My Bariatric Life

One patient told me that a plastic surgeon said to her, “I operate with a scalpel, not a magic wand.” While another patient told me her plastic surgeon said, “Let’s go for a 10!” I wonder about these statements. Does the first plastic surgeon lack the skills to deliver the results that the patient wants? Is the second plastic surgeon just telling the patient what she wants to hear?

A patient must have realistic expectations going into plastic surgery after massive weight loss. The plastic surgeon must manage those expectations and explain to the patient her realistic outcome. This is done by the plastic surgeon pulling tight her excess skin on each area of the body to simulate her results after plastic surgery. As well, showing before and after photos of other patients with similar body types.

Body Image and Media

The media has baited the hook, and the public chases after a trophy that will probably never be had. It is similar to purchasing a winning ticket for the lottery: It is possible but not probable. As a matter of fact, the average five foot four inch tall American female will never be tall and slender. She cannot match the media sales image of “desirable.”

A major global study concluded that current characterizations of beauty are restraining and normally beyond reach. A current contention is that this unrealistic presentation helps to promote social acceptance of discrimination against obese people.

It also sets the bar too high for realistic expectations of what we should strive to look like following post-bariatric plastic surgery.
Plastic Surgery Post Bariatric Surgery

While I was recovering from my body lift I thought deeply about the body image held by many of the patients I’d interacted with online, as well as my own image of my body. What are the emotional implications of plastic surgery post bariatric surgery?
We found our bodies unattractive, or even ugly, after losing 100 pounds or more. We were left with excess sagging skin that could not be exercised or dieted away. Having body image issues about breasts, thighs, and tummy being deflated and sagging is quite understandable. Wanting the sexy body you have always wanted is normal. Body contouring plastic surgery was the only way to restore the body’s normal shape. Read, “Female Body Image and Sexuality.”
Reality Check after Plastic Surgery
The patient must understand that it takes several months to see plastic surgery results. If months have passed and the patient remains unsatisfied, it is a good idea to pull out before and after photos for a reality check. Improvement is more likely than perfection for a massive weight loss person, but it should be significant improvement. Read my article, “18 Insider Tips of Plastic Surgery.”

Body Image after Weight Loss

Reeducating people about self-image is a critical component to accepting oneself after weight loss. This will help lessen the extremes people employ as they try to grab a brass ring that is always beyond reach. Your goal should be one of significant improvement in functional mobility, stability, and aesthetics, rather than perfection.

One patient told me, “I am not looking to be Barbie or Twiggy, but rather a more compressed me if possible. I feel like a barrel even after the plastics I’ve been able to have via my ***. At some point I have to just accept me for me with my bodily flaws; and every scar on my body has meaning to me!”
Self-acceptance is, after all, a state of mind. Self-image is the idea a woman has about her abilities, appearance, and personality.

Zero Weight Regain 2017

What are your long-term weight loss goals? Likely you have a positive, upbeat vision of a thin and healthy you. Bariatric surgery might be an option you are considering. Or you may have already undergone one of these weight loss procedures.

Given your dreams and all the hard work you are going through to achieve them, would it be a shock to hear: Many studies show that in the five-years following surgery, patients often gain back most or more of the weight that they had lost.

What makes it so easy to gain weight even after bariatric surgery Unfortunately, any bariatric surgery fails in the long-term when not married to a maintenance plan.

Let’s commit to zero weight regain in 2017. Are you with me? Who’s all in? Then let’s get started with some required reading. The following are good habits you can put into action right away!

Eat Healthy
The ball is down, Times Square is back to business as usual, and January 1st is bloated with stroke of midnight promises. As we close on January, the month of the year when the most traditional date for personal improvement offers itself up, it’s a good time to check the progress you are making on your resolutions. Among those promises made is the pledge to get fit by eating healthy. If you are among those who share this intention, here are 10 healthy eating resolutions to get you started!
Read, “10 Healthy Eating Resolutions.”


Build a Support Network
Patients voice concerns about the difficulty of establishing a bariatric support network. And they struggle to find the balance needed to address their personal recovery needs in the post-weight loss surgery world. Such concerns are well-founded and not unusual. But many bariatric patients meet that challenge and successfully build a viable, multi-dimensional bariatric support network. There is no reason why any person who has had weight loss surgery cannot construct a reliable and useful post-bariatric support network.
Read, “How to Build a Bariatric Support Network.”


STOP Stress Eating
Knowing what we need to do can be quickly overturned by what we want to do. Stress demands relief. Harmful and unhealthy choices are often exercised to relieve stress because they are familiar. Emotional eating can provide that relief, but it is a short-lived solution that can have the side effects of overweight or obesity. And if you have had bariatric surgery, you are setting yourself up to regain weight that you have lost.
Read, “What to Do about Emotional Eating!


Step-up to Permanent Weight Loss
So, you’ve had bariatric surgery and think never again will food be a problem. Right? Well, its not quite that simple. Bariatric surgery is a powerful tool that helps you lose weight, but it is not a cure-all. Permanent weight loss requires more than a bariatric surgery. Permanent weight loss requires that we forever change the way we feel, think, and act around food. Follow our steps to turn “bad habits” in “healthy habits.” They’ll set you on a straight course toward permanent weight loss.
Read, “10 Easy Steps to Permanent Weight Loss!”


Be Committed!
Stay on your path to weight loss. It takes dedication. So be dedicated. It takes perseverance. So persevere. The surgery is not a means to an end. It is only the beginning.

Living larger than ever,
My Bariatric Life
http://www.mybariatriclife.org