Losing weight before insurance approval

Just wondering how much weight some of you lost before it went to the insurance co. for approval. I was told to lose at least 15 lbs. I lost 16 lbs the first month. And now I lost two more lbs. They also told me not to lose too much. Well how much is too much? I hate to stop losing now just because I made my quota already. It's only a drop in the hat compared to what I have to lose, but at least I lost some.

BTW I had my psych evaluation today and it was a breeze. Thanks again for the confidence you all gave me for that. 

Hi Michele,
I just wanted to let you know that the more weight you lose the better it is at surgery time. I don't know what your current weight is but when you are overweight you have something called a fatty liver the docs are trying to make sure that you lose weight so that your recovery is quicker post-op. I am not sure who told you not to lose too much weight but it's always a good idea to lose at least 10% of your body weight before surgery. I also think it gets you into the right mind set that eating right and excercising is the new way you have to live post WLS.

Thank you for that info, so I'll just lose however much I can lose before surgery.

Michele,

The insurance company is looking at your weight loss pre-surg as a gauge of how compliant and successful you're likely to be post-surg.  So weight loss is a good thing - don't feel you have to sabotage it now just to stay within some pre-determined limit.  

As Shilpa said, the more you can lost pre-surg the better for a lot of good health reasons.  Additionally, the more you can get your eating in line pre-surgery (such as eliminating sugar, caffeine and limiting fats) the easier your recovery will ultimately be.

Hope this helps!
Karen

Not know how much you need to lose total is sort of leaving a blind side for the following answer.  I believe they told you not to lose to much so you won't be disqualified for surgery.  You might make yourself borderline or just below qualifying for the surgery.  There are quite a few people who didn't qualify because their BMI wasn't high enough. That could be the reason, but again, not enough info to know for sure.

I would suggest that you contact someone at your insurance company and get their 'rules' for weight loss surgery because they are all different. Mine sent me a 36 page booklet regarding weight loss surgery but what it basically boiled down to was that I had to go on a 3 month diet and exercise program, meet with a nutritionist and a personal trainer, and join a gym. I had to have this all documented by my PCP. They didn't actually require me to lose any weight before, but I ended up losing 33 lbs during that 3 month period. Then I went on a 10 day pre-surgery liquid required by my surgeon and lost another 17, so in total I lost 50 before surgery - and like Shilpa said, it made my surgery that much safer and easier for the surgeon - he said my liver was nice and small and easy to work around.

So get the information from your insurance company to see what they require before you go any further - because like Nan said, if your BMI drops too low they may disqualify you - or they may require you to do other things along with losing weight.

Wishing you all the best!! Kathy