Expectations after WLS....

So I am just wondering what everyone expectations post WLS of their body image is or was....

I think in a way some want to come out looking perfect ...have no photo shopping  and look like a model....

However reality sets in....

I have learned that I have to be happy with my final outcome unless I spend a lot of money for PS....Which I would love to do...but not in the cards at this time....

I have also learned how to camouflage my imperfections and have embraced shape wear...plus I can work angles in photos too...LOL!!!!

One other thing I have noticed that I do...I am always comparing myself to other people....

Which can be disheartening due to the fact of shapes...I am so much an hourglass but up to some ladies I look FAT...granted I am no where near the 280 that I once was but it dampens my spirit a bit thinking OMG.. I need to lose 25-30 more pounds then I can look that good.  I thought having WLS and losing all I did that I would not feel that way but soooo not the case.  I think I am so much more intuitive with how I look it is worse now than when I was MO.....It should not be that way but it is.....such aggravation really.....

Truth be known too...no matter the compliments or the constructive criticism that I may receive the bottom line is always I have to be happy with who I am and where I am at...which is easier said than done...I can tell you that!!!!  

So ....am I truly happy with where I am......eh...different days have different answers but I am trying to live for the moment and let the worries regarding my weight fall where they may....Clear like mud...right?! LOL! 

HOWEVER.... BOTTOMLINE....I have never regretted having WLS....best decision I have ever made for me.....
 

Hey Deb,

Isn't it funny how before surgery we think "If I weighed X I would be happy" then X comes and we want to weigh Y?

I'm still losing, but I try to embrace my Flappy the Road Squirrel Arms and disappearing rear end and remind myself that no matter how many stretch marks I have and how much loose skin, it's still worlds better than being SMO with high blood pressure, lipids, cholesterol, and sleep apnea and being completely miserable.

Happy Thursday!

Katie

Should it be a sign that as I am reading this post from you the Rolling Stones song...'You can't always get what you want but you try sometimes you get what you need" comes on...

I do agree with you Katie!!

I think my expectations were accurate - I didn't expect to look like a model after surgery.  I'm 49 and have been greater than 200 lbs overweight for many years - the skin just doesn't have that much elasticity and I KNEW that.  My only expectation was for health benefits not for appearence improvements. 

I was kind of shocked at how inconvenient and troublesome the extra skin is though.  Maybe TMI ... I wasn't really expecting that.  I, for example, end up sitting on overlapping butt cheek skin unless I readjust the skin (not the most feminine process on the planet).  My arm skin gets pinched in the door lock if my arm is on the car door when the car is put into gear.  My butt cheeks hang down into the toilet (very weird feeling) unless adjusted.  I have to pick up the girls to put them into a bra and then they puddle.  My thighs blouse around my knees so skirts are not really an option.  This was kind of a surprise.

I also do not regret surgery - health and energy wise I feel very good.

I guess that I may fall into the lightweight end as my highest weight was 280...but I was packed tight in a 5'5" frame.....

However I do understand where you are coming from.. I am 40 and being older I have realized also that my elasticity is not the way it was when I was 20ish.   I feel at times that the skin on my legs is like panyhose...if I pull the skin up it is not that bad....

Initially though my WLS was not for vanity...it was for health reasons... I had too many issues that contributed to me being approved for WLS. Now that I am smaller though...vanity seems to have creeped in....

I knew that I would have tons of extra skin (I started with a BMI of 57 and did not have surgery until I was 45), and I knew that i would have a panniculectomy and an arm lift (I did not plan for the tummy tuck), but I was not expecting the extra skin "puddling", as you so aptly describe it, down around my knees.  I knew I would have extra skin on my thighs but I also thought I would at least be able to wear normal, mid-thigh length shorts.  Wrong. I MUST cover my knees at all times because my thighs are hideous looking.

Lora

I am TRYING to keep my expectations to a min... I am 5 feet tall 250ish lbs... I have a small frame! I WANT (in my heart) to fit my frame... I have a mental image of my perfect self (someone I have never seen before)... i have an image of how I want to look in jeans, tops etc... I WANT a flat belly... I WANT thin legs... I want to be able to put a coffee between my legs while driving and not worry about squishing the cup...

MY MIND... it tells me to be happy if I get to a normal bmi despite how I look... It forces me to look at peoples hanging skin pic's (sometimes it is beautiful) I look at the before and say "wow ok she has a similar hanging bit like I do.... And look her after pic you can't see it or it doesn't hang anymore its just loose skin but not hanging bags of skin" Other times I look and see hanging bags of skin and I say a silent prayer that MY skin will be ok....

I plan to need PS after and I will start saving now so in 3 years Maybe I can afford it... but I am TRYING to keep my head out of the clouds.

My expectation was to live to my full life expectancy, be a healthy middle ager, and to enjoy wearing the clothes I wanted to wear.

I look and feel great for a woman who will be 50 next month - I work hard every day to achieve my expectations and to maintain my success.

I don’t want to make you feel worse but put age on top of what you have now. Then not only will you have excess skin but it will be very wrinkled skin. And you are old, much longer than you are young. When you get over the hill you pick up speed. And And And, things start to fall off or hang low or stop working on top of that…so now that I have made you day, I will go back to trying to read my tattoos that now look like elongated scabs. Not a pretty sight.     

I have not had my RNY yet ( I had lapband am getting a revison to RNY) I am 370lbs and 24 years old. I keep trying to "picture" what I will look like when I lose all my weight and sometimes I dont think I am being realistic. I mean I already have stretch marks all over from gaining weight over the years. For some reason when I picture myself those arent there. I also know im going to have a lot of skin ( i have over 200lbs to lose) but also when I picture myself its not there. Im trying to now be realistic about what I will look like after the weight loss and it scares me a bit. I have spent my whole life being self conciouse about my weight, and now when I lose my weight Im worried it might be even worse. I am trying to keep in mind that I am going to FEEL so much better after all the weight is gone and my issues with diabetes, high cholesterol and sleep apnea will be gone hopefully! So if it means i get to be a healthy 24 year old bring on the saggy skin. My fiance and I have already decided that we will take out loans for a tummy tuck, boobs, and skin removal.