leasul2003
Ackowledge the negative, but focus on the positive
Dec 27, 2006
I had posted about this issue a couple days ago. I found after I had my tt & bl/br, I started to really focus on all those other areas that I had noticed before, but they never really bothered me prior to ps. The one thing that I am doing to keep things in perspective and to keep me from obsessing about those other areas is to think about why I chose the tt & bl in the 1st place. I did it because they affected my quality of life. I couldn't wear the clothes I wanted to. The rolls on my tummy got in my way when I excercised. I couldn't jog because my boobs would have given me a black eye and now they won't. I did it not to look like Cindy Crawford but to have a better life. I figure when I look at it in those terms, the fact that I have a sharpei butt, doesn't matter so much. No one is gonna see that except for me & the hubby. So anyway, that is how I am trying to keep things in perspective.
Also look at it as a process. Have the work done that needs to be done and then if you find the other areas still bothering you, start making a plan about how you can have those areas fixed. I took out a 401k loan for my surgeries. When I pay that off, maybe I'll take out another one to have additional surgeries. And then again maybe I won't. I am not going to get into a debt I can't afford to get out of simply to satisfy my vanity. So at this point I am happy with what I had done and will live w/ the rest of the issues. When I find I am focusing on the sharpei butt or hanging arms, I turn my attention to my new perky boobs or flat tummy. There is a saying I love. "Acknowledge the negative, but focus on the positive."
Sorry to be so wordie, but this was an issue I have recently gone thru myself
Also look at it as a process. Have the work done that needs to be done and then if you find the other areas still bothering you, start making a plan about how you can have those areas fixed. I took out a 401k loan for my surgeries. When I pay that off, maybe I'll take out another one to have additional surgeries. And then again maybe I won't. I am not going to get into a debt I can't afford to get out of simply to satisfy my vanity. So at this point I am happy with what I had done and will live w/ the rest of the issues. When I find I am focusing on the sharpei butt or hanging arms, I turn my attention to my new perky boobs or flat tummy. There is a saying I love. "Acknowledge the negative, but focus on the positive."
Sorry to be so wordie, but this was an issue I have recently gone thru myself
Thoughts on plastic surgery
Dec 21, 2006
My tummy had been my biggest area of concern for me prior to ps. My boobs were secondary. I knew there were other small things, but never really thought of them. I thought to myself "If I just get these done, I'll be happy." Well I am 2 1/2 weeks post op tt w/ anchor cut, bl/br, chin lipo & outter thigh lipo. I am thrilled w/ the results so far. My issue now is completely mental. I now look in the mirror & notice all the other areas that could be tweaked. Things I never noticed before. "I have a sharpei butt??!! What? I thought I didn't even have a butt." "Boy my arms could use a little lift... or my inner thighs are more wrinkly than I realized." anyhoo... not that any of this is really driving me insane, because quite frankly I have been realistic from the get go & only wanted ps because my tummy & boobs were getting in the way of my physical activity & in the way I lived my life. But I just wanted to forewarn those that think all their problems will be solved w/ ps, that they won't.
I think sometimes we jget wrapped up that ps is the magic fix (just like we thought "if only i lose 10 more lbs my life will be so much better.") that we forget that ps is only one step in our journey.
Well enough of my philisophical babbling. Just wanted to put my thoughts out there.
I think sometimes we jget wrapped up that ps is the magic fix (just like we thought "if only i lose 10 more lbs my life will be so much better.") that we forget that ps is only one step in our journey.
Well enough of my philisophical babbling. Just wanted to put my thoughts out there.
From my old profile
Dec 09, 2006
My surgery date is May 9th at IU Med Center.
04/20/05 I completed my pre-op lab work today and had my pre-op class. I am getting excited and nervous at the same time. The time seems to be flying by and the big day will be here before I know it.
09/01/05 Surgery was on 05/09. I was converted from lap to open due to some complications during surgery. Since then I have had 3 endoscopies with dilations. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!! I'm down 70 lbs. feeling much better physically and mentally. I know it's only going to get better from here. I am a little frustrated at the moment because I have been stalled for the last several weeks. But I know these things happen. I will keep on keeping on. Starting weight 322 lbs @ 5 '4'.
09/25/05 Down 77 lbs now. I feel great physically. I have started going to the gym 4x week. My mind is starting to play tricks on me. I always think I am eating too much or not the 'right' foods even though I am following my plan. I think the head games are the worst thing about having this surgery. Like they say, it's a tool, it is not a cure!! Don't go into it thinking all of your problems will go away.
