Jacksonville or Wilmington Area

 Hi All , 
  I'm going through the pre-op part of WLS .  All I have to do according to my surgeion is lose 30 lbs.  I'm having a terrible time with this.  Did your surgeons make you lose before havign surgery ? I understand doing the 2 week liquid diet before surgery to shrink the liver. But if I could lose 30 lbs I don't feel like I would even need the surgery.  Are any of you near me ( Sneads Ferry ) ?  What doctors did you use ? I'm working with Dr.Harris .

The pre-op surgery requirements vary from one surgeon to another. What many surgeons want us to recognize is that the surgery is not a quick fix, but part of a set of tools we put into place. For some surgeon's they not only want to see the benefit of the shrinkage of the liver, but also your commitment to the process. Remember that the surgery is going to help you immensely as you work to strip off the excess weight, but studies have shown that the amount of weight you lose and your ultimate long-term maintenance of that weight loss is tightly keyed to the lifestyle changes you make. Please don't misunderstand me. Many people can lose the weight, or some of it, without the surgery, but we can't get it all off, much less keep it off. I honestly do not believe that I would have been able to get the weight off without the surgery and I really do not believe that I would be approaching my 5 year anniversary, still slender if I hadn't had the surgery. That said, it wasn't 'just' the surgery. It was a combination of the surgery and other skills/tools I developed that have led to my short and long-term success. Think of this 30 lbs weight loss as the beginning of your metamorphosis, not an impediment to it.

I know that it will be challenging, but it is not the futile exercise it has been for so many years. Instead it is the beginning of lifelong changes that will allow you to realize the quality of life and health you desire and deserve. 

There is a book that I often recommend to my support group members that are struggling with the issues with which you are struggling. It might help, the book is The Beck Diet Solution by Judith Beck and it comes as a book and workbook. It's not a diet, but a way to try to look at where you are, where you want to go and provides tools to help you get there. 

Wishing you all the best,

 Thank you . I actually have bothe the Beck book and workbppk. in the garage. I'll dig it out and read it again.

I have found them almost like a tool box. Often, when I find myself off track, there are nuggets of information there that help me refocus. One of the things that I did in terms of using the list that she has you create in the front was to put each of the 'reasons' on a separate 3x5 card. I found that for me they fell into 4 categories, so I have them in the box that way. For me the break down into the following areas: Health, Quality of Life, Appearance and Self Esteem. I found the list just too overwhelming to really be valuable to me, but I pull one card from each category each day and then when I'm taking a shower I think about them and what I want/need to do to support those things. It's made it more tangible and effective for me. 

Here's a list of many of the other books on my 'bookshelf':

vertitleauthor

	Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life Without Opening the Fridge	Bertinelli, Valerie
	Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time	Bertinelli, Valerie
	Is Lap Band Surgery for Me?: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Lasting Weight Loss	Henderson, Sandi
	10 Lessons from a Former Fat Girl: Living with Less of You and More of Life	Parham, Amy
	Smart Choices: A Practical Guide To Making Better Decisions	Hammond, John S.
	Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior	Goulston, Mark
	Weight!...That's Not the Issue	Adams, Dawn
	The Expert's Guide to Weight-Loss Surgery	Davis, Garth
	The REAL Skinny On Weight Loss Surgery: An Indispensable Guide to What You Can REALLY Expect!!	Janeway, Julie M.
	Eat It Up! The Complete Mind/Body/Spirit Guide to a Full Life After Weiight Loss Surgery	Stapleton, Connie
	Gastric Bypass Surgery	Mcgowan, Mary
	Skinny *****: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook: Crazy Delicious Recipes that Are Good to the Earth and Great for Your Bod	Barnouin, Kim
	Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly: Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker	Good, Phyllis Pellman
	Hungry Girl 300 Under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunches & Dinner Dishes Under 300 Calories	Lillien, Lisa
	Eat This, Not That!: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution	Zinczenko, David
	50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food	Albers, Susan *
	Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food--includes CD	Bays, Jan Chozen
	Intuitive Eating, 2nd Edition: A Revolutionary Program That Works	Tribole, Evelyn
	The Doctor's Guide to Weight Loss Surgery: How to Make the Decision That Could Save Your Life	Flancbaum, Louis
	Behavioral Approaches to Treating Obesity: Helping Your Patients Make Changes That Last	Association, American Diabetes

	Believe It, Be It: How Being the Biggest Loser Won Me Back My Life	Vincent, Ali
	The Beck Diet Weight Loss Workbook: The 6-Week Plan to Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person	Beck, Judith S.
	The Complete Beck Diet for Life: The Five-Stage Program for Permanent Weight Loss	Beck, Judith S.
	The Beck Diet Solution	Beck, Judith S.
	Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes	Television, Lifetime
	I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening!: Over 150 Ridiculously Easy Recipes for the Super Busy	Alexander, Devin
	Now Eat This! Diet: Lose Up to 10 Pounds in Just 2 Weeks Eating 6 Meals a Day!	DiSpirito, Rocco
	Now Eat This! Quick Calorie Solutions: 100 Ways to Save 100 Calories from Your Diet Anytime--Anywhere	DiSpirito, Rocco
	Now Eat This! Diet	DiSpirito, Rocco
	Now Eat This!: 150 Of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories	DiSpirito, Rocco