Sunday, July 31, 2011

Something's been on my mind…

After dr.Snyder's seminar at the beginning of the month and having one question keep coming back around, I thought I would talk about it. It seems to be on everyone’s mind, especially if they are considering having gastric bypass or the sleeve.

Loose skin

Most people want to know about, but few people who go through it want to discuss it. I’m not sure if it’s vanity or just not wanting to give TMI, but I’m going to give it a shot.

I started this process at 260 lbs. The heaviest I’d ever been in my life. Always been a fat girl, but this was big even for my family. Which means I already had lots of skin. I had the extra baggage around the arm areas, waving like a third and fourth hand to anyone that I waved to. No biggie for me. I still did tank tops and sleeveless and tube tops and other items that exposed my arms. I also had huge thighs and back fat. Still didn’t stop me. This means that I never had that aversion to be exposed the way a lot of bigger people do. To be blunt, my self esteem was up there with the top models. I was the shit.

So now that I’ve lost 100lbs, all that fat that used to take up the skin is gone and now I just have the skin left over as a reminder of what I used to be. Does it bother me?

Not at all.

Still rocking the tank tops and tube tops and whatever the hell else I can fit into that I couldn’t before, even with the luggage chilling out under my arms. My thighs are smaller, and I have skin that pools around the joint when I’m laying on my back and have my legs in the air. (hey, not like that. My mother reads this.) I’m loving this new body in ways that I never did before. The skin is a non factor for me. To be honest though, I didn’t have as much to lose as other people and so the skin left is not as extreme as others. Take my husband for instance. Once he gets surgery, I fear/feel that he’s going to have A LOT of excess skin. He’s got a big tummy and…man boobs. that’s right, I said it! I promised to be honest and that is part of it.

Dr. Snyder has said that the bounce back of skin takes all kinds of factor’s into account. Age, race, health, smoker/non-smoker, working out or not. A lot of things can happen to make the skin bounce back or not. Will my skin tighten? I can’t say for sure. It may. Will I freak out if it doesn’t? No. Though…I may get a tummy tuck in the future…Just so I can say I have flat tummy. *LOL*

Friday, July 29, 2011

Updates and news…

Do you know that I’m doing a happy dance right now? A little jig that has me moving my feet and looking like a goof ball. Why you ask? Well, at my last dr. appt, the nurse informed me that I’m at a good weight right now. Five pounds give or take and it’s all good.

I’m officially 170 lbs!!!

Man, this feels good. I’ve never been this weight or this size in my life. I know that I could use some toning, but I feel good. My wardrobe is very sparse I’ll admit, but at this size, it should grow by leaps and bounds over the next few years. I’m not sure if I’ll get surgery, because I can deal with the loose skin. I mean…it’s like a badge of honor really, all this skin flapping around, but no fat to fill it out. I did it, I made a promise to myself and I kept it. I’ll continue to keep it as well.