I figured out the insurance issue. They denied my consultation because my sleep apnea hasn't been officially diagnosed. I spoke with my insurance rep today and she said once my official diagnosis comes in she will resubmit and it should be approved in two days. I had to reschedule my consultation to July 25th. I have one more sleep study to do since my last one I only slept a total of 2 hours. ???? My doctor rep told me to not lose any weight until my consultation because the clock doesn't start ticking until that official first weighin. So now I'm at a standstill for another month. My insurance requires a 5% weight loss after the consultation before they will set a surgery date.

My question is what can I do now to prep myself for surgery and beyond but not lose weight?? It is against everything in me to try not to lose weight. I'm already off soda pop ( have been for 10 years). I limit sugar to once or twice a week. I've been tempted to start Protein drinks but not sure due to the weigh in issue.

Any ideas and/ or helpful hints ????

--Get a MyFitnessPal account and a kitchen scale and practice weighing your food and logging it faithfully

--Practice not drinking with meals or for 30 minutes after

--Find a therapist/behavioral psychologist who specializes in working with weight loss surgery patients and start working on your specific issues and strategies to deal with them

--Read all of these boards -- not just the pre-op boards, but the post-op boards, the general discussion boards, the success stories, to learn what you can expect, so you won't be surprised when, for example, you stop losing weight for a couple of weeks when you are 3 weeks post-op, your stomach makes weird noises, or you can eat yogurt more quickly than you thought you'd be able to after surgery.

Good luck!