10/07/05 2 days away from my 5 mth anniversary and I am down a total of 85 lbs! I can not believe it. I am seeing the changes in my body now. I have dropped from a size 28 pants to a 20. I am still frustrated about shirt sizes though. Although I'm losing ALL my boobs, I still have only gone from a 28 to a 24 in shirts. My body is kind of weird looking right now because my shoulders are small and my boobs are shrinking, but by belly is still there. People say this is the last place you lose it. It's so frustrating. I have bought some body shapers I wear though and it helps smooth me out some. Right now I am down with the flu. It's weird because even the flu is different after surgery. I won't go into details, but let's just say you feel just as bad as you would have felt getting the flu pre-op, but now you have less fluid to lose. :) That's why it's important to keep sip sip sipping. Even when you don't feel like it.
02/18/06 I can't believe how my life has changed! It's been 9 1/2 mths and I am down 126 lbs. I was so happy to get on that scale and see it under the 200lb mark. Recently I started training for the mini marathon. I've been out hiking in some of our state parks, walked in temperatures below zero degrees. The longest walk I have done so far is 7 miles. 10 months ago I couldn't walk up 2 flights of stairs without getting out of breath and now I can not only walk 7 miles but even do a little jogging. I am happier and more outgoing. I wear a size 16 now. I even went and got my nose pierced!! If my life is like this now, I can only imagine what I will be like when I reach my goal weight. I can say that if I had it to do all over again I would 10 times over.
03/05/06 Well this was a big weekend. I am training for a mini marathon so I have to get in some walking. Yesterday I walked 6.2 miles and today I did 6.5 miles of trail walking out a park. I have even started adding some sprinting in with my walking. Although I am sore, I didn't need an ambulance to pick me up and take me to the morgue like I would have 10 mths ago. I love the energy I have now. I am down to 193. A total of 129 lbs in a little under 10 mths. NOt bad. I hope to be down to 180 by my one year anniversary. My overall goal is 150 lbs, but I don't know if I will make that without PS. My skin is really drooping on my abdomen and my boobs look like tube socks. If I didn't have the extra skin on my abdomen I would probably be in a 14. I am becoming fascinated with all the extra skin. I just lay on the couch and wiggle my legs to see them jiggle around. It doesn't gross me out even though I know it's really ugly. I guess I just have a good mindset and realize that it will be this way until I have PS. Even with that I know I will not be a supermodel. My goal is just to be able to run without having all of my skin slapping me. :) Well, time to go take an Advil and lay down. I am so sore from the hike this afternoon!
04/09/06 Today it has been 11 mths since surgery. I am a little frustrated at this point. I'll drop a few lbs and then they come right back. I did get a new scale the middle of last mth. It weighs me 2 lbs higher than my old scale. Today I weighed on both scales 191 on the new scale and 189 on the old scale. Needless to say that is less than 5 lbs in a mth. I'm trying to cut out the carbs and see if that will kick up the weight loss. I do think I have lost some inches because my stomach is flatter. The other frustrating think is that I was training for the mini marathan and ended up getting injured. I have runners knee. That has slowed up the training significantly. I don't know if I'll be able to finish the mini now because I can barely walk a couple miles without my knee aching. But to put things into perspective, I could never have even thought about training for the mini before I lost all this weight. I also had some knee issues before surgery.
On another subject, I am finding that I appear to be regressing mentally back to my teens. Although I was overweight my whole life, I was very adventurous as a teen. Always wanting to explore and try new things. Always changing my hair. I was always the eccentric one in the group. I was into art and drama club and always wanted to stand out from the crowd. Apparently I'm doing that again. First the nose ring, now I dyed my hair. Last week I used a temporary dye and dyed it purple. This week, it's a bright neon red. Almost magenta. And it's permanent. My hubby said it looks like I got into a crayola box. All my friends say that it is me. I love it!! One of my girlfriend's says that I am the "Phoebe" of our group style wise. (Phoebe from Friends) because I am very bohemian. I just bought this peasant skirt and wore it the other day and felt like I was at home again. I haven't been able to dress like that and look good is a loooooong time. I would have looked like an oompa loompa 130 lbs ago.
05/07/06 In 2 days I will have my one year re-birthday and wanna guess how I'm celebrating? Not by blowing out the candles on a b-day cake. Nope. I'm getting a new driver's license picture. I'm going on vacation soon and was a little worried about them not letting me on the plane or the cruise ship so I decided to test a few people. When I pulled it out and showed it to about 5-10 different people they said they didn't believe it was me. (and they were dead serious about it too.) At that point I knew I just had to get a new one. And this is the 1st time since I have had my driver's license that I'm not gonna lie about the weight. The weight says 180. I'm increasing it to 184 and that's what it's gonna say. Yep, I may have lost a 138 lbs, but I'm increasing the weight on my license by 4 lbs. What a hoot!!
