All things are healing still. I truly believed that I would be back to “normal” by now after seeing how others were able to return to activity at the 2-3 month point. But everyone’s body definitely works at its own pace. For me, I am still lacking full mobility in my hips. When I try to get into a great squat form, I feel the skin pulling. I attempted to return to activity about a month ago and I ended up irritating my lower back while helping a child take off a shoe. Also, I still feel the tightening in my core and pulling on my skin when I walk for more than 2 miles. To say I am in a bit of a fragile recovery state feels like a huge understatement. If you haven’t kept up with me over the years, I have disc herniations, bulges, and chipped vertebrae between L3 and S1. With all of that said, I am taking it easy still for a little while.
I am trying to work on the mental game that comes along with any part of a weight loss journey. In mine, I have a constant need to adjust to seeing myself as enough and worthy where I am at that moment. I struggle to see that I am doing enough or trying hard enough. This season has definitely taken its toll on me in that regard, but maybe that was the point. This was a moment of growing into my different shape and naturally feeling enough instead of having to do enough.
If you are thinking about a skin removal surgery, the best advice I can give you is to think about how long it took to lose the weight and apply that length of time to your recovery. It took me 1 year to lose the last portion of my 140 pounds lost after Hannah was born, so I will work on slowly coming back from this over the course of a year… not a couple months like what is said in the industry. People like to hear about quick changes and fast results. That never worked for me and instead hurt my mental state of it all. Slow and steady for me. All the way. That’s also the mindset that helped me maintain for 6 years after the loss through other performance goals.
If you have any questions, feel free to message me! I’m more than happy to share my experience.
As always…
Prepare, perform & praise
