Six years certainly is a long time to ponder and debate something. When the something is elective plastic surgery, I don’t feel that I took too long to make the decision. The biggest factor was cost. Sure, I’m financially secure but independently wealthy… I am not! I knew I didn’t want to take out a loan to have it done so I started saving. It costs about the same as a new car so why not a loan? It’s not like they can repossess a tummy tuck or thigh lift! When it comes to money, I lean more toward of the school of thought that carries as little debt as possible. I’ve not made a conscious effort to be that way - it’s just part of my personality. It’s funny how my lifetime batting average with money is much better than my average with food. BUT HEY, the food stat is getting better daily. (BIG SMILE)
Price tag aside, I didn’t want to “cheat” on my quest for a fit-looking body. I held the mentality that with a real fitness dedication the skin would tighten up or be filled with muscle. I really felt that plastic surgery would be a shortcut to what I could do with hard work. It took a few years for me to realize that reality wasn’t exactly bending to my will. The reality is that I caused my skin too much irrecoverably damage by being so big for so long. I grew up obese and my skin grew with me. It’s never been a normal size. So I faced reality and now I know plastic surgery isn’t cheating. It’s repairing the damage I’ve done to myself. I did, however, suffer a really great side effect of all my own efforts to reduce the skin. I became quite aerobically fit!
Once I realized it wasn’t cheating and I could eventually pay for it, my last hurdle was vanity. No, I didn’t have to overcome vanity. I had to see I wasn’t being vain when I wanted the skin gone. I made many efforts to be happy with the body I had from losing the weight. The flabby skin was caused by past mistakes that I had corrected. Now, I’m super healthy and fit so my loose skin shouldn’t matter, right? It does matter. It often makes me feel like I’m still fat even though “deflated” is really the truth. It saps my motivation since my workout efforts can’t really show. I often wondered if it would be an excuse for me to slide back into unhealthy eating – I’m really glad it wasn’t and I didn’t! Like my efforts to work off the skin these efforts weren’t wasted. The efforts helped me realized I shouldn’t be ashamed of the loose skin and that it’s not vain to want this damage from my obesity fixed.
I’m scheduled for another consult with the surgeon on Friday. I’ll make note of all the questions I ask and his answers. I’ll also post which procedures I’m getting done and what to expect if you’re considering a consultation. I can offer this bit of advice right now. If you’re in the same situation as I am then look for a surgeon who specializes in body contouring after massive weight loss. There are special considerations when dealing with this kind of large scale plastic surgery. A body contouring specialist will help you avert potential problems and use all the procedures to work toward a best shaped you.
As always, thanks for reading.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
How Did I Get Here?
I briefly mentioned a life changing epiphany in my first post. I'd like to go into the details of that event. First, I'll start with a little background on when I started having weight problems. Shortly after my 4th birthday, I broke my left leg in a fall. I snapped my tibia in half and was put into a double legged cast. Up until this time, I was a normal, preschool kid without any signs of a weight problem. In the cast, I got fat. After the cast came off, I didn't lose it. I entered kindergarten at a weight of 60+ pounds. I can't say why the weight didn't come off. I wish I could. I only know that breaking my leg altered the course of my life and those weight problems persisted.
I was 420 pounds when I came face to face with the reality of where my obesity was leading. Early August 2001, a red rash developed on my lower right leg. It started to pain me and became hot to the touch. By the time I went to bed that night, I was in agony. The next day I went to WebMD.com to search the symptoms and got the scare of my life. The first hit that came up was GANGRENE. Silly I thought, it's the middle of summer, but I still read the link. I read and the sinking feeling started. When I got down to the word Diabetes the feeling turned to doom. Did I have Diabetes induced Gangrene? Was I going to lose my leg? I logged off and was literally stunned. I decided that I couldn't take not knowing so I went to the emergency room. The wait in the emergency seemed to go on forever because of my panic. I was finally called back and several tests were done including a blood sugar test. I knew the news would officially mark the beginning of the end. All that I dreaded was about to come true. Then everything I expected - didn't happen. The test was normal. I didn't have Diabetes nor was I going to lose my leg. It was simply a mild skin infection. That scare was life changing.
