preparing for surgery

Hi all. First I want to congratulate all those who have been approved for the surgery and all those who have already had it. People dont realize how difficulty it is for overweight people to lose and maintain their weight. This is definitely NO easy way out as some might think. I  completed all my insurance requirements, just have to wait for psych doctor to submit her report to insurance dept at Barix, which psych doc states it maytake her up to 2 weeks due to her busy schedule.  I actually gained  about 6 pounds since my consult in April and I know from reading some of the messages on here and  Barix that they wont do the surgery if you have gained.  I  was wondering if starting the pre- op diet now is too soon because I may not find anything out about approval for maybe a month or more. I'm sure I could lose the weight I gained and then some by starting the diet early, but is about 4 weeks too early??   I also starting a  hair,nail and skin vitamin  with 3000mg of biotin in additional to my regular vitamin due to  seeing many responses about losing your hair after surgery. What does the pre-surgery diet include and what should I avoid. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Michele 

It's never too early to get healthy.    Eat high protein and low carb.   Start walking and drink water.    The more you lose now the more successful you will be post op.   In my opinion You're wasting your time and money on the biotin.     In the meantime research and read profiles.   Learn all you can and ask questions.    We don't mind. Linda

Hey there Michele, You really can't store up your biotin, so taking it now isn't going to help.  You'll either lose your hair or you won't.....genetics and protein consumption post op is what will determine this. Four weeks isn't too early to start getting ready to change everything about the way you eat.  My suggestion would be to cut out all fast food, including salads and things one might consider healthy.  I'm not sure if you eat those now, but I did and it took a while to "detox" my body from them.  Just the habit of always having a meal there for me was so hard to break. Second, I would start drinking water and looking at labels.  Pay attention to added sugars and protein.  Figure out what your trigger foods are....those that you turn to that aren't healthy.  Try to gradually get those kinds of food out of your daily diet. Every center has their own pre-op diet.  Mine was a 900 calorie low fat/sugar diet and fruits and veggies were free foods you could have all day.  It was crazy to realize I was eating like 3,000-4,000 calories on a good day before I went to my NUT appointments!  Exercise a little every day and find active things you like to do. Start to watch what you eat and what you have conditioned yourself to crave.   Best of luck to you!