a little about me... thanks for the advice!! (before and after pics)

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to introduce myself a little.  I am 28 years old and have battled my weight for as long as I can remember.  I have been all over the map with sizes: extremely skinny, just right and extremely obese.  Last July (2010) I finally decided that enough is enough.  I was going to loose the weight once and for all.  I looked into surgery, but because of my long history of eating disorders I knew I would never be approved for it.  I started my own lifestyle change/ diet with the help of a dietitian and in the past 13 months I have lost 170 lbs through diet and exercise.  I am about 10 lbs away from my goal weight before plastics and am so excited!! I can't wait to get rid of my loose skin.  Even though I don't have nearly as much extra skin as I expected, there is still some there and I can't wait to look in the mirror and not see it.  Thank you to everyone here for sharing your stories, advice and info.  I am so happy I found this site.  

any advice that you think I may need to hear as I enter this part of my journey (plastic surgery) would be greatly appreciated.  

I'm not sure if these pics will post but if they do, I am posting 2 before and afters... one close-up and one full body.

Congratulations on your success! I too am just starting my journey with plastic surgery (in the process of getting letters from different doctors to send to insurance to try and get a panniculectomy approved)  - So I can't really offer any advice but just wanted to say congrats and welcome you to the board! You look wonderful!

Congratulations on a wonderful well done job! I waited a yr & 1/2 to have plastic surgery after getting to goal. My ps probably would have done my ps sooner if I wanted, but I wanted to be at a stable wait for a while and was exercising like a demon from the very beginning, in hopes to salvage what I could with toning and firming up. Eventually I had to admit I did all I could and no amount of exercising would beable to fix all the damage I had done over the years.

Plan to check at least 3 different p. surgeons.
Ask if they have worked with wls patients before
Ask your own dr.s that you use MD, gyno. Etc... if they know or can recommend a p.s.. I learned of a p.s. at my gyno.it was one his wife had used and their entire office had used as well!
I found mine through a personal friend who was NOT a weightloss patient. But as it turned out, wls patients from my surgeons office had also used him as well. And they ALL were happy with their results.
Also, where will surgery be preformed from? My dr. Has his own OR, his own anisth.etc... and is located on the backside of a major hospital (I could walk to the hospital fr;hisoffice).
But, he also could and would do surgery from any of the neighboring hospitals or even any of the out patient surgery centers. Big $$$ difference. I choose his OR.
Ask about what everything includes (lab work,ekg.,aniesth. Etc...)

No doubt I am forgetting things, but more peeps will be posting to you soon.

Good luck, and definately hang around here and readup on the posts.
Prek3
Carmen
Check out my before and after lower body lift pictures **I am 6 weeks post op this Monday.
Password for viewing pics.: abc123

Hi! I too just started the plastic surgery journey. I had a brachioplasty last month. I'm waiting until next summer to do my thighs and belly bc I'm a teacher and have the summer to recuperate. Also, I want to lose a little more weight first.

I agree, that you should check out a few surgeons before you decide. I saw three for my brachio. One had a $250 consult fee. One had a free consult and the last did the consult for free because I had been there for something else in the past. Besides their ideas on how to do the surgery and after-care, the cost was incredibly different from surgeon to surgeon (almost an $8000 diff).

Best of luck to you. You look gorgeous (both before and after) and I'm sure you feel great!

Congrats on your WL!

My only advice is to wait 1-2 yrs post goal to get your work done. IME, that's the first question every PS i went to asked "how long has your weight been stable?", second was "did you have wls"...then they went into the consult.

I was at my weight for 5 yrs prior to getting my arms done (my only procedure). The weight does retract a bit as time goes by. I wanted a TT, also...but didn't get it because I do not have children.

GREAT JOB PRETTY LADY...!

THE BEST TO YOU AS YOU HEAD INTO THE REST OF YOUR JOURNEY...

Wow, congrats and good luck on the plastics. Keep us informed. PM sent with the list.

You look amazing and many congratulations on a job well -done!  I can relate to your story and taking pics with a blackberry thru a mirror.   I did my plastics (TT/LBL 5 days ago ) 13 months after WLS and hitting goal about 3 months ago.  Strictly a matter of timing - August is very slow workwise. Ideally I would have done plastics after maintaining goal for a longer period of time.

I wish you an excellent ride thru this phase of the journey and am here to answer any questions if I can  --Carolyn

Wow! You're such an inspiration.  I'd love to hear what type of food and exercise plan you followed.

 Thanks everyone!!

To lose, I counted calories (started around 1500 cal a day and worked down to 1200. I am now at 1800 cal to lose those last few lbs and start to stabilize).  Exercise- wise, I just walked.  I have back issues so I wasn't cleared for anything else.