Surgical Weight Loss: Liz Becker

What do you know now that you wished you had known prior to surgery?
Even though I was told numerous times through seminars, online info, etc., that everyone's results after surgery can be different, somehow I still managed to have it in my mind that I should have these miraculous weekly weight losses. When I didn't for the first few months, it was quite devastating.

What have you done after surgery that you were surprised you could do?
I ran track in junior high school (almost 30 years ago), and never thought I'd have a desire to lace up my running shoes. With losing a significant amount of weight, though, I find it's so much easier to move around. I now love running. I've done a 5k and I'm training to run a 10k. I've always enjoyed exercising, but doing exercise for the purpose of training for an event is really enjoyable, and motivating.

How has your life changed since surgery?
Life has changed in that I don't have any limitations. I feel like I can do anything.

Do you have advice for anyone thinking about weight loss surgery?
If you're thinking about surgery, be the most informed patient that you can be. But know that, even with all of the information in the world, there will be things that come up throughout the journey that you couldn't necessarily have anticipated. But I think the more informed you are, the less likely you are to be taken by surprise. You can learn a lot by coming to support groups before surgery and hearing from people about their experiences, positive as well as negative. YouTube is another source of information (but also taking into consideration that you're not always going to see the model or best examples).