Drain Less Full Tummy Tuck, 5 feet 6 inches, 135 lbs, 30's wife and mom of 3. 2 csections, 50+ lb weight loss. Arizona.

Well, finally posted my update..... my "before" pictures :) Thanks for your post!

Good luck to you too! :)

Thanks! Keep in touch since we will pretty much being going through everything at the same time.

how you feeling rjb?

You look fantastic- wow! Keep posting updates- I'm about the same stats and trying to find the nerve to do it. Congratulations!!

Thank you so much Happy Wife! You keep on going, maybe there's a little info or advice up above in my comment that might help. One step at a time, and eventually you reach your goal if you never stop going :)

I love the tips that you shared above! Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed and I greatly appreciate your encouraging words. You are so correct about reaching the goal one step at a time. I can do this. :-)

You got this Girl! and I'm so glad you liked the tips. I'm always happy to talk about how I "did it" when people ask me. When I tell them, they are usually amazed. In the end, it's really simple...... Burn more calories than you take in. There is no magic fix. No magic wands. No magic pills. We didn't gain weight overnight and we won't lose it overnight either. It's all about perspective and just sticking to it, even when you really really don't want to. What helped me is a good, local friend was also losing weight at the same time. We didn't exercise together (she lives about 45 minutes away) but we talked often on the phone or through facebook and we were each others support system. I wish I could post a picture of her and I that we had taken 1 year (pre weight loss) and the 1 year (post weight loss).... I wonder if I can send it to you through private messages??? I do not want to post it up here publicly without her permission of course.

I can't send the pics thru Private Message :( If you are interested in seeing them, Private message me your email address? if you are comfortable.

I agree that it's so important to have support while on a journey like this. As you said, we didn't get this way in the blink of an eye, so undoing it won't happen overnight. No need to share the pics, although I appreciate your willingness to share. Your words and positive energy are powerful enough for me. :-)

*thumbs up*

I did it in the easiest, simplest way I could as I knew I wouldn't stick to it if I didn't keep it simple. (I have 3 kiddos and at the time, my youngest was around 3?) Anyways, I cut out soda's all together. (I used to have a 2 can a day coke habit) Richard Simmon's posted once that drinking a soda was like having a liquid candy bar. I bought myself some cheap exercise shorts, shirt, and a few sports bras. I sprung for some decent tennis shoes to handle high impact aerobics. I bought Richard Simmon's sweating to the oldies, 4 dvd set on amazon ($25) I made myself, 2 -3 times a week, do one of his dvd's. If I did it more than 3x, I would allow myself 2 squares of dark chocolate as a reward. Regarding meals... Very simple, bordering on sometimes bland and monotonous. Only drank water. Lots and lots of water. Breakfast was a piece of fruit or a yogurt or a few scrambled eggs, a granola bar etc. I kept breakfast and lunch to 250 calories or less each. Snacks (once or twice a day, depending if I remembered to eat!) would be stuff like granola bar, grapes, banana, a few handfuls of no butter popcorn, a couple rice cakes, some cottage cheese with lemon pepper sprinkled on, etc. Dinner: Always baked, Broiled or Steamed. Absolutely no frying. I ate only a portion of meat the size of my closed fist. I loaded up my plate the most with veggies and if we had some carbs with dinner, I would make that the tiniest amount on my plate. So basically, from biggest to smallest: Veggies, meat, carbs. Every 15-20 pounds or so, I made it a milestone goal. I would treat myself to something. (Not anything food related) A massage, a new book, a new blouse etc. Also every goal I reached, I took a new set of pictures: Front, Back, Side in the same bikini in all the pictures of a year. That way, I could see how far I had come and keep going. If you have any other questions, let me know..... I hope I haven't rambled too much :)

Wow..that sounds easy enough. Never too late for me to start. I think my biggest challenge is exercising and bread. I tried walking to work last week about a mile or so. Only made one day. Lol. But one thing for sure, I will not be wasting one dime of this money I've put out and jeopardize my new TT. so like it or not, I'll get on board and try your suggestions. Thanks SX buddy!!!

