TUMMY TUCK

This was a serendipitous adventure for me so I thought I'd share it with you.
No, I didn't get liposuction or purchase spanx, I just sucked in my belly with amazing results :)

It all started out with a simple command on an exercise dvd..."pull back your bellybutton towards your spine". Sure, I can do that I thought to myself. LOL...turns out I could only do it for about 30 seconds! Turns out my stomach muscles were so slack from years of carrying around alot of belly fat that they just couldn't handle it. In fact, it was so hard to do that concentrating on it made me miss my steps that I was supposed to be doing.

I made a conscious effort to suck in my belly even when I wasn't exercising. For instance while doing housework or sitting watch tv. LOL...some nights I'd lay in bed sucking it in hoping that I'd fall asleep like that and it would stay that way until morning!

I was amazed at how quickly I was progressing...especially when, during the exercise dvd, the instructor would come to a new step saying to suck belly in, and I would realize that my belly was still sucked in from the previous time she told us to. Soon I was able to hold my tummy in with little effort for the whole 15 min. workout and then later on for a 30 min. workout.

I couldn't believe how much good posture could influence the way you look. When I was obese, I didn't want people to notice me, so I would walk around slouched over. But now I walk around with my belly sucked in, my shoulders back, my chest out, strutting my stuff. Darn, I should have been doing this all along, then my belly wouldn't have been sticking out farther than my chest, lol!

Another thing I discovered was the difference in my gait. When I was obese, I'd just shuffle along in flat shoes. Now that I'm able to wear heels it's impossible to slouch and shuffle.

3 other visual benefits of the tummy tuck are:

1. You look taller (which is great if you are only 5'2" to start with)
2. You look younger (even if you've got grey streaks in your hair)
3. You look confident (gotta show love for your body no matter what size it is)

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:

All you need for this one is a tape measure, pen & pad, your belly :)

1. Take your belly measurement before & after doing a tummy tuck.
2. Try holding it in for 1 minutes...was that too easy? Go for 5 minutes.
3. This week, try to incorporate a tummy tuck into your daily activities...while washing the dishes, while waiting in line at the    store, etc.
4. Do a tummy tuck in front of the mirror...do you like what you see...are you more confident/comfortable in your body?
5. Please share your findings in the comment area.

We'll keep track over several months to see if our before & after tummy tuck measurements change much at all. I wish I had taken my measurements last year when I started. The more you do the tummy tuck, the more the difference should lessen especially if you are also losing belly fat through diet & exercise. How exciting it would be to not have to suck in your belly eh? LOL...I think I left those days behind me years ago...before I gave birth to 5 BIG babies...and before I fell in love with my own cooking & became a chocoholic :)

Personally, I don't think you have to lose alot of weight to feel better about yourself. Even if I hadn't gone down so many sizes, I would have still felt so much better about the size I was in, if I had known how much better I could make myself look by simply doing a tummy tuck to improve my posture. LOL...this is where Al is going to pipe in and start chuckling about how goofy I used to look when I tried to tuck in my belly...I've learned that the key to success is doing it so it isn't obvious you are doing it! Thus, the practice of doing it around the house so that you get used to doing it all the time. Well...not really...lol, who in their right mind doesn't want to just lounge around letting it all hang out once in awhile eh...that's why they invented sweats & slippers!

BTW...this free version of a tummy tuck does not get rid of flabby skin or belly fat...it just tightens up your transverse abdominis muscle...it just gives the illusion of a trimmer belly which in turn gives you a boost to your morale.

NEXT WEEK'S BLOG: Monthly check-in

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DISCLAIMER: Whenever I use the word DIET in my blog posts I am in no way suggesting that I have invented/discovered some miracle system to lose weight. Whenever I use the word DIET, I am simply substituting a single word to replace the longer phrase EATING HEALTHIER THAN IN THE PAST.