Question about supervised diets

Ok.. might be a stupid question but the reason behind the supervised diet is: a. see if you can stick to a diet so you won't mess up your band or b. if you lose weight, then insurance says 'ha! you did it without us spending money so you are denied! Then another question arises: what is this diet? protein drinks first, then mushy food, the same that you'd do after RNY or Lapband? Another question pops into my head: What doc does the supervision? Your regular doc or the wl surgeon? Or in my case, my cardiologist? I was in TOPS for over a year and didn't lose more than 10 lbs and I've gained and lost that amount over and over. Mostly fluid since I tend to get a build up of it due to my heart. I intend to write a letter stating my personal concern over the heart problems, why lapband would be the best for me and other things along that line. I pray that I'll get someone in the insurance's office that realizes that I need to do something quick before my heart gets worse.

The idea behind theinsurance requirement for supervised diets is that if you can lose the weight and keep it off by dieting that this should be the first thing you try. If this is tried and fails (either you don't lose, or you don't keep it off), then the inherent risk of surgery becomes a more viable alternative. Some insurance companies want 5 years of weight loss attempts. Usually only some of needs to be "supervised". If you told your doctor you were dieting, that should count. The idea of supervision is that the doctor (any doctor) can testify that you tried something (preferably medically sound) to lose weight on you own before surgery. They are trying to weed out people who view this as a push button solution.