Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I have to admit, I was expecting it to be more painful after having an abdominoplasty. I mean, after all, the incision goes from hip to hip and skin is removed from above the navel to the groin. But honestly, the biggest discomfort so far has been lower back pain from having to walk hunched over.

After an abdominoplasty, patients are required to walk like old men, all hunched over for like a week. This has been tough for me as I constantly like to walk with a straight back. This annoyance will be worth t in the long run though.

As I am about to have an abdominoplasty this coming Thursday, I was thinking back to the beginning of my weight loss journey. After many failed attempts at losing weight, what stuck for me was a lifestyle change. It's always been about health for me when I lost the weight. Any other time I tried to lose weight, it was never about health.

What started out as a journey to avoid blood pressure medication became something that turned my world around completely. Here I am, with a blood pressure taken a few days ago of 118/72, at the dentist. I felt so happy as I realized that my blood pressure stabilized on it's own... I never took any meds that my doctor prescribed for hypertension.

1. Why’d I Wait So Long? This was the question a plastic surgeon asked me during my consultation for an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). This question resonated in my mind.

For the past 5 years, I had been trying everything to tighten my abs to no avail. I was stubborn, thinking every doctor was wrong. Any consultation or doctor appointment I had, the doctor would always state the same thing...

“This is just skin. You have very little fat in there. Once skin stretches, it doesn’t bounce back. You were 350 pounds... there’s no way you wouldn’t be left with loose skin.”

I did a consultation last week for an abdominoplasty. I am 90 percent sure I want to do the procedure, however this first doctor did not impress me. He didn't have any before or after pictures of past procedures. I also don't think he had any experience doing male abdominoplasties, based on his conversation. I've got five more consultations coming up in the next few weeks, with doctors that have great reviews. I look forward to hearing what they have to say.

I was thinking that there is one thing that was actually good about my loose abdominal skin... it pushed me to go plant based. I'm sure I would have eventually anyway, but my quest for a tighter belly led me to start eating as clean as I possibly could. My thinking was if anything could cure my skin, it would be the healthy veggies and fruit.

The question is everywhere for vegans... "where do you get your protein from?" But vegans along with meat eaters, junk food eaters, low carb dieters, high carb dieters, whatever, they all get enough protein. It's the one thing Americans don't need to worry about and in fact, their obsession with it might be leading them down a road of disease and obesity.

Do you know how much protein the average person needs? Only .8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. I am 210 pounds... that comes out to be about 76 grams. My personal trainer years ago told me to have 200 grams per day. If I listened to him, not only would I have gotten nowhere with my goals but I'm sure I'd be sick. Personal trainers are not supposed to give out nutritional advice, but I have yet to meet a trainer that will follow this rule.