How long did it take your brain to get on board?

How long did it take your brain to get on board, specifically when you were doing 6 months of nutrition counseling and appointments with weigh ins? I just started the process a couple weeks ago and am not yet ready mentally to start on my bad habits (sugar, exercises). At what point in the process did you mentally get on board with all the changes necessary to be successful?

I started immediately. I began the research about WLS because I was so disgusted with myself and I was serious about it from my first appointment on. IMHO, the earlier you can get your head in the game the more successful you will be. I changed my eating during the pre-op period, not to a diet but I followed the suggestions of the nutritionist. And it worked. I lost 1/3 of my weight in the 6 month pre-op period.

I started immediately! You have to maximize that time to be successful. But don't confuse "started immediately" with "never had a slip or an issue". Work your program, being painstakingly honest in your food logs and make the changes you can, as soon as you can!

I didn't have a 6 month program-- but I went into my consultation ready. I was sick and tired of eating crap. I wasn't even enjoying like I used to. That, coupled with my fear of a downward spiral of my relatively good health, kept my head in the game. This is my experience-- your mileage WILL vary. But just know you have have your head clear mentally to be successful. If you're not ready- your're just not ready. I looked into surgery 5 years prior to actually doing it-- I wasn't ready then. I'm not one of those who say i wish i did this 20 years ago-- I would have most certainly failed in grand style if I did.

I agree. I didn't have a 6 month program either, but I went into my first consultation and walked out with a promise to myself to change my way of eating. I figured if I was ready enough to make the first appointment, and agreed to go to the appointment with the surgeon, I was ready to make the changes necessary to be successful.

The sooner you can get your head on straight, the better. Around here, we say that "WLS fixes your stomach, not your brain." Surgery is not a magic fix and requires hard work and changes in habits to be succesful.

Do you have a counselor or therapist? Many people get a lot of help from working with a mental health professional.

I feel like this can be answered different ways--I know I have been "on board" with healthy eating and lifestyle changes several times in my life, and each time I was successful short-term with some weight loss and health improvements...the real issue is whether you are ready to commit to it for the rest of your life.

I think that I was ready 100% by the time I went for my consultation because I knew what it was going to take since I had made the commitment in the past several times but was never able to maintain any significant loss longer than 2 years.

The idea of the 6 month diet plan is to basically prepare you for the lifestyle changes you will need to make in order to maintain success after surgery. If you have never restricted yourself in the past, you need to kind of get an idea of what it will be like. It may take longer for someone who has not dieted a lot previously, and I think that is largest reason so many programs and insurances require the supervised diet plan.
If you find that you are not prepared after these 6 months and are unable to commit to your plan, you probably aren't ready for the surgery yet. It is a great time to test yourself and see how prepared you feel.
like others have said, you will probably have a few slip-ups. we have all been there...it's OK as long as you don't let it sabotage you and get back on the wagon afterward...its human. Just use this time wisely, see what you are capable of. push yourself. some days push harder...you will be surprised at what you are capable of when you want it badly enough.

I'd like to say that I got on board immediately when I got the ball rolling for WLS, but I had to do a lot of research first to figure out what "on board" even was.

I met with my surgeon for the first time in November 2013 and I'd been on OH for a bit then too. (I had made the decision to pursue WLS a few months prior to that first appointment.)

I started shifting to protein forward meals around then. I also started trying to be more mindful of what I was eating in general. I'd already been going to the gym and using the elliptical for about an hour 3-4x a week. That was about all my body could handle then.

I also found a therapist, since I knew that was going to be a very important part of my Obesity Recovery Plan.

In January of 2014 I started replacing "meals I ate alone" with protein shakes - on most days that meant I had a shake for breakfast and lunch. I was pretty focused by then so had stopped eating pints of ice cream and other suboptimal foods. For the non-shake meals, I focused on eating protein and cut way back on the refined and processed carbs. I still ate some, but I worked on eating protein first, and slowly, and then only had a few bites of carbs if I was still feeling like I wanted them.

Then I had surgery in March 2014. I lost 25 pounds between January and March with the changes I made, so that's pretty awesome. No idea if I'd lost anything in the few months before that since I didn't start weighing myself on a regular basis until January!

It sounds like you would benefit from seeing a therapist - it seems strange that you're choosing surgery but are "not yet ready mentally to start on [your] bad habits." In theory, this should be the point in your life where you are most motivated to change - you've chosen surgery! Woo! If you're not motivated now, what will it take for you to become motivated?

By not mentally ready to start on my bad habits, I mean specifically right now, 6 months before surgery, I am not mentally ready to give up all carbonated beverages and all desserts for example. And I am trying to ask when others were mentally able to do so.

Yes - I completely understood what you mean. Hence my suggestions. If you're not mentally ready to start on your bad habits right now - are you mentally ready to be in a WLS program? These are great topics to talk about with a therapist.