Yeh Marcy,
Glad you have decided to make a lifestyle change journey.... and hopefully this group can help give you the motivation to keep going. My 'skinny' sister gave me 3 words to concentrate: Faith - have faith in your self to follow the plan, Focus- stay focused on the goal but primarily on the day/hour/minute at hand and the last one is Fitness - try to do a little bit more today than you did yesterday. I have hung onto FFF for now 4 months and I have been successful. I have dropped 40lbs since I started in Sept. I have proven to my Gastric ByPass Surgical team that I am a good candidate for surgery and I have my surgical date - 1/16/12... and I know I will continue to be successful after surgery.
My FitnessPal is an excellent tool in your pursuit. I track every morsel - even most teas that are zero calories. I keep a focused eye on my calorie count. I eat enough each day to not go over or cause plateauing. I wear a pedometer and try to increase my steps each day. Some days are better than others, but I try to keep moving. One of my sister's ideas was to set two cans of veges next to the phone. If it rings, I answer, put it on speaker and I pick up the cans and exercise my arms through the whole phone call. Sometimes its a short call, but when my mother calls, it can be near an hour of 'working those cans.'
Stay focused Marcy, set short term reachable goals. Know that, as humans, we will make mistakes. But you can't cheat yourself. Decide and commit. We'll be right here for you.:flowerforyou:
Christine

Congratulations on your decision. It is not an easy one to make, but the benefits from it far out weigh any of the cons to it. Like yourself, I haven't had surgery yet and I am still jumping through the hoops to get there, but it is worth it.
Keep a food journal and write down everything that goes in your mouth, this will really keep you accountable not only to your surgical team, but also to yourself. Sometimes it's real easy to eat more without realizing it if your not writing it down or measuring everything out.
I was at a surgical support group last Monday and a man who is also planning on surgery had to quit chewing tobacco, he went from tobacco to mint packets that go between the cheek and gum like chewing tobacco would, but there is no tobacco in it . The way he described it was it is real mint the same type of packaging as tea. He said that it can be bought at the tobacco counter, it comes in a little can like chewing tobacco. He said it was real helping him with the urges he gets.
Make sure that you surround yourself with plenty of positive people around you.
I highly recommend going to the surgical support group, because the people you will meet have either already went through it or are going to go through it, like yourself.
Remember to count everything you do as some form of movement and exercise. That means everything from doing dishes, going up & down the basement steps, to just walking around your yard for a few minutes.
Please know that I am behind you 100% as is everyone else in this group, They are great people.

Of course, you're scared. That's totally normal. I was lucky and only had a couple of weeks warning of my surgery date. It is hard losing weight before surgery but it's important because it will help prevent liver injuries and make it easier and safer for the surgeon. I lost my pre-op weight by drinking costco chocolate protein shakes every day and then treating myself to one breakfast or lunch out every weekend. I had to lose 59# pre-op so i know you can do it. I don't smoke but I know it is hard to quit and cutting down to 1/2 pack already is impressive. Keep going. Think of all the money you will save. You can use it to buy the smaller clothes your gonna need soon.
I started out at 395# in June and had my surgery 10/2011 so I'm still pretty new. I have had several "what have I done?" moments since surgery but I've learned that that is normal too.
Make sure you have a good surgeon and do what they tell you. You can do this and you'll do great. It was my first surgery ever (I'm 58) so I was scared but sailed through it and haven't had any complications. Just focus on what you want and you'll get it.
All the best!

Congratulations on taking the first step to the rest of your life! I had my GBS on 3/31/05. I weighed 290 lbs, didn't have any of the health problems but every joint in my body was in incredible pain all the time. I felt like I was moving in slow motion. In a year I got to my goal weight.

I maintained my goal weight for 2-3 years. Then I started stressing about life, love and my pursuit of happiness and started eating all the wrong foods. I woke up the other day from my daze and found that I had gained back 60 lbs, and immediately decided that I was going to start working that weight back off. I was going to wait until after the holildays, but why wait?

GBS is not a magic bullet. Its a TOOL. If you don't use the TOOL then you won't lose the weight. It is something you'll have to work with everyday for the rest of your life. But everyday for the rest of your life you'll have the TOOL available to you to be successful. Those who aren't successful are generally those who don't follow the rules. Follow the rules that your doctor sets forth and you'll do fantastic. It looks to me like you're already on the path to success.

For anyone who is contemplating WLS, remember there is always the possibility that the pre-surgery diet may allow you to lose enough weight that you don't have to go through with the operation. I know a few people that actually happened with. They cancelled the surgery, and continued to lose weight through exercise and keeping their calories down. They don't look like bikini models, but they have been able to keep their weight in reasonable range for their height and body type and they are happy with their decision not to have WLS.

So even though you've decided to do this and set a date for surgery, please keep in mind that there's always a possibility that you can reach your weight goal without having to go the surgical route.

Marcy,
Congrats on making the decision to have the surgery, I was a 4 pack a day smoker when I decided to have the surgery, when the Dr. told me he would not even talk to me unless I quit (Military DRS.) I threw away a pack that I had just paid $4.59 for and have not touched them since. Previously I tried Chantix (bad bad bad stuff), the patch, gums, step down methods you name it I tried it which I did the same thing on the diet yoyo, YOU are the only one that can change your life, everyone ( friends, drs, family) can give you the tools to help you but YOU are the only one that can change it. Once that stuck in my head I realized I had lied to my husband when I said "I DO for the rest of my life" every time I took a drag off that cigarette I was killing myself so I was shortening my life by a day therefore taking a day away from my husband and kids. Then along comes my first and only grand child, I could not imagine not being in her life it was a enlightening wake up call. Believe me I get stressed (my reasoning for smoking and not to gain anymore weight) but then I realized 2 things, God does not put anything on us that we can not handle, and stop sweating the small stuff. I hope my some chance you reading this it will help, I have lost 114# in less than a year, no more medication (other than the ones for the RNY) I can breathe, get in the floor play with my grand baby (which is the best thing ever). I still have my after meal cravings all I do is get a toothpick (plastic ones) and chew on them and before I know it my craving is gone. I am here if you need to talk or need to vent.. Good luck and God Bless!
TB