Is there any reason not to start heavily dieting now?

[Tina4heath4ever 27]

It seems a ridiculous question, but I'm going to ask anyway. The only think I can think of is if I was to get below a BMI of 40 and not qualifying, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Thoughts?

[PixelToph 46]

If you have a lot of weight to lose and don't have to worry about your BMI dropping below a certain threshold, I think it's a great idea. In the 7 months leading up to my surgery, I decided that since I was going to have to completely overhaul the way I eat, I might as well start ASAP, so it's not such a shock when I am also trying to heal from surgery.

I ended up losing 110lbs before my surgery. At my pre-op visit with the surgeon, he had to verify my starting weight wasn't a typo lol! He was thrilled and said it would make his job much easier, the surgery safer, and it would make it much more likely that I will continue to succeed after surgery.

[Dub 9,922]

The goal is to LOSE WEIGHT.

Not to wait for the surgery to lose weight.

I applaud the choice to get'r'dun asap.

[Tina4heath4ever 27]

My thoughts exactly! Thanks guys!

[LipstickLady 25,682]

Check with your insurance.

My insurance went with the weight I was at my first appointment. They didn't care what my weight was on my surgery date.

I was tired of being fat, so I did my pre-op diet for a month (plus a few days) instead of only the two weeks my surgeon required. I didn't have a food funeral, I didn't cheat, I put my head down and got to work.

I don't regret my decision as all.

[GoingRogue 53]

Do it. I'm currently pushing myself and I am still about 3 months from surgery. I'm afraid the drastic change will be hard for me so I'm trying to change it now so it's not such a shock after surgery. I've lost 15 lbs but I had gained 10 since my first appt with my doctor so I'm only down about 5 but still going! High Protein, low carb! It's also a great time to find out what Protein shakes and stuff you really like.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[sgc 538]

This is something I'm concerned about. My insurance requires a 6 month supervised diet but it's waived if your BMI is over 50. My BMI is over 50 and I was approved and got a surgery date. I have been losing a lot and haven't even started my liquid diet yet. I'm projecting to be right at 50 at the time of surgery so I hope that doesn't screw anything up if I fall to 49 at the time of surgery.

Edited May 17, 2016 by sgc

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Yes, do it.

I lost 10 pounds pre-op in 2 months on my own 1400 calorie/day diet.

I made a lot of other changes pre-op that nobody required, but that gave me a real leg up on the changes required post-op, including:

* Planning and tracking my daily menus / food intake

* Drinking 64 ounces of Water daily

* Cut down on caffeine

* Cut out all sodas

* Started eating / chewing more slowly

* Used smaller plates, forks, spoons

* Started walking / moving more

* Stopped drinking with meals

(I forget all the other stuff, but you get the idea.)

I could not WAIT for the ball to get rolling. I actually was worried about being disqualified for surgery due to a too-low BMI. So I bought a bunch of half-pound weights and stuffed 'em in my pockets, bra, underwear, shoes so I'd not weigh in too low. I don't think it really mattered though, since my initial weigh-in (without weights) and high enough to qualify me for WLS was the "official qualifying weight."

Still ... I was very goal-focused and wrung all the risk out of that situation!

[ridgerunner 115]

I made changes to my diet as soon asI knew in my heart that I was doing WLS. I cut out alcohol, coffee, soda, sweets, starches and pastas. I eat high Protein, low carb and drink lots of Water (basically it is all I drink) I downloaded the Fitpal app and log everything I eat. That has probably helped me more than anything else. Keeps me accountable. I do allow myself one night a month to eat out and have something on the naughty list. When I crave something I just tell myself I can have it in due time. I have been doing this since March and have lost 35 lbs so far. I will keep it up until my liquid diet phase before surgery.

