Changes

I have been thinking about all the changes in my body since my WLS. Some things I really like and others I don't care for(mainly the extra skin) I never liked my hands. I am tall about 6'4" and thought I had the smallest chubbiest hands, I am liking my new hands they are actually looking long and skinny. I have a collar bone now that you can see. I can feel my hips, bones in my shoulders. The muscles are developing too, faster in my lower body, after caring all that weight they should be really good. I just wish my upper body would come along as fast. I know it takes time. I also have a  "turkey neck" would love to get rid of the extra skin that is hanging under my chin, anyone know an each way to get that toned up? My feet have gotten skinner too, not a got thing a lot of my loafers are more like flip flops when I walk. I am loving my new waist, I don't have to pull my pants up over my belly button any more. I just wish all pants were the size they say they are. I have learned that I have to try on pants just because they say they are 36x34 does not mean that is the size they really are.  Just wondering if any one else has noticed changes they like or don't like.

Jeff

Body image is a HOT topic for me right now. I'm loving most things ...but still find a way to nit pick something (usually skin too). I think I look good dressed ....but when I look at myself naked I'm like ewwww..

But I didn't see myself naked for the first time until like 8 months post-op. We never had a full length mirror in our house and when I stayed at my Moms over Christmas I saw myself in her mirror for the first time. I've been a wreck ever since LOL! 

It's crazy because pre-op I would hear stories of people not liking certain things and I would think "oh my god..are you kidding me? You lost all this weight...yada yada yada"....and I never realized how badly people are affected by body image until now. I really wish the support groups I go too would go over this more.

BUT then I notice the little things like ....my shoe size went from a 9 to a 7, ring size 9-6, and I lost 2 inches in height!! THEN I get all giddy!!  I can do other things like cross my legs, touch my toes, wrap a towel around me .....and my skin issues seem to be not so bad.

Don't get me started on jeans either! (LOL) For us ladies ...jeans come in sizes but you also have Tall, Regular, and Petite. I've always worn mens clothes when I was big so this is new. Any way, when I buy Tall they are too long and drag on the floor. When I get Regular they fit perfect but when I sit it looks like I'm expecting a flood. I don't get it.

If only things were perfect, right?

I know what you mean!@#$%  Being a 56 year old woman I certainly at this point cannot do the plastics.  I have been using Nivea Q10 lotion and I really think it helps!   As for mirrors I just try not to look except when putting on the eye makeup!

 Yes, I can pretty much feel all my bones in my body now.. I can easily wear a 32 now, however I hate the extra skin.. It's not looking good for me, so I'm thinking sometime this summer I will be having plastic surgery. 

I kind like my turkey neck at the moment - cause I'm assured it ease up later. My hands and wrists/forearms are smaller than I thought they'd be at this point. Just kinda exploring everything lately. Fun to watch it change. 

I'm not sure what the turkey neck is - my weight loss off my face and neck left a little gob of flesh hanging just below my chin, but it vanished after about a week.  I've still got a little chub under the chin, but it's not so bad.

Massive weight loss in the feet and ankles, though.  I actually sit on the couch and stare at my feet from time to time...I know, I know, it's ridiculous.  But its the first part of my body to start looking "normal", so I'm still a little surprised to see it.

Oh, and JMacon?  Ditto on the hands!  Suddenly I've got real man-paws rather than chubby stubbies.  It's awsome.

Stats that affect it besides weight loss: 
53 years old, had two kids, been obese 85% of my life.

- The skin is never going to snap back on its own.
+ I can feel the bones under it all.
+ Most of the prettier bones show (clavicle, shoulders, hips).
- Sometimes the bones hurt when contacting other surfaces, like chairs, tables, beds, other bones.
+ I love the look of my hands now, the shape... not sausage fingers anymore.
- I look like an old woman.
- The skin of my face sags and what I had hoped would be cheekbones are not really there.
- My eyes that used to disappear in fat, now disappear in skin folds and bags.
- I love being on top for sex but hesitate to do that now because it just all morphs down and I think it looks scary. Like melting woman.
+ I am loving how I am fitting into clothes, how tight jeans hold it all in.
+ I can walk into a jeweler's and put on rings from the case and they fit. Some are even a little too big.
+ I love my silhouette now. I feel sleek.
+ A much younger friend of mine who has always been a size 6 called me a "skinny *****". It was music to my ears.
- I know in my heart that I will probably never be able to afford plastic surgery and even if I had the money I'm the kind to rather redecorate my apartment and buy a new motorcycle... but then I want it all.
+ I feel like I can blend into a room of people because I'm not fat but stand out because I feel really beautiful.
+/- I have to be careful not to sit down too hard on the toilet seat. I keep cracking my ass. (no pun intended).
+ I could balance one foot in the headboard and one foot on the nightstand last night (get your mind out of the gutter) to screw in a curtain rod above my daughter's bed and not worry about breaking either one or falling.
+ Z's arms go all the way around me now.
+ Z can piggyback me around the living room.
+ I can sit on laps without worrying about hurting anyone.
+ I can sit in a bathtub with lots of room around me and give myself a foot massage comfortably.
I hope I can always outweigh the - with the +.