CowgirlJane

Yeah... this is pretty rugged. lower body lift, boobs, small thigh lift and arm lift all together. Only time will tell if this was a horrible or good idea to do so much at once, but a single 9 hour surgery done using epidural and twilight sedation. One 6 week stint off work,just more do-able for me versus doing it over 3 surgeries in the usa. I will in the clinic a few more days andget amazing care. There are like 2 nurses for one patient. Tonight I met the chef who cooks our food... really very different then any american medical experience I have had. The worst part is the very tight garments... they are torturous but necessary.

I am doing fine everythng is normal but hard. i was very insulted to discoverythat I had A cups once underarm skin was excluded..haha. Respectable C now, just what I wanted. Plastic surgery recovery is no joke. Pain isnt a problem, it is the tight garments, the swelling, etc etc It will get better but today has been rugged.

surgeon said I am burning 2x as many cals as normal to heal, I am hungry but the super tight garments limit intake..Maybr corsets were for appetiter control. Said he took about 5.5.# skin and I didnt have enough fat to Lipo out and inject in butt. thats ok,,,, fine how it is. Surgery was easy,,, day after kinda sucks but everything is normal.

Surgery went great. I fainted before tho.. But no talk of reduction of anesthesia fees! now the hard part... Recovery.

Globe... back in the last century... 1984 to be exact, I was one of about 3 women in my entire college campus that used the weight room at general times. That was the time when they still told women that lifting would make you heavy and ugly... It was intimidting to say the least but I liked it and even then recognized that muscle mass would help with weight management and that being stronger was a good, not a bad thing. I had taken a female only PE class to learn how to use the equipment and it was all set up for us. Anyway, one time during "open gym" I needed a plate moved that had always been in the right place... I went to lift it and it didnt even budge... me with 30 or so guys in there and I felt about 2" tall. I decided to skip that exercise..and just pretend it didn't happen...haha...I was so self conscious you cannot even fathom. I was fit but had such low self esteem, i scarcely felt entitled to be there... Anyway this super hot guy casually walks over, picks that plate up with one hand and moved it where I needed it and walked away. I KNEW everybody was watching every move I made but at that moment I realized that although I may have been unusual, I wasn't necessarily unwelcome. It changed my attitudes about being there. I eventually got to benching 100+ and only trusted guys to spot for me due to strength issues - and I never had a workout partner, I would just ask any dude standing around and was NEVER turned down. Sadly my own emotional issues didn't let me overcome and deal with the unfamiliar attention I received elsewhere...and I did regain... but that is a different story - the gym became quite comfortable. I think .. and pardon me for being so forward to say this... but I think you are creating obstacles that are only partially true in realtity, but 100% true in your own head. My sons are 21 and 24 and while they say funny things about women at times, this generation has been raised with a different sensibility. I am sure there are plenty of jackasses.... but I also bet you can find someone to spot for you as needed and would welcome you - even if not a regular workout buddy. So, one thing I love about being 49... many, I go around like I own the place everywhere I go...haha. I no longer feel that smallness and unimportantness that I felt as a young woman so often. A male friend of mine told me that women seem to find their own at about 40.... and he may be right. I sure hope future generations find it younger cuz life is better when you feel entitled to live it fully!!!

Who needs cake..when theres bacon? I stuff dates with goat cheese and a bit of almond slivers, wrap in bacon and cook till crispy. Just goes to show... Bacin is good with everything. I have had scallops wrapped in bacon byt not shrimp...must try it. .new potluck/party dish idea.

i have done a few spins on the carb merry-go-round myself. Nothing fixes it until I STOP reset and go back to the basics. Protein, veggies, plenty of fluids... controlled quantities.

welcome! lots to learn by reading posts on here. It will really helpset expectations etc.

Thank you sweet! I am excited... bye bye hanging belly skin...woohoo If you read my signature or click on my profile you will see my stats, I have lost 158 since sleeved...over 180 from lifetime high. I am having the full monty -body and arms. Will report back !

