Dropping lbs Before Being Cleared for VSG

Hello All!!

I had my first consultation appointment today with my surgeon.  I learned that in order to be cleared for surgery I must drop 16-20lbs which is 5% of my body weight (currently 335lbs).  Did any of you have to meet this requirement and if so, do you have any tips I can put into practice to help me make this a reality?  My actual surgery will be mid-July so I have time to get the weight off but I want to take full advantage of the time I have. Also, as a side note I suppose it would help to mention I have PCOS which adds to the difficulty of losing weight. 

Thanks, 

Chelsy

my surgeon recommended that I lose 10-15 lbs before surgery and lots of surgeons do.  My surgeon's stated reason is that the first place you lose fat is around your liver and since the liver has to be retracted in order to get to your stomach, it makes the surgery easier on you. Some surgeons prescribe a liquid diet.  Mine said do it however I wished and his dietician would help. I had quite a few months so I just cut back on portions, sweets and carbs and tried to move more.  I did this over 6 months. good luck. you can do this.  diane s

Thanks Diane!  I know I can do it as well if I stay focused and determined.  Sometimes I just let my mind run and my worries get the best of me.  I will have to do a liquid diet as well 2 weeks pre-op.  That should be fun LOL. But I'm sooooo looking forward to a healthier, happier me!!

I don't have a requirement to lose a specific amount, but I absolutely cannot gain even a pound or my insurance will deny me. So I figured the best way not to gain would be to lose some. I'm about half way through my 6 month pre-op period and about 30lbs down (High weight of 442). I simply cut out the soda and starbucks habit to start with and now try to keep my carbs in check - no pasta, no potatoes, whole wheat bread only on occasion. I track all my food and liquids on myfitnesspal and have been gradually reducing my calorie intake. I'm also walking more - started out simple by just parking further away at work and now I add in an evening walk around the neighborhood.

Thanks for your reply!  I am using the myfitnesspal app as well.  I have also cut out sodas, coffee, juices and drink mainly water.  I suppose my next step would be to cut out more carbs and increase my exercise.  Good luck on your journey, seems like you are off to a great start!

I didn't have a requirement to lose any weight for approval, but I did lose weight following my nutritionist's plan for the 6 months of supervised dieting.

I was dodgy about whether or not it would work--it meant eating more calories during the day, just spread out over 6 mini meals rather than my usual 2 bigger meals(also different foods)... but I still lost 33 pounds over the duration of the nutritionist visits-- and probably the first 20 was in the first two months, then it slowed down to a miserable crawl, like it tends to do. But we weren't aiming for weightloss at the time, we were aiming to change eating patterns(6 eats rather than 2) and habits(10/10/10 rule is what she has me doing--every mini meal must be over 10g protein, under 10g of fat and sugars with sugar alcohols counting for half that many sugars).

Take advantage of the dietician visits. Make a list of the kinds of foods you like to eat, let her(him?) make healthy suggestions based on your tastes. Best thing in the world for me, certainly saved my sanity when I was trying to figure out what foods I could/should have.

Good luck!

OMG Darcy I totally feel like I'm losing my sanity trying to decide what I can/can't eat. I will definitely take FULL advantage of the dietician once I am in contact with them.  Thanks for your reply, you gave me some hope!

That was the hardest part of the new way of eating for me: figuring out substitutions and building up a list of go to meals/dishes that I could make without killing myself trying to come up with something.

For the first couple months, I relied on protein shakes and protein bars because I couldn't come up with six WLS-friendly meals a day(Four years ago I developed an allergy to eggs, which eliminated a large part of what I would've probably gone for... Man I miss eggs...), but with protein shakes/bars I could just come up with three or four meals. And I'd always have a yogurt 'meal' and a low fat cottage cheese 'meal', which left me with two(ish)meals to figure out.

But once I gradually built up a base of menu staples that I knew I liked, knew kept me full, knew I could make without committing homicide or dirtying up my whole kitchen... life got a lot easier and I suddenly had space for other thoughts in my brain.

But that first month sucked out loud.

Hang in there, it gets a lot better.

Oh, and when you're staring at the fridge and panic is rising, cheese sticks are your friend. (as long as they're not deep fried :)

Thank you so much! I do keep cheese sticks in my fridge (not deep fried lol) so thats definitely an option for me!! Im not a huge yogurt fan but I know its good for me so I should work on eating that a bit more.  Im also not an egg fan LOL so that puts a damper on things.  Hopefully with time and effort I will get the hang of things! 

My clinic requires 10% weightloss before being approved for surgery.  When I was referred to the clinic I started using MyFitnessPal to track my calories and change my eating habits, and I lost 60lbs by my first appointment (it was a 6 month wait).  I also have PCOS, it may slow your loss a little but if you really work on changing your eating habits the weight will come off :)