Thank you everyone for the information. It helps me to feel better when I hear from people going thru the same thing. Wasntme...hope everything goes smoothly and you recover quickly. Mem1 & NightPilgrim...so glad to hear that even people with low BMI's do really lose the weight. I know this seems like a drastic measure, but I'm uncomfortable in my skin right now, and I know it will just get worse. I spent many years on the yo-yo dieting and it just gets harder and harder as I get older...not to mention my will power continues to get weaker and weaker. I do believe I probably have an extremely large stomach because I feel like I am always hungry...I will update you on my stomach size after surgery. But, my doctor explained that after this surgery, a lot less of the hunger hormone is produced and therefore I would be more likely to be able to resist temptations and stay on track with a healthy diet. And I know after I lose at least 20lbs, I should be able to start running again, but its too uncomfortable to do with this much extra weight. With the smaller portions and power walking, I hopefully will get the first 20lbs off quick. As for pre-op diet, my doctor is only having me on a 5 day high protein/extremely low carb diet prior to surgery because my liver is not as enlarged as someone who would have more weight to lose. Again, thank you for your input and I would love to hear more from others in the same situation.
