I Did It! 50 Years Old...no Kids...

I bought a garment a lttle diff than yours...mine is a high waist capri. I didnt know if the higher one with

suspenders would annoy my breast scars. Now i should have
gotten yours because the high
waist rolls down when i sit....so i
put my binder on for overnight.


im feeling fine...i walked twice for one mile each today. I get tired so i take naps. Ive been making dinners and baked cookies today. I have dr appt on Monday so cant wait to see what he says.
im hoping some of the rolls go down on my belly but i had a previous scar that he had to be careful with so he told me he couldnt go as tight. Im so happy that big roll at the bottom is gone and not so many jelly rolls!! Lol
i didnt have lipo except a little in knees...not sure why but he said i didnt need it....did you have lipo?
I think once we start exercising again we are going to look even better!!

I totally understand and that's why I got the one with suspenders. The straps are adjustable so that helps with the breast area.

Wow, I'm amazed that you can walk miles already, just intermittent walking for me makes my legs swell a lot so I try to take it easy plus, my doctor told me to wait at least 6 weeks to do any exercise. I'll try to wait five, lol. It was such a part of my daily routine that not doing it is what's driving me the craziest.

I'm glad my overlap is gone also and the love handles, lol. I do hope that it does flatten out some more in the middle though so it is sticking out some.

Yes, my doctor did lipo in both legs and around the knees to remove as much fat as possible to get a tighter pull. I was glad that I didn't bruise any though as most people did.

I'm back to work today and have been doing really well, starting to swell some now but, not unbearable and i'll be off work in an hour so I would consider this a successful return!!!

Wow! Thats great your back to work! Glad it went good!
Where do you live? Its getting so cold outside here in upper Michigan so i cant wait to get inside the gym! My dr said only walking but said unlimited but to listen to my body...one mile at a time is enough though as my belly starts pulling and my thighs start hurting from rubbing together at the tops.
i swell more in evening as i can feel my garment getting tighter. I would buy another garment but i bought two of these and my dr said 4 weeks and wont need to wear any more and i only have one week left. I will wear these capris for awhile longer and i feel more secure in my binder for night time. I finally slept in bed last night for 4 hours..yay!

Oh....i also wanted to ask you about your exercise routine before surgery....what did you do each day and what helped you lose pounds and inches the most...did you do it by yourself or take classes or have a trainer?

Thank you, I decided to go to the grocery store after work and that was a bit too much because I was absolutely exhausted and swollen.
I live in Washington State and it's starting to get colder and rainier up here. Here comes fall/winter,ugh.
I am so anxious to get back in the gym. Once I get used to being back at work i'm going to start walking again and try to make it up to a mile initially. My doctor told me to do minimal walking for the first 4-6 weeks so the internal sutures can do their job. I'm going to try really hard to follow his instructions and make it to 5 weeks though because it's killing me, lol. Just walking yesterday for work, going to the grocery store and around the house was over 4 miles total and that wore me out. How long does it take you now to walk 1 mile? I am moving much slower than before still
I definitely tend to swell more at night but, the doctor told me to expect that no matter how active I am during the day.
I have 1 more week wearing the garment 24/7 then 4 more weeks of wearing it during the day then off at night.
I bet you enjoyed sleeping in your bed finally!! I was so excited when I was able to especially since I am not a back sleeper. Every night it will get easier to sleep in the bed and you'll get more comfortable I have a lot more upper body strength so adjusting in the bed isn't as difficult anymore.
Before surgery my regular work out routine was I worked out 5 days a week and rested on the weekends. I ran 2 miles in the morning before work 3 days a week, I walked 3-4 miles at work with a co-worker 5 days a week then the 2 days a week I didn't run in the morning I did 1 hour of cardio and 1 hour of weights at the YMCA with a friend of mine. The only classes I've ever taken are a spin class which I love but, that's it. I love running the most but, I also enjoyed the girl time at the gym to just gossip, lol. It's been really hard not being able to workout but, I don't want to delay the healing.
I think the cardio helped the most with losing pounds and inches and the weights helped with toning although, eating right plays a pretty big part in it as well. The eating right is the area I've always struggled in because I'm an emotional eater and tend to mindlessly eat during the day. I know that my weight would be much lower if I could resist temptation, lol.
What was your normal workout routine before surgery? How did you change your eating habits?

I guess every surgeon is different...after my monday appt im sure he will say no garments neede. He said unlimited walking at 2 weeks...i walk slowly for sure. My routine before was a walk/jog for 3 1/2 miles each morning at 7. Takes me about 50 minutes....im not too fast. Then 9am class cardio drumming or full body fitness or kamnagon or kettlebells....those are my favorite classes. We dont have spin here. Then weights 3 days a week and one or two evenings i swim or do aqua zumba.
I exercise a lot because i like to eat! I try to not eat bread and sugar. But ive been bad lately and i would think i would be good after paying all this money myself for all the surgeries....but nope. My weight is the same as before surgery...180 lbs. But i should have lost. I am going to ask dr how much my skin weighed.
I eat lots more protein now to keep me full and snacks are fruit and protein bars and love avacados.
When i go back to work i will have an easier time with eating habits....so might go back a bit sooner....

