6 months until VSG. Prep advice and success!

Hello all! Super excited to be taking the first steps to get VSG! Sadly, I have to wait until after May when I graduate college. One good thing about allllll that time is that it gives me some time to prepare! So, I would love to hear any advice, stories, and success you have had! I do have a few specific things I was wondering though.

I LOVE my hair and I am terrified of losing it. It's thick and long. Is there anything I can do now to help my locks down the road?

I am pretty young and carry my weight pretty evenly, but I want to do as much as possible to not get loose skin. I plan on weight lifting, but does anyone have any suggestions for a good cream, oil, lotion, vitamin that I can start using now to help my skin out?

Thank you all! Also, like I said before, I am OBSESSED with reading everything about VSG. So give me the good, the bad, and the ugly of what you have gone through!

Try to begin eating as close to your post-op way of eating now. You will probably need more calories but the sooner you can build new habits, the more successful you will be. And going into surgery lighter will make your recovery easier as well.

I can't help with advice on the hair or skin: I didn't lose hair (at least not noticeably), and I'm older so I couldn't avoid the loose skin (but you mostly can't see it in clothes, other than my neck and jowls which you probably wouldn't get). 

Congrats on starting the journey, it is life changing! Here are a few suggestions:

1. Begin to change your eating habits now, it will help you immensely come surgery time. Start tracking every single bit that you eat on something like myfitnesspal.com. The folks here who make it to goal and a normal weight pretty much all have that in common. Start getting use to managing your different nutrient levels. In my case, i carefully track protein, sugar, carbs, and fat. 
2. Hair loss- just accept that it might happen and know that it will grow back. If your hair is really thick, you likely will not lose so much that others will notice, just you. I too had thick hair and although it was a little unsettling to lose some, at the end it was never so thin that it looked like I was losing my hair. 
3. Start taking a multivitamin now that contains iron. Many of us have deficiencies so getting that in check to the greatest extent possible with get you ready for recovery.
4. Start exercising now. Anything to get you moving. In the beginning I could only manage walks but progressed rapidly. It really helps to keep you out of the refrigerator and to maintain all the weight loss. 
5. Closer to your surgery get your pantry ready. Not too much of any one thing, as for many of us our tastes changed after surgery. But enough so you won't need to go track things down. 
6. Get a decent blender if you can. I have kitchen gadget disease so I am biased in this area. I lived on protein shakes and other things blended during the weight loss phase. I have a very low tolerance for chunks of ice in my shakes, so eventually, I caved and bought a Vitamix. Wish I had bought it earlier. I also have the Blendtec now for work- that one was a little cheaper and worked nearly as well. Many on here like the Ninja too, but that was one of the ones that get sent to the kitchen graveyard in my home. 
7. It took me 3 months prior to my surgery to get my eating in line. I didn't lose anything in the first month despite following the guidelines given to me. I was insulin resistant though. As I got closer to the date I did lose some, and that really had a lot to do with me making it all the way to goal. Start working on it now and don't give up on it. It might be very slow to minimal weight loss, but even if all you accomplish is adjusting your eating habits you will be much farther ahead!

Congrats.  

Some things I'd recommend:

• Start making sure you get 100 grams of protein a day - protein first, then green veg, then fruit
• Start lifting weights now - it will be easier to build a good muscle base now before your calories are so restricted.  Muscle will help your metabolism burn more.  
• Drink lots of water- quit sugar drinks
• Try different protein drinks and see what you like 

I just really want to say "Ditto" to what Stacy_WLS said.

If you aren't, I'd recommend walking also.

You have 6 months to get a head start on building healthy habits to help you succeed long term.  No time like the present!  Best of luck to you.

Sadly there is absolutely nothing you can do about hair loss or loose skin.

Telogen Effluvium occurs when your body goes through some kind of trauma, like cancer, child birth, or surgery for example. It starts a few months after the event and lasts for a few months as the hair growth cycle reboots itself, and new hair follicles start pushing out the old.  No amount of protein, vitamins or expensive shampoos can prevent or treat it.  It just has to run its course.

Loose skin has a lot to do with age, genetics and luck.  Again, no creams or potions can prevent it or treat it.  If your skin is overstretched to the point of permanent damage (i.e. stretch marks are a sign), then it is unlikely to bounce back.  If you want to spend your money on something successful, save it for plastic surgery.