It is NEVER too late. You are absolutely correct! Mine was exercising too. I hated it. Still hate it haha. I never formally exercised in my entire life. I knew with having a 3 year old, a gym membership would be a waste. So, I started looking for something, anything that was easy I could do at home, that didn't cost a lot of money, that I thought "OK, I can at least tolerate doing this" I was so lucky to stumble across Simmon's Sweating to the Oldies. I know it sounds SOOOOOOO CHEESY!!!! but I swear to you, that is ALL the exercise I did and I went from 14-16? to size 4-6. His aerobics DVDs really work. I even wrote him a letter and sent him a before and after picture. He wrote me back! He was such a sweetheart. Anything you choose to do though, remember, you are not in shape. You are not conditioned yet for the exercise. It about killed me the first 2 weeks to do his dvds just 2x a week. I was huffing, puffing and sweating like a pig at the end that I thought I was sure I was going to have a heart attack.... I was so out of shape and didn't realize it till then, it was embarrassing. So, after sticking with it at least 2 weeks, whatever you do, I promise it will get easier as your body gets used to it. Good luck!! Msg anytime!!! :)

Another really easy way to sneak some "extra" exercise in. Don't ever take the elevator. Take the stairs. (Gets your heart rate up, tones those calves and thighs!) Don't park close to the store. Park in the middle or as far back as you're comfortable going. (Bonuses: You're getting extra walking in which equals a little more calories burnt and your car is less likely to get any dings or scratches ;)

I have been struggling with exercising the last couple of months :( We have a gym membership that is dirty cheap and 24/7, yet I find excuses not to go. Reading your story has inspired me to order those dvd's and split time between gym and those and get my a$$ in gear! Thank you! :)

I will be happy to help however I can but let me say - Your BMI and your height is just barely into the overweight category (by .4) Also, if you have been working out daily, some of the pounds are muscle weight, not fat weight. Muscle weight weighs more. Working out daily already, means you will not lose a great deal of weight in 30 days. If you were really obese, a month of working out and cutting down to those calories, you would experience the rapid weight loss at the beginning until you got close to your normal BMI and then it allll slows down. I hate to be a downer here :( Just telling you what I've learned. I do believe within 1 month, in a healthy and safe way, in YOUR scenario from what you have told me, you can lose 2-5 pounds. My general doctor, who monitored me over my weight loss journey, had me come in once a month for a weigh in and chat about how I was doing. If I had lost 4 pounds he said good job! you lost the weight in a healthy way where it's likely to STAY off. Losing more than 2 pounds a week (8 pounds in a month) isn't healthy and likely will not set up your body for good healing after surgery. Okay, onto my tips and tricks and I am copying and pasting what I told others: I did it in the easiest, simplest way I could as I knew I wouldn't stick to it if I didn't keep it simple. (I have 3 kiddos and at the time, my youngest was around 3?) Anyways, I cut out soda's all together. (I used to have a 2 can a day coke habit) Richard Simmon's posted once that drinking a soda was like having a liquid candy bar. I bought myself some cheap exercise shorts, shirt, and a few sports bras. I sprung for some decent tennis shoes to handle high impact aerobics. I bought Richard Simmon's sweating to the oldies, 4 dvd set on amazon ($25) I made myself, 2 -3 times a week, do one of his dvd's. If I did it more than 3x, I would allow myself 2 squares of dark chocolate as a reward. Regarding meals... Very simple, bordering on sometimes bland and monotonous. Only drank water. Lots and lots of water. Breakfast was a piece of fruit or a yogurt or a few scrambled eggs, a granola bar etc. I kept breakfast and lunch to 250 calories or less each. Snacks (once or twice a day, depending if I remembered to eat!) would be stuff like granola bar, grapes, banana, a few handfuls of no butter popcorn, a couple rice cakes, some cottage cheese with lemon pepper sprinkled on, etc. Lunch: Light, healthy lunch. Look up recipes for 250 calories or less that don't require many ingredients are are super quick and easy to prepare. Dinner: Always baked, Broiled or Steamed. Absolutely no frying. I ate only a portion of meat the size of my closed fist. I loaded up my plate the most with veggies and if we had some carbs with dinner, I would make that the tiniest amount on my plate. So basically, from biggest to smallest: Veggies, meat, carbs. Every 15-20 pounds or so, I made it a milestone goal. I would treat myself to something. (Not anything food related) A massage, a new book, a new blouse etc. Also every goal I reached, I took a new set of pictures: Front, Back, Side in the same bikini in all the pictures of a year. That way, I could see how far I had come and keep going. Another really easy way to sneak some "extra" exercise in. Don't ever take the elevator. Take the stairs. (Gets your heart rate up, tones those calves and thighs!) Don't park close to the store. Park in the middle or as far back as you're comfortable going. (Bonuses: You're getting extra walking in which equals a little more calories burnt and your car is less likely to get any dings or scratches ;)

PS Forgot to say - GOOD LUCK! :) Keep going ! Don't give up and do it *healthy*!!! Slam that water down and make sure you take a good multivitamin everyday if you aren't already doing so.

