Sometimes it's difficult to fathom how a person can go from as heavy as 300-lbs to nearly half of that size. Sometimes it's even more difficult to fathom how stark the difference is between a before and after photo. Unfortunately for some who decide to share their weight loss journey online, this often leads to disbelief, cynicism, and downright cruelty.
Simone Anderson, a 24-year-old makeup artist from New Zealand, was a hot topic on Tyra Banks' FABLife show. Over the course of 11 months following a gastric sleeve surgery, Anderson lost 183-lbs, going from her starting weight at 372-lbs and ending at her current 183-lbs.
However, the pictures chronicling her journey soon attracted haters that claimed that the pictures were either fake, photoshopped, or weren't even her.
Eventually, Anderson decided to take action and effectively shut down the cruel criticisms with one photo.
Haters claimed that "no one can lose that much weight and not have any excess skin." Well, there you have it. Everyone who loses the amount of weight she has is bound to have excess skin...but that doesn't mean you'd go around showing it off, hence why a move like this is so incredibly brave. The excess skin after weight loss is a high point of insecurity for most people, including myself.
I share a lot in common with Anderson. Like her, I underwent the gastric sleeve procedure and have lost nearly 100-lbs since then. I went from fitting into XXL shirts to XS in the course of a year. But even with how small I've gotten, I still carry the memory of how heavy I used to be in the form of the excess skin that remains on my body.
Even with how small I am, I still try to cover up my midsection because there are scars and loose skin. Even with how small I am, I prefer to hide my upper arms because I still carry the upper arm flab of my bigger days. Even with how small I am, I feel uncomfortable bending down because my breasts fall like deflated sandbags. Though it's not as much as I used to, I still cover up a lot of things and I think people need to realize that all is not "hunky dory" now that I've lost all of this weight.
A person does not go from morbidly obese to modelesque. It's just not that simple. So instead of ridiculing the impossibility of something, why not praise the person who made something that seemed impossible...well, possible?
Since then, Anderson was able to receive surgery in the U.S. to remove the excess skin and was able to show off her body only 6 days post-op.
I sincerely hope that these stories continue to inspire women and men out there struggling with their weight that it isn't too late. Surgery isn't for everyone, but weight loss is universal. And whether you decide to post your journey online or not, support will always be here.
