What advice would you give yourself??

I found it a huge help to cut out soda and find calorie free drinks I enjoyed in advance of surgery. I also started adjusting to lower carb healthy meals. 

One:

Educate yourself using these experts, Tim Noakes, Robert Lustig, Gary Taubes, and continue from there with others.  Spend no less than 100 hours watching their YouTube videos and reading related books.  The education will prepare you for everything to come.

Two:

Start exercising as soon as you can and keep it up.  Understand what aerobic and anaerobic are meant to do and don't overplay either of them.  Don't expect exercise to have any affect on your weight loss, because it doesn't, food choices do that.  Expect exercise to make you healthy, tones and fit.

Three:

Don't eat sugars or grains ever.  Get rid of them and get the sugar monkey off your back.  The lessons in #1 will teach you how the insulin cycle keeps you hungry and is killing you regardless of any weight issues.  Treat sugar like it's heroin and grains like a gateway drug.

Four:

Be patient.  Again, once you understand the cycle from lessons in #1, you will know everything that is to come and what to expect.  It will take time though. Whatever you do, buy as little clothes as possible on the way down and wait wait wait until you've absolutely driven yourself to the best result before restocking the wardrobe.

Five:

the most important lesson: Skinny is skinny, but fit is fit.  You want the second one hands down.

Don't give up and don't give in.

Thanks for the inspiring thoughts!  SUgar free, grain free, water-logged sounds like the way to go on the way to surgery.....

If I had it to do over again, my advice to myself would have been to start following some of the basic 'habits'  that I need to put into place for a lifetime. 

1.  Eat your protein first

2.  Don't drink with your meals

3. Give up drinking all soda 

4. Don't drink calories  

I would slowly start to take away carbs and sugar before the pre op diet. Man, the withdrawal hit me like a train. It was horrific. If I would have slowly introduced my body to going without carbs and sugar, it would have been much easier. Good luck!

I would tell myself, listen to the people saying don't over commit to a certain kind of protein powder before surgery. Make sure you have lots of samples on hand for post-surgery but don't buy that 5 lb bag of mint cookie protein powder that you think you love, because the vast majority of it will still be sitting in your cupboard almost 18 months later.

(not so serious but others going before me have pretty much covered all the serious stuff I would otherwise say).

One thing I wish I had known was to seek clothing in various smaller sizes while working my way down the scale.  I went from one size to the next in a week or two and my wallet didn't keep up very well with my changing body.  I'm thankful for the friends who offered clothing to keep me feeling good about myself and I found it encouraging to keep up my weight loss efforts.  Best wishes on your WLS journey.

Thanks for all the thoughts. I am excited and scared for the next chapter.