AvaFern

I'll be honest, I skimmed your post because near the middle my eyes started getting teary and I am currently wearing a ton of non-waterproof makeup. I wasn't bothered by my excess skin the first few times I lost a lot of weight, probably because my entire life I have been fat or saggy, however after having lost with the sleeve I decided I wanted to get my boobs done. This was almost entirely because I hated that I couldn't wear cute tops because I needed major support bras to not look like I was super saggy. That same week I started checking out abdominoplasty pictures and I'll be honest even then I had no idea that I could ever have a flat stomach. Ever since I was a kid, even when I was thin I always had a little pooch of skin/fat so I generally didn't wear tight clothing or if I did it was with spanx. Well, a year later and 3 surgeries with everything from the boobs and stomach, to thighs, arms and posterior body lift, and I look like a different person. I had no idea how different I would look and feel. Sure, I am still a little ashamed of my arm scars, although they are quickly fading and very hard to see, but the rest can only be seen when I'm not wearing clothing so I mostly ignore them. Having my plastics procedures did unspeakable things for my confidence that just losing weight never could have. I am so grateful that I was able to have the work done and while most of my friends find me to be fabulously full of myself because I just had to go spend a small luxury car on being a "plastic Barbie", thanks to my surgeon I never look in the mirror any more and feel disgust. I had no idea how much the extra skin made me dislike myself until I finally saw what it was like gone. I may not love my face all the time, my hair might still be thin (damn sleeve) and I have plenty of other flaws, but my figure, because of my surgeon is something that for the first time in my life that makes me feel almost hot sometimes. I feel like a finished product, instead of like a deflated fat girl.

I weigh every single morning right when I get out of bed. This is helpful to me because if for some reason I see a trend that my weight is inching upward, I make the immediate changes in eating that day and everyday until I am back within my acceptable range. As an example, last week I had a few things I probably shouldn't and I woke up a pound over the 2-3 pound fluctuation I give myself. That day I went back to my healthy eating plan, logged everything into MyFitnessPal, and now I am back inside my goal range. I feel like I can really enjoy life when I know that every day I make decisions that keep me in a healthy weight range. I do fluctate sometimes based on sodium, but I am so much saner when I know exactly what I weigh everyday. Sometimes I feel like my clothing is a little tight, or I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror where I feel like I look chunky and I don't freak out over it because I have that nice, quantifiable value on my good old scale and I know that as of a few hours ago I was a weight I find acceptable. The little things don't bug me when I can rely on a solid daily value to gauge my weight.

I was a September 2013 sleever...it's a good month for surgery. Good luck!

I ate Smart Puffs one night on my pre-surgery diet and then my next memorable cheat was at about 3 months when I ate chocolate, unapologetically, the entire Christmas season of 2013. January 1 I was right back on the wagon, but yes, I was a chocolate pig for about three weeks when I really should not have been. Oh..and I did it again this Christmas, lol. I didn't gain weight either time and I kept it to only the holidays, so am I looking forward to Christmas 2015? Oh yes I am, t-minus six months until I am going to enjoy chocolate cake, Cookies, ice cream, and candy. Until then though, I will sit here and eat my turkey roll-up.

I enjoyed reading your story! Also, you look fantastic in your pictures! Super motivating!

Haha, I had Peeps at Easter. I had a plastics surgery the week before Easter and my best friend knows that during the week after surgery I "allow" myself to eat the junk food I don't normally eat. She got me every flavor of Peeps they make, which FYI is now like all the crazy colors, bubblegum, and lemonade flavors, so I had probably about 100 peeps. I ate two of the purple ones, I ate about 6 of the lemonade ones over the course of the week (and I still grab one every few days) and the rest are stuck in my pantry where they will probably stay until I end up tossing them. I love Peeps, but now I am completely content to eat one when I feel the urge and not have any more. That is entirely because of the sleeve, and it is a wonderful new concept. Only eating something when you crave it and only have one? Crazy!

I take the Vitafusion calcium gummies and the Flintstones daily Vitamin gummies. Regular Multivitamins don't tend to fare very well on my stomach.