The 6 months leading up to surgery

[Uterno 41]

Hi all.

My insurance requires 6 months of weight management meetings, with no mandated weight loss required before surgery.

I'm in month 4, and feel like I haven't made any real progress toward "changing my ways." But I don't really know if that's expected of me. At my monthly weight management meetings I'm given goals to achieve, such as 3 days of cardio a week, 12-14 grams of Protein at each meal, etc. I'm struggling to meet all of those goals, and haven't given up Mountain Dew yet. The struggle is real.

I'm wondering what others experienced in the months leading up to the surgery. Were you able to implement some of the changes before surgery, or did you maintain status quo until your pre-op diet? I worry that I should have shown some kind of progress/improvement over the last 4 months.

[Creekimp13 5,841]

My surgeon said he wouldn't operate until I lost 10% of my body weight. At 270 at the time....that was 27 pounds.

Took me about five months...but I got it done.

Gave up soda, kept a food journal. Walked daily. Worked really really hard.

I know some programs don't lean on you to lose.

Mine did.

Best wishes to you! Baby steps!

Edited March 1, 2018 by Creekimp13

[Miss Topaz 300]

My insurance required 3 mo supervised loss and my surgeon required that I lose 15 pounds. Tough over the holidays but I lost 17. I started by substituting a Protein Shake for Breakfast daily and limiting carbs. Eventually did shakes for lunch as well. It made the transition to liquids a bit less shocking I think

Sent from my SM-G920V using BariatricPal mobile app

[acuttita 49]

Hi all.

My insurance requires 6 months of weight management meetings, with no mandated weight loss required before surgery.
I'm in month 4, and feel like I haven't made any real progress toward "changing my ways." But I don't really know if that's expected of me. At my monthly weight management meetings I'm given goals to achieve, such as 3 days of cardio a week, 12-14 grams of Protein at each meal, etc. I'm struggling to meet all of those goals, and haven't given up Mountain Dew yet. The struggle is real.
I'm wondering what others experienced in the months leading up to the surgery. Were you able to implement some of the changes before surgery, or did you maintain status quo until your pre-op diet? I worry that I should have shown some kind of progress/improvement over the last 4 months.

My insurance requires six months too and I haven’t even started the process yet. My first visit is on March 12th and i am struggling a little with the time frame. How did you do it? Also I am trying to have what someone referred to me as a good funeral where i cut back on things now so I am prepared. My biggest issue is Pasta so for lent i gave it up. I’m trying to start slow and easy

[AniracIre 17]

I had Insurance the standard pre-authorisation requirements including a weight loss programme etc. Did I make any changes that led to weight loss? I'd say not really if I'm totally honest apart from cutting coffee back to almost nothing, giving up the soda, and being much more aware of what I was eating. The real reason for giving up the coffee though was to make the pre-op and post op diets more manageable. I've been on the pre-op diet for almost two weeks. I've stuck to that, I've been quite motivated to make sure I arrive at surgery as per my surgeon's requirements.

I suppose all of the education around eating healthily will probably only come through after surgery. The pre-op diet has been a tough "reset" for me, but it has taken my surgeon's strict requirements to get me to make changes rather than the weight management meetings a few months ago.

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

I did change during the six months required dietician supervised program. I was required to quit soda and did in one week, I substituted ice tea for diet coke and the following month I cut back on carbs. I just added a new change each month. I was required to keep a food journal and activity journal - I bought a fitbit for that. The fitbit also recorded my sleep habits - awake times, restless sleep, etc - that was sufficient evidence that I probably had very mild apnea that did not require a sleep study or a cpap.

If you really don't want surgery then just keep horsing around being half-arssed about making changes!!! And do the clinic's staff a favor, quit and stop wasting their time - there are other patients to see that WANT to change their lives. You don't have to be perfect, but you do have to try harder than this. Giving up soda is a good place to commit to - stop buying it - who is the adult in the room? If I can give up 8 cans a day of diet coke habit × 32 years anyone can do it.

[Uterno 41]

2 hours ago, Sosewsue61 said:

If you really don't want surgery then just keep horsing around being half-arssed about making changes!!! And do the clinic's staff a favor, quit and stop wasting their time - there are other patients to see that WANT to change their lives. You don't have to be perfect, but you do have to try harder than this. Giving up soda is a good place to commit to - stop buying it - who is the adult in the room? If I can give up 8 cans a day of diet coke habit × 32 years anyone can do it.

Wow, I was just looking to get other people's experiences. I was not asking for a verbal lashing from you. Thanks though.

[Loder77 18]

I had to do the six months also. I had to lose 10% of my weight which was 27 pounds. I started walking 4 miles a day and logging my food into my fitness pal. I had a goal of around 1300 calories a day. I had goals I had to meet such as giving up soda, eating slower, trying not to drink a lot while eating, chewing my food thoroughly before swallowing. All things I would have to do after surgery. It wasn't easy but I was so motivated to get the surgery that I met all my goals in 3 months. You can do this. Best of luck to you

[Uterno 41]

Thanks everyone. I hope I can do as well as all of you!