Skin and Bones, or so I'm told

I will reach my nine month mark Jan 24 and this has been quite the journey. I have lost 93 pounds and weighed in this morning at 132.  I even gained an inch in height ( now 5'3, not sure how that happened) and lost a shoe size. My personal goal I set for myself is 125lbs but I now have family members telling me that I am skin and bones and I should start maintaining. I have a BMI of 23 so I am happy  to be in the normal range. As you can imagine I have a ton of extra skin and I am in need of a full body lift.  I had a consultation with a plastic surgeon on Friday and he said I don't need to lose anymore weight., which he says is rare for him to have to tell a patient. He also said that with the extended tummy tuck, arms and thigh lift it would be around 10 lbs of skin removed, which would get me to my goal. Unfortunately, due to financial reasons ( my son just got accepted into Notre Dame which we are ecstatic about but not sure how we will afford it even with financial aid) I don't see me having the opportunity to have any cosmetic surgery any time soon. I've already switched careers ( from teaching, which is my calling )  to help out financially. So I am questioning whether I should go into maintenance  before reaching my goal or just go for it. I really want to see that number on the scale and I feel I am so close. My face is beginning to look drawn since that is the first place I gain and lose. I know it's just a number on a scale but it's important to me to reach my goal. 

I know how you feel.  I made it to goal in December, but even before I made it to goal people were telling me I had lost too much weight and I should stop. My goal is also 125. I'm at 122 now.  People keep telling me I am starting to look "sickly"... I feel amazingly awesome!!  I have a LOT of loose skin everywhere and I'd love to have it removed too.  I haven't seen a surgeon yet though.  I'm thinking I probably have at least 10 pounds of loose skin too... there's no way I can afford it. My insurance does cover skin removal but only for medical reasons, like excessive rashes and stuff, which I don't have at this time. 

I also questioned going into maintenance before reaching my goal for the same reasons as you...but I really wanted to see that number on the scale.  I am 5 ft tall and 128 is the highest range of "normal" BMI for me, so I at least wanted to see that, but really wanted to see my goal of 125 on the scale!  So, I kept going til I reached it... My issue right now is that my sleeve is so small that I'm unable to eat more than a couple ounces at a time...it's hard for me to increase my calories for maintenance, but I'm just trying to eat more often. 

Good luck to you, in whatever you choose...I say go with how YOU feel...if you feel great and want to lose more, go for it...  You are 3 inches taller than me, so I'm betting you are fine at the weight you are right now but it annoys me when other people tell me what weight I should be.. LOL.. so I think it really depends on how you are feeling physically... and maybe discuss it with your WLS doctor. 

I know I wanted to lose 5 to 10 pounds under my goal just so I would have a cushion, in case I gain a few pounds, but I'm thinking, just like you, if I have the skin removed, I'll already be 10 pounds under probably.

I think it's wrong for people to tell someone who just tipped back over to a normal BMI that they are "skin and bones". I think they're just used to seeing you overweight, so when you are thin, it's jarring to them. That's their issue, not yours.

Also, please let me qualify this next statement by saying yo, I am pre-op and I don't know diddly squat so take this with a grain of salt... BUT if it were me, I'd lose a couple more pounds to give myself some 'wiggle room'. Bloating, holidays, and the monthly visitor can pack the pounds right back on even if it's short lived weight gain and so yeah, it's nice to have that bit of cushion.

Get a scale that measures body fat percentage and use that as a guide.  Ignore weight at this point.  Check out the optimal ranges for women and work with those parameters.  If the body fat isn't there, don't chase it and drive yourself crazy, or worse give up lean mass for a scale number.

Weight means nothing to you now.  Your objective should be to burn fat and maintain lean mass because it will never be easier for you than it is now.  Purge all that you can while you can.  If you happen to shed pounds while doing the previous, then great.  But again, locking in on a scale number, which may or may not be achievable, is a bad recipe.

If you know your body fat percentages, and assume maintenance of lean mass, you can build a progressive chart outlining BMI, weight and body fat percentages.  With that chart, and information from the internet, you can readily determine what's achievable.  Remember to factor the 10 pounds of skin into your calculations.

Also, don't forget you have exercise options.

I get wanting to get to goal and that magic number but in reality you may have reached it already.  If the excess skin is the thing that's keeping the scale up then you aren't doing yourself any good by losing more pounds.  We really do need some body fat to be healthy and you may be going under that point.  You can have it measured to see.  Don't make the mistake of letting this number rule your life and put you in a position of going the opposite of what you were when you were too heavy.  Being underweight can set you up for health problems too...

• Miscarriages/ problems getting pregnant
• Brittle bones
• Lung Problems
• arthritis
• lower immune system
• amemia
• hair loss

I'm not saying you are underweight or even at the goal that is best for you.  I just feel that you should have somebody measure your body fat ratio and make sure that it is healthy so you can determine where your goal should be.  If the ultimate goal of this wls was to be as healthy as possible then don't let a number on the scale deter you from that :)

God bless,

I completely agree Kekosmom.  If the only thing that's left that's making you above your goal is loose skin that you can't lose from diet and exercise, then I wouldn't lose more weight to compensate just to see that magic number on the scale.  Good health is much more important.  That's one thing I've learned on this journey so far.

Do you mind giving us an idea of how much they want to charge for this type of thing?  What if a person just wanted the tummy tuck?  Although an arm and thigh lift would be nice too.

People need to get used to seeing you at this new weight.  That said, I do think we start looking a bit drawn in the face after rapid weight loss.  Your remaining fat will redistribute a bit in maintenance, and you'll start looking more healthy and robust.  (That actually could be a myth - perhaps everyone, ourselves included, just gets used to our new look.  In any case, the comments will stop after a few months, haha.)

If you're still focused on your goal of 125, I would go for it.  In fact as another poster said, you might consider going under by a few pounds, due to the bounceback effect, which is inevitable for a lot of us.

Thank you to everyone that posted.  Y'all have given me great advice and a lot to think about. I will definitely look into the scale to find out my body fat percentage and go from there.  It would be great to go below my goal for wiggle room but it makes sense not to lose lean mass in the process.  I think it is jarring for people to see me at a normal size, hell, it's jarring to me as well.  Sometimes I don't even recognize myself:)