[BreeChick]

I'm 45 yrs old, given birth to 3 kids and had been obese all my life before I has WLS (rny) at age 40. I've not had plastics and I would not say my skin is perfect..(somehow when you SAY or TYPE "no plastics here" it gets all miscontrued to be something rude to those who have) My skin has done really well for the amount of weight I have lost.
What I personally found through trying things for several weeks is it was not only a combination of what I did but also what I ate. The big thing now is the dairy 24 in 24 and I can do dairy which I think contributed but that could just be a coincidence.
I ate a 60/40 % protein to carb ratio and did the walking, jogging, worked up to running 6 days a week, over 1.5 yrs time in addition to every 3rd day weight training. I had always been a weight lifter even when obese, active in spite of living with Multiple Sclerosis and several other diagnoses.
My before and after, during etc pics are at: Yahoo! Photos
It wasn't easy and yes I had a plastic surgery consult when I was 18 mos postop. He kept asking me over and over, you gave birth to 3 kids? you've lost how much? and this wasn't even at goal weight or size. He said If I wanted any plastics the only one he would look at was breast reconstruction to mover my nipple placement up an INCH and tighten it as I did NOT want implants. Sick of the big ones here for all my life that's all men looked at. LOL..now they look at my behind..ah well!
Anyway..the point I'm trying to get to is in MY mind I wanted to have a great looking result after I had plastics IF I was going to have to have any. I wanted skin tightened over muscle. But I look at what is beautiful bodywise in a different way that is much more muscular than most.
Would I say I'm pleased? a year ago yes very much so..but here's the kicker, I had a deep pelvic injury from being assaulted and when that scar tissue got to a point that I had to get physical therapy and treatment for it. I had to STOP working out and especially STOP running for this to all heal.
We've discovered that I also have a totally open stoma during this time and when I stopped running and lifting weight in 10 mos times I've slowly gained UP 35 lbs total and now there are stretch marks..and the last weight that came off is the first to come BACK...ie: that cellulite that was minimal is now BACK as I'm a pear shape not an apple it's all lower body weight..arggg!!
There are a LOT of issues in having any surgery for me so it is something I actively avoid and am willing to work hard to avoid. I want to make it clear that I'm not saying I'm perfect and that MY result is something everyone can accomplish..I'm NOT dissing PS at all..I think PS is a wonderful tool just like WLS is.
One thing that helps at the point in between when skin would loosen before it would tighten up again is the longer legged 'compression' type shorts that you wear under your work outs for letting sweat escape. Men's section for these at wal mart. make sure they are the ones for HOT WEATHER not cool or you'll die in these! lol.
They kind of keep thing firm so that skin isn't doing the bouncy thing and you feel much more comfy. I wear a uniform on a walking beat job in all kinds of weather so in hot weather sweat is an issue. I'm always layered up even in the heat. The undergarments for pulling sweat off are godsends! They just are kind of slimey feeling at the end of the day when you take off those clothes..eww I know! but it helps with the outerwear and sweat stains..promise!

[BreeChick]

