Tummy Tales
When I started this whole weightloss-get-healthy thing, one of the primary motives for me was the prospect of a tummy tuck. I was such a defeatist during prior attempts that the thought of losing a bunch of weight only to lug around 20 pounds of loose skin, aka a 20 pound scar, for the rest of my life, then why bother losing weight at all? I’d still look chunky. I wanted to be healthy, yes, but I wanted to project the image of a healthy, capable body, too, and that meant tone, not a bunch of wobbly skin hanging around my middle. When I decided to get the surgery and Bradley agreed that surgery would be a good way to spend some of our money, I jumped with both feet into this project!
I quickly discovered the joy that is compression camisoles on my way down the scale. Some people call them shapewear or girdles, I prefer to call them compression wear. I call them that because I don’t use them for looks, I also use them to keep all of my extra flesh in control and benefit in the looks department. Think of what boobies do when they are left to their own devices during a workout, then think of a boob the size a watermelon and you’ll have an idea of what I deal with during a workout! If weight loss breasts are grapefruits in the end of socks, then my stomach is a cantaloupe in a hammock! On a run, it goes everywhere and nothing is left sacred as it flies up, exposing the expanses of stretch marks and my sports bra above my waist, then sagging way down, highlighting its flexibility and length as it flashes pale and white below my waistband. Sexy. On top of that, I get nauseous from all of the tugging and bouncing as it jostles my actual stomach, so I have to control it for more than just vanity purposes in tight, corset-like clothing. For running. And working out. In the summer it sucks big time, adding a layer of rubber and polyester to seal my bouncing self inside of my clothing on a nice, warm, humid 85 degree PNW day. In winter, however, it’s great and helps keep me warm! 🙂
Flash forward to today… I very rarely go without a compression tank. As I said, my stomach skin goes everywhere and hangs out of everything, so a few years ago I simply adopted them as daily wear. I don’t wear them with pajamas, but that’s pretty much it. Today, however, I just didn’t want to. We decided to do a family workout in the spaceship (garage/gym) when I was getting ready to run on the treadmill. I happened to walk past the mirror and did a double take. You know how I’ve said a bajillion times that I don’t see myself. I really have no idea how attractive or unattractive I am, how skinny, fat, muscular, flaccid I am. Most likely it’s because I want to see progress so bad that I caution myself to be overly careful at what I will allow myself to see, as I have to see myself honestly, and, anymore, that’s pretty mixed-up because I think I look okay but I also think I should lose a little more weight to be capital H-Healthy which makes me see flaws and fatty spots and there I go again… And most people will tell me I look amazing, which even I’ll admit is true because just by virtue of having lost 150 pounds I look way healthier, so thank you, don’t try to convince me, it’s just my weird, altered version of reality… 🙂
{Please forgive the smug, weird look on my face. I wasn’t paying any attention to it when I took the picture and ended up with derpy pose pics of the day for you. And that window does nothing for the lighting! Sorry! LOL!}
So anyway, I was walking toward the mirror and was surprised to notice that I couldn’t even really see a belly roll through my shirt. I could see the top of my pants, where they made an indent and stopped, but not a big, round two-liter burbling over the top. My shirt just dropped, pretty much, straight down. Granted, my pants are higher waisted, but I wasn’t wearing any compression gear because I just didn’t want to wear it today. I looked at the camisole and it had the rare appearance of a torture device to me; I just couldn’t put it on, so I was acutely aware of its absence when I turned past the mirror. It was nice to see that this thing I’ve invested so much time, worry and potential money in just kind of became a non-problem all on its own. That doesn’t mean that I’m skipping surgery or anything or shelving the idea, but I’m pleased that, given time, my body seems to be taking care of itself better than I expected. 🙂
After I got an eyeful of my non-bumpy belly I started stretching out for my treadmill run, and all of the sudden I realized I could share my routine with the world! LOL! Seriously, though, these are the five I routinely run through twice or three times before any run or exercise routine. If I skip the stretch, I pay the price in tight joints and muscles so tense that they feel like they’re going to snap. I have one other one I do on the floor that opens up my hips a bit. I’ll do that one soon to share it, as well. I am not as good at stretching after a workout but I’m getting better at it. Post workout stretching helps with soreness tremendously!