[Daisee68 2,493]

What @@VSGAnn2014 said. My only fear in "heavily dieting now" is that like so many of us before, that intense dieting can send you in to a tailspin and make you want to have your food funerals. After surgery you have to really understand it is not a "diet", it is a new lifestyle. The very best thing you can do though is make a lot of those changes Ann mentioned. Try to do 1 and then add 1 per week (still doing the ones you did the prior week). I agree that loosing some weight will help with the surgery, but try to start focusing on life changes instead of just any sort of crash dieting. (Not sure if that is what you meant or not, so forgive me if I misread you.) I did eat less and started tracking and lost 15 pounds in my 3 months pre-op then 12 pounds on the 1 week liquid diet. It did make the procedure easier for sure but boy did I have some monster struggles and reality checks during those 3 months and was super glad I went through them without actually being hard-core dieting and then running off the rails.

[PixelToph 46]

I made changes to my diet as soon asI knew in my heart that I was doing WLS. I cut out alcohol, coffee, soda, sweets, starches and pastas. I eat high Protein, low carb and drink lots of Water (basically it is all I drink) I downloaded the Fitpal app and log everything I eat. That has probably helped me more than anything else. Keeps me accountable. I do allow myself one night a month to eat out and have something on the naughty list. When I crave something I just tell myself I can have it in due time. I have been doing this since March and have lost 35 lbs so far. I will keep it up until my liquid diet phase before surgery.

This is exactly what I did, minus the caffeine. I am an unabashed addict lol, I didn't give it up until I HAD to (my program says no caffeine 1 month pre-op until 3 months post-op) and I am counting down the days until I can have it again lol

Having scheduled cheat days really helped me, especially getting rid of the cravings in the beginning. When my willpower was tested, instead of "no," I could just tell myself in XX days I can have it. Towards the end, I usually skipped them, because I just didn't crave the junk anymore. Also, when I did indulge, it never tasted as good as I remembered.

[DeletedMember 715]

Check with your insurance.

What @@LipstickLady said. Mine also used my weight at the initial weigh-in. I had a BMI of just over 50, so I had to no supervised diet but I used the 6 weeks between my first appointment and surgery to begin eating how my doctor wants me to eat long term. I was able to lose 46 lbs in those 6 weeks and am SO HAPPY I did.

I have lost another 44 lbs in the 8 weeks since my surgery, so I don't feel the initial weight loss slowed me down at all. And I am so much happier being down a total of 90 lbs than I would be if I was down 44lbs overall. Plus it just makes the surgery easier.

As an added bonus, given how much weight I had lost, my doctor waived the 2 week pre-op liquid diet.

[ridgerunner 115]

PixelToph, I have been experiencing the same! I too go longer between cheat days, and yes! It really doesn't taste as good, which causes me to go even longer because I can't decide what I want to cheat with since I don't want to waste it on blah food

[leebick 448]

Here is something to consider, and it all depends on your starting BMI and your insurance. When I started my program and had my official weigh-in, I had a BMI of 41 with no other co-morbidities. I was hung-ho and figured why not start lifestyle changes now? Two days later, the WLS program manager/NP called me to say she'd processed my insurance and to warn me against losing weight. My insurance does not take the official starting weight as the weight they use to determine if I qualify for surgery; they use the weight recorded at the pre-surgical meeting with the surgeon. The NP warned me not to lose too much weight in the interval between starting the program and meeting the surgeon (which was almost 3 months); if I lost enough weight for my BMI to fall below 40, my insurance would not cover my surgery. Fortunately/unfortunately it was not an issue- maybe because over Christmas I gained weight - but I qualified and will be having VGS surgery in a week! (surgery date 5/26/16)!

[sgc 538]

Anyone have experience with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan? I had the 6 month diet waived because I was over 50 BMI. I got approval and have a surgery date scheduled. I have lost weight faster than I expected and am certain I will be under 50 BMI by surgery time. Is BCBSM going to yank my approval at surgery date? Will I still have surgery and they decide not to pay and I'm stuck with the bill?