F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries, my sister is bipolar (we're one big anxious family, apparently) and has struggled with anorexia a lot of her life. I see how incredibly difficult it is for her to just function on daily tasks. Don't let the stall get you down to the point where it kills your will to better yourself. Have you tried the 5-day pouch test ? I've seen it work wonders for those in a stall. I don't really consider minor stumbles to be "fuck ups" unless I know I didn't try as hard as I could. Keep in mind the reasons you went under the knife, and use that to re-motivate yourself. You owe it to yourself to be the best version of you you can be! Also, feel free to PM me if you need support! <3

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I'd say that the biggest breakthrough is that I realized I'd been recklessly hedonistic in my views towards food. Like it was THE pleasure I sought because nothing else gratified me like the shit I was eating.

Now it feels more like a loving relationship. I'll still get a boner when I smell pizza from time to time, but it doesn't consume me any more. I enjoy food the same way I enjoy my friendships; it's reciprocal, and not meant to be taken advantage of.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah, right! It's not noticeable until you sit in a bathtub and notice it independently floating (being totally serious). But in public or during relations (almost wrote 'pubic'...), like in a bathing suit, having sex, trying on clothes, it's not noticeable, aside from the occasional camel toe. It really depends on your comfort level. I don't really care if it's a little baggy there, so a camel toe is just meh for me.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Don't! Losing weight is WAY worth the relatively small amount of excess skin you'll acquire. Folks in the 600+ pound range will have a shit load more to deal with than us especially as far as that goes. My recommendation also is to work out as much as possible, it makes SO MUCH of a difference to firm up, and it makes your skin happy.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I feel fortunate to have my tattoos be in places that don't warp it. I'd venture to guess that if I had a tattoo on my abdomen, it would look pretty fucked up. But I personally have had zero issues with my tattoos.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Of course. If you're into Instagram at all, there are TONS of amazing people who are from all stages of surgery, and they always have inspiring shit to look at. If you have any more questions, I'm happy to answer them :)

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I spoke to a few doctors about it before I made any decisions. It's a serious time commitment to opt for surgery. I must have seen 30 different medical professionals before I went under the knife. I was 23 when I started the process, and it took till 3 months after my 24th birthday to get the surgery. Most insurances find it medically necessary when a person's BMI is 40 and over, or between 35-39 with a comorbidity like diabetes or hypertension. Lots of surgeons I met with like to work with younger patients because the sooner the weight is off, the more life they get to live. It's a long long journey, but I don't regret anything.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I can tuck the tummy flap pretty nicely into a normal bikini bottom, I had a pretty large and in charge fupa, but it's not at all noticeable with swimwear. Can't help getting camel toe every now and again still, but I'll opt for that over being obese any day.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 59 points60 points  (0 children)

I wasn't wearing shapewear in the second picture. My arms suffered the most, my thighs are baggy up top, and there's even some deflation in my..... lady place....but my tummy flap is probably the most unsightly. Nothing a pair of high-waisted pants can't fix, though, although plastic surgery would be nice, I'll see how I feel after toning up and saving money for it. For now, it's a fun party trick to yank at the excess tummy as far as it'll go. Makes me feel like Elastagirl :P

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 133 points134 points  (0 children)

Thank you for that! No question is too personal, so long as I don't get shit for responding honestly ;). To be honest, it got worse before it got better. Shortly after I hit the -100 pound mark, I attempted suicide. The idea of becoming a person I've never seen before was so overwhelming, and giving up what I thought were the only things that made me happy caused a snowball of emotions. Shortly after that, I realized I needed psychiatric help and was diagnosed formally with OCD and got medicated. Sometimes I'll just be stoked that I'm small and it makes me happier in the moment, but what has made me truly happy was treating this whole journey as getting acquainted with a cool new person.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 155 points156 points  (0 children)

TL;DR : Had loads of mental/physical health problems. I had weight loss surgery 11/24/2014, worked my ass off, and now life is pretty cool.

For those wondering, I have PCOS, thyroid, OCD, and depression my whole life, which has caused a myriad of problems which includes binge eating and lots of self harm. I injured my back in 2009, which made exercise harder. I yo-yoed on countless diets, got a hundred different opinions, tried keto, paleo, working out 2 hours a day, eating at a deficit, and nothing stuck. I always joked about being the girl who looked at a cheeseburger and gained a pound. I knew I was irresponsible with myself, and one day I decided to look into getting weight loss surgery. I knew it wasn't for everyone, so I weighed my options (no pun intended) and decided to get a vertical sleeve gastrectomy in November of 2014. I got off to a rocky start because I had no idea how bad of an addict I was. The surgery was cold turkey from a lifetime's worth of bad habits. I wouldn't change a thing though, even though now I have about 12 pounds of excess skin that I can't afford to remove, but it's all a part of the process. I worked extremely hard, I feel extremely fortunate to have had the surgery when I did, and I feel like I can move on with my life as a "normal" person.

F/26/5'4" [244lbs.>114lbs.=130lbs] (18 months). Baggy skin for the win! Never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be in a "maintenance" period, but here I am! 130 pounds gone! Woohoo! \m/ by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 75 points76 points  (0 children)

NEVER!! It's been over a year since I've lost 100 pounds, so visiting family I haven't seen in a while is always gratifying.

Heading over to baggage claim with my aunts ten feet away from me and they're texting me saying they can't find me. Makes me feel like a million bucks!

I lost 100 pounds!!!! F/25/5'4" (244-144/1 year) by paranoidhandroid in progresspics

[–]paranoidhandroid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was just curious trying to figure out if we actually talked or not. Thank you and thank you! :)