Vanity and plastic surgery after weight loss

Have you gotten any comments about being vain for getting plastic surgery? Someone said this to me in regard to my facial work. My snarky reply was, "Of course I am vain. Anyone who would spend $45,000.00 on her looks is vain. And I am okay with that."

The thing is there seems to be a bit of a double standard. It does not seem that anyone bats an eye at a man who drops $50,000.00 on a luxury or sports car for himself. I do 't really see how one differs from the other. 

Have you found yourself in this scenario? If so how did you handle it? What role do you think vanity plays in our decision to undergo plastic surgery after weight loss? Do you feel guilty spending this money on yourself?

No one has made comments to my face, but I'm sure they do behind my back. I wanted to feel whole again after losing the weight. Mentally I could not handle the skin. If money were not an issue, i would have my thighs done and breast implants, but I really am ok "as-is" right now.

I agree there is a double standard.

I was a fiery teenager, thin and pretty, with the confidence that I did not give a damn what other people thought. I guess I lost that confidence as the pounds piled on. I kept my WLS a secret for about a decade and initially I kept my tummy tuck a secret. I was concerned what people would think. Now I guess I have regained that confidence after my plastic surgery. Because  I have come out in the open about my WLS and plastic surgery, even within my profession. And I do not give a damn what people think of me for it. It was money well spent for me (and for which I worked hard to earn) and makes me much happier than a new car. 

People like to talk and "accuse" us of going against the Bible and ruining our bodies especially if someone like myself has unexpected wound healing issues. If I had HMO approval I would be doing my thighs in the blink of an eye. Each scar is a badge of honor of my own personal battles to a life of being more normal in today's society where most are thought of as normal only if they are a size 0 which I am far from not. I never kept any of my surgeries a secret as I knew I had failed at dieting and when I had the old-style band I vomited a lot and with the RnY I need my to eat with awareness on proteins and my "throughout the day" vitamins to help my surgery work for me. I refuse to ever feel "lost" from food and if I want to enjoy a food I know I should not eat, I allow myself that food (unless I get sick from said food) and I know I can balance how I eat.
I do notice that since my plastics I wish I got more compliments but even more so I feel renewed as a person of validity and refuse to let anyone walk over me or insult me. If I feel taken advantage of or mistreated I will stand up and be assertive or in my HMO I have resorted to letters of complaints to the highers-up. Case in point was an orthopedist who after my X-rays and not seeing a problem and not recommending me for my once a year orthotics, tells me that he sees in my file that my BMI shows I need to lost 20K and then I won't have pain in my ankle which had had three surgeries (two of which were done by him and one when I weighed 120K). He gave no mention of the 42K I had already lost. I felt if he could be so insensitive then I would not let him get away with it. Since then I have heard that he tells everyone to lose weight including my skinny friends.
Mikimi in Israel

What I write is on the Internet and can be used by others

You have reminded me that one of the seven deadly sins is vanity. another is gluttony. I guess we are doubly cursed! Please tell me more about how PS goes against the Bible. 

I am Glad that you now have the confidence to stick up for yourself. Why/how do you think plastics changed that for you?

i find that I have let go of inhibitions about my body. Whether it be dancing in the middle of a crowd of onlookers with my 4yo granddaughter or breaking through any sexual boundary, I am so confident and comfortable in my own skin - even in the nude. 

I can only write of as a Jew and how many ultra religious will ask their Rabbi or mentor for advice in health-related matters. There are those that consider even WLS to be invasive and dangerous and forget that it can and is a life-saving procedure albeit with risks of any surgery and consequences for aftercare. The same is true and even more so for plastics excepted we are not doing "mommy makeovers" or esthetics or cosmetic surgery or celebrities but a plastics procedure for medical reasons (with risks and possible complications and consequences to a continued and better health. Plastics on our cases after wls is not cosmetic but "to bring a body to a sense of normalcy". Why should we former fatties be denied the right to a "normal" body just because we misused/abused our GD given bodies? I believe in GD even if I may not practice all the religious observances of today's religious Judaism. I also know that having WLS and plastics has health and medical reasons in my life. I am not getting a nose job nor looking to have grapefruits for my breasts. I have traded blubber and fat with fungi rashes for scars that are on me ugly and take a long time to heal; hence a sense of suffering until I get to a sense of an inner "pleasure" and contentment.
As I feel more in balance as a person and woman of value so is my confidence to stick up for myself and not feel only like the fat blob in the middle of the room that someone stares at and thinks OMG.
I often feel like a pea**** wanting to flaunt what I now have. I have not be gorgeous but I am better looking than I once was and for that I am ever grateful.
Mikimi

I agree, "bring a body to a sense of normalcY" but do you believe a facelift is part of that normalcy or is it vanity?

I don't know you well enough (even with photos) to decide what is vain/vanity. And I tend to not notice things. I don't use makeup or care about feminine aspects that most women do.
I have friends that feel my TT and BL were unnecessary.
Mikimi

Thanks, Mikimi

I like what Mikimi said above about plastics as a procedure to return our bodies to a sense of normalityafter extreme   weight loss.  In that regard, I considered my plastics as "reconstructive" surgery (anchor cut TT and arm lift).  My body in those places looks normal now.  I don't see that as vain.  I cannot think of any use of the money I spent that could possible give me greater satisfaction- dare I say, happiness!  My thighs are not great, but I can cover up well- the turkey neck thing I've got going?--Yep, that's vanity.  If I have that addressed, I do not see the $ spent as any different than shopping for pretty clothes when I have an adequate closetful already. It may happen- maybe not.  I think your results turned out beautifully.  Bonnie