The Next Chapter

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are all well and still smiling through the last leg of our Canadian winter!

In any journey, there are stages. Like the changing of seasons, one phase ends to begin the growth of the next. (wow I'm all poetic today! lol)

This is where I find myself... at the beginning of a new season in my journey. The next chapter :)

Tonight marks the beginning of a new 6week BeautyFit bootcamp. It also marks the first bootcamp that I will not be at. Completely bittersweet.

For the last 2 years I have been part of every bootcamp held by Coach Compton. Even during times where I had to miss almost half the classes due to work, I was still a part.

So why will I be absent this time around?
Though I'm not one for excuses, I've got a pretty great one! :P

After a very long time of weighing my options and working my ass off, I made the decision to "finish what I started".
While many people have lost large amounts of weight and come out looking wonderful (underneath it all). My weight loss left me with a very large amount of hanging, very poor quality skin.
This skin was mainly concentrated in my middle section.

No amount of dieting, sit-ups or exercise would remove this.

I very much felt like I was still the obese person that started over 2 years ago. Though I knew the numbers on the scale and clothing were much smaller, I still looked at this skin and felt fat.
Many would say they had no idea what I was talking about because I looked great in my clothes.
I camouflage well lol

So last Thursday the 21st was what many friends called my new birthday! :P
I had a full tummy tuck and lift done to correct these areas :)

With my friend and coach by my side (and now as my own personal nurse lol), we ventured into the Plastic Surgery Clinic in Mississauga to close the page on this chapter and start new!

So after approx 3.5hrs in the operating room and another couple hours in recovery, the excess skin that was weighing me down physically and emotionally was GONE!!!

My recovery station :)

All the essentials for a speedy recovery lol

Coach making a shake at the ice machine! :P

It may not look like much,

 but this was my amazing pain pump that kept me comfortable 

my first night after surgery :)

I have a few long weeks of recovery and healing ahead of me but I am feeling really great considering!

Before many of you ask, yes, I did take some before photos. lol

To be honest, I am still struggling with whether I will show them to the masses or not. While my journey has been pretty public, I'm not sure if being that exposed is right for me at this point.

I will post recovery pics (fully clothed lol) as I feel up to it and maybe more depending on how I feel.

All I know at this point is that even with staples in, swollen and compression girdle on etc. running my hand over a flat stomach feels incredible!!! 

It feels like overnight I am seeing the results of 2+years of hard work.

My surgery and recovery will be the topic of the next few blogs I'm sure. There are many changes and feelings that come with something like this. As my emotions and outlook change I'll be writing about it ;)

So until next time, I'll leave you with this pic taken about 6-7hrs post op...

Hey, totally didn't say it was a pretty pic! lol

Flat tummy hugs...

Crystal :) xo