TLC's Skin Tight

So I have now watched every Skin Tight Episode to date: Seasons 1-3 (including last night's newest episode) :D I love watching the total skin removed get weighed and revealed to the patient. It is incredible how much they take off.

I guess I am wondering how realistic.. or unrealistic, really... Skin Tight might be making me. People seem to be getting an average of 10 pounds or so removed, and really appear teeny and flat afterwards. Do you all know how much skin in pounds was removed? Did you feel considerable smaller afterwards?

I feel like my expectations are becoming waaaay too high and I find it difficult to think about anything else. 7 weeks couldn't be longer :(

Dr. LoMonaco (one of the plastic surgeons on Skin Tight) was my surgeon. He is just as awesome in person as he is on the show (although he is a funny guy and I don't think that side of him is shown on TV).

I had 2 square feet of skin removed by him and it only weighed 2-3 pounds.

I did not go down in size at all after plastics. I was a size 6 before and after. If you have a lot of fat attached to the skin they are removing you will go down in size, otherwise you may not.

I just had an extended abominoplasty (plus an extended mastopexy) and the surgeon said that they removed just over 800 grams of skin, no fat to remove. I had alot to take off but because there wasn't any extra fat it didn't weight that much.

My LBL was 9 lbs

My excess skin from my LBL and thigh lift this month weighed 11.1 pounds. And that was after lipo-ing out fat to put back into my rear. I had a lot of stubborn fat tissue attached to my main roll. I look pretty small now. Some people have very little fat attached to the skin and therefore their removal weight is low.

The thing that bothers me about that show is how down the people are about themselves and how much they let the skin limit their lives. I considered mine unsightly but wouldn't use the word disgusting, and too jiggly for running, but otherwise a byproduct of my hard work. It didn't change how I felt about myself as a person and I feel good about who I am. I worry that they will all be disappointed long term in their result because their dislike of themselves is so much more than skin deep. Maybe the show just makes them play that stuff up and they are willing to do it to get their surgery paid for, but it really bugs me.

"The thing that bothers me about that show is how down the people are about themselves and how much they let the skin limit their lives. I considered mine unsightly but wouldn?t use the word disgusting, and too jiggly for running, but otherwise a byproduct of my hard work. It didn?t change how I felt about myself as a person and I feel good about who I am. I worry that they will all be disappointed long term in their result because their dislike of themselves is so much more than skin deep. Maybe the show just makes them play that stuff up and they are willing to do it to get their surgery paid for, but it really bugs me."

I agree 100%.

I also agree.

I totally hear you, but I think it's mostly for a "dramatizing" reality tv effect. They sound somewhat scripted-they all say the same things, do the same things to show how "uncomfortable" they are, and wear ridiculous clothing that is meant to just show the skin off (which is silly because you can find cute, regular clothing to cover it...people don't really know I have it unless I wear short sleeves, otherwise my skin is very well hidden).

I agree, I hope these people aren't as truly disgusted with themselves as they make themselves sound... but I really don't think they are.

These shows are "very scripted" including 600lb life. I was told by a friend that was actually on 600lb life that the "show" told her to eat a lot, order a lot of food to make it look as though she was gorging herself. These shows are dramatic to be honest and barely depict the reality of the situation.

I just had a LBL and I am one of those people who was really down. I am six years out from WLS and after only ONE relationship, I threw in the towel. I couldn't stand to look at myself.

I don't know if I'm any better just yet because I need to have a revision but my pannus is gone and everyone says I look considerably smaller. Once I physically feel better, I hope to feel better emotionally.