Greetings! About a month ago I made the decision to pursue WLS. I have yet to decide on my surgery, but I am feeling so, so good about this. I've already met with my GP who said that once I take the seminar Kaiser requires, she will refer me to the surgeons. My seminar date is this coming friday and I am feeling so eager to get this process started. I've been perusing the boards here since making this decision, and the information that everyone has shared has been so helpful. I'm not feeling nervous about doing this, just excited and happy. I've already started modifying my diet to increase my Protein intake while decreasing my overall calorie intake. I'm taste-testing different protein powders and shakes, and I've been pleasantly surprised with them so far. I need to start researching Vitamins the same way I've been researching protein sources as I hate taking pills. I'm hoping to find a liquid Vitamin that will work for me. With every meal, I visualize how it would/will/has changed in light of WLS coming up (hopefully soon), and being post-op. I've got the support of my husband and of the few friends I've mentioned this to. So far no one has been negative with me, and I've really appreciated that. I know this isn't a quick fix, nor will it be easy, but I think it is the right choice for me, and I can't wait to get started. I've got my fingers crossed that the surgeons think I am a good candidate, and that they can schedule me soon. I am really feeling emotionally ready to start this process and I am quite happy and excited about it.

Congrats! There are really exciting things headed your way. We're all here to support you. Also, just a tip: try to reduce your sugar intake now, if you can. That's going to be extremely important before and after surgery. If you ever have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message! I had my RNY three weeks ago. See you around!

Congratulations on taking steps to get healthy!

You will likely have no problem qualifying. Usually most insurance companies will approve a person with a BMI over 40 as long as you follow their requirements.

Jumping through all the hoops is a pain but in the end you learn a lot along the way.

I am glad to see you are excited! I know I felt the same way going in, the morning of surgery felt like Christmas morning for me. I was very ill and knew this was literally going to save my life in the long term for me.

There are things you can do now that will set you up for success post surgery:

- begin removing as much sugar from your diet

-if you smoke, quit now, you will be required to and it gets hard changing everything all at once

-if you drink carbonated beverages now, stop. You won't be able to ever again post surgery.

-if you drink caffeine, try to ween yourself off if it. You will need to for a period of time. If you can live without it, even better. Caffeine dehydrates you and post surgery it is difficult to get hydrated properly

-if you drink alcohol, you will need to stop that as well. It hampers your weight loss and your body changes post surgery to where you can become drunk very quickly. My surgeon had me sign a contract stating I would not drink for the first year. Not hard for me I only drank a handful of times within a year.

-start drinking lots of calorie free liquids. 64 oz. per day

- start walking everyday for 30 minutes.

- remove distractions while eating so you can pay attention to how your tummy is getting full. Along with this eat slowly over the span of 20 minutes to no longer than 30 minutes. This will become important post surgery.

-this one is harder than you think to do but nothing to drink 30 minutes before or after a meal. Once you have surgery this becomes much easier unless you eat a lot of spicy food.

These don't all have to to be accomplished at once but these are a lot of the changes required. For me, I had 9 months to work at them so by the time I got to surgery day, life was a lot easier to adapt to!

best of luck to you and feel free to reach out with questions!

Congratulations on your decision to pursue wls. That first step is definitely the hardest. It's like admitting you have a problem is the worst of it and you've already done that! Just try to make small positive changes along the way. For some, the wait between consult to surgery can be 6 months or more, so keep that in mind and take that time or whatever you have to just prepare yourself for success. Good luck!

@@Sajijoma

Was going to say the same thing. My process has taken almost 10 months! But don't let that discourage you. One day at a time and keep that motivation! You can do it!

@@Sajijoma

Was going to say the same thing. My process has taken almost 10 months! But don't let that discourage you. One day at a time and keep that motivation! You can do it!

i feel kind of lucky in that I've only had to go through a 90 day program because it's a center of excellence. My 90 days will be up at the end of this month and I'm getting solo excited and nervous and scared and happy and already been buying a few cute clothes for the trip down the size charts!

Thank you everyone! I attended the information session yesterday and I'm feeling really good about all of this. The timeline is going to depend on how long it takes to drop 10%, and I am concerned about that -- I've been trying to lose 10% since 1995, only to continually lose a few pounds, and then gain a few more... sigh. But I really want this. The tool this will give me I really believe will be my solution, and I want it to work.

Did you speak with a nutritionist the should give you a plan you can to follow