I've always heard that you should wait a year after goal, drink lots of water, and the skin should tighten some? (at least that's the hope I'm gonna cling to since I HATE all of the loose stomach skin I have)

I'm 37 and I've been between 167-174 for a year now. My first goal weight (from 265) was 135. I'd still like to get there, and I don't SERIOUSLY know why I'm not even close, yet. Mostly induction level carbs and exercise the past year (cardio only for a while and a few months of weight lifting) nothing else happened but anemia from teh weight lifting. Up'd protein...finally too tired and stopped weight lifting. Back on track w/cardio and induction Atkins - readjusted goal to 159 for now. Still wish for 135.

Bottom line, November 9th I'm scheduled for my abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and arm tuck!! WOO HOO!
Wish me luck.

Melissa

I'm seriously considering several surgerys post weight loss. My arms are already so bad that quite a few tops are tight in the arms. If this keeps ups as I go down the scale, I'll be very inclined to do the arm surgery. I'm also suspecting I'll need a tummy tuck, a thigh lift and a breast reduction/lift. If I can figure out a way to have insurance pay for some part of it, I'll be doing it for sure!

One reason this seems more important to me now is something I saw irl a few weeks ago. I was at an outdoor event and a woman there was wearing a tank top and cut offs. She appeared to be mid to late 40s and had clearly lost a lot of weight. Skin literally fell down her arms like long lengths of ribbon from her shoulders. The same thing was happeneing with her thighs. She was quite tan as well, which may have made this seem more obvious. She clearly was not as self concsious as I would be, she hardly had any clothes on! If thats how my skin looks when I'm done losing weight, I'll be pounding the pavement looking for the best plastic surgeon in my area.

Losing 150+ pounds is a tremendous accomplishment. I think if having some surgery to improve things after this kind of weight loss makes you happeier overall then go for it.

I had chin/neck liposuction done this past June. I am almost 42 and have this hangy, baggy double chin - my mother had it real bad, so it is genetic.

It cost $4K (Canadian $) and I am so thrilled with the results. I was avoiding cameras and mirrors for the last several years, and not really interested in losing a few more pounds because my face never showed the results.

BTW, ItstheWoo, I really admire your chin and jaw line.

In my case it was not massive weight loss, as the most I have ever weighed was 140 lbs (unless it is the same 5 pounds I have lost and gained over the last decade???) but rather genetic.

I personally feel that if it is not harmful, go for it. There are some great before/after pics on www.locateadoc.com. Esp. the body lifts, for folks who have lost 100+ lbs, some pics are truly scary when you realize one lady is only in her 20s and looks like a grandmother.

Good Luck!

yeah those pictures of the difference in the lower body lifts is amazing... Somehow I'll have to come up with the $

Does anybody have info on the costs of all this "lifting"? I know my insurance will not cover it, but I've been seeing references to financing available lately.

You can find local qualified surgeons and phone for more info. They will likely give you a ballpark cost, and expect you to come in for a formal consultation and final cost. Here in Toronto, they charge for the consult ($100 or $200 depending on the surgeon) in order to deter people who are not serious. This fee can often be used towards the cost of the surgery.

The financing is with a for profit credit company who deals specifically in non-covered surgery. I believe the current rates are higher than other loan options - i.e. I believe they are about 10%, and I can get a personal line of credit for 5%, so maybe not such a great deal.

Good Luck!

Well I've been a thin weight (~120 pounds) for over a year now. My experience is this. If you under ate a lot to get to goal faster, when you go and start eating more you'll rebuild a lot of lost muscle which will make your skin look a lot less loose (because the muscle holds the skin up better and it looks relatively less fatty/flabby). Also, your skin quality improves, with maintaining and better nutrition. So it comes back a little.

But not much beyond that. If you have pretty noticable bat wings, it's not going to go away on its own. The skin is too damaged.

Hi Melissa,
How many calories are you eating? If you haven't yet considered the idea, switching to a calorie controlled plan (but still LC) has helped myself and many others get to goal much faster (virtually at a rate they control). If you are watching cals closely, exercise like that, and still aren't losing, I'd suggest you see the doc. Especially if you feel too tired to continue exercising and aren't losing weight, plus are eating cal restricted.

A word of caution about the abdominoplasty & arm tuck. Do NOT have surgery until you are a weight you intend on maintaining for life and are satisfied with your size. If you lose more weight, it will look loose again.

