Exactly what are you trying to accomplish?

I think you will be happy after your plastic surgery. Like you I just could not accept that I'd lost 200 lbs and still weighed 210 lbs. My wls journey had ended no matter how hard I worked to get more weight off. I had 3 doctors telling me there was no fat to lose, etc. Nothing made my mind accept that I was at my ideal weight. My plastic surgery removed 22 lbs, I now weigh 185. At last I have accepted and love my figure. The nurse at the doctors office ask how I liked my new hour glass figure the week after surgery. I almost fell off the table I was so shocked. You know what, she was right. I won't ever be tiny but this is good enough. I'm wearing size 16 tops due to large bust that are loose in the midriff and size 12 pants. I find blouses with darts down the front & back now show my body off to it's best advantage. In olden days I wanted something very loose to hide the rolls. When I walk into a room men look at me because I look good now, not because I'm huge. My hope for you is that you will be as happy after plastic surgery as I am today (six weeks out from ps). It took the plastic surgery to finish my wls journey. I don't think I could have ever accepted my Michelin Man (lots of rolls of skin/fat) body but this one I love. Best of luck!

i did this surgery for my health which was deteriating rapidly.. ive been on more weight loss programs in my life ..yes id lose then i gain.. i did this to be a healthier person mentally n physically..i was almost a shut in i just went to work and hibernated in my housde and ate.. no more high blood pressurew no more borderline diabetes no more urinary incontince swollen hands feet headaches bachaches ass axches i am not thin im a siZe 10 wear large tops to hide the skin.. im not doing any plastics í was not high maintence before and i aint gonna start now if i was younger maybe but i aint messin with the surgery gods hope alls well joann

Off line I need to brief you on some changes that have come about. In a nutshell Judy and I have moved into her father's house to help care for him. We are selling our place. Between moving and helping him (he's 90), we have been overwhelmed. Later Nowhere Man/PH

As a co-conspirator in the aforementioned hijack, I offer my thanks for this thoughtful and very real series of questions (albeit sans flashy things and smiley faces w/question marks). Admittedly when I took on this challenge I decided on WLS to not be fat. About 6 weeks post op I had an epiphany...to not be fat is a negative message that came out of a jumble of all the negative messages that ran on continuous loop in my head. Messages of worthlessness, ugliness, undeservedness (is that a word?), failure and an overall lack of self-awareness. It was then that I realized that I had to change my behaviors, replace the bad crap in my head with strategic solutions and make a plan that was reasonable, comfortable and most important, HEALTHY for me. In other words, by trying not to be fat I was living day to day in fear, vs. taking control of my outcomes. Today I am a normal person. I am not thin, in fact if I were to gain more than 10# I would be classified "overweight" on the BMI scale. BTW, I am certain that BMI stands for Basically Means Ignore. As of this AM I weigh 134#, down from 280# the morning of my WLS. Have I made goal? Well, I am living a reasonable lifestyle...I eat food, just like normal people. I am living a comfortable lifestyle...I am aware of the foods that agree with me, the foods that I like, exercise the way I want to, eat crap and sit on my ass all day long one day per week. I am living a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally. So yes, I have reached my goal. I am not living the not trying to be fat lifestyle because I remember what life was like when I was MO, the daily struggles, the inner pain, the feeling of being a prisoner under layers and layers of insulated fat, the morning commitment to lose huge amounts of weight via extreme measures...and the loneliness at night in the dark when I had just me (and an occasional kid or more and my husband) and my feelings of failure. I remember the fat place. I took up residence for most of my life. I will never forget living in fat time and fat space. And it is these very memories that have me living among the masses...in a town called Normal. Karen

Guilt as charged! And if I am to be hanged, I would be honored to be hanged alongside you. Nowhere Man/PH/Jay

I have to say that I am trying to not be fat. I have been fat all my adult life & am tired of it. I want to be NORMAL. Thin isn't necessary, just normal weight. Unfortunately, I find myself ruled by the numbers. I want to be at least under 25 BMI but I don't think it will happen. Here I sit at 180 lbs with a BMI of 27+. I am a size small on top, still a 14 on the bottom & smaller than I ever expected to be but I'm not satisfied. I WANT TO BE NOT OVERWEIGHT. I need to change my thinking, I imagine. I know I will look too thin & probably old if I get to 155# but those nasty numbers just rule me! Dixie

Dixie, let me pick on you, but it really applies to several of the respondants. What's up with you women and garment sizes? I can understand using numbers to measure things precisely, but given the lack of standards on what constitutes, say a 14 or any given number, is it not unwise to use them as a standard to judge how you feel about yourself? Nowhere Man/PH/Jay

I don't mind you singling me out. I completely agree that using sizes to judge how I feel about myself is stupid. Sizes vary so much but I think it is ingrained in us by society. As a teenager, when I weighed 140 and wore a size 14, I was considered fat. My goal for myself when I had my surgery was to weigh 165# & be a size 16 or lower. I should be satisfied but I'm not. I am not under 165# and that is an exact measurement. Even though they are not an exact measurement, sizes do mean an awful lot to me. I can't begin to describe the first time I put on a size small sweater & it fit. I think I made sure the label hung out of the neck hoping people would notice it. I refuse to buy something, even if I love it & it fits perfectly, if it's a size large. I know I'm being stupid, vain, a WOMAN! Until society changes & stops branding "fat" women as unattractive & undesirable, we will be ruled by the size of our clothes. Sigh...... Dixie

Jay, My initial goal was my health. The appearance thing (the "not fat" thing) was secondary. I felt like crap and struggled to get through a day. The advantage of this goal for me was that I made healthy food choice and worked out like crazy. So, I got healthy. And fit. And I looked thin even at the very tippy top of the "normal" BMI range. Then I got lazy. Now my goal is to "not be fat again". I've put on some weight, but more importantly, since I'm no longer in great shape, things have redistributed in a way that is unpleasant. Lately my goal has been to get back to the "magic" number on the scale, but it's not working. I'm still not working out enough or eating enough vegetables. I certainly don't feel healthy. I'm thinking that I need to get back to the healthy weight focus, and the rest (being "thin") will come as a side effect. Hmmm... lightbulb moment. Linda

Hi Nowhere Man. Just wondering why you don't have an updated profile, I want to know about your journey! Thanks! BTW, When I was 279lbs and wanted to get to where I'm at today, I didn't think of an exact number. I just sort of got here and am quite content. I've thought about working hard to lose another 10 pounds so that I won't stress out when I gain a couple of pounds and after the holidays I will work extra hard to get them off. But now that I'm here, it's like what do I do now? All my life I've had to work to lose weight and once the weights off, what will on focus on next? As far as keeping everything in check, I remember one thing my surgeon said, "if you gain 5lbs. take it off by eating better and exercising because it's so easy for 5 to turn to 10, to 20 and so on". I think of that every time I put something in my mouth and I weigh EVERY morning. Those 2 things keep me in check.