Advice for how to spend the rest of this six month wait?

[mamabear_2_2 39]

Hi everyone!

Im currently in month two of my six month insurance approval period (have to do six months of weight management). The first month went by quickly and even though I’m a ways out from my RNY surgery I’d like to get a jump on getting mentally and physically prepared. What advice do you all have for using this wait as productively as possible?

Here’s my plan so far:

1. I’m 40 yrs old and currently around 280lb (5’9’’). And around a 41 BMI. I have sleep apnea, so insurance will allow me to have surgery as long as my BMI is 35 (or for me around 240lbs-ish). I’d like to work on losing down to around this point by my last appt which is June 23. This is the weight I can usually get to before regaining it all back. Thinking if I can get to that point before surgery I’ll be in a better situation to get to my goal quicker and it’s something I’ve been able to accomplish before (just not past that point without failing - ugh!)

2. To do this I’m planning to start tracking using My Fitness Pal and begin prioritizing Protein and veggies/fruits and last carbs. Thinking I need to go ahead and get into this mindset as early as possible. I meet the nutritionist in early March and will also akin her her recommendations at that point.

3. Start establishing a fitness routine - thinking some walking until I lose a bit of weight - I have hip and knee trouble.

What other advice do you have? Any other habits or things you advise I should do to keep myself moving towards being ready for this life change (mental and physical) and staying motivated in this rather depressing COVID world?

Thanks everyone!!!! 😊😊😊😊

[catwoman7 11,277]

those are all good. I read everything I could get my hands on about bariatric surgery. And spent a lot of time lurking on this and other bariatric boards. I also started exercising regularly and started gradually changing my eating habits so my post-op diet wouldn't seem as radical. Like you, I started tracking everything I ate, started gradually decreasing my carbs and increasing my Protein, gradually reduced my calories (I worked my way down pretty quickly to 2200 - after probably eating 3000+ a day (I didn't know for sure because I hadn't tracked before...). Also started eating more vegetables (I was already eating enough fruit). I felt pretty prepared for surgery that morning they rolled me into the OR...

[JMJames92 115]

I think you have a pretty good plan. In my opinion, the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to not focus on weight loss but to focus instead on living a healthy lifestyle. It's kind of cliché but if you look at nutrition guides, such as the food pyramid or myplate.gov (what I used) you can get a pretty good idea of how many calories you should eat each day and what percentage of your diet should consist of starch, Protein, fruits, and vegetables. If you focus on just being healthy and getting the nutrients your body needs without going over your calorie limit, you will lose weight as a side effect of that. This is especially helpful after your surgery when you have lost the weight you want to lose. As I'm sure you've heard 1000 times, if you don't change your lifestyle and nutrition/exercise habits, you will likely end up gaining much or all of the weight back. Good luck with your insurance and your surgery! I hope all goes well for you.

[Jnfinney 527]

I am lucky enough that my insurance will do the surgery on me as long as my highest recorded weight puts me at a BMI over 40 and I am still overweight. However, I agree with catwoman7 and JMJames92 about how these should be gradual lifestyle changes. I get up at 4 am everyday to work out and people often look at me like I’m crazy or ask me why - my answer is always simple, though. Establishing a routine has kept me accountable for exercise. When I know it is part of what I do everyday, there isn’t any thinking about it, I just do it and it sets the routine for my whole day. If I think about skipping my workout for some extra sleep, I remind myself how my day will be off all day from missing my workout! It has also given me a sliver of normalcy amidst this pandemic!

[RickM 1,753]

I, too, am much in the camp of working on your long term lifestyle rather than a short term weight goal.

When I started having to do that six month insurance thing, I looked at what should my diet, and overall lifestyle, be in five or ten years - not six months from now. Basically what an RD would tell anyone they should do to live and feel better and longer - food pyramid, my plate, etc. all represent a basic healthy diet of leaner meats, more fruits and veg, whole grains instead of the overly refined/processed white flour stuff, minimize sugars and in particular - junk foods (high calorie, low nutrition) whether they be high carb or high fat - or frequently both. It was not perfect to any one particular standard, but it was what I could do, and thus, more sustainable than any "book" diet. It was also an evolution (and still is) as I worked to drive my preferences in the right direction.

I also started with going to the gym (local Y) and got back into swimming, which I had always liked before, and found I liked playing with the weights. That was fifteen or so years ago, and I am still at it, though in a somewhat evolved form (particularly during Covid!). But the lesson here, much as with diet, is to make it something that you enjoy (or at least tolerate) and make it a habit. It can certainly evolve, as you say with starting out with just walking. Carve out the time to do something, and let the activity evolve with your ability, interests and circimstances.

I had no particular weight goal in mind for this phase, but as I noted, it was an exercise in developing better habits for the long term. As it turned out, I dropped around 50 lb, or about a third of my excess, in that six months which caused a rethink on the surgery idea, at least for a while - but that is another story. I suspect that I would not have done as well if I had been aiming fora specific pre op weight goal.

[njlimmer 344]

I'd heard it before but never tried it, but switching to a small plate has made a huge difference! I've also tried to work on taking small bites, putting the fork down between bites, and chewing a ton! I figure every habit I can start BEFORE will help me after.

[Maisey 260]

One of the doctors in my program had a mantra that said: Start living now like you are post surgery.