Well urgg..explorer 'encountered a problem and had to close' before I actually got all my info posted..but interestingly the pics are there? ah well.
AT any rate...I'm 45 yrs, post 5 yrs open rny proximal, given birth to 3 babies who are now teenagers and have NOT had plastics.
My thinking from day one was that IF i had to have plastics surgery I wanted a really great result, skin tightened over muscle. I walked every day post op, worked up to power walking, power walking with weights, jogging, running over 1.5 to 2 yrs time. I was married to a former personal trainer and so I weight trained slowly working up strength doing weight every 3rd day for recovery's sake.
I had a really great result..but I also ate to feed this it was a 60/40 % of protein to carb with carb mainly being complex carbs and high fat with dairy. (everyone has to find their OWN ratio that works 60/40 worked best for me) I do not have high cholesterol, I have a high ratio of good to bad and an overall very low count, am not diabetic but after 2 yrs am hypoglycaemic.
My dumping issue was keen to sugar anything including fruits so I eat from a fairly small group of foods, I have kept up supplements, vitamins as I'm quite anal about all that.
I found for ME that a combination of the running and weight training would let the skin loosen and tighten up. But if i ONLY did the weight training skin hung, if I only did running I stayed small but skin wasn't as tight, but fat was minimal.
If I eat low fat...my skin gets extremely dry and wrinkly. Found that out the hard way by working with a prof. trainer that just didn't 'get it' about my needs with this. Did it his week for 3 weeks and he could NOT believe how my skin looked like I had excema it was so dry even on my face. eww..bad bad..I have to have fat in my diet. (we are NOT talking fried foods here)
I am not dissing anyone who wishes to have plastics or needs it! I think it's a great tool for looking how YOU want to look.
For me ANY surgery is an issue as I have several diagnoses which are a concern when looking at surgery and the drop in immune system with surgery. I did NOT want big ole boobs again, lived with those all my life, I like my small ones thank you very much! LOL and thankfully they do not hang! how this happened is a total mystery to me.
But I will say this on my skin...Last year after a full year out from an assault scar tissue caused a further injury issue so I had to not only get physical therapy but it was mandatory to QUIT running and weight lifting, which included any lifting on my job. I changed nothing else but had slow weight gain UP 35 lbs total and then my doc had an me get egd and swallow test with small bowel series that revealed that I also have a totally open stoma which is a whole other issue! I've also had an issue related to the scar build up of a twist in my intestine that periodically twists and resolves itself back to normal.
With this slow gain up the last fat to go was the first to come back, ie: cellulite! argg...I almost had none!!! and now..goodness and there are small stretch marks around my navel which were not there before.
AT 18 mos post I did have a plastics consult, was actually not at goal at that point and he kept asking I HAD given birth to 3 children (like who would lie about that? LOL) and how much had I lost? He said I have very good skin elasticity. gee...the only thing he said he could do was to raise the nipple placement an inch..an inch? mm...I sat there and thought I could do that with more pec works to lift that up! lol One thing I do know from surgery I have had in the past (from a surgeon that complained about this) is that my skin is quite thick and tough.
But for me, my definition of femine beauty bodywise is a much more muscular picture. So MY own goal of what I wanted for my body was different than most.
Every day I get out of my bed and can WALK is a gift..that I can run at all is a Lovely Gift From God Above. I'm slowly having to start over with running and want to get back to that place I was before one person took that away from me.
On the 'flappy skin' when jumping...I find that the men's section is great for finding 'compression' and sweat wicking garments. I wear a uniform and am out in all kinds of weather walking. Hot weather..whew, sweat stains are not attractive or professional. So I layer all the time, hot or cold. The long legged shorts that fit tight to wear under pants/shorts are great..they wick away sweat even from the crotch, yes I said it! and keep the outer clothing from having sweat rings. The tops are great too, you have to get them in a tight fitting size to work right though! Loose is NOT the fit you want with that type of clothing.

[BreeChick]

When I was at my lowest weight 155 (size was upper body 4, lower body 6) my upper thighs were wrinkly...my way around that look was to invest in NOT hose ladies! but danskin tights in the natural shade (dance stores are good for this) they are firmer and hold that in and are tougher to make a 'run' in, last longer, but cost more. My very lower belly above the the pubic area was wrinkly but it was all livable, you know?
one of the most unpopular things I've said online in a chat towards ones that were going (in my opinion) a wee bit crazy with excessive plastics, is that I didn't do this wls and work out and run and etc's to become a stripper or have a job that I was near nekkidy all day long. I wanted to be HEALTHY, I wanted to LIVE, I wanted to look good in my clothing and to myself in the mirror. Most of all I wanted to feel respected and not judged because of my size. What's funny is now I get judged on how I look all the time, taken for granted because I'm supposedly attractive!
God has gotten me through soooo very much in my life and especially the past 5 years...it's all a gift to me. I hope to never take a day for granted and I do have those days when I realize I'm in that 'zone' again of just taking it for granted.
What we don't realize is most people just see the us we are NOW, not who we were before this surgery. They don't look at us and see someone who had WLS! They are always gonna judge on what they see whether it is pos or neg to their interpretation, NOT what is inside. Sad to say...
For today I hope that the ME INSIDE shines out loud enough for others to see and appreciate and respect. The way I was raised I don't judge people on what I SEE outwardly..I look inward, I listen to what they say and their emotions on their face, their gestures all that tells me so much more than just if they are large or small.

