Good morning,
I’m so frustrated. I have 2 visits left for my 6 months of Dr advised weightloss. I’m actually up in weight. I’ve tried everything: increased exercise, more produce, no soda, no added sugar, increasing fiber, only eating white meats (chicken,turkey,fish), doing 2 shakes a day and 1 meal, meditation, and getting COVID. I lost 5 pounds then even with following everything my weight went right back up. I’m beyond frustrated and worried I’m going to not qualify. I see the surgeon in a few weeks for an appointment after the EGD. Anyone else have this happen?

do you think that you may not qualify because you haven’t lost weight?

do not worry about that. it’s more of a formality that insurance companies put out there. I guess the thought is that overweight people have never tried to loose weight so they should try once before surgery lol

have you consulted with a nutritionalist yet? that can help you prepare for the bariatric journey even if it’s not required.

do you have an app or journal where you track off of your food intake? for me, this was important to gauge what i was eating and where i needed to adjust. i currently am doing a pre op keto diet and use “Carb Master” to look at all of my nutritional macros (protein/fat/carbs/calories). it helped me actually shed some weight before going down to keto low carb levels (and been fantastic since hitting that level)

i will say that it is important to understand your nutritional habits and change unhealthy ones if possible before surgery to avoid issues. knowledge of self is true power in this situation!

have you completed the other insurance requirements or still working on them?

Yea on all of it. See a nutritionist for food due to food allergies. Track all my intake (food,water,meds). The last appointments are all I need.

I’m just upset I think. Every monthly appointment they say increase activity, no soda, no added sugar, no chips and no fast food. Probably the most frustrating part is that. I’m not drinking. Eating Whole Foods. Not doing snacking unless it’s veggies. Started a fiber supplement my PCP said would help with fullness. I bought a treadmill to make it easier to walk. Am journaling.

Could the fluctuation be fluid retention or your monthly cycle?

Make sure you are measuring and tracking everything so you can go over with your nutritionist at that appointment.

Did your program give you a goal or an expectation?

My program told me I couldn’t gain weight from my initial weigh-in, but I wasn’t required to loose.

My program didn’t give me anything about the weightloss. I’ll be honest I think the most frustrating part is that I keep getting counseled to quit eating/drinking things I haven’t had for months. My mom and sister keep telling me to just quit eating. Or quit eating for a few days each week. Could be my period sure. And yea I’m weighing and measuring everything. And my nutritionist is checking it.

I’m just frustrated.

I’m sorry.

Sometimes family thinks they are helping or being supportive and they aren’t.

Quitting eating won’t help, that may make your body go into starvation mode and hold on to EVERYTHING. Week 2 post op I was barely eating 500 calories and missing my water goals as I transitioned to purées - trying to work out the new foods and making sure things sat well, and I didn’t loose a pound. Once I started hitting my protein, water and calorie goals - I started to see movement again.

If you are weighing and measuring everything and your nutritionist is working with you - stick to your plan and try to implement any changes they suggest… stay the course. You will be doing everything right post surgery and hit stalls or see fluctuations - just stay the course and things will correct. Best advice I had on this board was this journey is not a straight line down… it’s a jagged line that will go up, plateau and go down - but if you stick with it you will get there.

Keep working with your nutritionist… if you feel like they aren’t listening to you ask if there is another you can work with or talk to. Keep hydrated and try to keep your calories in range and meet any goals they give you.

You have lots of support here. If your program has not told you to loose, maintain or other instructions - keep checking in and working with them and ask them directly about your concerns. Hopefully they can put your mind at ease.

Yes, maybe that’s it. I’m doing all this and it feels like everyone is telling me either stuff I’m already doing or to just develop an eating disorder. Most of family is very unsupportive. And I’m having issues with it. I’m just thinking not losing might affect me getting approved for surgery.

On 08/31/2022 at 14:12, Capri81 said:

Yes, maybe that’s it. I’m doing all this and it feels like everyone is telling me either stuff I’m already doing or to just develop an eating disorder. Most of family is very unsupportive. And I’m having issues with it. I’m just thinking not losing might affect me getting approved for surgery.

I’d talk to your program and ask them. At least then you’ll know where you stand.

I’m sure the stress isn’t helping either.

Hopefully since your program didn’t tell you (you must maintain or lose X) they won’t have that requirement.

One thing that was very helpful for me has been working with a psychologist if you aren’t already (bonus if they have experience with weight loss). I get therapy isn’t for everyone, but it has been helping me. Unsupportive family is enough of a reason … but you are going through major surgery and life changes, it can be a help in adjusting to all of that as well.

