body not keeping up

abby1 · March 31, 2008

I was banded in November and I've lost 50 pounds with another 40ish to my goal of 120. My body is not keeping up with the loss. Clothing I wore the last time I was this weight is still too tight. My bra size has not gone down. My thought was to wait until I was about 10 pounds from my goal before consulting with plastic surgeons. However, I can not see myself 40 pounds lighter my body majorly smaller. Does it take time for the body to shrink to the new weight? Should I reach my goal and then wait a period of time for plastic surgery?:thumbup:

salsa1877 · March 31, 2008

I was banded in November and I've lost 50 pounds with another 40ish to my goal of 120. My body is not keeping up with the loss. Clothing I wore the last time I was this weight is still too tight. My bra size has not gone down. My thought was to wait until I was about 10 pounds from my goal before consulting with plastic surgeons. However, I can not see myself 40 pounds lighter my body majorly smaller. Does it take time for the body to shrink to the new weight? Should I reach my goal and then wait a period of time for plastic surgery?:thumbup:

So that is what I kept having an issue with. I kept losing all this weight and my belly would NOT go away. I kept telling my BF this belly is going to be gone in 40...30...20...10:scared2: pounds. He kept reassuring me that it would. Well even he realized that no matter how much I lost this big ol' Jabba the Hut Belly was here to stay. I asked my lapband surgeon about it when I went in for a fill and he said to stop losing weight because he was happy with where I was and go to a plastic surgeon. Since that conversation I have lost an additional 9 pounds and guess what...the belly is still there. He told me that the former way of thinking was to get to your goal weight and wait for a bit, but now he is finding that there are medical and mental risks of having someone weigh their goal weight and still look like I do, so he now encourages people to consult a surgeon when they fill comfortable and have the PS help them make the decision as to whether they are ready for the surgery or not. I go for my consult on Friday and I have only been banded less than 8 months. I have lost 90 pounds during that time but when I look in a mirror naked I feel like I did 90 pounds ago. So i would talk to your lap band surgeon, your primary doc, or even schedule a free consult and see what they say!

Good luck

juliegeraci · March 31, 2008

I totally agree with her. I am 5'8 tall with a goal weight of 185. My goal was size 16. Well, I am 213 right now and I'm in a 16. I went to PS and he said I was ready for my TT and thigh lift. He told me that 30 more lbs loss will not affect the TT as he pulls it so tight. That will most likely put me at goal of size 14. If I'm a 14 after surgery and still weight 205 or so I may just stop losing weight. For me, it was just getting to a certain size. I look really good at that size. Not sure if I'll ever get to 185. I am too tight with my band right now too so I can't wait to get a slight unfill for surgery. We'll see how the hunger goes. Julie

Jachut · March 31, 2008

How much exercise do you do? It can really help. I dont have a lot of issues with skin so if its excess skin you have, the ladies above make valid points, that no amount of weight loss will remove it, you may need to consider PS as the other half of your journey.

I have found the opposite, I have exercised like a fiend to get my weight off and I'm half the size I previously was at the same weight, much tighter and more muscular, although I would say the best way to describe my body is that my body is a size 8 and my skin is about a size 9.

There's really no way to return to perfect, some of us are more afflicted than others with skin issues etc but you really do have to learn to take great pride in what you have done for your health as well as simply focus on how you look.

Good luck!

abby1 · April 1, 2008

I do work out and what concerns me a the moment is not sagging skin or big tummy, although if I were to go to the plastic surgeon now I would talk about my upper arms and thighs. I was a 40C before my lapband surgery and I am now a 38D, not much of a difference. The last time I was this weight I was a 36C. I am having the same lack of loss in the waist and hips. A plastic surgeon can not turn me into a skinny person and my concern is I will get to my healthy goal weight and still be larger than I want. My concern is that while a plastic surgeon can contour me, if my body is going to continue to shrink (is my body going to continue to shrink?) once I reach my goal, when do I look at doing the surgery for the best results? I do not want to have plastic surgery and then my body continue to shrink and have the contours not look right. Does that make sense?