Not sure about all the things in the second question, but a small Cherry Berry Chiller (yes, a SMALL) is 200 calories and 49g carbs. All those carbs are sugar since there is no fiber.

They require the weight loss to show that you are dedicated to changing your life. I did ZERO exercising during my 6 months and lost 13lbs. I just changed the things that they told me to. My Drs office requires you to drop a certain percentage prior to surgery with NO significant weight gain during the process. If the insurance company accepts it once they'll accept it again. It will cost the insurance company for your friend to continue to be over weight then to have the surgery (in the long run at least). It might also be because of the type of surgery she is having done, since the gastric sleeve is still considered experimental surgery to a lot of doctors it may be something that is 100% needed for her to lose the weight before hand. Maybe she could ask if it's different if she has the gastric bypass??

I did not have to lose a certain amount of weight before surgery. I just made small changes, increasing my water intake and making better choices in foods. I would fluctuate 5 lbs. I have been on the liquid diet 4 days and have lost 9 lbs so far. It may be an insurance requirement, it may be the physician is not a fan of the surgery. Not sure but there is a lot of negativity regarding the surgery in the medical community. I am not sure what to advise here. I would ask her how the physician acts when discussing the surgery and how they acted when it was first brought up. It may require that she change providers to someone who is more supportive of the program. Do they have a dietician she can meet with every couple of weeks to help get her down the 10lbs. Have her cut out all calories from liquids. No pop, juice, etc. Just water. That will make a big difference.