All my efforts went into avoiding the very possible and now "real" pain of that near future. The process that made me healthy (...still looking for wealthy and wise) also instilled me with solid confidence that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I could spend hours writing all the details of the process I went through but here is the core. I stared by reading everything I could about nutrition and made it the center point of my diet. I only had so many calories per day to eat and I "spent" them on the most nutritious food I could. I'm still amazed at what the body can do when you feed it right. Veggies and fruits were a mainstay and still are. After reworking everything in my life related to diet and becoming fit, I decided to stick with a 90%/10% rule. Basically, it’s a happy balance between eating highly nutritious food most of the time while leaving room for not-so-healthy (but oh-so-good) favorites.
The other part of my transformation was exercise. When I started exercising, it took me 20 minutes to walk a ½ mile. Fast forward to today and I've done 10K runs in less than 47 minutes. At 195 lbs, I’m truly in the best shape of my life. While running is recently out of my exercise regimen due to a knee problem, biking quickly replaced it. I am delighted every time I can enjoy any kind of physically activity that would have had me struggling for breath just 8 years ago. I've vowed never to become inactivity and am always looking for new activities to try.
That's my weight loss story and it's how I arrived with all this excess baggage (aka loose skin). Between now and my surgery date, Dec 18th, I'll expand on it along with all that I'm doing to prepare for the procedures.
Again, thanks for reading!
I was 420 pounds when I came face to face with the reality of where my obesity was leading. Early August 2001, a red rash developed on my lower right leg. It started to pain me and became hot to the touch. By the time I went to bed that night, I was in agony. The next day I went to WebMD.com to search the symptoms and got the scare of my life. The first hit that came up was GANGRENE. Silly I thought, it's the middle of summer, but I still read the link. I read and the sinking feeling started. When I got down to the word Diabetes the feeling turned to doom. Did I have Diabetes induced Gangrene? Was I going to lose my leg? I logged off and was literally stunned. I decided that I couldn't take not knowing so I went to the emergency room. The wait in the emergency seemed to go on forever because of my panic. I was finally called back and several tests were done including a blood sugar test. I knew the news would officially mark the beginning of the end. All that I dreaded was about to come true. Then everything I expected - didn't happen. The test was normal. I didn't have Diabetes nor was I going to lose my leg. It was simply a mild skin infection. That scare was life changing.
All my efforts went into avoiding the very possible and now "real" pain of that near future. The process that made me healthy (...still looking for wealthy and wise) also instilled me with solid confidence that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I could spend hours writing all the details of the process I went through but here is the core. I stared by reading everything I could about nutrition and made it the center point of my diet. I only had so many calories per day to eat and I "spent" them on the most nutritious food I could. I'm still amazed at what the body can do when you feed it right. Veggies and fruits were a mainstay and still are. After reworking everything in my life related to diet and becoming fit, I decided to stick with a 90%/10% rule. Basically, it’s a happy balance between eating highly nutritious food most of the time while leaving room for not-so-healthy (but oh-so-good) favorites.
The other part of my transformation was exercise. When I started exercising, it took me 20 minutes to walk a ½ mile. Fast forward to today and I've done 10K runs in less than 47 minutes. At 195 lbs, I’m truly in the best shape of my life. While running is recently out of my exercise regimen due to a knee problem, biking quickly replaced it. I am delighted every time I can enjoy any kind of physically activity that would have had me struggling for breath just 8 years ago. I've vowed never to become inactivity and am always looking for new activities to try.
That's my weight loss story and it's how I arrived with all this excess baggage (aka loose skin). Between now and my surgery date, Dec 18th, I'll expand on it along with all that I'm doing to prepare for the procedures.
Again, thanks for reading!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Welcome to a chapter of my life
Today, I describe my life in overwhelmingly, positive terms.