Thank you so much. Sadly I believe what you are saying to me is true. I weighed 157 when I visited him in October and weighed that for the last 3 years, but between now and October, I picked up 5-6lbs. I exercise atleast 6 days a week, running 2-3 miles and strength training on 3 of those days and High Intensity Interval Training the others. My meals are the same everyday and every meal. Breakfast: I make a smoothie: half a banana, cup of blueberries & blackberries, cup of mango & pineapple, 2 cups of kale, 2 cups of carrots, black chia seeds & 1/2 cup of almond milk. Lunch: 2 cups of some type of fresh veggie steamed and a piece of salmon or snapper Dinner: 2 cups of some type of veggie steamed and chicken or salmon or just popcorn and a glass or wine. Snacks: Almonds, grapes, mixed nuts or an apple I eat the above EVERY SINGLE DAY every single meal..... I just don't get it....

Wow, you are doing great with your exercise!! 6 days a week is way more than I was doing! You have *Definitely* gained I am guessing *mostly* muscle weight!!! Meaning you are losing fat, even though it may not seem like it. Breakfast looks good, Lunch looks good, Dinner needs to be better. You NEED to eat your veggies and some meat protein. Never should your dinner be Popcorn and Wine while trying to lose weight. I think you need a little bit more carbs in your diet. Not tons, just a little more. Your body needs carbs. Cut out wine all together. Empty calories. Now, I'm only saying the above because you really want to lose the most weight you can healthily in the next 30 days. After those 30 days, I wouldn't be saying all the above and being so "strict". Obviously, if you continue this weight loss journey after you heal, you have to reward yourself with a fatty meal/favorite food or wine etc sometimes :) That's human. Another tip: Shake it up. This week eat something with more fat. Do it again once a week until Surgery. Don't go hog wild, but have some cookies or a donut or something like that. Your diet above is mostly so good that your body has gotten *used* to it and your metabolism has gotten lazy :P So eat something fatty and wake up that metabolism! That's how I started losing again when I hit "a wall" and a week would go by without even an ounce of weight loss, despite not changing anything. I hope this helps? If you want to talk anymore, feel free to PM me. What exactly are you getting done? TT? Breasts? Lipo? etc?

Thank you thank you thank you...I am scheduled for a TT on 04/21/2015....to say that I am nervous, anxious, excited would be an understatement. I wanted to get back to where I was when I saw him back in October, but if I don't.....oh well!!!!

When I first saw my doctor in January at the Consult, I weighed in at 139. He told me since I had 3 kids and after examining me all over, my belly had very little fat, I didn't need lipo - that in fact I didn't have much fat on me at all anywhere else on my body either. Fat wasn't the problem. He said having a small hernia, 3 pregnancies, massive weight loss, loose skin, blown out and stretched out ab muscles was my problem and that NO MATTER how much more I dieted or exercised there was NOTHING else I could do in regards to improving the appearance of my belly. I had done all I could. Only he could make my belly flat again by surgery. My last appointment (pre-op, March 9th) I weighed 138 according to his scale. This morning I weighed in at 136 even. But even at 139, he said there's nothing else I could do to "maximize" my TT surgery result. Since we both are in the healthy BMI normal range for our heights (being five foot six and five foot 7 - I consider YOU in healthy range, cause I believe the extra little weight that's putting you very slightly into overweight is muscle weight, not fat!) I think you are just fine where you are at. If you want to keep working at losing a few pounds, go for it! :) But I wouldn't bother trying to lose past 5 pounds. I think you already have done all you could to maximize your results at this point anyways.

I'm nervous and excited and anxious too - and yes that's an understatement for me too. Doesn't help I've had lifelong anxiety disorder LOL! Keep up that if I don't oh well attitude. That's what I'm telling myself. I think we will get fabulous results anyways!!!! Private message anytime....