jess9395

Hey Judy! I am 45. I've lost 135lbs and for a while my loose skin was just awful... It did come back somewhat. I waited 6 months post goal to See how much would come back and it rebounded maybe 30% from its worst, but despite all the muscle I built underneath (I had 18% body fat going in to surgery) it wasn't gonna come all the way back. Yes. I will have scars. No such thing as scarless plastic surgery yet. It's always a trade off. For me these scars (elbow to armpit under my arms, hipbone to hipbone in my bikini area and under my breasts/around the Areola and a line connecting like a lollipop) were worth it. I didn't go for the fleur de Lis TT so my skin won't be perfectly tight, but that vertical scar up my belly wasn't worth it. Ditto the thighs, not worth it. I am doing what I can to help the scars heal best the can (Embrace therapy, silicone treatment, etc) but made the choice that the trade off was worth it! Better scars that shar-pei skin In my case. If you had a TT you have a good idea of how your scars resolve and can make an informed choice!

Just had TT, Breast lift w augmentation (never in my life did I think I would need that!) and arm lift three days ago! Feeling surprisingly well, aside from swell hell in my midsection. Even the drains aren't bothering me too much. Hoping for 2-3 of them to come out tomorrow and the fourth on Wednesday if all goes well. Will take some after pix at some point in the near future, not quite yet though. Happy to answer any questions as things unfold!

I'll be there too!

Yes thanks!!! Crazy right? Never would have guessed. Just got my plastics done last week and the surgeon kept calling me "tiny." Who would have guessed? I've been heavy to obese my whole life and always thought I was big boned or stocky underneath. I was wrong!

I inherited stuff from a sister who lost weight before me from size 18 down to 12, and then used marshals/ross/tjmaxx for 10 and when I hit size 8 figuring I'd land there, I Invested quite a bit and then kept dropping, skipped size 6 almost entirely and landed at a 4. I shop and thrift stores a lot now, great bargains on high end stuff! Wish I had leaned that sooner.

Thanks! Hanging in there! Pain isn't bad, but the swelling is awful! Hoping to get at least 2 of my 4 drains out today!

I haven't found single serving sizes yet but maybe I will try a few more places looking for them! I like to flavor Greek Yogert with my Protein powder as well. Interesting on the texture/suspension thing! I think I could handle that. I often drink my Protein shake in a Blender Bottle and shake before drinking with my Matrix ones bc they can be sandy, so I get what you are saying. Appreciate the feedback! Thanks haven't heard of Lifetime, I will look for it!

I am three days out from TT, arms and breast lift/Aug. I fear I am feeling good now but will crash later. Swelling a LOT in my midsection but not arms. Pain is manageable, but feel pretty exhausted.

Thank you! Will do. And I have some of your cauliflower crust pizza, cauliflower bread and Bari bread made up and frozen or in the fridge waiting for when I get home and can't cook!

Heading in for my plastics tomorrow so won't likely be cooking for a week at least, but when I get there I'm definitely gonna try it!

What do you eat that you eat only protein? Wow - I am impressed that you can drink 100 ounces of Water. I don't come close to that. You eat only protein... that must be very challenging. What are your typical lunch and dinners like?I really, really force the fluids. It helps that my two toddlers have me up every day at 6AM, so I get a very early start. My daily menu is extremely boring! By saying, "I only eat protein," what I mean is, I have not incorporated in any type of vegetables or fruit, or even healthy grains of any kind, yet. I'm 10 weeks out and have no food texture restrictions now, but here's how a day typically looks Breakfast - egg whites with shredded low fat cheese, or a Dannon Light and Fit Greek yogurt or cottage cheese (or any combination of those things, depending on how hungry I am/time of month.) Mid-morning snack - Babybel Mozzarella mini cheese (or two) Lunch - any of these things: steamed shrimp, StarKist tuna pouch, grilled chicken, grilled salmon Mid-day snack (if I need one) - another Greek yogurt or cottage cheese dinner - usually fish/seafood or chicken again, similar to lunch. Lump crab meat, shrimp, salmon, tuna ... I'm a creature of habit, so eating the same things for an extended period of time does not bother me. I know at some point it will, but for now, that's how I'm eating. I'm ever conscious that we have a honeymoon phase, and I'm taking full advantage of it. Right now, I am eating 90-100g of protein every day. Again, something I know I won't sustain forever. But, honeymoon phase. Oh got it. You eat incidental carbs and fat, just don't add them to your diet. That makes much more sense! Thanks for sharing. You eat very similarly to the way I did when j was in the losing phase except I still incorporated Protein Shake supplements because I couldn't eat enough to get my goal protein number without them.

I agree with everything said here for the weight loss phase, but for me I have introduced a lot more carbs--mostly fruit and whole grains like oatmeal, still no bread/potatoes/pasta/rice--in maintenance.

This is awesome!

Life is about choices and you won't be 21 forever. Where do you want to be when you are 31? 41? Maybe this is not the time for you, maybe you aren't ready. Surgery will always be there, but it's a tool. If you aren't ready to do the rest of the work it won't change your life. Don't "waste" the tool if you aren't ready for it.

What do you eat that you eat only protein?

As for whether exercise increases or decreases your appetite... I'm sure it depends on the person. My personal experience is that it typically lowers my appetite immediately following but when I exercise A LOT (just finished a marathon and was running 30+ miles a week training for it plus yoga 3x a week) I eat more overall. But I make healthy choices around that added hunger and my body NEEDS the extra fuel. Of course I am in maintenance now, so that is different, but I did the same all through the weight loss phase as well. I would argue you can certainly lose weight without the exercise, but they have a synergistic effect together as long as you don't develop the "oh I just exercised for X long, I can eat Y now" because we tend to overestimate the calories burned through exercise. Running, for example, burns about 100 calories a mile. So does walking, it just takes longer to walk the mile so you burn fewer per minute. That's not many!

