Ok I have not been banded yet but I am planning on being banded in Decemeber or Jan. I have to wait because I am starting a new job in a few weeks and I won't be able to get financing till have a few pay check stubbs to prove my income and I also have to go through about 6 weeks of testing before they will band me, and I also cannot miss any work for the first 90 days so I have to work appointments in my schedule.

My question is would it hurt to try and lose a bit of weight before the actually the surgery not including the pre-op liquid diet? I currently weigh 247.8, which is the highest I have ever weighed!! I have been bouncing around from 223-246 for the past 3 years but due to just finishing my last semester in college, and being lazy for the past 6 weeks before I start my job I have gained about 20lbs.

I would like to be about 228 before I start my liquid diet in Nov. or Dec. And probably with the liquid diet for 2 weeks I am required to be on I should lose about another 10lbs putting me at about 218 right before surgery. Is this reasonable to do or should I just eat whatever untill it's time for the pre-op liquids? Oh yeah I am about 5,7".

I just feel so awful at this weight!! And none of my clothes fit very well....I'm tired of wearing a girdle!

What would you do??

It really is a personal choice.

I chose to just wait until the surgery which was a good thing because it turned out I did not have to self-pay and with a BMI of 41 with no co-morbities losing a few pounds would have disqualified me for insurance coverage. But also, at the time, I felt that after surgery I was going to be missing out on my favorite foods for life and I wanted to pig out on them before it was over. Of course it turns out that there is very little that I am missing out on, just eating a lot less of it.

If you feel that you need to start losing weight on your own right now, it certainly can't hurt to do so.

Have you checked with the insurance compnay that you'll have at your new employer? they may cover it over such a bmi. That would be definitely worth staying where you are weight wise. My office had a policy you had to loose 5% of your weight (13 pounds for me), and I'm high enough bmi, with comorbidity issues, that it wasn't an issue.

good luck with your decision.

teri

I'd check with your new insurance company before deciding to lose anything on purpose! If you get down to 228# you'll have a BMI of just barely over 35. Some insurance companies are really hard to convince with that, but others are fine with it.

I would also check on the BMI thing, but I personally have started eating in the lapband fashion, small bites and chew chew chew just to practice and doing so I have lost 20lbs but I am still a BMI over 40 and I am going to keep it there until insurance approval. Goodluck!!!

My employer does cover the surgery but not until you have worked there for 5 years!!!! I am not waiting that long! I have been waiting 22 years I'm done and I don't mind paying for it myself!