Housemate is NOT my boyfriend...lets get that part clear! Havent clicked the links, but bacon beatdown sounds intriguing... as long as I get to whack at something with that package of bacon...haha

2 weeks out... just focus on protein and fluids...that is enough for now.

21 years at same company for me.... many great jobs, roles,departments - i even had a 2 year assignment in Europe... but... I am questioning everything. I love my boss, love my team, just not sure I want to be a lifer....

You all have seen my jelly belly...don't get me wrong that suckers gotta go!!! Doesnt mean I need perfection to dress stylishly or alluring or whatever. Truth is none of us is perfect. IT is an impossible standard so flaunt what ya GOT even as you work to improve it! Coop I know what you mean, I really do! The scale this morning read 150!!!! OMG I don't know why that number just made my day. I DON'T let the scale control my mood but the day before heading off to plastics...this was great. My dream of maintaining in the 145-148 range is truly possible. Sounds like so many successes...yea for all of us!!!!

I feel good about my body but when I was younger these same emotions triggered a regain so I really get it. I am at a different point in life now... And I am more thinking about career and other life changes. I have committed to 2014 being the year of stability tho. I have had too many changes - many very good some bad - but life turned upside down and I want some settling and finding my feet time. Even tho my EX pinpointed my "what next" anxiety I really dont want to leap into more change just yet. No new jobs, houses, horses etc. For sure, no new weight..I am loving where I am at too much! When I get back globe I would be interested in discussing this more...

I think finding something that works for you is great. I did the pouch test/shakes thing to restart losses, I did not regain what I lost and it helped me get back on track. It was short term tho, the key was what I did after...which was carb control. For me 5:2 worked because it reduced hunger on nonfast days..and really I also refocused on carbs.

I am nearly 2 years out and at goal. What I found is always focus in Protein and veggies and small portions and the rest falls in place. While I do advocate low/moderate carbs since I needed that to get to goal some carbs are needed and healthy. Berries and Greek yogurt...healthy carbs... Donuts and chips..not so much. Not only is junkie food very very high carb it really adds no positive nutrition...no bang for your carb buck. Worst part for me is it triggers hunger and cycle of wanting to eat whereas moderate quantities of healthy carbs do not. So, don't imagine that us low carb advocates mean NO carbs because you need carbs for energy.

Could be worse, housemate cooks bacon every morning. I can walk by cake...but the smell of bacon drives me wild...didnt know I was hungry till I smell it...and I work from home! If you see a weird news story of someone beaten to a pulp by a package of bacon...you know why..

Off topic for this thread but have you been scoped?

my plastics arecosmetic only I have no health problems so selfpay. I am just grateful to get short term dis private insursnce to pay my time off! Dr Sauceda in Mexico... i consulted with several local surgeons too so can steer u to the best in the area uf u want!

My BMI us 25; according to bathroom scale my bodyfat is 28.x%. For my gender and age those are high end of normal by the charts. Since I have visible muscle I kinda expected the BF% to be lower but figure it is something to work on during my 3rd year post op. I have it in my mind that at 49 YO woman that 25% is a good BF% goal. my boyfriend is 6'2' and by all standards is fairly skinny at 190 his normal weight; looked sick at 170 because athletes really do carry muscle weight so I think BMI is rough guidance at best.

oh Georgia, that lecture was for you too..., and I bet it applies to many that read this board. I also realized that is one of my central fears of plastics, that my proportions will get messed up. Too big of boobs and I will be top heavy since I already have broad shoulders and a huge ribcage (bones). I want that extra skin gone, but with the lower body lift and no extra tummy to be fake hips... I have a fear of being one of those all boobs no butt, no waist women which I do NOT find attractive. I decided to dress in that same sweater dress when I meet the doc and tell him, I don't want to lose this balance proportion! I used to think the key was being tiny skinny, but no, the key is proportions.

