Not loose Weight pre op

[J San 1,071]

16 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Are you really ready for this?

This is so important. Make sure you are mentally ready to commit to the type of changes you will have to go through for this surgery. Pre surgery it is very hard to commit to the changes but you have to if you want to succeed. The sucky thing now it that you have to REALLY commit to it all and in a very short amount of time. Hopefully this does not discourage you. Follow the advice given here and by your NUT. You CAN lose the weight in the time you have left. If you need support we are all here to do just that. Ask questions, ask for support whenever you need it. We all want to succeed and help each other succeed. Don't feel like your alone.

[lili@ne 21]

@greenTealael oh yes for 2 years I’ve been planing and searching about and finally decided .... yes I’m ready

[lili@ne 21]

@greenTealael oh yes for 2 years I’ve been planing and searching about and finally decided .... yes I’m ready

[GreenTealael 25,336]

1 hour ago, lili@ne said:

@greenTealael oh yes for 2 years I’ve been planing and searching about and finally decided .... yes I’m ready

You have one month to prove it

[lili@ne 21]

I keep u guys posted .

[SteveT74 359]

OP, I don't know your stats, but unless you have a thyroid condition or other serious metabolic issue (like taking high doses of insulin for type 2 diabetes), you should be able to drop 10 pounds in a month. It sounds like the problem here is that the amount you are being asked to lose is small enough that you might have blown off the diet until the last minute (sort of like cramming for an exam back in high school). I know you can lose the weight in time. Hell, I can lose 20 pounds in a month in I have to (although I also know I would gain 25 back afterwards). In the end, the surgery is just a tool and you're going to have to make some major lifestyle changes anyway if you are going to keep all weight off even after surgery. Now is a good time to start as any,

Think positively and start practicing for you post-op diet now. Try cutting your portions down. Use bread plates instead of big plates for your meals. After you're done with your meal (normal size portions on a small plate, which is at least half veggies)---wait 20 minutes before you you give yourself seconds. I am not telling you not to eat more, but think about whether you are really hungry and whether you really need to have that extra portion. Is that extra portion really going to be worth it when it comes time for your weigh in. It's all about mindful eating. If you need to snack, make sure you have healthy Snacks available--fruit and veggies without fattening dressings. Cut your food into small pieces (don't wolf it down). Put your fork down after every bite and chew each bite 15 times. It's annoying at first, but you get used to it (and you're going to need to do it anyway post-op). Also, the key to losing weight is drinking lots of Water over the course of a day (at least 64oz) [that's always a hard one for me, but if you just sip on a water bottle a every few minutes you can do it).

I am not on my high horse or anything---I admit to being a food addict, binge eater and sneak eater. So, no judgments from me, but if you want this surgery that badly, you will commit 100% to losing 10 pounds in 4 weeks and you will make it happen!!

[Frustr8 7,886]

@SteveT74 do you need an alto to sing with you. I have been a sneaker, a binger and a unrepentant food addict, halfway through my Dietary Purgatory, the infamous Liver-shrink Diet, it would be so easy to say F this is so over. 3 things pop up in my current-time memory:
1, I really really want this surgery, at my age there are no gaurenteed do-overs, no more chances, the easy tricks don't work, and oh I tried!
2. I remember Dr Needlman palpating my upper abdomen, got to the RIGHT subcostal area and says to himself "Un-huh". Now I am medically "smarter than the average bear" as my good Buddy Yogi Bear would say. He's feeling liver margin, didn't have to scream you have NASH, I knew! Looks up at me and says " You are going to follow my diet aren't you?" What could I say? Yes Sir, I will Sir, shall I polish your shoes Sir? I was called to rights there! Can't fool someone who has been in the Bariatrics business as long as him! Not complaining, I wanted the best-I got him.
3 I have lost nearly 13 pounds now since August 1st. Only time in my life I dropped weight faster was when I had just produced a baby. Oh I liked producing babies, but at 72 that's a LONG time ago. If I could with egg and sperm donations produce another baby would I want to? Nope, too much
pain, mess and bother for this old girl!
But if I can lose weight with a BMR like mine, equal to a tired slug who's on anti-depressive medication, at my age you youngins got nothing to quibble about. Oh it's not fun, goes against most all happiness, contrary to normal nature, but it can be done, Buttercup, yes it can.😛🌻

