Question:
What will I look like after surgery?

I am having a hard time dealing with how I will look after I loose 90-100 lbs. I have NEVER been skinny. I don't know what it looks or feels like. I'm sure it feels amazing, but what if I hate how I look? I know health is more important than looks, but I am still worried. Anyone else have this issue before their surgery?    — Laurie T. (posted on October 1, 2011)

October 1, 2011
My issue was never thinking I might be too skinny but that I didn't think I'd be super skinny when I lost the weight. I always said to my mom, "I've weighed 180lbs before, and I wasn't skinny then." What I'm not taking into account is that the last time I was 180lbs I was like 5'4" in height and now am 5'9" so it'll make a huge difference. I am over 3 months out since surgery and I already look different. My face is smaller and "less swollen" as my mother so delicately put it. I've dropped 6 dress sizes. I lost a whole cup size. And this is only having dropped 52lbs. I can only imagine what I'll look like at 200lbs - that'll be a whole new person. What you look like depends a lot on you and depending on how much weight you have to lose, you may have to get plastic surgery to become a completely healthy new you (loose skin can often times be a health risk). A few weeks ago I was complaining to my mom about the way I look: Because my boobs are smaller, my stomach is more noticeable. My arms are so saggy. I can't get rid of that little underbelly pouch. Basically I hated how I looked. She told me that as I make this transformation I will change but one thing to focus on throughout is who are you as a person as you change? A wise friend who had the gastric sleeve once told me that we as WLS patient lose all this weight and the person we're left with is the person we know the least. I hope that helps!
   — vparkman1990

October 1, 2011
I can only speak for myself but I look GREAT. I am down to a size 6 and have no hanging skin. I did see more wrinkles in my face (I am 53 though) but those have faded some and I am very happy with how I look. My surgery was a year and a half ago
   — tfqh99

October 1, 2011
what you look like will largely depend on you. excercise can help with loose skin as will daily lotioning. if you are not satisfied (like me at 1 and 1/2 years) you can always have plastic surgery to correct loose skin, wrinkles, etc. The other thing is age. I am in my twenties. I dont have any wrinkles or loose skin in or around my face but i have seen people that do in their twentis and thirties it just depends on genetics and how much weight you lose. I lost 125 lbs. I now weigh 121 and i am the smallest ive eever been. most people only lose about 70% of their excess weight. For me excercise was key. I worked out like a demon and still do even if i dont want to. So just keep that in mind. You arent going to get too skinny. it will start to taper off and stop unless you want to lose more weight after about 1 and 1/2 years. I am now almost 2 years out so if i want to lose more weight I have to work harder now. But ultimately that is mostly up to you and what you are comfortable with. I am 5'2" tall so I am a normal weight but I worked to get here. surgery is only a tool so the choice is yours.
   — Kim M.

October 2, 2011
Thanks for all the answers. I know it's all different for everyone how we look... I just was having a hard day yesterday. I hope that I don't have much lose skin. I want to be able to wear a two peace on my Siesta Key vacation in June. I have never worn one before. I don't have any wrinkles, so that is good. I am 217 lbs now, and I am four foot eleven. So I think that 120 would be a great weight for me. I am excited to continue the process and can't wait for my new body. I just hope I like what I see... but I guess it can't be worse than it is now.. Congrats to you all on your success and good luck to the future. =]
   — Laurie T.

October 2, 2011
You're going look like you only new and greatly improved. Your outer beauty will match your inner beauty. I'm down 189 lbs and haven't been this thin since I don't remember when and can wear a 6-8. I don't mean to sound vain or egotistical but I look awesome. Even had 2 companies ask me to model.
   — Kathleen W.

June 28, 2012
Dealing with the body dysmorphia (not being able to see ourselves for what we REALLY look like) is a more or less constant struggle for those who are, or have ever been, morbidly obese. When I weighed nearly 400 pounds before my surgery, and was quite a large woman any way you looked at it, I neither saw nor considered myself to be "fat". That is, until I couldn't squish my fat self into a chair or through a turnstile or when I nearly blacked out from tying my shoes. Flash forward twelve years -- I've lost, and maintained the loss, of about 175 pounds and think of myself as ginormously fat. Case in point -- I went looking for pants the other day, and I decided on a whim that I would try on a size smaller than what I was currently wearing, thinking "of course they won't fit, what am I thinking of here?" They zipped right up, and when I got home and phoned my mother to tell her, she said, "Of course they fit, dear, just how big do you think you are?" I got in the habit of wearing loose-fitting (or as loose-fitting as you can get when you're wearing size 28) clothes when I was heavy, and never really stopped doing it. Which is a long way of telling you that you may find it difficult to keep or believe a picture of your new skinny self in your head. You will look like yourself, only better, as someone else said here. It will probably take your head a while to catch up, so try to take people you trust's word for it when they tell you you look ______ (thin, happy, great, fabulous, twenty years younger, insert compliment here). Good luck!
   — Cheryl Denomy