That's wonderful steph - your positive experience is exactly what I hope to obtain... resolution that this thing can be "fixed" and I can move on, with greater confidence in my apperance (and the way I feel about myself). The skin is always on my mind, I structure a good deal of my activities & thoughts around it. When someone says I look great, and my pics give them hope, especially when they say my skin doesn't appear to be that bad (and it gives them hope)... I feel terrible. They don't know how bad my skin looks up close in real life. I feel the same way when anyone complements my apperance, or I get attention from a guy, etc. I just feel really really bad because I know how awful my skin looks, it makes me feel how the fat used to make me feel. Limited and ashamed. I'm always worrying people can see it when I move - when I raise my hand in class, or to get something from a shelf, or through my clothes... whatever.

Part of me worries this will be a mistake. What if I regret it? What if the result is horrible? What if the doctor messes up in a serious way - I'm stuck with all these medical bills PLUS an undesirable result? What if I get it done and everything is fine, but you don't feel any better about your body (meaning this was a psych issue)? I am so glad you posted because it makes me more confident I'm doing the right thing.

Thanks for the complement on my jaw line. Ironically my jaw line is the absolute feature I hate the most . It's very square and masculine, and I've always felt self conscious about it (I've always wished I could have a smaller, more delecate jaw).

Woo,

I just started a journal. If you have a chance to look at my first 2 days of food, I'd SO appreciate it. Let me know what you think.

As far as loosing more weight first, that was my thought as well...but after consulting with 3 surgeons and asking their honest opinions on all topics including further weight loss all of them including the one I'm booking with said that with the procedures they are doing and how my body is (what needs to be done) any weight loss after (I'm hoping for 20-30 pounds at least) will only improve the affects of these 2 surgeries. So, I'm looking forward to the 6 weeks after to start intense cardio again, which I'm going to up myself to starting next week. And hope to lose at least 10 of the weight before the surgery. I've got 6 weeks and 6 days counting.

Wish me luck.

Thank you all for all your help.

And Woo, you are a beautiful person, first on the inside for your postings of intellect, care and concern, advise - I could go on and on (but I have to go to work sometime today!). Every time I see your advise on a post I take time to read and sometimes reread because you put so much thought into what you write. It's extremely valuable information. You are also a very beautiful girl on the outside too...don't ever let anything feel that you're not. Your acheivements are outstanding.

Don't be afraid of the surgery if it will "complete" your transformation. Think of the reasons why you want it. List your fears and do more research. Ask contacts, your doctor, get referrals, that's what I did. You'd be amazed at how this helped with the fears. Talking to the doctors, and those that had work done by him, really eased my fears. If you must, another good suggestion is to talk to a counselor about the decision you are facing to have the surgery. Really evaluate what your expectations are, mentally. If your work has an employee assistance program through your health insurance you can get so many sessions of free counseling. That's what I did. The reason I gave the hotline to get the appointment was stress. Very true that although we experienced extreme stress being overweight (in the work place and outside) we are experiencing a different kind of stress after the loss of the weight and especially facing a body surgery decision. This stress affects work as it does every facet in our lives.

Let me know what you think. Hope I've been able to help.

Have a wonderful day!
Melissa

So what's the real recovery time after plastic surgery? How long would you have to miss work at a typical office job? It still seems so potentially painful that I'm not sure I can even think about it down the road.

The tummy tuck is a 2 week recovery process. The arms are usually 1 week. I'm doing them both together and using my saved 2 week vaca this year. My boss approved (encouraged me) to take the time right before Thanksgiving so I had an extra 4 days before coming back to work.

I'm so excited. 6 weeks and 6 days till surgery!

Melissa

I'm planning to take this as it comes. I'm going to be doing resistence training and weight lifting as I progress, and I'm already drinking enough water per day to float a small dinghy, so I'm hoping I can keep some of the excess skin down to a minimum. But if I find a year after losing the weight that I need that tummy/arm tuck, or breast lift or whatever, then I'm definitely going for it.

I suppose the smart thing to do would be to start a little plastic surgery savings account now, and then I'll have at least some of the money when the time comes. Of course, I'm so broke right now I can't spare a dime, but I expect things to be looking up financially, so that'll start me. I'm also lucky in that I get a good size yearly bonus for performance in my line of work so I'll be able to use that money, too.

Right now, I'm just focusing on losing the weight. One battle at a time, I figure! I'm just looking forward to seeing onederland and to finally seeing my weight in the "moderately overweight" shaded area in fitday, and not the "severly obese" area!

I can't wait for that, too! I get so excited thinking about it