[SteveT74 359]

6 minutes ago, Frustr8 said:

@SteveT74 do you need an alto to sing with you. I have been a sneaker, a binger and a unrepentant food addict, halfway through my Dietary Purgatory, the infamous Liver-shrink Diet, it would be so easy to say F this is so over. 3 things pop up in my current-time memory:
1, I really really want this surgery, at my age there are no gaurenteed do-overs, no more chances, the easy tricks don't work, and oh I tried!
2. I remember Dr Needlman palpating my upper abdomen, got to the RIGHT subcostal area and says to himself "Un-huh". Now I am medically "smarter than the average bear" as my good Buddy Yogi Bear would say. He's feeling liver margin, didn't have to scream you have NASH, I knew! Looks up at me and says " You are going to follow my diet aren't you?" What could I say? Yes Sir, I will Sir, shall I polish your shoes Sir? I was called to rights there! Can't fool someone who has been in the Bariatrics business as long as him! Not complaining, I wanted the best-I got him.
3 I have lost nearly 13 pounds now since August 1st. Only time in my life I dropped weight faster was when I had just produced a baby. Oh I liked producing babies, but at 72 that's a LONG time ago. If I could with egg and sperm donations produce another baby would I want to? Nope, too much
pain, mess and bother for this old girl!
But if I can lose weight with a BMR like mine, equal to a tired slug who's on anti-depressive medication, at my age you youngins got nothing to quibble about. Oh it's not fun, goes against most all happiness, contrary to normal nature, but it can be done, Buttercup, yes it can.😛🌻

Good luck with your surgery. it's exciting--but that pre-op part is going to be the rough one for me. I'll make through when my time comes, but that's one of the hardest parts of the process as far as I can see. You're going to have to suffer a bit for a few months pre- and post-op, but I haven't met anyone who had surgery like this that didn't say it wasn't worth it in the end.

[Auroragirl4489 88]

I lost 9lbs in a couple weeks just by eating egg whites for Breakfast or shake, Protein Shake for lunch and salad with chicken or shrimp (any Protein if you eat red meat or pork) for dinner and then eat Jello for Snacks and popsicles. Cut carbs out completely. Also no sodas or juices. If you are serious about this you will stick with the diet plan created. Count your calories i never go over 1000. And insurance is very strict. Good luck 

[farfi 3]

Hi! I'm in the pre op stage. My insurance needs to follow my process for six months for the surgery to get approved they also make me lose 10% of my body weight. I do not have any advice to give you but i wish you luck!

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[Crump408 2]

I was in your shoes with the same symptoms if not more. Use the Military Diet and then start a low/no carb diet. If you stick to the military diet, you are guaranteed a 10lbs weight loss. You will also be open and ready to take on any diet. I started out at 407 about the time I hit the table I was 338. You can repeatedly use the military diet whenever you slack off. Be aware, you will not see the results until the following week. Look it up. It definitely worked for me.

[lili@ne 21]

Thank you all!!

[SteveT74 359]

12 hours ago, farfi said:

Hi! I'm in the pre op stage. My insurance needs to follow my process for six months for the surgery to get approved they also make me lose 10% of my body weight. I do not have any advice to give you but i wish you luck!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using BariatricPal mobile app

I have EmblemHealth GHI and they had a six month requirement of medically supervised nutritional monitoring and counseling, but no weight loss benchmark. I was 4 months in when, in June 2018, they revised the criteria to eliminate the requirement. The major bariatric organizations and institute (See, e.g., American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery's Updated Position Paper on Preoperative Supervised Weight Loss Requirements (March 2016) have all come out with position papers saying that these types of requirements serve no medical benefit, are not supported by any scientific evidence and only delay necessary treatment--which can harm patients (particularly those with co-morbidities like Type 2 diabetes). If you (or anyone else) is denied coverage because you have failed to meet this arbitrary and ridiculous requirement, you have a very good basis for challenging the denial. This requirement only serves as a barrier to necessary treatment for patients who stand to benefit from it. The new position advocated by most major institutes and associations is that surgery should be determined based on the BMI you present with at your initial consultation with the bariatric surgeon. EmblemHealth is hardly a trailblazer when it comes to loosening their approval standards and criteria, so if they did away with this requirement you can best most other companies will be revising their policies in the near future. I would definitely fight hard if any body's carrier denied coverage based on your purported failure to meet this arbitrary and pointless requirement.

