[doodles171]

Hi! I just joined 3 Fat Chicks, and would love to discuss abdominoplasty. I had a tummy tuck on May 25th, and am loving the results. My question is - what about the long term results? Do the results look the same after one year as they do after 8 weeks? Is there anything I should do to maintain the look I have now? My doctor tells me I should just go about my normal life, but I'm really concerned about gaining weight and undoing the procedure. Could I have some feedback from the ladies that have had the procedure? Thank you!!

[Meg]

Hi Doodles and welcome to 3FC!

I moved your question to a thread of its own because I didn't want it to get overlooked. It's a great question!

I didn't have a TT, but I had a lower body lift which included everything in a TT. In my experience, I looked much, much better after a year than just eight weeks out from surgery. When I was at your stage, I was still pretty swollen. It took three or months for the majority of the swelling to go down and for me to start seeing the new contour. Everything was pretty much settled down after a year or so. So you're only going to be happier and happier as the months go by, I'm sure!

As for how to maintain the great results, you're right -- Rule #1 is absolutely do not gain weight!! That's the one thing that will un-do all the work. If you gain weight, your body is forced to grow more skin to cover the fat it's storing and then if you lose the weight, you're stuck with all that excess skin.

Do you follow any kind of diet or exercise plan now to maintain your weight? That's going to be the key to your long-term success. Oh, that and sticking around 3FC too!

Best of luck to you -- you're going to be loving your new look in the months to come!

[doodles171]

Meg, what a sweetie you are! Thank you so much for all the information! Wow - I'm going to look better than I do now? Yippee! I'm not following any specific diet and exercise plan- I was a major exerciser before the tummy tuck, but since then I haven't done anything. I seemed to have lost my motivation, which is kinda weird because i used to LOVE training for races and different events. Hearing I could undo the results from the tummy tuck is motivating though - thank you so much for your help!!

[mkat321]

thanks for this thread, i am very curious.

[shrinkingchica]

I am 13mos out of my TT and the results are better than 8 weeks out for sure!

I would recommend that you exercise regularly and try and find your maintainance amount of calories so that you maintain your current weight forever and don't gain.

I have lost over 45lbs since I had my TT done, so the results have just gotten better and better.

[carol2208]

I just had mine as well 6 weeks ago, I have to confess that at first I was a bit afraid as I couldn´t fit on my clothes right out of surgery, but now the swelling is going down more and more and I´m loving it... it´s great to know that it will still improve...

I love exercizing, but my doc says I have to wait 3 months before I can get back to normal activities, so far walking is the only type of exercize I´m allowed... and I have to confess that anything else still hurts ... I tried jogging the other day, just for a few steps... how was it for you ? how long did it take to get back to a full normal life ?

Shrinkingchica, it´s good to know that loosing more weight doesn´t hurt the results, I still have about 40lbs to loose and was worried about the end result...

You guys are great !!

[grant me wings]

I was reading this thread and wondering... do you usually wait until you get to goal before having skin removal surgery, or do you have it before you are "done". From everything I've heard to this point, you get to goal, maintain for 6+ months so that your skin can shrink on its own as much as possible and to make sure you can maintain your goal weight, and then comes the surgery.

What happens if you have surgery with weight to lose, and end up with more loose skin after losing the weight?

[shrinkingchica]

Originally Posted by grant me wings

What happens if you have surgery with weight to lose, and end up with more loose skin after losing the weight?

In my experience, no.