This is a new account, as I really don't care to be identified as I'm sure people I know post/read here. I know I shouldn't care, but it still embarrasses for me to show what I used to look like, even if that isn't me anymore. I would also like to say sorry for not having any real before pics. As many of you know, the bigger you get, the less likely you will allow pics to be taken. I did really try to find a few but most of the pics I could find were when I was about halfway down from the weight loss (About 300 down from 450).
I mainly wanted to make this post to show the other side of weight loss, the ugly side. I've seen a few posts about loose skin and how people deal with it, but I haven't seen much of people going through the process of removing it. I won't go into much detail of how I lost the weight (unless people really care), as most posts here have all of that information but I will give cliff notes.
- Started with CICO
- After 6 months started doing insanity max 30 in my basement
- Took me about 2 years to lose the 1st 200 pounds.
- Last 50 pounds were another year, as I started to focus on lifting weight and being overall healthy
After getting down to 200 pounds, all I saw was loose skin and attempted to build some muscle. I also wanted to give my body a good year to try and deal with the loose skin naturally, as you will see in the album it was just too much weight for too long (I've been fat from 10 to 30~) and I knew I would have some no matter what. I should note that i had a DEXA scan about 6 months before my Surgery and it had me about 24% BF. By the time of the surgery I had lost more weight and was sitting around 20%BF. The last pics in the album I'm around 15 to 16%.
Below is the album starting with Pre-OP all the way to a few days ago. I wish I could find some pics with my arms down, as it would show how much my chest drooped down.
Note: The 1st pic and the last 4 pics, I weighed the same (206). For those that feel the scale isn't moving, know that doesn't mean you are not making progress.
I'm currently posting this here as I've just had my posterior done (Butt and Back). The above was just my chest and my belly. While having my surgery yesterday there were also some revisions from the spots under my armpit, as you can see on my right side there is a lip still there that she went in to fix.
I would like to say that I was very lucky with how my skin bounced back. I went to a few Dr.'s when I was shopping around for surgeons and each of them was amazed at the lack of excess skin I had compared to the amount of weight I lost. I was also very lucky that I had very little to no loose skin on my arms, legs, neck, and face. Most of it was in my chest (Which you can't see well in the post-op picks as my arms were raised), belly, lower back, and butt.
That said, it still really bothered me seeing it in the mirror. With all the work I put in, it was very depressing to see the body in front of me and really hurt my self-esteem. I didn't like doing any cardio because I could feel my skin bouncing, even with compression shirts and would sometimes get rashes if I worked out for long periods of time. I can't tell you how many times I just wanted to go back and be fat instead because of the skin. I still wouldn't have done it, because I felt I looked good in clothes at least (I'm sure many of you understand that wind was my enemy and I hated windy days because I felt everyone could see the body I was hiding).
Cost:
So for my chest and belly, it cost around 12k. This includes everything. The procedure, all follow-ups, everything. No, insurance doesn't give a damn so this was all out of pocket.
The surgery for the posterior was a little bit over 8k (Lower back and butt).
Surgery:
One of the reasons I choose the Dr. I did was because they had their own surgery center. I didn't have to go to a hospital which made me more comfortable. That said, the second surgery yesterday was at a hospital and it wasn't bad either. I had amazing nurses and the Dr. was amazing as well (Including all follow ups). I love how they try their best to make sure you are comfortable and ensure you don't show anything you don't want to be shown (Even though they are about to see everything anyway, they still try to make sure you are covered as much as possible). And the best part, I don't remember much at all... The nurses got me prepped, and a few mins later the anesthesiologist introduced herself. She must have been great at her job, because I don't remember shit after that.
Pain:
I'm sure most people want to know about the pain. Because I lost the weight naturally and slowly helped a lot. Add in the fact that I started doing a lot of gym work the last year before the surgery saved me from the most pain. What many people don't know is that most of the time this surgery happens, they also have to tighten up the abdominals muscles. I was told this is the most painful part of this surgery as they literally stitch your abs together to make them tighter and hold everything in place. Because of the work I did, everything was already tight there and that wasn't needed for me.
The pain from everything else really wasn't too bad. The pain meds help a lot and the 1st few days you tend to sleep a lot. For me, they gave me Norco and Diazepam (Valium). This combo tended to knock me out allow me to sleep a lot for the 1st few days. Afterward, they ran out, things sucked a bit when sleeping. I am a side sleeper and because they cut all the way to the sides, it made it really hard to sleep. I ended up getting two body pillows and putting them on my side so i wouldn't randomly attempt to roll over. Before that, my recliner was my home base, and I slept there for a few nights as well. Overall the pain wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and was more of an annoyance than anything.
The surgery I had yesterday to my lower back and butt is even easier. I think because it doesn't need to be pulled as tight. I'm able to sleep on my side already making this way easier the second time around.
Was it worth it?
O god yes. I just went back to finish up my backside because I was so happy with the way things turned out (Was sick of hearing my ass clap when doing jumping jacks). Working out feels better. When doing HIIT I don't feel things bouncing around that shouldn't be. I no longer fear windy days or feel the need to hunch over to hide my skin. Walking into a place and not feeling like everyone in the room is judging you (Even though they most likely were not doing that anyway) was worth the cost to me.
Feel free to ask any questions. As I said, I'm not doing shit right now because I just had surgery yesterday and I'm just surfing Reddit anyways.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/30k4FBg
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