Although this may be slightly off topic, many insurance companies have other similar absurdities in their requirements. For example, many require that you do not have an active eating disorder. With few exceptions, every person who has a BMI over 35 (and definitely if you're over 40) likely has an active eating disorder (binge eating, carb addiction etc.) likely has an eating disorder (binge eating). This should not be a basis for denial of coverage.

Putting these two condition for approval together and you have nothing but a hardened barrier to treatment that is not imposed on any other medical condition. If a person has an addiction to drugs or alcohol, most insurance companies provide in-patient coverage for detoxification and rehabilitation. Could you imagine if insurance made that coverage contingent on the addicts ability to prove they stayed off their drug of choice for 6 or more months before they would cover the cost of rehab???

In the case of obesity, diet and exercise alone does not work for the morbidly obese, so why impose a requirement that they lose 5-15% of their body weight as a condition for surgery. Worse yet, some carriers require patients to show they they failed a to lose 5% of their body weight after 6-24 months of supervised medical dieting. This creates a perverse incentive for a morbidly obese patient to go through counseling, but ignore the advice and not lose weight (all the while allowing their health to deteriorate).

These types of requirements need to go. Do what you need to do to qualify for the surgery you need--but fight your ass off with the carrier if your denied coverage based on these arbitrary (but strictly enforced) requirements.

Edited August 22, 2018 by SteveT74
Had a lot more to say on this

[farfi 3]

I have EmblemHealth GHI and they had a six month requirement of medically supervised nutritional monitoring and counseling, but no weight loss benchmark. I was 4 months in when, in June 2018, they revised the criteria to eliminate the requirement. The major bariatric organizations and institute (See, e.g., American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery's Updated Position Paper on Preoperative Supervised Weight Loss Requirements (March 2016) have all come out with position papers saying that these types of requirements serve no medical benefit, are not supported by any scientific evidence and only delay necessary treatment--which can harm patients (particularly those with co-morbidities like Type 2 diabetes). If you (or anyone else) is denied coverage because of this requirement, you have a very good basis for challenging the denial. The new position advocated by most major institutes and associations is that surgery should be determined based on the BMI you present with at your initial consultation with the bariatric surgeon. EmblemHealth is hardly a trailblazer when it comes to loosening their approval standards and criteria, so if they did away with this requirement you can best most other companies will be revising their policies in the near future.

Thanks for your advice! i have OSDE (i'm from Argentina) but i'll make sure to ask the surgeons if loosing that amount of wait would cause me trouble with approval.

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[SteveT74 359]

3 minutes ago, farfi said:

Thanks for your advice! i have OSDE (i'm from Argentina) but i'll make sure to ask the surgeons if loosing that amount of wait would cause me trouble with approval.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using BariatricPal mobile app

In socialized medical system, it's a lot harder to fight and appeal denials of procedures. I don't know how the system works in Argentina, but some nationalized health systems (UK for instance) have loosened some of these requirements based on more recent studies. The problem you guys have is that some of these arbitrary requirements are used as a way to reduce the number of potential patients and ration out care to the patients that the state managers determine would benefit most. For all the complaints we have in the US with the cost of medical coverage and issues dealing with insurance companies, we do not have any rationing of care, long waiting lists to get an appointment for the operation and you can pick your doctor (and there are a lot of them to choose). Every time I hear people on the far left in the US call for "medicare for all" or some other nationalized health care system like in the UK, Canada etc., I think of the dark side of those systems and I'll take what we have here any day before we become a nation of rationed health care.