Thread: Encouragement for those with a lot of weight to lose

love this: "I'm also finally catching up with the skinny girl I have always been on the inside."! I'm so glad you got tested!- i've worked with a lot of fibro patients, and food sensitivities are frequently a big part of it.

it really depends on the individual- skin tone, genetics, age, etc. For me, my upper arms have a lot of saggy skin, and my belly is even worse- i look like a bloodhound puppy... I'm going to have surgery in Jan. to have it removed because i get a lot of skin sores.

rosey messaged me about the skin surgery, so i thought i'd share this for those who might be looking toward the same thing.

there are different portions to it. abdominalplasty is the portion where they stitch up any gaps you might have in your ab muscles (common after pregnancies) and reinforce the strength of those muscles. the removal of excessive skin is actually called a paniculectomy. some insurances will automatically cover it if you've lost over 100# and your skin hangs below your pubic bone. i also have a lot of scarring from an infection after my back fusion (they went through the front), and now that i've lost so much they won't even have to repair that- they'll just take that entire section out. but since i have so much excessive skin (it was pretty saggy even prior to hcg, so this isn't just from weight loss), he doesn't think he can contour it correctly going just across the front so he wants to cut me all the way around and do a full body lift. (ouch) They also liposuction above and below where they cut you, so you don't deal with other fat shifting back down.

they do recommend that you have kept your weight off for about a year prior to surgery, so your skin has time to adjust. if you don't do that your skin might continue to shrink after surgery, which might screw up the long-term results. initial healing time for me will be about 8 wks- i think 6 if you just do the front. i'll have to wear an abdominal binder for 12 wks, and it will take a year for all the swelling to go down and the final results.

since i'll be stuck in the house for a while, my post-surgery project is going to be to write a hcg instructional booklet!

bumping up this thread for the new folks out there.

Perfect post! Thank you!

Thank you so much for this, very inspiring. I was feeling down that I've "only" lost 19.6 lbs, because all of the people I know have lost 35+. I have not been this weight in nearly a decade, thank you for slapping me upside the head!! I am so grateful this is working!!

This is so fanfingtastic!

I have fibro too and health issues running rampant! Thank you so much for this. Just what I needed to read before I reached in on my VLCD32 and got me a block of cheddar!

Gonna have to mark this post and come back to it when I am feeling weak! I am terrified of phase 3 as I hope I dont mess up with gaining it back.

it's a learning process- be patient with yourself.