Answers for anonymous...

I friggin’ love it when you guys comment on my blog.  

::  big smile  ::

Every time you do, I get a little e-mail and it makes my heart skip a beat.  It reminds me that you guys are really there reading….that I am helping some of you…and each one motivates me to keep writing. 

So the other day I got this little comment from someone who is about to have surgery next week: 

"Hi Kristen,

You look fantastic and I am so happy to see that you are updating your blog again. Like many others I check it several times a week! I am having my surgery on Monday and have found your blog to be more helpful than even what the doctor's, nutritionists, etc have said. I do have a couple questions for you if you have the time.

1. Did you experience a lot or any extra skin after your weight loss? If so, what did you feel worked best for you to help with that. I am worried about that. I am hoping to lose about 100lbs and understand that extra skin is unavoidable but any tips would be appreciated.

2. Looking back on your journey, do you have any advice or anything you wish you knew before going through the surgery?

Again, thank you for your blog!"

I know that having someone to ask questions is important, so I never mind answering as many as I can.   But, since a lot of you don’t send me a personal message with somewhere private to respond to, I always assume it is ok for me to answer them in a post.  And until someone says otherwise, I’m just going to go with it. 

SO…That being said, let me see if I can answer some of these great questions.

Excess skin was my worst fear ever.  I had horrible visions of floppy “bat wing” arms and jiggling belly skin.  In fact, it bothered me so much that I wrote about it in one of my first blog entries here.   I knew I didn’t want to trade the skin for the scars that came with the surgeries, so I did the only other thing I could think of. 

I hit the gym.  Specifically, the weights. 

Currently, do I have excess skin?  Sure I do.   Right now the most noticeable skin on my body is on my belly, but you can’t really tell through my clothes.  At some point, I plan to have an abdominoplasty (AKA: tummy tuck) but I feel that is something I’m not going to pursue until after I have babies. 

I mean…what’s the point of doing that BEFORE having a pregnant belly….right?!? 

There is also a minimal amount of excess skin in my arms, legs, and butt…but you can hardly tell (especially in my arms) because of the fact that I decided to weight train as I lost weight.  Personally, I hired a trainer to teach me how to exercise…which helped a ton…but it is certainly something you could do in a class or on your own!  I understand that having a trainer may not be an option for everyone, but I rationalized it by thinking about all the money I was saving by not having to spend so much on food!  Seriously though, learning how to exercise and sticking with it for almost 2 years is the number one thing that has made this surgery so successful for me. 

No question. 

To answer your second question, I truly wished that before this surgery I had realized how important it was to write down my thoughts...how I was feeling…what I was going through.  Oh, what I would give to have started this blog from day one….or even a few weeks before I went into the hospital.  Because, funny as it sounds to you now, as time goes on…and the weight goes down…you forget what it was like to be fat. 

I frequently go back and read posts from over a year ago.  They remind me of how far I’ve come.  And, through tougher times, they really keep me going forward. 

You don’t have to write in a public forum, like I do.  Buy a journal and just jot things down as they come to you.  Keep track of your weight loss.  And no matter what you think PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, take “before” pictures.   You don’t ever have to show them to anyone, but I promise you will want them for yourself. 

I didn’t take them and I’ve regretted it every day since.

Well, I hope I’ve helped.  Good luck with your surgery on monday!  Keep me posted on how you are doing.  And remember that the first weeks are the toughest mentally, but there is light at the end of the foodless tunnel…promise!

-Kristen   ; )