Q. I am so disappointed with my progress with my exercise program. What is your stand on a tummy tuck?
A. Tough one. First of all, I won’t take a stand on plastic surgery but will give you some insight of some people and their experiences and my expertise on sculpting the body through exercise.
In all my years as a personal trainer, I have talked to people and have seen people go through plastic surgery for various reasons. The one who stands out the most was a person from Indiana I knew a long time ago. She was frustrated, like you, and made the choice to have a tummy tuck and the flab on her triceps removed.
She asked my opinion and I told her that it was her choice. However, I did tell her that she gave up too soon and that she did not give exercise a chance.
She had the surgery and she was very happy. She did not change her eating habits and exercise habits, however, and the weight on her belly and arms came back.
The scars which initially healed beautifully stretched and became wide, dark, and very noticeable. She was back where she started, but with the addition of ugly scars.
If you are contemplating plastic surgery, make sure you have made the life changes to make a surgery like that successful. An example is the people who have lost lots of weight and have skin literally hanging from their bodies. I can completely understand the choice of having the surgery. I also know someone who almost died from having this surgery, so there are many things to consider.
Have you changed your lifestyle enough to keep the weight off? Are you going to a doctor who is specialized and has done many successful surgeries? Are you willing to accept the risk that the surgery may not give you the outcome you desired or may even go wrong?
So many questions need to be answered ó and there is still the cost of the surgery to consider.
I also want to tell a story about a girl I trained in the Netherlands. She was a typical pear shape and was very narrow in the shoulders and very wide in the hips. Before I started working with her, she worked out hard and had lost a lot of body fat and had done a nice job toning her body. She still had wide hips and narrow shoulders.
As personal trainers, we sculpt someone’s body and try to make it as symmetrical as we possibly can. We both knew we couldn’t take her hips down (not even with plastic surgery) so I put her upper body on a body building workout while her lower body stayed on a toning workout.
I wanted to develop her shoulders while keeping the size of her lower body to make the overall picture symmetrical. With hard work and dedication, she accomplished our goal She looked so good that she started entering body- building competitions and her self confidence went through the roof!
It always takes hard work and dedication. It takes time and effort and patience.
Work hard, be patient and embrace the body God gave you. If after all that you still need or want the surgery, I completely understand.
Contact Ester Marsh at 704-636-0111 or emarsh@ rowanymca.com.