Weight Loss Pictures - A Definitive Guide to Weight Loss

Some are able to lose their excess weight by simply exercising, dieting, cardios and such other stuffs that you know. But some have to go through the hard way, i.e Weight Loss Surgery (WLS). A procedure called Gastric Bypass surgery is quite commonly used nowadays. Of course, the physical transformation after any bariatric surgery can be quite exhilarating. But at the same time, with such massive weight loss, skin doesn't shrink well. So the patients often seek body contouring. After a major weight loss, tissue elasticity decreases and due to loss of fat excess skin gets expanded and lefts out. This excess skin generally develops around the face area, neck region, upper arms, breasts, abdomen, buttocks and thighs. You may find it difficult to do physical activities as the loose skin may restrict your movements. You may not find it comfortable to wear t-shirts and more revealing outfits. In addition, it makes you look unattractive.

Body contouring can help you deal with the excess hanging skin and make you look good even after losing weight. The body contouring after major weight loss is influenced by your age, size and shape of the skin fold, the area of excess skin to be treated. Some may leave long-lasting noticeable scars too.

Here are the major body contouring procedures that you may require after a major weight loss.

Body Lift
It's an extremely effective procedure and depending on the location where it is to be done, patients choose to undergo upper or mid or lower body lift.

A. Total Body Lift Surgery
When the patients have lost their skin elasticity all over their body, then a total body lift surgery is needed. A total body lift procedure addresses to every part of your body that accumulates fat and excess skin: arms, breasts, abdomen, thighs, buttocks, hips, giving you a new lifted appearance.

Though the surgery gives a nice and smooth figure to your body, you'll need some rest for the recovery after such a complex surgery. Generally 5-6 weeks is needed for the recovery. Follow the instructions given to you by your surgeon.
B. Upper Body Lift Surgery
Upper Body Lift Surgery is needed if you have loose excess skin on arms and breasts.
I. Arm Lift (Brachioplasty)
Overweight people generally have heavy arms. So to balance the increased volume of your arm, skin gets stretched and tightens up. But after a major weight loss, the skin gets failed to shrink up with the arm and hangs loosely. Arm lift, also known as brachioplasty, is needed to remove this excess skin fold.
Cost
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the average fee charged by the surgeon nationally in 2007 for an upper arm lift was $3,574.

II. Breast Lift (Mastopexy)
Breast ptosis (drooping or sagging) can be due to several factors such as Aging, Pregnancy, and after massive weight loss.

Graphical illustration of Breast Lift (Mastopexy)

A breast lift, also known as, "Mastopexy" is required to lift up the sagging breast. Breast lift, or mastopexy, lifts and tightens up your breasts giving it a more youthful look. Depending upon the degree of the lift that is desired, breast lift can be of three types,
i. The Full Anchor Lift or "The Crescent" mastopexy
It's the most common and most traditional breast lift. It creates an "anchor-shaped" or "inverted-T shaped" incision around the outer border of the areola (the more darkly pigmented skin surrounding the nipple) and extending them to the inframammary crease medially and laterally. It can lift up the nipple 8 cm or more. ii. The Vertical Lift or "Lollipop" Lift
It creates a "lollipop-shaped" incision around the outer border of the areola and extends downward toward the inframammary crease. It can lift up the nipple upto 6 cms. This method is for moderate degree of ptosis (drooping or sagging).

iii. The Concentric Lift or "Donut" Lift or "Benelli" Lift
It removes a small circular skin fold from the areola region. After removing it, the remaining skin is attached to the areola again, resulting in a tight and slightly lifted breast.

The Concentric Mastopexy is only used when the degree of lifting is small. It can raise the nipple 2-4 centimeters. Breast lift is often enhanced by Breast Implants.

C. Mid Body Lift Surgery (Torsoplasty)
It includes the treatment for abdominal region, often called torsoplasty. This surgical operation also known as a "tummy tuck" or "stomach lift" or "abdominoplasty", is performed to tighten the loose or flabby skin of the stomach area. A tummy tuck procedure also reduces the stretch marks on the stomach, if any, and reduce amount of sagging or hanging skin, giving you a new and younger profile.
Cost
Generally a mid-body lift can cost you around $8000.

D. Lower Body Lift Surgery (Belt Lipectomy)
Lower Body Lift Surgery is done to remove the excess folds of skin that appears on lower parts of your body such as, buttocks and thigh.

I. Butt lift Surgery (Gluetoplasty)
A buttock lift or butt lift is a type of plastic surgery that will lift your rear end higher. A buttock lift may also use fat injections, often reffered to as a Brazillian butt lift or it may use cosmetic implants for butt augmentation. From what I've heard, Jlo (Jennifer Lopez) has done the Brazillian butt lift for the rear end and Pamela Anderson has done it for her front end.

No wonder how they got those bootilycious bodies.

II. Thigh lift (Thighplasty)
A thigh lift will give you slim and taut thigh that will look good in mini-skirts and skinny jeans. Thigh lift surgery is generally aimed to create slim thighs which are proportionate with the butt, abs, legs, the whole body.
Cost
According to 2008 statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the national average for plastic surgeon fees for a thigh lift is $4,589. The cost may vary upto $8000 depending upon how much excess skin do you have on your thighs?

You want satisfaction?
Always choose a Board-certified Plastic Surgeon. The surgeons should be certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. You may also consider seeing some of the before-and-after photos of the patients that were treated by your surgeon.

"You may delay, but time will not." ~ Benjamin Franklin

You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?" ~ George Bernard Shaw

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is." ~ Ellen Degeneres

"You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be." ~ David Viscott

"Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality." ~ Ralph Marston

"You're never beaten until you admit it." ~ George S. Patton

"You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance." ~ Lee Iacocca

"You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there." ~ Unknown Author
"You don't realize how strong a person really is until you see them at their weakest moment" ~ Unknown Author
"Never, never, never quit." ~ Winston Churchill

"If you wish to grow thinner, diminish your dinner" ~ Henry Sambrooke Leigh
"When you nourish your body with pure energy, you transform from the inside out."
~ Bill Phillips
"Never eat more than you can lift." ~ Miss Piggy
"One should eat to live, not live to eat." ~ Moliere
"Eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation." ~ Benjamin Franklin

Click here to see more before after pictures of weight loss.

Here is a list of before after pictures of some celebrities.

1. Beyonce Knowles

2. Nicole Richie

3. Kirstie Alley

4. Star Jones