I'm a teacher and had this done at the end of July so I was back to work just after 4 weeks post op. I was swollen and stiff but able to do a lot of teacher tasks, which are quite physical... just couldn't lift much. I got tired easily but was able to keep a normal sleeping schedule after about week 3 (naps all day until week 3). At a desk job, in my opinion, you'd def be ok after 3 weeks at home, maybe even 2. But don't pu**** because it just makes swelling worse!

I had my consults within 1-2 months of hitting goal, knowing it would be another 6+ months before I'd go forward with it. However, I hit goal and kept losing way below that. I was at my lowest weight when I had my plastics and have since regained about 8-10lbs from the day of my plastic surgery and now maintained the same weight for a year. My plastics look better now than they did when I was thinner (I had a 19.1 BMI on the day of my surgery, I was too thin).

Anyway, all that to say that if I did it again I'd give myself some time to bounce back if I was going to. On the same token I had plans to move several states away (which I did at 8 weeks post op) and I wanted the surgery done before I moved as I knew that getting the point of taking an entire month off was going to require some time spent at my new job first.

I started researching surgeons and whittling down to my final list (I aimed for 3-5 potential candidates) when I was about where you are. That took a lot more time than I thought it would, so now might be a great time to start! I was at my goal weight when I finally did the consults (I did three), but they all required that patients be at a stable weight for at least a year, and at least a couple - if not all three - said not to gain or lose more than 10 lbs after plastic surgery (so....same as White Dove)

I found realself.com helpful for identifying possible surgeons - as well as doing a search on this site to see if anyone had used a surgeon in my region (I decided early on that I wanted to be within driving distance (maybe 2-3 hours away max) for various reasons. But there are people on here who've traveled long distances for this)

My plastic surgeon wants you at a weight where you do not ever intend to gain or lose more than 10 pounds.

I'll be going in February. :)