Lost 120 pounds without surgery--now facing abdominoplasty

Hello all.  I am new to this forum, but I wanted to hear from anyone who has lost weight from diet/exercise (non-surgically) and has had plastic surgery to get rid of excess skin.  I have maintained my weight loss for two years so I have finally scheduled extended abdominoplasty surgery for next month.  I am excited to finally be rid of the flab around my mid-section, but I would like to hear from others who have had this surgery.    I am pretty healthy and fit now so my surgeon thinks I am an ideal candidate for this procedure.  Still, I know it's a big deal and it makes me a little apprehensive.   I went from a size 22 to a size 8 in approximately one year.  My thighs could look better and my arms droop a bit, but the most troublesome has been the flap of excess flesh around my lower tummy.   My abs are toned but you can't tell because of the pouch I carry around.  My husband is supportive and I have selected a very fine surgeon.  Please write to me if you have had this surgery.  Thank you.

I am curious to know how you lost the weight. Regular diet and exercise...a certain diet. What worked for you? Sorry I can't help out on the surgery thing. But Congrats on losing all of that weight!

Hi.. I had a C-Section in 1986, and subsequently had hanging skin from the incision area and stretched skin after losing the baby weight and had an abdominoplasty in 1991. I had great results.. the scar is huge of course.. hip to hip, but it's way down low and my belly button was moved to where it should be.  It takes a little while to be able to stand up straight, but never had any issues resulting from the surgery.   It's was very "freeing" to be rid of that hanging skin, and the results are immediate...  all of my jeans were loose, and at that time I could wear a bikini and no one was the wiser. I've gained a great deal of weight since then and I'm working it off now.  I've lost 36 lbs so far and can already feel and see where I'm going to have problems, but I have no intention of having this procedure again. Congratulations on your weight loss and maintenance!!  I think you'll love the results of the abdominoplasty!  Good luck!!

Thanks for the kind words.  It was a real miracle!  I thought about joining a weight loss group (again) for the support and program but I knew from prior experience that it would make me obsessive about food.  I decided NOT to follow a "diet" but rather make small changes in my eating habits to adjust the way I dealt with food.  Basically I set a few simple rules:

1) Eat three balanced meals each day with no eating between meals;

2) Complete my last meal no later than 7:30 p.m.;

3) Try to work in some exercise each day (no gym, running or formal workouts) whether it was forcing myself to take the stairs, parking further from the door, or pacing around when I was on the telephone;

4) Keep a detailed journal of everything I ate and keep track of calories as well as possible. (I also used this journal to detail what I was feeling, my moods and various little successes, triumphs and slip-ups).

5) Make an effort to enjoy my foods fully.  Rather than order a salad when I felt like having a burger, I ordered the burger, but only ate half of it.  I stopped reading and watching TV while I ate so I could truly enjoy my food. 6) Avoid serious "trigger" foods (for me this was salty/crunchy things like chips); 7) Listen to my body:  Sleep when I'm tired; take a bath when I'm stressed; get a pedicure to reward myself.  STOP using food as the all-purpose solution to all of my problems. 8) Pray for strength.  (I prayed a LOT!) I started out at 270 pounds and consumed between 1500 and 1800 calories per day while I was trying to lose.  I never ate fewer than 1500 calories per day.  Now in maintenance I eat about 2000--2300 calories per day.  I was surprised at how well the weight came off by making these small changes.  I still write everything down--it keeps me accountable.  I look up nutrition information from restaurants whenever possible so I can measure what I'm eating.  It's not as cumbersome as it sounds.  My journal is very telling--I can pretty much show you exactly what I ate and what was going on in my head for the past two years.   My doctor was amazed at how well I did.  I would not have believed it was possible to lose this much weight while eating as much as I did.  I suppose you could call it a diet, but it was really more of a lifestyle change.  I tried treating food like food, instead of making it a reward, a medicine, and the all purpose answer to every problem.  So far, so good. Thanks again for the encouragement.  I can offer you this:  If you make small, relatively painless changes, they do add up over time like pennies.  Before you know it you will lose weight and feel better.  The decision to have the abdominoplasty is part reward for my efforts but also partly to help reinforce my determination to stick with my new habits.  I don't want to ever have to go through this again.  So if I have a bad day, I just start over.  I don't try and punish myself for messing up, I just restart with the very next meal.  And I honestly, and sometimes painfully write it all down in my journal. Best of luck to you. --Nancy

Hello Nancy... I have to say you have done everything... that I think us as a group on this page is trying to do... from the meals, calorie counting.... checking nutritional menu at restaurants before going out to eat, journaling, exercise...etc....  You shoudl be very proud of yourself.... You are my new She-Roe!!!!!  One thing that I noticed in your success.. is consciousness... from what you eat, your activities, emotions, and everything....  I think that is a struggle for a lot of us.... I am working on that myself... I am paying more attention to input and output... and quality of both....  You even acknowledge it being difficult at times write in the journal... I think we associate the pain with failure.. and we fall off...  I am not trying to psycho-psychologize your success.. but I think your efforts and success points out alot about ourselves and where we are in our journey. Congrats and WELCOME to the board!!!  Good luck on the Abdominioplasty too...

In a year??? wow...way to go.  I would love to have a panni, but money stops me. If I were 10 years younger, I'd borrow the money.  But at age 50, it's not like I care that much any more really about a few inches of sag - unless of course I run into some do-re-mi suddenly. There are other financial goals I'd rather hit. There is a Plastic Surgery Forum that has lots of people on it in your position.

my highest recorded weight was 280 and i started having plastic surgery at 170. i have had surgery on basically every body part starting in 2003 with my most recent one being this past summer. multiple times on some body parts. tummy, butt, inner/outer thighs, arms, breasts, axilla, back flab, various lipo-ing. anything you want to know specifically? i have pics if you are interested - link in my profile - email me privately for the password for the PS folder. have you checked in at the plastic surgery forum? donna in this forum has also had a few procedures - LBL and arms at least. i don't know if she's been around lately since i haven't been around so i don't know. most importantly, you need to trust your surgeon and make sure you have realistic expectations. you will not have a tummy of a 16 year old. you will have a giant scar, which may or may not scar well. you won't be able to work out for a couple weeks - how will you handle that? focus on improvement rather than perfection and you will be fine.

Hi Nancy I also lost  100lbs  by diet and exercise. Went from 235 to 135-140.  I am hoping to have a lower body lift in 2009 and breast lift. I just  started saying no  to people when they offer me food. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week. Even when I am so tired. I go to the gym at 11:30 at night. I have 3 school age childern 7,9,10. I work 40 hours aweek. I know I can't ever go back. I will not be in  the group that need to take a bag full of meds everyday. MY cousin weighs over 300lbs and have diabetes she wouldn't  listen to the doctor  she went blind. I will not risk my eye sight for a cookie. I struggle everyday over food but I feel good when I don't give in.  So good luck on your tt