4 hours ago, Capri81 said:

Good morning,
I’m so frustrated. I have 2 visits left for my 6 months of Dr advised weightloss. I’m actually up in weight. I’ve tried everything: increased exercise, more produce, no soda, no added sugar, increasing Fiber, only eating white meats (chicken,turkey,fish), doing 2 shakes a day and 1 meal, meditation, and getting COVID. I lost 5 pounds then even with following everything my weight went right back up. I’m beyond frustrated and worried I’m going to not qualify. I see the surgeon in a few weeks for an appointment after the EGD. Anyone else have this happen?

I know it's frustrating, but most likely this is just water weight. When you start dieting, the amount of glycogen stored in your muscles and organs drops pretty dramatically since you're not taking in enough carbs to replenish the glycogen. This depletion of glycogen also causes scale weight to drop in the form of water loss. Over time, those glycogen stores are renewed, which also causes you to put the water weight back on.

This phenomenon is even worse if you also add in new exercise, as your body needs extra water in your muscles to help repair the micro damage that exercise does to your muscles. If you feel sore muscles, you can know for sure that you're storing extra water.

I suspect there's another factor at work here: stress. Elevated stress levels causes you adrenal glands to make and release a hormone known as cortisol into your bloodstream. Among other things, elevated cortisol levels can actually slow down your metabolism, meaning you're burning fewer calories at rest.

There are a couple things that some people miss when they begin tracking or measuring. Are you counting all the oils and marinades you are cooking with? Also are you actually measuring sauces and stuff?? Two tablespoons was alot less than i though. When I actually put it in a measuring cup I realized I had been using a lot of calories worth of dressings. Another thing I was underestimating was shredded cheese. I don’t mean to sound insulting if you are already measuring these things correctly that’s great but I know I wasn’t in the beginning.

if you really are tracking everything correctly then it has to be stress. If I understood correctly your team did not actually give you a goal of weight to lose?? For the most part the medically managed diet is just an insurance hoop like others have said. A few people with higher BMI’s are given a specific Amount of weight that they must lose in order to make the procedure safe but for the most part it’s just the insurance game.

if I were you I would contact your team and let them know you are struggling and ask if you were required to lose In order to be approved or not. Get rid of that thing that is most likely causing you stress which is causing your body to be in fight or flight mode making it harder to lose.

@ShoppGirl thank you for that reminder!! so easy to forget how that stuff adds up

On 09/01/2022 at 05:46, ShoppGirl said:

There are a couple things that some people miss when they begin tracking or measuring. Are you counting all the oils and marinades you are cooking with? Also are you actually measuring sauces and stuff?? Two tablespoons was alot less than i though. When I actually put it in a measuring cup I realized I had been using a lot of calories worth of dressings. Another thing I was underestimating was shredded cheese. I don’t mean to sound insulting if you are already measuring these things correctly that’s great but I know I wasn’t in the beginning.

if you really are tracking everything correctly then it has to be stress. If I understood correctly your team did not actually give you a goal of weight to lose?? For the most part the medically managed diet is just an insurance hoop like others have said. A few people with higher BMI’s are given a specific Amount of weight that they must lose in order to make the procedure safe but for the most part it’s just the insurance game.

if I were you I would contact your team and let them know you are struggling and ask if you were required to lose In order to be approved or not. Get rid of that thing that is most likely causing you stress which is causing your body to be in fight or flight mode making it harder to lose.

Yeah, I have food allergies so I use hardly any condiments. No gluten. No tomatoes. (The 2 take out most condiments). I can handle minimal dairy. Whey protein I’m ok with but cheese I have to be careful (think 2 of the baby bell cheeses a day). About the only condiment I’m ok with is vinegars. Oil I only use the spray (per the nutritionist) to decrease intake and focus on fats from avocado, nuts, seeds and hummus.

I see the surgeon in the next 2 weeks so I’ll see what he says. I do know the NP said everything is really going to be based on my other health conditions as my cardiologist wants me to have surgery (I have some congenital heart defects). The surgeon had mentioned he’s been discussing me with my cardiologist. So maybe I’m just stressing myself out (not the craziest). I know my advocate said on our last call everything was looking good.

I ended up going to an endocrinologist multiple times and found out I have a hormone problem, so they're reconsidering trying to get me in for surgery. I'd recommend you checking it out. I had a similar problem when I was only in taking 1600 max a day with lots of working out.