Maintaining and/or losing weight before vsg

Hey there! So i had a consulatation with my surgeon, and have 3 months of visits with a dietitian(my first appt was Jan 2 and the next is Feb 1). So she made it clear insurance can deny you if u gain any weight. I am trying to stick to the high protien low calorie and carbs deal but Im nervous. Im afriad of gaining weight and being denied. Can anyone share some good advice. Its hard finding things to eat and fighting cravings etc and I really would like to lose a good 30lbs before my surgery. And i know my weight goes up and down easily so that scares me as well especially after i saw the dietitian the second of January and weighed in and then went for a checkup the next day with my doctor and the scale said i was 2lbs heavier when it hadnt even been 24hrs and I didnt eat anything crazy. I just want to be successful overall and I'm having a hard time between 2 jobd and college with finding the time to workout. Not making excuses and im open to all advice. Thank you guys!!!!

Musty be really hard pre-op to have added pressure from insurance company not to gain! I can't speak to that, as my insurance co. didn't require this. But my humble advice would be- don't focus on quantity, but rather eat until you're sated, & eat as high protein as u can (good practice for after surgery). Try to satisfy sweet cravings with lots of fruits. Hopefully this will prevent gaining. It's hard to manage weight without the sleeve as a tool! We wouldn't be having surgery of we didn't need help doing it! Good luck!

Log EVERYTHING you eat. Not only meals, but nibbles, tastes, snacks, EVERYTHING.

It's a very good habit to get into, as you'll need to continue it post op and basically for the rest of your life.

Completely agree with Julie above. If you're not already, start measuring and tracking every single thing you put into your mouth - including liquids. Most people seem to like MyFitnessPal the best.

I agree with logging everything that you eat. I just finished my 6 months of Pre-Op Diet visits required before my surgery and I lost 50 pounds, using the MyFitnessPal app on my phone. It is also helpful to have it written done and logged so that when you meet with your dietician and you are not losing, you can pull up the app and have here look at what you are eating and she can make recommendations. I also found that it kept me honest, I made it a policy that I had to log it before I ate it and that was helpful in helping me decide if it was really worth it to eat it. You can do this!!! My fitness app also has a space to log your activity and water. I motivated me to get out there and walk at least 15 minutes a day and drink my water, both of which will help you lose some weight during those pre-op months.

Again you can do this!!

You've gotten some really good advice. I'll only add be careful with salty foods, it can make you put on water weight. I also had to make sure I didn't gain weight during the pre op process. Also my tom would put on weight too if only temporarily. Sorry if this doesn't apply to you. Not sure by your screen name if you're female or not.

I wanted this surgery for years. But, my insurance company had a specific exclusion policy that went into affect 10 years ago against any WLS. I couldn't even self pay as they would not have covered any complications from the surgery. However, for some reason in mid-June of 2017, they lifted the exclusion. From that day, I became committed. It was a conscious decision. I lost 62 pounds before my surgery. (I did start at 522 so this is not the norm).

• I began logging every single thing I ate on My Fitness Pal before I ate it. MFP has a mobile app so it is easy to do as most of us have smart phones.
• I immediately started the "Phase II" plan that my surgeon usually requires just 2 weeks before surgery. I did it from 7/13 to 9/29, the day of surgery. That phase II plan was lean turkey, chicken and fish only. No starchy vegs (no peas, corn, potatoes, etc). High protein, and very low fat. No breads, pasta, rice or dairy. Protein shakes twice a day. I also did Walden Farms products which allowed me to have mayo, salad dressing, BBQ sauce, etc as they are zero calories, actually they are zero everything. I have weaned myself away from them and onto real food now as they are mostly chemicals, but it helped during the really brutal days.
• It was brutal, but the weight melted off and more importantly, the surgeon had told me that at my weight, she guaranteed that I had a fatty liver. If she operated while my liver was still in the condition it was in, I would risk having it "crack" as a fatty liver is brittle when she lifted it. It was enough to solidify my commitment.
• I couldn't move... I was in a wheelchair and couldn't walk more than a few steps, so exercise was out of the question. So diet was my only option.

Do you want this? Then reach deep within yourself and make it happen for yourself. You are the only one who can do this.

Even though I lost 62 pounds pre-surgery, I knew I would be weak and fall back into old habits so I knew I needed the WLS to give myself a fighting chance.

It is the best thing I've ever done for myself. I wish you the same success.

Oh and I also posted every single day on OH what I was going to eat. It kept me accountable to myself.

Best wishes!

Diane

All of the above is good advice, I just wanted to add one thing. On my first dietician visit, all she taught me was to eat slow, take small bites, and chew everything 30 times. I thought this was just to prepare me for what to do after surgery. She said to put my fork down between each bite use chopsticks for every meal or whatever it took to slow down my eating. She said then when you are tired of messing with it (because it is a chore) then stop eating. She said to eat every 3 - 4 hours. At this point she didn't even have me change what I ate, only how. I blew it off at first thinking I could easily do that after surgery. But then I decided I better give it a try. The first couple of days were hard but by the end of the first week I found I was already getting full faster and not eating as much. I lost 38 pounds pre-surgery (started at 312). Thanksgiving weekend was my last weekend before my 2 week liquid pre-op diet. I thought I was going to totally blow it but I honestly could not eat near as much as I wanted to. To me that was the biggest factor in helping me loss weight before surgery. Good luck to you!