<p>to dmd77 - I like your thinking and I totally agree that this surgery should be LAST resort. I picked the ‘sleeve’ as a middle ground - more effective and long-term than the band, but way less complications than the gastric bypass which reroutes your small intestine.</p>
<p>to abasket - I had always been a yo-yo dieter, where I could diet hard for about 2-3 months, then I would just give up, so I used that pre-op time for a reduced calorie diet and starting my exercise. At about the time I would normally have given up, I was getting ready for my surgery which enabled me to keep going and maintain. A lot of people who have these surgeries use those last free months and pig out. I decided to get a head start and was very glad I did. Plus the doctor wanted my liver ‘shrunk’ before doing the surgery. As you probably know, its 90% in your head and I was just in a good place then about getting this done for my long-term health. The one thing that helped the most was I made my own spreadsheet and logged every calorie. I planned on 2000 calories a day for 2 weeks, 1800 for 2, 1600 for 2, etc. But once I started logging and exercising, I was decreasing my calories a lot faster and ended up around 1200 a day. The 2 week liquid diet was 480 a day (3 Premier Protein drinks from Costco). By that time, I didn’t have any problem doing that, other than boredom and wanting to get through it.</p>