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 As far back as I can remember, I've always been unhappy with how my body has looked. As a teen, I was the biggest of my friends and never really felt like I fit in. I couldn't wear the same cute clothes as everyone else and I HATED getting changed with everyone else for P.E in high school for fear of people passing judgement.

As I got older, and went to college and then university, I transitioned from being overweight to obese. My already low self-esteem and confidence got worse and  I was constantly worried about judgement from others when out in public.

Now, I've completely transformed my life. I've lost 123 lbs and got to my goal weight. I've found confidence(somewhat) and I've learnt a lot of lessons about myself, like how to never underestimate myself and what I can accomplish(proved by me running a HM in May last year).

I've never really stopped to give myself credit for how far I've come and the hard work that I've put in to get me to where I am now. One(or rather two) things have been holding me back. It affects me physically but more mentally then anything else and its the extra skin and fat that I have been left with both around my abdomen and my breasts - the after effects of having lost nearly a whole person.

With clothes on, I just look like an average sized woman, but underneath is a whole different story. Although my confidence has improved somewhat after weight loss, I still don't feel like myself and I have worked SO hard to get to where I am and I still have a lack of self-esteem and confidence.

I hate getting undressed in front of people, even Phillip, I don't like when he looks at me when I'm getting changed. I don't like wearing anything that is tight fitting to my body as I feel uncomfortable and nervous that someone will make comment.

I've been thinking about this for a long time now, I always knew there would be a possibility of loose skin even before I had reached my goal weight. I have been doing really well with maintenance of my weight since I hit my goal back in November.

Id been trying for MONTHS before reaching my goal weight to see if toning and adding weights to my workout schedule would help to reduce/lift the skin in these areas and make them look better, but to no avail.

After 6 months of measurement and picture taking, everything was exactly the same. My stomach still overhangs and my breasts are still just as saggy as they were before.

I am almost 24/7 wearing a bra, as it is too uncomfortable to go without and my breasts will ache and be sore. In some high impact exercises, my stomach will bounce around and this will hurt as the skin pulls and tugs each time.

After a lot of thought and research on Youtube, other blogs, before and after pictures and advice from my GP. I have decided to move onto the next step of my journey and will be going ahead with Plastic Surgery on my Abdomen and Breasts to remove the excess skin and fat.

I have not yet booked my surgery, but I have been for two consultations and I have decided on my surgeon of choice who will perform both procedures.

I will be making separate posts on my consultations and any further posts about the next steps and you will also be able to keep track with this journey in the Plastic Surgery Tab at the top of the page.

They are both major surgeries, they require a lot of research and though and a large investment in time and money, but I'm sure it will all be worth it once its done.