[BreeChick]

yes I lost shoe sizes and had to give away expensive shoes and boots :-(
I was a 10.5 women's and now am a 8.5 wide for my toe box, but the heal is narrow so shoes are tough to find. Especially spec boots for work. Men's sizes are wide in the toe, but too wide at the back, the women's narrow through the toe and the heel.
-200 at lowest with shoe sizes dropping ? 2 sizes pretty much and oh wow don't even go there on the bras hon! I was a 44 DDD/F and now in soft bras a 34B and underwire 34C! wowsers!

[BreeChick]

I think the hardest thing has been to learn to cope without food. I had to learn to cope with a lot of hard hard things. When I was just 2 yrs out the man I was with committed suicide, then several days later I was assaulted quite brutually by someone in a 'hero' position, then diagnosed with cancer and told to put things in order. I already live with medical conditions with no cure so on top of that..wow.

lemme tell ya...cope with all that? huh? how? did I try turning to food? what's funny is for once in my life I just couldn't eat, hardly ate for months on end got really, really thin, ran every day, hardly ate..the cancer issue is in holding pattern at this point..we just kind of ignore this issue in my life and don't talk about it but have things in order just in case.
But cope..I had absolutely came to a point I HAD to learn to cope, how to relax and how most of all to just make it through each day. and it IS possible...without food as a crutch!
Thank goodness my mum is in the mental health field and had talked long and hard about not just replacing food with something else.
Life is good...it really is and food is great..it is a tool to stay strong and healthy if --used wisely- this is the only thing I really can say about food anymore. Use it wisely and it will treat ya right. LOL
Gotta have humor in the end don't we?

[DocSanae]

Welcome to the board, BreeChick, thank you for joining us.

My, oh my, what a remarkable woman you are!!!
Since you had so far only posted in existing threads, and there was no thread of your own, I've copied all your posts so far, and started an independend thread with them.

Your journey and outlook on life, and your insight is truly remarkable, such an inspiration for everyone!!

(((((((HUGS)))))) May your journey go well!!

[Kat]

Great history BreeChick. You are one strong and vital woman that others, including myself can learn from. Thank you for taking the time to share your story.
I hope that your strength and God's love continues to carry you through. Keep on posting.
What do you think about when you want to use food? I have been going through megga crap lately. I'm a chef and food is just there and such an automatic response for me is to pop something into my mouth. I spit things out a lot. I just need to learn to have a different automatic reaction to stress besides what is right there in food, which I do but sometimes old habits over ride.
Any how....with all that you have been through makes me feel like a whimp and tells me that I can go through what I'm going through if you have made it through your mountains. It's a head thing isn't it?
I start lifting this week. Right now I'm walking. Can't wait to start. Thanks again for posting and hope to see you more.

[fr1endly2]

HEY BREECHICK!
glad you found the site!
I enjoyed reading your storey and thanks for writeing it.
I look forward to getting to know you even more thru
posts!
WelCOME to the boards

[macathrt]

Breechick. I enjoyed reading your story. It shows us here at RR that we all have a story to tell, some more than others. In reading about your journey, it tells me to make the most out of our situations no matter what. You truly are amazing going thru what your going thru. I don't know if I could've handled all that. Just know that GOD has a plan for all of us and I will keep you in my prayers. Keep on posting, I'd love to hear about your continued journey.

Debbie