So, in two weeks I will meet with my NUT for the sixth, and final, time. I have not lost any weight. She says that I am doing fine making small changes and getting ready for surgery. However, the bottom line is that my eating has not really changed. My question is, will I be successful AFTER surgery, if I haven't been totally committed BEFORE surgery?

I have gained and loss but over all i haven't loss and they have been telling me that if i dont loss the insurance might not cover it.

I was told the same thing - that if I showed an overall gain, the insurance probably would deny coverage for the surgery.

@@cheri02, you're asking questions that only you can answer. It sounds as though you need to be brutally honest with yourself in order to find out. The only way you or anyone loses weight is to change bad, old habits and feel positve about making the changes. It includes casting off the passive vocabulary. It's disingenuous and dishonest to say "...my eating has not really changed." It is you who must change the way you eat.

If I were in your place right now and, by some fluke, was approved for surgery, I'd first sit down with pen and paper to craft a list of reasons that I want to lose weight. Each item on my list is specific and narrow. For example, I would write "To again wear my favorite black knit dress with red trim," not "To fit into smaller clothes." I'd work on the list over at least a few days, adding goals as they occur to me. Then, when the list is lengthy and seems rather comprehensive, I would take time to carefully consider whether I am willing to make the changes necessary to achieve the goals. I would hate to have surgery that would forever alter my innards if it were for no good reason. Weight loss, not surgery, is the ultimate goal.

I don't know what was going on when you began to explore the possibility of surgery, so I'll throw in one more thing for in case it resonates for you. Too many people come along with not-good-enough reasons to have surgery. A common one is "to look good for my wedding." "Looking good" or losing weight in general is for a better life, not for a single occasion. I've come across women who had surgery and in fact looked fabulous for their weddings. Once the party was over, however, so was looking fab. How tragic to go through surgery for one day out of a lifetime, especially when you consider the divorce rate. Such a bad yet true joke.

"My question is, will I be successful AFTER surgery, if I haven't been totally committed BEFORE surgery?"

After I underwent RNY gastric bypass surgery, one of the unexpected surprises was that I lost my hunger. It doesn't happen to everyone but many experience this. It is hard to lose weight when hunger is constantly gnawing at your bones. Without hunger, I did not find it difficult to lose weight.

After surgery, the three most important elements are meeting your daily requirement for Protein, Vitamins and fluids. Also routine exercise such as walking for 30 minutes per day is integral. Meals are restricted by volume and food types as a function of time past surgery. So there are requirements. If one ignores these requirement after surgery, then one will not get the full benefits of this weight loss surgery.

Weight loss surgery is very different than dieting.

• @WLSResources/ClothingExch - Thank you for your answer. I was expecting someone to tell me that I would be the only person that could truly answer my question. Thank you for giving me some concrete advice in how to do this. Writing down the reasons, I began this journey is a good place for me to start. It actually started a year ago when I began walking 8-12 miles a week and began experiencing chronic back pain due to my weight. I was also attending Weight Watchers at the time. Eating on plan, I was always hungry all the time. Which brings me to the comments from
• @James Marusek. Thank you for your comments! These last few years, I have dieted with hunger. I am hoping that with the WLS this element will disappear, as long as I follow the other tools that I am learning about.

Before this surgery I was obsessed about food...post surgery I have to remind myself to eat..,,the ravenous sensation is gone...

I gained 4 pounds during my 6 month pre-surgery process. It's a real struggle. In the end, I lost a total of 5lbs and was approved for surgery. I'm 6 months post-op and am doing great (-76 lbs). My relationship with food has completely changed.

@@cheri02, later last night I wondered if I'd come across as negative toward you. I'm glad you took my message as it was intended. When you discover with little fanfare -- in a matter-of-fact fashion -- that what you want to lose weight and make amazing changes to your benefit in every conceivable way, you will succeed.

It occurs to me now that you can work on a second list of why you've had little success in making the changes needed for the six-month program. Again, be brutally honest with yourself. Whatever you enter in the list will not tell you that you're failed or will continue to fail. They will teach you things about yourself, some of which you may never have been aware. Think of these incidents as another exciting part of the journey. "Cheri, meet Cheri."

I was told that if I gained any weight during this 6 month supervised weight loss program that they would kick me out. This has me super nervous. Like to the point where I am constantly getting on the scale.

I was "pre-qualified" for surgery by my surgeon through my insurance company. At my first meeting with my nutritionist, she told me that my weight she recorded was my Start Weight and if I gained any weight I would be turned down by insurance. That really motivated me because I only had a thirty day required supervised diet period. I became really focused on not gaining any weight and then decided that I would just go ahead and eat pretty much what I would be eating after surgery. I started by throwing out all the junk food in my house and replacing with everything healthy and every few days I would decide to try a Protein shake or narrow down carbs more. So when I went back to the Nut, I'd lost 18 pounds. She was astounded! So was I. We went through my food journal so she could make sure I was getting enough protein and not skipping any meals. My appointment with my surgeon was in two days and she must have given him a good report because instead of having two weeks of the liquid pre surgery diet, I only had to do one. He said with my diet that clean, my liver would probably not get much better with two weeks. I had surgery a week later. I'm glad I did because I don't think I would have made it another week on liquids only. I had planned to go out and splurge on Mexican food before I started the liquid diet, but had to change my mind.

I don't think I would have lost that much if I had to do a six month supervised diet. I would have been going up and down like crazy because that is what I always did. Three to six weeks is how long I could stick to a diet, then I would start going nuts and go off it. My suggestion, slowly get your diet cleaned up. One week make one change, like stop drinking or cut way down on sodas. Next week track your Water, etc. Good luck!

You can eat around your surgery. Every single day as I plan my day it involves exactly what I am eating that day, the reason I do this is its hard. It's not magic or easy after surgery. You have the best chance ever to lose the wt and keep it off with surgery but it takes work. If it was me I would be talking to a therapist. A lot of ppl see therapist because we do have a eating disorder. I hope you get this figured out and are as successful as you have dreamed about.

I was recently approved, did the 6 mo. supervised diet thing and only lost 3 pounds, but I have changed a lot of things about my eating habits overall. My surgeon said that the literature now indicates that losing weight before surgery does not affect the outcome after surgery, so his office does not require weight loss. Now, some insurance plans do, but mine did not. Dr. just told me not to gain any weight, and I haven't.

I gained 5 lbs, but my doc said it wasn't a big deal. She said that it's probably Water weight, along with the fact that I took advil and she said that can cause weight gain. Other than that, I've pretty much lost. I have my final 6 month visit March 3rd.

I had a hard time losing during my pre-surgery months. Yes, I gaine:d 3lbs. In the end I had a net loss of 1lb.

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