I might try out some different classes to change up the routine a little since it does get kinda boring doing the same thing all the time. Plus with winter coming working out gets harder.

We are just alike because I workout so much too to offset my eating as well!! I so love food especially junk but, need to start working really hard on that. I wish I didn't eat sugar or bread but, those are my weaknesses!!
I'm hoping that I can get it under control too since I've had to pay the money myself too and being a single parent with 5 kids at home means it wasn't easy. But, with that theory when I paid for the gastric sleeve surgery it would have worked then, lol.

Remember, you have excess fluid with the swelling which you'll have for a while so that's probably why you don't think you lost anything.
I tend to drink protein drinks to get my protein and to help with healing. Plus, it's good for when i'm exercising a lot.
I definitely have much better eating habits when i'm working because i'm busy and do better with a routine.

Since you have to be on your feet all day don't rush going back to work..

Had my dr appt today. It went very well. I had a few stitches sticking out he clipped off. Said capri compression during day for 2 more weeks. No binder. And back to work on 16th.
Also have no restrictions at 4 weeks which is Thursday. He said i can resume all activities....he said just listen to my body and if tired rest....no limit on lifting or any exercise....so back at it as of Thurs and very excited. He said to keep lotion on scars in morning and can put scaraway strips on at night anytime now....

That's good news, I was wondering how your appointment went.
The 16th is right around the corner, are you ready for that!!
On Friday at 4 weeks I get to take off my garment at night and I'm kinda nervous yet excited.
I have a stitch kinda half was out down by my knee but, he said to wait another week.
My legs still get pretty swollen at the end of the day but, no pain in them so I just elevate and it's better in the morning.
At 6 weeks I get to resume all activities so I'm kinda taking it easy for the next few weeks. Gotta be ready for black Friday shopping, lol.
How's the tummy tuck and belly button healing and how's the swelling going?

Yes...thats where i had stitches poking out that felt like whiskers...my knees and hips at the ends of incisions.

I wish i didnt have to go back to work but ih well!
Last two days i was going going from morning to evening and yes my thighs and ankles are swollen....my pubic area is always swollen but he said that will happen for about 3 months.
He looked at bellybutton and said it will keep healing and said just leave it alone now...
do you have a fitbit? I got 10,000 steps both yesterday and today...
but before i averaged 15,000 steps a day.
my energy is back...sleeping lots better...sleeping on belly now...
i weighed in at my weight loss group and i gained 12 pounds! And he cut off 8 lbs so what the heck....some is swelling but i dont have a lot....time to buckle down! Have u measured your waist and thighs? Thighs are one inch bigger and waist is 3 inches bigger...its so weird even though it looks better its bigger......will work at the gym hard in few weeks...right now just going to go classes and modify to easy!

Interesting!! So far only one stitch is noticeable but, it's not sticking all the way out. It's kinda like the middle is sticking out but, both sides are still in.

Well since you have to go back make sure you rest up the week before since you'll have to be on your feet all day once you go back. My being back at work has been good, i'm just glad that I went back at the end of the week so I could transition myself back easier plus have the weekend to relax after that.

Seems like no matter how much I move my left side seems to be more swollen than my right side but, the doctor said that's normal. I'll probably take some more pictures on Friday which will be 4 weeks post op even though I can't see much of a difference

i do have a fitbit and I had to adjust my steps goal down since surgery because it was frustrating me that I couldn't meet the goal. I haven't been able to get 10,000 steps since the day before my surgery in fact the most I've gotten since then has been 7,000. Before surgery my average was at least 15,000 steps daily and on my gym days it was 20-25,000!! You have to add me as a friend so we can motivate each other once we are both back in the gym. I think I've shied away from exercise and have tried to do minimum activity because I don't want to have to see someone who didn't perform my surgery if something were to come up since I had the surgery in Mexico even though I could fly there to see him but, who wants to do that. So i'm probably being overly cautious.

My energy is definitely coming back and I have been able to sleep much better. One of the unexpected benefits I've experienced since the tummy tuck is that I no longer have to get up several time during the night to use the bathroom!! I talked to my doctor about it and he said that can occur sometimes once they tighten things up there that have been loosen and weakened over the years with the stretching due to weight gain and multiple pregnancies to include a set of twins so I'm excited about that more than anything else.

For some reason I haven't really gained any weight although I seem to fluctuate a pound or so which is weird because I surely haven't been eating the best and I was told to expect an increase with the swelling. I actually expected to lose weight though with the procedure so I'm just confused. I wouldn't worry much about the gain if I was you because even though you may not notice the swelling it's there which is evidenced by the increase in your waist and thigh circumference.

For some reason I never measured my waist, probably because my thighs were my biggest focus. I did measure my thighs pre op and they are already down 2 inches!!! I really can't see much of a difference though probably because of the swelling. Hopefully we will be able to tell more between weeks 6 and 8 as my doctor says is the time when you begin to notice the biggest difference. I plan on starting back at the gym on November 4th barring any complications so i'm really looking forward to that. Hopefully it's not to tough getting back in the swing of things since this is the longest break I've had in almost 2 years!!

I will take some pics of me standing up so you can see. The ones posted are laying down and they look flatter.