Hi

I saw my surgeon on Friday and he changed my final weight goal from 160 to 180. I was surprized. My own goal was to weigh 150, which I still think is too much. I am 5 feet 4 1/2 inches tall and am a pear shape. I do not want to stop at 180.

He said if I lose too much I will be tiny on top and still large on the bottom. Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do?

And if you had surgery to remove skin from your belly and thighs, can you please tell me how severe the pain was, recovery time, time off work, or anything at all you are willing to share about that experience?

I cannot afford that surgery on my own and have been told by others that it is good to wait a full year after my goal because some of the excess will reabsorb on it's own. I am 55 yrs old now, so I'm not sure how much will reabsorb.

Thank you for anything you can share!

~hiddn

Hi Star,

There is a plastic surgery forum on this site at http://www.lapbandtalk.com/forum/8-cosmetic-and-reconstructive-surgery/

If you don't get any answers here, you might want to repost your comment in there.

I don't know anything about plastic surgery but I do know that my surgeon set my final goal weight for the high end of normal BMI. I kind of feel like you might not know what you actual body type is until the weight goes. Perhaps you might change from pear to, oh i don't know, celery stick?

Everyone loses differently, so there is no sure-fire prediction of what your body will do. However, I was what I would consider "pear-shaped" and I lost from my bottom half first. I had a very large bottom, hips, and thighs and could only fit into W sized clothing. Before I was able to change the size of my tops, I was able to get out of the Ws and into regular sizes. I am now wearing size 12 or 14 pants and Large (12/14) tops, so it seems I evened out.

I teach high school where teenagers often speak before thinking and are brutally honest most of the time. I had a student return to our school after an extended absence and the first thing out of her mouth when she saw me was..."Miss, what happened to your butt? It's gone!"

One last thing. I was not ALWAYS pear-shaped, but when I gained weight, it landed from my waist down, so this may be why that is where I lost it first. BTW, I am also 5' 4 1/2" and my goal is 148.

Good luck on your journey!

I think I was a pear-shape. I carried most of my weight in my thighs/tummy area. Have lost 112lbs, from a size 20 to a size 4. I do have some excess skin on my tummy/thighs that I'd like removed, but I am waiting to see how things go. I plan to do a lot of toning and lean muscle gaining before I have plastic surgery.

I'm pear shaped and I've lost right down to a BMI of 19. Am I tiny on top and large on the bottom - well........... I'm in proportion, I'm not a different size on the bottom than on the top, I'm a 6 to 8 all over. But I will say - my chest and shoulders are absolutely skeletal. My shoulder blades stick out, you can see the ribs in my chest, and my vertebrae all protrude. I have C cup breasts, but on a 5ft 10 frame you'd call me small breasted. Im not a heavily muscled body type, and fairly fine boned. But I'm glad to be pear shaped because i have a pleasing overall shape that fits into anythng i want to wear, I dont have a stomach to accommodate, nor do I have overly big hips, I"m just the normal female pear.

The trouble is, I sort of have to dress to hide my chest a bit, because it can lkook a bit awful and I'm having cancer treatment at the moment and both my surgeon and oncologist are giving me real grief over my weight, threatening me with sustagen (ick) and appetite stimulating drugs. I've been arguing that I do eat, I'm not underweight, and when the oncologist had me stop on the scales he was surprised - he said "your light but not officially underweight, I'm surprised". They look at my chest and think I've come out of a concentratio camp.

but that extra weight loss is a result of my illness and at a BMI of about 22 I looked great. I think your surgeon's nuts to tell you to stop at 180 (and where does he get off telling you how you shoudl look anyway?), that'd be fat for ME and I'm 5ft 10! I actually like my slender frame and my small breasted look - I think its elegant and fashionable and regardless of what men may like I have never been a fan of the buxom big breasted look and most women that say "I'm curvy" I privately think are really just a bit fat. Curves are god given, a result of your bone structure and musculature and when they're truly there, they're stunning -think Eva Longoria or Kim Kardashian. But you cant create them by remaining a bit overweight - as in Queen latifah!

I've always heard that since we lose slower the skin has more time to keep up and it's not as saggy. I was also told that if a tummy tuck or skin removal was needed to wait a year after reaching goal. Hope this helps a little. Good luck!

You know, my doctor has never set a goal weight for me and I'm not sure I'd want him too, he's too thin. LOL. I set it for myself.

I'm 5'5" and my first goal is 170 and I'm going to see how I feel and look at that weight (almost there.. 188 now) and then decide if I want to take it any lower. According to the BMI charts, I should weigh a maximum of 150 to be healthy. I'm afraid I might look ill at that weight. I'm also over 50, post-menopausal and I want a little bit of padding on my hips to protect them if I should fall. I've already had a tiny bit of bone loss from losing weight (not as much stress on the bones), even with lifting weights and starting to do some running.

I am also pear shaped, carrying most of my weight on my hips and backside. I have lost quite a bit from my breasts.. down to a C cup, where I used to be a DD. While my ribs don't show yet, I could see that happening if I got to 150.

I could benefit from plastics, not sure if I'm going to do them. I am starting the ps interviewing process soon.

My advice is to nod and agree when the doctor sets your goal weight and then do whatever you think is right for YOU. Don't worry about it at this time, just go for the weight loss and decide as you go along where you want to end up. You may end up agreeing with your doc or you may want to take it lower. If you don't like yourself at 150, you could always regain.

Best of luck to you.