Originally Posted by fisher1000

First of all, you can't keep the negative thoughts...they are more detrimental to you than the food you're eating.

Next, please understand that losing the weight before you have the surgery is about your safety more than it is about commitment to weight loss. It's also a trick the insurance company is using to see if you can be successful losing weight on your own and thus perhaps not need the expense of the surgery. Granted, being committed is important, but we're food addicts, and commitment is difficult.

When you lose weight, it shrinks your liver and gives the doctor a little more room to operate, making the operation safer for you and easier for the doctor to do well.

Others on this board have stories of gaining weight during their supervised diet, but face the facts...you are addicted to food like every one of us on here. Losing the weight on your own is difficult, but you must remember that every bite of food at this stage is a "life decision" verses a decision of the moment. What you do in this brief time before your surgery will have an affect on you for the rest of your life.

Please do yourself a favor and try once more. Think positive thoughts, think of things you can do besides eat, try to replace a meal or two with a protein shake or slim fast, and try to start exercising in some way 2-3 times a week. You will need to be in these habits anyway after the surgery, so it's never to early to start.

Also remember that after the surgery, your pouch will be just a tool to help you lose weight, but it alone can't and won't do it for you. There will still be some discipline involved. In fact, the surgery itself will be the easy part. The hard part will be undoing bad habits that you've created over your lifetime, and creating new habits to keep you successful for the rest of your life.

Don't be down...we've all been there in some form or another and that's why we are here--for support when we need to be supported.

Believe that you can do this, believe that you are WORTHY, believe that you deserve to have the life you want. If you believe those things, really believe them in your soul, then you will lose the weight you need to lose, and have the surgery you need to have, and be the person you want to be.

I BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT!

Good Luck!

-Mike