I feel a lecture coming on... bear with me. I hate Shapewear too and generally don't wear it. I have been wearing it because the compression helps my pre surgery anxiety, but generally I hate it - especially in the summer. I used to be very very very self conscious about the hanging belly skin and the shadow of it does sometimes kinda show through in dresses, but you know what i discovered... NOBODY ELSE notices! We judge ourselves so hard! I saw a picture of myself in a summer dress that I felt horrified by my belly, but that same dress I had gone on a date in (this was back in June/July when I was dating) and the fellow told me I looked amazing in that dress... and I don't think he was ONLY flattering me..haha. My boyfriend is one of those guys with just zero filter... my god... he says whatever comes to his mind. I am not insulted because he really does seem to think I am beautiful, so when he says these things... they aren't negatives. anyway, one day he said "you really know how to dress, when you are clothed, the hanging belly is invisible and you just look voluptous. You know you really are hot." I could have done with out the hanging belly remark, but his larger point was much appreciated. Yesterday I was at an important meeting at work and i don't know what possessed me to wear a fashion forward, form fitting horizontal striped sweater dress. I was wearing tights since i wanted my legs covered, and had on short ankle boots - but i had one of those moments when I got to the office "what the hell am I thinking - dressing like a college girl!?! - I am 49!" Anyway, as we walked back to our building after the meeting two attractive and in my eyes, normal sized women ;probably late 30s started gushing over my "style". They LOVED the dress and talked about how the stripes and sweater dresses just looked so stylish etc. I made a joke about how i need to look for vertical stripes and one of them said "with your cute little figure you can wear it, the rest of us need vertical stripes". I am a size 8 pants, 10 on top - at 150# there is nothing "little" about me... then it hit me - it is the proportions! I have a 9" difference from my bust to my waist to my hips. the reason is I have a big rib cage and my tummy skin serves to be fake hips when properly arranged...haha When I walk dressed stylishly in the mall, i notice men looking at me. At first, I thought my ass was hanging out or something, but then I realized, no, they were looking at ME. The point I am trying to make is that based on what I have seen of your photos, and your stats, I bet you look mad hot in those clothes. You pick apart every little flaw because women are trained to do that. I bet you look great. You just need to put on a little attitude, some cute shoes and accessories and just rock those stylish clothes. You have EARNED it! What I have noticed with women I work with is that so many of them are so embarrrassed by lack of perfection that they either cover up or give up. I figure it takes very little extra effort to look a little bit in style. I don't wear low cut or super short, but I do wear well fitting rather then baggy sacks. Baggy sacks don't make a baggy tummy look any better... So, I don't want to hear about how you have too much of a hanging belly when we weigh basically the same and I KNOW damn well I have way more extra skin since I lost so much weight! Okay, lecture over.

Not only did I need liquid protein the first 6 weeks, i still have one a day. I just believe I do better when I have alot of protein an dthat is how I ensure it... everyday.

Many of us have tickers in our signatures with all that info. I can never see them from my phone, but can see from my laptop and tablet. I have lost 157# and am maintaining my weight right around 150 or so. My surgery was Dec 2011

I didn't drink at all during the weight loss phase. Now that I am in maintenance, it is part of my overall plan... meaning, I don't do it often, I don't consume much, but when I do - I enjoy it. Some people have ice creams, but that is a horrible trigger for me, but a nice martini or a glass of red wine - I can stop at one and be just fine waiting another few weeks or even months for the next one. I have a very good friend that i meet every once in awhile for a happy hour. We have a drink and share seafood appetizers. It is a good time, and I enjoy the social aspects very much. I do not drink beer - too much fizz I don't drink on an empty stomach - since being sleeved, booze can hit you HARD, be careful I don't drink excessively - watch for addiction transference. I never had a drinking problem, but since giving up overeating, I watch all habits closely to be sure I am not slipping into an unhealthy pattern (shopping, drinking, etc etc)