One last try. Has anyone used the insurance approval time as one last college try?

[MeTooToo 1]

I made a call and will be attending the seminar next week. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making that first appointment after that and starting the whole process which, form what I read, seems to take about 6 months.

Question (and I hope it doesn’t sound silly) Has anyone ever used that 6 month time frame to really try their absolute best to give it one more chance and lose that weight on their own? (Or to at least make that commitment, and begin the weight loss journey on their own)??

Or, most of the time, are you pretty resigned to accepting your fate - which is surgery - and try to maintain your highest weight throughout that 6 months?

[bufbills 314]

I intentionally didn't lose any weight until the preop diet. I've lost and gained so many times, I didn't want to take a chance of thinking this time it might be different.

[MeTooToo 1]

Buffbills:

Exactly. I can relate to this sentiment, and I’m having that feeling. Maybe it’s denial. I can see myself going for it in an unusually fervent way, inspired by the thoughts of surgery, only to gain it all back at month 8. Then, I look back and wish I would have just had it done. 😕

[AZhiker 2,251]

I expressed the idea of "trying it just one more time" at one of my required PCP visits. She wisely responded, "If you COULD have done it, you WOULD have done it by now." She was so right.

[MeTooToo 1]

13 minutes ago, AZhiker said:

I expressed the idea of "trying it just one more time" at one of my required PCP visits. She wisely responded, "If you COULD have done it, you WOULD have done it by now." She was so right.

You’re sooo right. I’ve said that to myself, many times.

[maslman 65]

After my initial consultation I started making changes to my lifestyle and eating better. I ended up losing 78 pounds between then and my surgery date (mid March to mid September). I didn't at any point think that hey maybe I won't need to do the surgery, but I wanted to get myself in a good place to allow it to have the best chance of success.

[MeTooToo 1]

4 minutes ago, maslman said:

After my initial consultation I started making changes to my lifestyle and eating better. I ended up losing 78 pounds between then and my surgery date (mid March to mid September). I didn't at any point think that hey maybe I won't need to do the surgery, but I wanted to get myself in a good place to allow it to have the best chance of success.

That’s a lot of weight! Were you ever afraid of the weight loss making you less likely to be approved by insurance? I do like the idea of feeling out some of the changes before surgery.

[maslman 65]

8 minutes ago, MeTooToo said:

That’s a lot of weight! Were you ever afraid of the weight loss making you less likely to be approved by insurance? I do like the idea of feeling out some of the changes before surgery.

I think the only thing that my insurance was interested in is that you don't gain before the surgery. That being said I was and still am so overweight that I was never concerned about getting insurance approval. And yes I think starting out some of the changes ahead of time made for less of a shock afterwards.

[catwoman7 10,867]

I lost 57 lbs in the six weeks before surgery, but since I'd lost 50-60 lbs a gazillion times before and just ended up putting it all back on, I knew there was pretty much no way I'd be able to keep that off without the benefit of WLS.

[BigSue 1,320]

My surgeon wanted me to lose 20 pounds before surgery. I hadn't really dieted in years, because my previous experiences with dieting were that I would lose a small amount of weight and then gain it all back and more. I eventually quit dieting because I figured I was better off staying at the weight I was than losing, regaining, and gaining more again. I was reluctant to diet before surgery because of my past failures (which was also why I was resorting to surgery in the first place), but I had to lose 20 pounds just to get the surgery, so I had to try something.

I decided to try intermittent fasting because I know people who swear by it and it was something I hadn't tried before. Initially, I just fasted for 16 hours per day and ate as much as I wanted the other 8 hours, and it didn't work very well. One of my surgeon's pre-op requirements was to track my food for a week, either on paper or with MyFitnessPal, and I hate doing anything on paper, so I went with the app. I've counted calories before and also used point systems where I had to track my food, but this was in the days before iPhones and I had to track everything manually, look up the numbers either on the labels or in some kind of book, and it was such a hassle that I never stuck with it for long. I was surprised by how easy it was with the app, and I kept using it. It gave me a limit of 2190 calories per day, and at first, it was hard to stay under that, but I gradually decreased my intake until I was averaging 1500-1600 before surgery.

I set out to lose 20 pounds before surgery, and I ended up losing 70 in 5 months! I actually started to wonder if I should have the surgery because the combination of intermittent fasting and MyFitnessPal was working so well. I've never lost that much weight before. But I started out with an extremely high BMI (over 60), so even after losing 70 pounds, my BMI was almost 50, and I realized that it was highly unlikely I would be able to lose enough weight without surgery, and also that there was a pretty good chance that I would gain it all back without surgery, so I went ahead with it.

I'm glad I put all that effort into losing weight before surgery because it sort of gave me a head start. I've only lost 60 pounds in the 4 months since surgery, but add the 70 pounds before surgery and I'm down 130 pounds total. Plus, it helped me develop some better habits that I think have made the post-surgery lifestyle easier, like cutting out Snacks and tracking everything I eat.

[Uomograsso 364]

Think of it as building momentum. If you start to build good habits prior to surgery it will help after surgery because you are headed in the right direction.

[FireEMT710 43]

When I first started this process in September of 2019, I was on the fence as far as if insurance would pay for it or not. My BMI was very close to the cut off of needing comorbidities, which I had none. So they told me not to lose weight. When my surgery was derailed due to covid, I gained 20 lbs. I didn't have a scale, so I didn't know this, until I went to my PCP for unrelated issues. I was shocked! I didn't change anything, but of course wasn't as active due to nothing to do.

However, if I had tried to lose weight I was afraid that insurance wouldn't pay anymore.

[blackcatsandbaddecisions 844]

I lost a lot prior to surgery (50 prior to the pre op diet) during my six month period. I didn’t treat it as a last ditch effort, but as setting myself up for as much success as possible. I timed it well and didn’t fall below 40 BMI until after insurance approval.

It never crossed my mind to be like “oh I lost it on my own so let’s cancel the surgery”. I think mostly because I’ve done it on my own before! And then regained. And then done it again! And regained. I know I need help keeping it off, not just losing.

[Chantrella 125]

On 11/18/2020 at 6:27 PM, MeTooToo said:

I made a call and will be attending the seminar next week. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making that first appointment after that and starting the whole process which, form what I read, seems to take about 6 months.

Question (and I hope it doesn’t sound silly) Has anyone ever used that 6 month time frame to really try their absolute best to give it one more chance and lose that weight on their own? (Or to at least make that commitment, and begin the weight loss journey on their own)??

Or, most of the time, are you pretty resigned to accepting your fate - which is surgery - and try to maintain your highest weight throughout that 6 months?

I am currently in the process I have my last visit (diet)12/10. I started October 1st. Highest weight was 273. I started to apply new eating habits after I did my 1 visit with the dietitian. Eating smaller healthier portions, not drinking 30 mins before or after, and counting chews. I am now as of yesterday 257. The surgery for me is more about my diabetes. The older I get and more my metabolism slows down my body has become insulin depended, so bypass will help with that. Oddly enough! June of this year was my last period im only 32 so I started panicking come to find out my RDW was high within a week of starting my Multivitamin my cycle came back. Whew!