I'm at the beginning stages of getting weight loss surgery, and one of the requirements from my insurance is a 3-month medically-supervised diet with my PCP. My surgeon also wants me to lose at least 20 pounds prior to surgery, but the more, the better. I went to my PCP last week and told her about my decision to have weight loss surgery (which she supported) and the requirement for a 3-month medically-supervised diet, and she basically just gave me some pamphlets on healthy eating, which are, frankly, no help at all. I mean, I already know that kale is healthier than pizza. I've done a lot of fad/crash diets in my life, and as you can probably guess, they did not work in the long term, so I'm hesitant to go in that direction again. My surgery will probably be in July and I don't want to start regaining before I even have the surgery. I started intermittent fasting (16 hours fasting, 8 hours when I can eat) a few weeks ago, and that's going ok. I haven't had much trouble sticking with it, and I actually like skipping Breakfast because it's one fewer thing to do in the morning. I also think it's helping me to get out of the habit of snacking, and sometimes I even stretch the 16 hours of fasting to 18 or more. However, I still have unhealthy eating habits during the times when I eat, and I'm not sure if I can lose enough weight through intermittent fasting alone. For those of you who had to lose at least 20 pounds before surgery (not counting the pre-op liquid diet), how did you do it?