My Experience with Smart Lipo & More

🙈  Transparency Post  🙊 On Friday, I shared with all of you how my stomach is one of my biggest insecurities. The picture on the left is what my stomach looked like after having lost 80lbs. I was the smallest I’d ever been in my adult life, I monitored every piece of food that went into my mouth, I did cardio 5-6 times a week and lifted 5-6 times a week. My level of commitment was intense. Borderline psychotic. I was so disappointed that I had worked so hard and fought so hard to become this version of myself only to have this constant remirnder of the 10+ years (from when my mom died forward) that I found comfort in food. I got so much attention from guys everywhere I went because I exuded an enormous amount of confidence - with clothes on. But the thought of being in even a two piece bathing suit was out of the question. I always joked that I was complete false advertising with clothes on. I looked like I had this tiny body, flat stomach and big boobs because I wore ...

Are you sick & tired of being sick & tired? Did you know that you're not supposed to be tired all the time? Your body shouldn't be in pain all the time. There's a reason why you're feeling the way you're feeling.  It's poor gut health! Look at this list of symptoms. How many do you struggle with? Asthma  Blurred vision Brain fog Chronic pain Chronic fatigue Chronic heartburn Cold hands and feet Colitis Constipation Cramping Cravings for sweets Cystitis Depression Diarrhea Distention and bloating Dizziness Earaches Endometriosis Food & chemical sensitivies Food cravings Gastritis Hay fever Headaches Hives, rash Hypoglycemia Inability to concentrate Increased body hair Itchy ears Joint pain and stiffness Kidney and bladder infections Loss of sex drive Memory loss Menstrual irregularities Mood swings Numbness and tingling PMS Prostate irritation Sensitivity to alcohol Sinusitis Sl...

I am truly sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Not a whole lot has changed in terms of my body as of late. Well, that's not entirely true. I've been working on my tan - and let's be honest, everything looks better tan! I've also put on a few pounds. I'm not sure if it's due to the stress at work or the sheer amounts of alcohol I've consumed as a result of that stress. Either way - I'm up to 187lbs, which is clearly not where I want to be. I've decided it's time to redirect my energy and start using exercise as an outlet instead of alcohol. It's not an excuse, but some days I just want to go out with friends and vent about all the things that are stressing me out - and as a society, what do we do to be social - either go to a bar for drinks or a restaurant for food. I did get my best friend to join the gym but that presented another problem - too much talking and not enough working out. Like with everything in life, it's ...

I'm sorry I haven't updated pictures in a while.  Not a whole lot has changed other than the fact that I started working out again and went from 165lbs at the time of the procedure to 180lbs today.  I'm still in my size 8 pants but I can feel the difference.  My stomach feels swollen all the time for the extra weight.  No one else can tell because I still wear the body garment but I have got to do something to lose at least 10 lbs.  I'm extremely stressed out right now in my home life which I think is a driving factor, but come the 1st I'm moving so fingers crossed, life will improve tremendously.  Now this picture below, is with the flash on so it looks different than the one directly beneath it even though they were taken seconds apart.  This is what I mean when I talk about dimples on my stomach or bumpy looking.  It's not flat and smooth.  Unfortunately, you never know how the skin is going to reattach itself to the muscle. ...

I'm sorry I haven't been real good about updating the after pictures. I got a promotion at work and it's been keeping me VERY busy but I love it :) As for the procedure, the skin is still not completely back to normal from the Laser Resurfacing.  The skin isn't perfect, but I'm giving it more time before I make any decisions.  This first picture is from the 25th .. it shows the skin issues I am referring to Here are two pictures from today.  Tomorrow will be exactly one month out.   You can see from the side view that there is absolutely no bulge anymore!  I can actually wear dress pants to work now.  It's amazing :)       There is still a lot of healing going on.  I'm going through the hardening and softening still.  Some days it looks good and others I am like, ugh.  I know that it is just going to take time.  I really need a tan too.  Everything looks better tan :) lol .. bu...

Ok so it’s been 10 days since I had my thighs done .. day 13 since I had my upper body done again. Here is what they look like now. You can see what I mean about the skin not looking as good now as it did 3 days ago right after taking the garment off.

The thighs have definitely improved a lot, but they don't look as good as they do in the last picture here. These were taken right after the garment was taken off. I've been wearing it less and less, so things haven't been as "held tight" if you will. It didn't seem to be making a lot of difference so I made a judgment call. The doctor will likely tell me that the body was still making improvements, but I have been through this enough to know that if it doesn't happen in the first    

This is the garment that I have been having to wear for two weeks. Let me tell you, if you ever plan on getting this procedure done, definitely do it during the winter time if you're going to have to wear either the arm or leg compression garments. For whatever reason, they cause you to really over head.   There is an opening in the crotch so you have to wear your underwear over it so that when you have to go to the bathroom, you don't have to take the whole thing off.  I was constantly paranoid that I was going to get it "dirty" if you know what I mean.  Never happened, but didn't cause me to stop worry about it. LOL

Here are the progress pictures for Day 4.  Not a whole lot of change but since I took them, I thought I would post them.  Sorry there's a lot of draining going on again. You can see there is a lot less bruising on the back of the thighs in just one days time.

Monday, I had my upper stomach and back done.  On Wednesday, I went back to have my inner thighs done.  The pain was minimal in comparison to what I had experienced on Monday.  That could also be due to the fact that my body was still in shock. The procedure was pretty quick.  The doctor decided to do CO2 Laser Resurfacing on the outside of my thighs where I had the most excess skin.  I was beyond surprised when she brought it up.  I knew what it cost me to have the stretch marks done on my stomach and here she was going to do both of my thighs - for nothing?!?! The one thing that means the most to me about my experience with Dr. Kaufman, is that she is a perfectionist.  Yes, she has made a good amount of money off of me, but at the same time, she could easily be in it just for the money and suggest such a service and then say, well, that will be an extra $1,000.  They are so incredibly good to me at that office!  I absolutely love them! ...

Here are the pictures that I took the day after I had my upper stomach and back done       I apologize for the drainage, but there was no way to avoid it.  I've never drained so much before.  The doctor said that the reason it seems so much worse this time is because the incisions right above my hip bones were the lowest drain points, where before the lowest incision was on my vagina.    I was extremely nervous the first day after the procedure given how much my mid section was bulging out.  I was assured it was just fluid and swelling, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about it!   I was surprised that I didn't have more bruising given how painful the procedure was and the fact that it was mostly all over my ribs.

Here are a series of pictures that I took the night before the procedure.  The first procedure was done on Monday and focused on my mid section from the belly button up to under my ribs.  The doctor also did my back so as to have the best results possible. So many people think I'm crazy because I complain about my body all the time .. particularly how much I hate my thighs.  No one understands why.  I've always been pretty good at buying clothes that hide the parts of my body that I hate. These pictures should make it clear why I feel the way that I do!       I have a bit of a boyish shape - very square.  The doctor said that with the focus being above the belly button, she could help give me more of an hour glass shape. My biggest issue is with my left thigh.  If the left thigh looked like the right thigh, I probably would have just deal with it.  But I cannot stand how there are clumps of fat on my inner thigh. ...