Words like “fat”, “big”, “obese” along with many other “less kind” labels permeate that life especially my childhood. Some of these adjectives weren’t intended to hurt but many were directed in cruelty. I didn't handle that cruelty very well at all. I've always been naturally shy and the taunting made me even more so. I guess it was like a self-defense mechanism. Just be quiet, don't say anything, and maybe they will eventually stop. It worked to some degree but that approach made me very reclusive. I regret that I became more introverted but regret even more that I got used to being that way. Luckily, I made some really great friends during my school years, two of which I still see regularly. I’m so thankful that these friends saw past the weight when so many others didn’t.
What changed eight years ago that caused me to do a complete 180 and enabled me to lose over 220 pounds? I’ll share that epiphany later in this blog. For now, please know that life changing moment allowed me to lose much more than the weight. I lost my terrible eating habits, my negativity toward life, and my hopeless future. I also was blessed to gain a desire to be fit and active for life, a roaring fire of optimism, and a snowballing of self-worth. There is one thing I didn’t gain that I still really want – a fit looking body. The fat that vanished left behind the skin that held it. The remaining extra, loose skin is the focus point of this blog.
I reached my goal weight of 200 pounds in January 2003 after 16 months of hard fought diet and exercise changes. I’ve waited six, almost seven, years to finally make my decision about plastic surgery and have my extra skin removed. During that time, I’ve continued to become more fit and improve my body fat percentage. I’ve also squirreled away the funds to pay for this elective procedure. This choice has been a hard one and was not made lightly or easily. I certainly want to explore my reasons for the surgery here and also give first hand information to others looking into the same procedures. I hope this journal of my thoughts, expectations, and experiences will help others in their goals and in their lives. The title, Unzip My Skin, has a double meaning. Physically, it refers (somewhat crudely) to what the doctor will be doing. Emotionally, it reminds me that I’m letting other people “into my skin” by revealing part of my soul.
To whoever reads this blog here’s a big, THANK YOU!
- My lifestyle is one of health and fitness.
- My attitude is undyingly optimistic.
- My outlook is always hopeful.
Words like “fat”, “big”, “obese” along with many other “less kind” labels permeate that life especially my childhood. Some of these adjectives weren’t intended to hurt but many were directed in cruelty. I didn't handle that cruelty very well at all. I've always been naturally shy and the taunting made me even more so. I guess it was like a self-defense mechanism. Just be quiet, don't say anything, and maybe they will eventually stop. It worked to some degree but that approach made me very reclusive. I regret that I became more introverted but regret even more that I got used to being that way. Luckily, I made some really great friends during my school years, two of which I still see regularly. I’m so thankful that these friends saw past the weight when so many others didn’t.
What changed eight years ago that caused me to do a complete 180 and enabled me to lose over 220 pounds? I’ll share that epiphany later in this blog. For now, please know that life changing moment allowed me to lose much more than the weight. I lost my terrible eating habits, my negativity toward life, and my hopeless future. I also was blessed to gain a desire to be fit and active for life, a roaring fire of optimism, and a snowballing of self-worth. There is one thing I didn’t gain that I still really want – a fit looking body. The fat that vanished left behind the skin that held it. The remaining extra, loose skin is the focus point of this blog.
I reached my goal weight of 200 pounds in January 2003 after 16 months of hard fought diet and exercise changes. I’ve waited six, almost seven, years to finally make my decision about plastic surgery and have my extra skin removed. During that time, I’ve continued to become more fit and improve my body fat percentage. I’ve also squirreled away the funds to pay for this elective procedure. This choice has been a hard one and was not made lightly or easily. I certainly want to explore my reasons for the surgery here and also give first hand information to others looking into the same procedures. I hope this journal of my thoughts, expectations, and experiences will help others in their goals and in their lives. The title, Unzip My Skin, has a double meaning. Physically, it refers (somewhat crudely) to what the doctor will be doing. Emotionally, it reminds me that I’m letting other people “into my skin” by revealing part of my soul.
To whoever reads this blog here’s a big, THANK YOU!
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