I can't believe one year has passed and how much my life has changed. I went through all my pre-op pictures trying to find a full out grin on my face. I found about 2 out of over a 100 and those were taken when I wasn't looking at the camera. Post op how many? Probably about 90-95% have a grin with teeth and all. I look at pre-op pics & I can actually see the sadness in my eyes, even when I have a small tightlipped smile. I was miserable!! Of course I have all the other wow moments that people have (rollercoasters, no seatbelt extenders, etc.) and I am not diminishing any of those moments, but for me they are not the most significant ones in my life. The most significant one is that I am again a happy person. I have my moments of sadness and being down or feeling fat, but overall I am a HAPPY person!! I no longer hate to look at myself. I no longer hate to shop for clothes. I no longer hate meeting new people for fear of what they will think of me. I don't care what they think of me. Why? Because I like me. No, I LOVE ME! I love my life. I love who I am. I wouldn't change it for the world, moon and stars.
12/11/06 Well, I am now 6 days post plastic surgery. I had a breast liftt/reduction, tummy tuck w/ anchor cut, flankplasty, hip lipo and chin lipo. The pain was a little more than I expected, but I am dealing w/ it w/ some good pain meds and a lot of pampering from the hubby. I found a great plastic surgeon who I had a lot of confidence in and it appears that just by looking at the results already that I made the right choice. Of course there is still swelling but already the boobs are way way way perkier than they have ever been in my life. Plus I don't have the extra rolls of skin I had prior to surgery. That was my main reason for having the PS. It was affecting the way I could function. It was getting difficult to excercise the way I wanted to w/o having the skin getting in my way. I haven't been able to wear a normal pair of underwear in over a year. I wore a girdle constantly to help my body appear more normal in clothes. Unfortunately I had to pay for everything out of pocket. Can you say Thank God for 401k?
I would love to be able to have my arms & thighs done as well, but that doesn't seem fiscally possible any time soon. Needless to say. I am very happy w/ what I was able to have done and will continue working out to try improving those areas that still need work.
04/20/05 I completed my pre-op lab work today and had my pre-op class. I am getting excited and nervous at the same time. The time seems to be flying by and the big day will be here before I know it.
09/01/05 Surgery was on 05/09. I was converted from lap to open due to some complications during surgery. Since then I have had 3 endoscopies with dilations. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!! I'm down 70 lbs. feeling much better physically and mentally. I know it's only going to get better from here. I am a little frustrated at the moment because I have been stalled for the last several weeks. But I know these things happen. I will keep on keeping on. Starting weight 322 lbs @ 5 '4'.
09/25/05 Down 77 lbs now. I feel great physically. I have started going to the gym 4x week. My mind is starting to play tricks on me. I always think I am eating too much or not the 'right' foods even though I am following my plan. I think the head games are the worst thing about having this surgery. Like they say, it's a tool, it is not a cure!! Don't go into it thinking all of your problems will go away.
10/07/05 2 days away from my 5 mth anniversary and I am down a total of 85 lbs! I can not believe it. I am seeing the changes in my body now. I have dropped from a size 28 pants to a 20. I am still frustrated about shirt sizes though. Although I'm losing ALL my boobs, I still have only gone from a 28 to a 24 in shirts. My body is kind of weird looking right now because my shoulders are small and my boobs are shrinking, but by belly is still there. People say this is the last place you lose it. It's so frustrating. I have bought some body shapers I wear though and it helps smooth me out some. Right now I am down with the flu. It's weird because even the flu is different after surgery. I won't go into details, but let's just say you feel just as bad as you would have felt getting the flu pre-op, but now you have less fluid to lose. :) That's why it's important to keep sip sip sipping. Even when you don't feel like it.
02/18/06 I can't believe how my life has changed! It's been 9 1/2 mths and I am down 126 lbs. I was so happy to get on that scale and see it under the 200lb mark. Recently I started training for the mini marathon. I've been out hiking in some of our state parks, walked in temperatures below zero degrees. The longest walk I have done so far is 7 miles. 10 months ago I couldn't walk up 2 flights of stairs without getting out of breath and now I can not only walk 7 miles but even do a little jogging. I am happier and more outgoing. I wear a size 16 now. I even went and got my nose pierced!! If my life is like this now, I can only imagine what I will be like when I reach my goal weight. I can say that if I had it to do all over again I would 10 times over.
03/05/06 Well this was a big weekend. I am training for a mini marathon so I have to get in some walking. Yesterday I walked 6.2 miles and today I did 6.5 miles of trail walking out a park. I have even started adding some sprinting in with my walking. Although I am sore, I didn't need an ambulance to pick me up and take me to the morgue like I would have 10 mths ago. I love the energy I have now. I am down to 193. A total of 129 lbs in a little under 10 mths. NOt bad. I hope to be down to 180 by my one year anniversary. My overall goal is 150 lbs, but I don't know if I will make that without PS. My skin is really drooping on my abdomen and my boobs look like tube socks. If I didn't have the extra skin on my abdomen I would probably be in a 14. I am becoming fascinated with all the extra skin. I just lay on the couch and wiggle my legs to see them jiggle around. It doesn't gross me out even though I know it's really ugly. I guess I just have a good mindset and realize that it will be this way until I have PS. Even with that I know I will not be a supermodel. My goal is just to be able to run without having all of my skin slapping me. :) Well, time to go take an Advil and lay down. I am so sore from the hike this afternoon!
