Ruth, that's a wonderful proud - not weird at all - it shows you are having a normal relationship with food the way that naturally slim people do. They eat desserts and don't feel guilty but then they just ease up or are careful with food for a few days afterwards to control the damage so it's not out of control - totally different to what those of us here normally do.

I'm feeling so much better after reading the responses to my other post about hitting a speed bump in my weight shedding journey. I'm now proud of where I am. As I wrote you in a private PM, this concert I'm going to is actually a 3 day concert which is being filmed to make 3 different TV shows - and you're in those seats 8 hours basically each day. I'm so thankful I can easily fit into the chairs, I can jump up and down each time they want you to stand up and I can clap and dance and gyrate to the music for 8 hours without being sore or tire. I can squeeze out of the car in a tightly parked position. I feel 20 years younger. These tickets were expensive and part of a fund raiser - and were a special treat to reward myself for getting from supermorbidly obese to overweight but it's even more rewarding to think about all the differences now shedding weight has meant in my life.

If there are people lurking who are just starting out and overwhelmed, I hope they read this and can get motivated because the rewards of shedding weight are enormous and the best ones are little things that you normally don't even think about normally. like the Nike ads say - just do it.

Hi again Ruth - oh boy, that is good information about getting the arms done - I will definitely keep that in mind - it's these little details that are so helpful to know about. I haven't worn sleeveless tops since I was a kid because my arms were larger, then larger , then huge and now malformed and disgusting so I am really looking forward to wearing short sleeves and maybe even sleeveless - LOL I would hate to time it wrong like you did. These are the things plastic surgeons don't tell you. Poor you because you're down in Florida - wrapped in compression arms in the summer.  Okay 10-15 pounds before goal - that sounds closer than being at goal - that makes me feel better to know that I can aleast get going on the final chapter leading to surgery.

It's funny, I shed my weight without WLS because I was afraid of the surgery - LOL now I look forward to having plastic surgery for reconstruction.

edited to add; I looked at my ticker and see I'm right now about 21.5 pounds away from goal - so now I'm really feeling good because that puts me about 5-10 pounds away from starting consultations with surgeons - okay Ruth, this is really helping me to feel good about all of this. thank you for your words of wisdom. You don't know how much this has helped me.

Well Sklyar, it looks like you are at the place I couldn't WAIT to be!  Congratulations you.

I realize that you think that you are not at the right place in your journey to visit the plastic surgeon, but trust me, you are.  Let me 'splain my reasoning.  You are probably not going to choose the first plastic surgeon you visit and even if you do, it's still best to get at least three different opinions and find the best post bariatric plastic surgeon for you...believe me, they are not all created equal.  There are many different opinions out there on the way things should be done, so it's helpful to hear of the variety.  I had to kiss two frogs before I found my prince!  Booking all of the consults will take time so I say do it now.  Most doctors you have a consult with will give you prices that last for a year, so you will have plenty of time to make decisions.  Plus you have the benefit of thinking about each physician and how comfortable you feel with them and where they perform their surgeries.

Here's why you need to go to see them now.  I don't know what your body looks like under alla that skin and you won't know if you need to lose anymore weight until you have a doctor lift that skin and feel what your muscular and skeletal shape is really like, not what you see when you pull skin up, remember, you're pulling muscle up with that, the surgery won't do that.  Who knows, you may be skinnier under that skin than you think you are.  Especially in the derrier' and boobs.  As for my doc, he says that some of the women he works on come to him so thin that they have no tissue left to form a breast out of once he cuts away the skin.  You gotta have sumpn' left in there to make a boob with girlee!  And not to discourage you, but once you have been morbidly obese, it is VERY COMMON to need revisions on your sugeries.  It's nothing that the doc does wrong, but once your skin has been compromised for so long, the skin sometimes just stretches, I think it has to do with the swelling from surgeries on skin that has no elasticity left.  I don't know if you have any junk left in your trunk, but it is helpful in an LBL (lower body lift) to have some junk to form the toosh.  I don't know what your body looks like so I can't make a judgement, I can only tell you my experience, but I have seen tons of pics with what I call an LBL butt, flat as a pancake!  Mine is nice and round as the day I was eighteen because doc told me if I lost anymore weight he couldn't guarantee a good outcome.   My point is, only a surgeon can tell you what is possible for your individual body, we're all different, so go see one and you may be pleasantly surprised with what he has to say.

Just one more thought.  My surgeon practices out of plastic surgery suite that is on the campus of a major hospital with one other surgeon.  What I really like about that is that you are not in a hospital where people are ill.  If you're sick, you don't get plastic surgery.  I've had multiple surgeries and no infections or wound separations, ya gotta love that.  No sitting in hospital waiting rooms either before surgery.  I like that, too.  The big pay off is that the surgery is cheaper because you get one price for everything instead of paying for the OR and anesthetician seperately from the surgeons fee.  And when it comes time for minor revisions, the surgeon is able to do them for you for free or really cheap.  I had to have a minor revision on my breast implant and a little lipo and doc did it totally free including OR and Stacy, my dishy anesthesiologist.  I'm just saying, if you can find this cir****tance, it really is a big luxury!

Well now that I've talked your ear off, all I have left to say is God bless your plastic surgery journey!

Mary    

Skylar,
Hello again my friend.
You know I feel for you and fully understand.  
Hold your head high.....feel good about that wrinkled belly knowing it symbolizes all you've achieved.  Know that one day in the not to far off future you will have the skin removed and you will be in the best possible health an condition so your recovery goes nice and easy.  Before you know it you'll be on the other side of all this.

Another thing I may not have mentioned in my PM's to you.....when you do have you arms done you cannot go outside in sleeveless tops for at least 6 months(or longer).  You have to be so careful that your scar does not get exposed to the sunlight or it will permanently damage/discolor it and you do not want that!.  So when you are planning your surgery try to have your arms done around mid Sept so you can show them off the following summer.  I made the mistake of doing mine in March the first time and was wrapped in compression thru the summer!!!  

As soon as you are within 10-15 lbs of your goal or right at that normal BMI mark start going on consultations with surgeons.  They normally are booking a couple months out anyway so you'll still have time to drop a couple more lbs before surgery.  (FYI - all reputable plastic surgeons will insist you are at a normal BMI and stable with weight loss....some require a 3-6 months maintenance before they will operate).

Let me know if you want to call and chat about it....
TTF

 OMG, i feel the same way, i lost 15 lbs, gained 2 then 4 then lost 4..i cannot stand it
i also go up 10lbs the week prior to my period..10lbs r u kidding me?

i started going to see a personal trainer..i am too heavy for her treadmill, cannot do anything on my knees or elbows..everything hurts soooo bad, so hard to keep exercising, all always pull pr tear tendons or ligaments..i currently have a partially torn achilles and a knee ligament on the verge of tearing
my brain wants to ride a bike, run with my kids and exercise all the time BUT my big fat body is sooo heavy and my belly hangs and i am getting so limited and is such a burden..i am so pissed off and disappointed

my stress is sooo high right now being a single mom, financial troubles post divorce, job issues, there is just no room for the added stress of tryng to diet and lose weight..i have no reserves I feel like I am running on fumes
the high levels of stress are sabotaging my weight loss by keeping the cortisol levels too high ...dammit

sorry i need to vent too

this is just so hard