Okay, need to vent then need someone to tell me to shutup and deal with it........here goes.....

I have humped my butt to lose this stinking 13lbs that I have to before July when I submit to insurance (insurance says I have to lose it to be approved). I have lost 6-7lbs right now in the last month....whooptie do. I have been exercising, eating right, making the right changes, etc. Sure I have had some bad days, but nothing out of control like in the past. I can't seem to move from this spot. I am frustrated because this always happens....I lose a couple, get stuck, then practically starve myself to keep losing then it all comes back and more. I have to lose the next 7lbs to submit to insurance.....7 lousy pounds. I go to my PCP for anther weight visit tomorrow and I think I have only lost 2 since I was there last a month ago. I feel like such an idiot that I can't do this. I am not sure what I should do....kick up the exercise, eat less, not sure. If I could do this on my own I wouldn't be in the situation I am in now. Someone give me some suggestions......

Are you tracking what you are eating so you have a better idea of just how much you are taking in? I suggest FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal as they are a free site and great for doing this.

Ya, I have been using fitday to do it.....I am averaging between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. I can back this off some more, but according to my weight it says I should eat 1800 per day and my doctor warned me about cutting back to much too fast. She said I should stay at 1500 per day....I thought that was high from what I have been reading on here. I was afraid that if I dropped weight too fast, it would come back on before I submit to insurance, but I only have June to lose the weight or else I can't submit in July for approval.....do you think I should cut back my calories some more?

Who is requiring you to lose the weight prior to surgery? Is it your insurance company or your surgeon?

Never mind, I re-read your first post.... I'll have to think on this one....

Sometimes, you need to vary your calorie intake so your body doesn't go into starvation mode. Do 1200 calories for 3 days, one day of 1600 calories and back to 1200 for 3 days. Also, what is your exercise routine? Make sure you are doing cardio and not much weight training that could add muscle weight. Also, drink that water! Hang in there! If weight loss was easy we wouldn't need a band!

Thanks, I will try varying and see if that helps.....I just need to suck it up and drop these few pounds so I can get my band. I know if push comes to shove I can do the liquid thing for a week or two before I submit and lose the last of it......I would just rather get it over with and lose it now!!!

The varying is a good idea. I don't know if it was coincidence, so I'm wary to do it, but I average 1200 calories a day (900 lately due to forgetting to eat till later in the day), and when I first started back on real foods, I was averaging 700-800, and then one day I did 1,400! (I looked at my myplate, and I worried about it), but I lost weight regularly that week. Now I'm not varying very much at all, and I'm losing weight, but its more like lose 1lb, nothing for days, lose 2lbs, etc.

Before I decided on surgery I saw a dietician.. she said for my body to maintain the weight I need to eat 3200 calories a day at least.. To lose, she said I can go to 2500. But I told her I need to lose weight quickly due to back problems, I need to get down in 200's at least rather quickly.. she said if I ate 1800 a day, I should lose 2-3lbs a week.

I think I had PMed you about this before, but a good 'jump start' diet, just to get your numbers for insurance company.. do Atkins. Atkins was always a quick fix for me (but not a permanent solution, as I gained it back as soon as I quit Atkins). But I could easily lose 20+lbs in a month while on it. I didn't even eat 'healthy' no-carb. I had sausage, pounds and pounds of bacon, eggs, cheese, steaks, sauteed veggies, etc..and lost rapidly.

Just to reitterate if you decide to do Atkins, it's based on 'low carb', but I did absolutely NO carbs.. not one gram of sugar, etc. (So no maple/sugar/honey flavored meats..). The first 2 weeks of Atkins is 0 carb, then you're suppose to slowly incorporate 'some' or 'good' carbs.. But I just stuck it out for months on 0 carb and it worked wonders.

You did PM me about Atkins and I thought about giving it a try. My only concern is if I can stick to it till July when we submit to insurance.....I am worried I can't stick to it that long and if not, I am afraid I will gain back weight and the insurance will frown upon it. I am trying to just lose the weight without any drastic changes like cutting out carbs completely. I think I would be crushed if I lose the weight and started to gain it back again. I don't know if I could handle that. I am seriously thinking about trying it though.....

By the way, did you see what you wrote: '900 lately due to forgetting to eat till later in the day'. Did you ever think you would say something like this! That is awesome, you are making awesome progress!!!!

Hey there~~

I've been on my pre-op liquid diet for a week now, and have dropped 10 lbs this week! Now, don't get me wrong, it sux... but it's short-term and it works! Maybe you could do some combo of Atkins 'til mid-June, and then kick it w/2 weeks of the liquid plan & SHOW THEM in July!

Daily, I drink 'til I get to: 70 g Protein, 30-50 g carb, 30g fat & 64 oz of water/other liquid. I can have Protein Shakes (I ordered the sample pack from bariatriceating.com and have been actually enjoying trying the different types... the whey Gourmet Peanut Butter chocolate is the most amazing thing I've tasted in a long time -- on or off this plan! I also drink the Atkins ones in a can.), Water, crystal light, decaf tea & coffee, skim milk, sugar-free Jello & sugar free popsicles, and low-sodium broth (I strain the broth from "Healthy Choice"-type Soups & mix in 1/2 packet of unjury unflavored Protein Powder as a way to get in more protein... I fee the Soup "guts" to my kids, or throw them away).

You seem like a "find a way" type of gal... good luck!

Thanks mdrai, I am going to get some of the unjury powder and give that a try too.......

Another Low Carb fan here....... but it helps me with so much more than just losing weight...... (but that is ME)

Some things........

Drink your Water

cut the soda NOW

Start NOT drinking with meals NOW so you stay fuller longer

Eat your carbs at the end of your meal so that the Protein gets in there first

Don't drink or eat 2 hours before bed

GOOD LUCK

I got nothin.... I never could lose weight before my band.... Sorry!

I think it stinks and is so unfair for our insurance companies to require weight loss prior to weight loss surgery. Don't they understand that we've been there, done that, and wouldn't need the surgery if we could lose weight on our own??? Maybe it's just to prove to them how serious we are about having surgery....

How much exercise do you do? I'd kick it up a notch if possible, an hour six days a week of fairly hard cardio ought to do it - you're probably not up to running at this stage of your workout but a few 30 second jogging intervals will really kick up your heartrate and keep it up.

Thanks Jachut....running is something that someday I would love to do. Is that a good way to get started is by running in short intervals?

Optifast before my surgery was the worst two weeks of my entire life.

On the other hand I did lose 15 pounds. Desperate times call for desperate measures.