04/09/06 Today it has been 11 mths since surgery. I am a little frustrated at this point. I'll drop a few lbs and then they come right back. I did get a new scale the middle of last mth. It weighs me 2 lbs higher than my old scale. Today I weighed on both scales 191 on the new scale and 189 on the old scale. Needless to say that is less than 5 lbs in a mth. I'm trying to cut out the carbs and see if that will kick up the weight loss. I do think I have lost some inches because my stomach is flatter. The other frustrating think is that I was training for the mini marathan and ended up getting injured. I have runners knee. That has slowed up the training significantly. I don't know if I'll be able to finish the mini now because I can barely walk a couple miles without my knee aching. But to put things into perspective, I could never have even thought about training for the mini before I lost all this weight. I also had some knee issues before surgery.
On another subject, I am finding that I appear to be regressing mentally back to my teens. Although I was overweight my whole life, I was very adventurous as a teen. Always wanting to explore and try new things. Always changing my hair. I was always the eccentric one in the group. I was into art and drama club and always wanted to stand out from the crowd. Apparently I'm doing that again. First the nose ring, now I dyed my hair. Last week I used a temporary dye and dyed it purple. This week, it's a bright neon red. Almost magenta. And it's permanent. My hubby said it looks like I got into a crayola box. All my friends say that it is me. I love it!! One of my girlfriend's says that I am the "Phoebe" of our group style wise. (Phoebe from Friends) because I am very bohemian. I just bought this peasant skirt and wore it the other day and felt like I was at home again. I haven't been able to dress like that and look good is a loooooong time. I would have looked like an oompa loompa 130 lbs ago.
05/07/06 In 2 days I will have my one year re-birthday and wanna guess how I'm celebrating? Not by blowing out the candles on a b-day cake. Nope. I'm getting a new driver's license picture. I'm going on vacation soon and was a little worried about them not letting me on the plane or the cruise ship so I decided to test a few people. When I pulled it out and showed it to about 5-10 different people they said they didn't believe it was me. (and they were dead serious about it too.) At that point I knew I just had to get a new one. And this is the 1st time since I have had my driver's license that I'm not gonna lie about the weight. The weight says 180. I'm increasing it to 184 and that's what it's gonna say. Yep, I may have lost a 138 lbs, but I'm increasing the weight on my license by 4 lbs. What a hoot!!
I can't believe one year has passed and how much my life has changed. I went through all my pre-op pictures trying to find a full out grin on my face. I found about 2 out of over a 100 and those were taken when I wasn't looking at the camera. Post op how many? Probably about 90-95% have a grin with teeth and all. I look at pre-op pics & I can actually see the sadness in my eyes, even when I have a small tightlipped smile. I was miserable!! Of course I have all the other wow moments that people have (rollercoasters, no seatbelt extenders, etc.) and I am not diminishing any of those moments, but for me they are not the most significant ones in my life. The most significant one is that I am again a happy person. I have my moments of sadness and being down or feeling fat, but overall I am a HAPPY person!! I no longer hate to look at myself. I no longer hate to shop for clothes. I no longer hate meeting new people for fear of what they will think of me. I don't care what they think of me. Why? Because I like me. No, I LOVE ME! I love my life. I love who I am. I wouldn't change it for the world, moon and stars.
12/11/06 Well, I am now 6 days post plastic surgery. I had a breast liftt/reduction, tummy tuck w/ anchor cut, flankplasty, hip lipo and chin lipo. The pain was a little more than I expected, but I am dealing w/ it w/ some good pain meds and a lot of pampering from the hubby. I found a great plastic surgeon who I had a lot of confidence in and it appears that just by looking at the results already that I made the right choice. Of course there is still swelling but already the boobs are way way way perkier than they have ever been in my life. Plus I don't have the extra rolls of skin I had prior to surgery. That was my main reason for having the PS. It was affecting the way I could function. It was getting difficult to excercise the way I wanted to w/o having the skin getting in my way. I haven't been able to wear a normal pair of underwear in over a year. I wore a girdle constantly to help my body appear more normal in clothes. Unfortunately I had to pay for everything out of pocket. Can you say Thank God for 401k?
I would love to be able to have my arms & thighs done as well, but that doesn't seem fiscally possible any time soon. Needless to say. I am very happy w/ what I was able to have done and will continue working out to try improving those areas that still need work.
