You CAN do this!!!!!

Oh ya I def do understand why I need to loose they did explain that to me, I'm trying my best thank u!! And congrats on the awesome weight lose that's great!!!!

Edited October 20, 201411 yr by kimmerzj29