"Best" pre-surgical diet??

Hello! I'm JUST starting my weight loss process now and looking for diet advice. I need to lower my BMI by about 7 points to qualify for covered bariatric surgery (in Manitoba), but I have six months before I can even apply because I'm currently living in a different province. So! I have six months to diet and exercise as diligently as possible and then, if I qualify, I'll be in a hospital program that monitors diet and exercise as part of the whole surgical process. I'm looking at different diets and weighing options between the Mayo Clinic's weight loss diet, which is essentially a 1,200 calorie/day Mediterranean one but doesn't specifically focus on low carb/high protein (though on the whole, it looks to be lower in carbs and higher in protein, but with less emphasis on that) or a straight-up high protein/low carb diet. I'm also cutting refined sugars completely. Any thoughts/advice? I'm sort of looking at two different meal plans but found myself confused while grocery shopping over things like fat content in diary products (should I go high fat? No fat? The high protein diet seems to think high fat), use of nuts, eggs, etc. Help?

Decisions, decisions, Hello SA79. The famous Dr. Now puts his patients on a 1200 calorie high protein low carb plan and it is very filling. I found it on Pinterest and it covers all your food groups and is sound. He says an average patient should lose 20 - 30 pounds a month on his plan. Even if you lose half of that at 10 pounds, in six months you will be 60 pounds lighter which is very good.

Hey how many pounds does 7 points off your BMI amount to?

Hey, thanks for responding! Covering all the food groups sounds good, and so does that weight loss amount, wow!

To have the surgery covered at the one hospital in Winnipeg that does it under provincial coverage, you need a BMI of 40-55. I'm (genuinely) big-boned and muscular, so I've also been told that BMI will never quite accurately describe my health, but for this the number is all that matters. Mine, depending on the chart you read, is currently about 60-62. I'm also quite short, at 5'3", which doesn't help!

Going to google that diet now. Thanks!!

I actually lost over 50 lbs on the diet that the Bariatric Center gave me. Basically, high protein, and stop using a dinner plate, go to a dessert plate and 1/4 of it is protein, 1/4 of it carbs, 1/2 veggies, eat protein first, then veggies and then carbs, if still hungry, more veggies. 2 protein shakes a day, or supplement the protein shakes with Greek yogurt. Basically, cut out carbs, sugars, and watch the fat content. Can eat nuts, as they are good for you, but this is not to be a high fat diet. Also, when it came to milk/dairy, NO FAT, or go to unsweetened almond milk. They specifically said NOT soy milk because of causing more estrogen, which makes it harder to lose weight.