Exercise also changed the way you metabolize sugar... My sister is in the medical field and explained it to me but I couldn't really follow and have forgotten, LOL! Yes, very true, you can't out-exercise a bad diet. But they definitely work in tandem.

That's pretty much one of the golden rules for sleeves, but different reasons seem to be given by different doctors. One is that it will wash all the food down out of the stomach so you can eat more and aren't satiated as long. A cool video demoing that with Water and a funnel has been posted here. Others say it fills you too MUCH so you don't get enough nutrients. I'm pretty sure someone also posted results of a study that says people who keep to this rule lose faster and maintain better. Whatever the reason it's one of those that I have mostly followed in my year and a half post op. About once a week I forget and it doesn't make everything come back up, but it's a rule I try to stick to and I have been very successful.

Awesome, and did you have a good time???

Can you tell me how the pain was, honestly? How long did it last? I am still a newbie, I was just sleeved a week ago, but I think there is a good chance that I will need plastics, but I don't know anyone who has had a tummy tuck. I just want to know what I should expect realistically. I won't sugar-coat it. It was pretty difficult pain wise. First, it took way longer than it was supposed to because I had a lot more muscle repair (as I've mentioned) than expected. You might not have that. Everyone is different. I went to surgery at 12:00pm and got back to my room at 9:00pm. I'm almost 5 weeks post op (tomorrow I will be) and I am still sore. A this point it's a muscle soreness in my abs more than anything. Energy level and everything is pretty much back to normal. I was told I would be in the hospital 1, maybe 2 nights, but I ended up being there for 3 nights because for the first 2 days I could not even handle the thought of having to get out of bed so I had a catheter. At the end of the 2nd day they took it out and I got up and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've never had a lot of incision pain. It's pretty numb there. When I do incision massage 2x a day (you won't start that til about a month after) it is tender, but not painful. The worst part for me, honestly, was the drainage tubes, I had two tubes and 1 was removed at a week, and then the other one about a 1/2 week later. They were painful in and painful coming out. I mean, you have tubes coming out of your pelvis. It hurts. So I tried in those first 2 weeks to really move as little as possible. But once I got both drainage tubes out, things have gotten progressively better. Does it suck at first. YES. I found it to be WAY worse physically (but not emotionally) than the sleeve surgery. But, for me, once I got those tubes out it was not too bad. I did at about 2.5 weeks post op develop an infection and had to do a 2nd round of antibiotics and with that came a high fever, but the meds knocked it out of me and I felt better after that. I also had a terrible reaction to the percocet they sent me home with and ended up back in the ER. So I had probably more complications than most. Even with all of that said, knowing everything I know now, I would do it again in a heartbeat. No doubt. Hope that helps. Thank you for sharing in such detail and being honest! Really helps!

Yes! Just finished my marathon and Spartan race and heading in for plastics later this week so I am being cautious on my fall goals (couple of Ragnars and half marathons) but would totally join in! No training for me for 4-6 weeks at least though.

Totally agree on what was said above about surgeons in general! They are odd ducks most times. As for reflux, don't forget obesity itself aggravates it. I dealt with it for years on and off for 16 years starting with my first pregnancy (which is when I gained back all he weight I lost in my 20's and stayed obese). Had the sleeve and did the pills for the first month my surgeon reccomends, went off had issues and went back on. At the four month mark, down over 80lbs, I went off again and have never looked back.

Yum looks good!

I'm sorry yours was denied :-( Did you appeal? It's funny we submitted for my tummy & arms at the same time & my TT was approved but the arms were denied. I'm I'm the appeal process with that. Can I ask what kinda of things you are including in the appeal? I am going to try I think. I don't have a lot of rashes or anything... A few that honestly are truly more from running but I did take pictures of those and a few tears. I have had back/shoulder issues and seen doctors/pt/chiropractor. Wondering if those would help. Trying to resubmit arms/Tummy and maybe submit for mastopexy as well but they aren't removing enough up there and are in fact adding so not sure. I think they should cover abdominoplasty based on Rectus Diathesis (the separated muscles) from pregnancy but apparently they don't. If it happened to men they would! lOl

Yes! I was SO excited about my belly button! And yes I bought my first 2 bikinis ever! Thank you! I feel pretty good. It's been a painful recovery, I'm not gonna lie. But at 4.5 weeks post op, my energy has pretty much returned to normal. I had a lot more muscle repair with the abdominoplasty that I needed to be done than normal, so I sstill have a fair amount of soreness in my abs, and I still wear my ab binder for support and to keep the swelling down, but that 's no biggie.How long before you could return to work? I'm a nurse so this is a big factor for me. I'm not ready at all to do this as I'm only 8 months out and 18 lbs from goal. I will have more questions in the future. I'm really hoping my insurance will cover this. Your results are amazing and I'm glad you are returning to normal!I returned after 3.5 weeks. I felt pretty good. Probably could have used one more week but I had some complications like reactions to the Percocet & I developed an infection. The type of work you do matters I would think. I'm not sure I felt up to bending, turning, lifting until at least 4 weeks I could probably take off 4 weeks but that's about it. Can I ask you what was your starting weight and how much you lost?My starting weight was 278.4My weight at the time of my TT was 133 My weight now is 125 Wow! That's interesting, I am 135 now and wasn't expecting to lose much in this process. Has your clothing size changed?