Cosmetic Surgery Excellence

You can lose weight either before or after the surgery.  You have excess skin both above and below the belly button and you appear to have a separation of the muscles of the belly due to the stretching from pregnancy- this is called a diastasis of the rectus abdomens muscle which causes you to have a wider dimension from front to back.  In order to pull these muscles together, you need to elevated the abdominal skin flap from the pubis to the rib cage.  Only with this repair will the width of the body be made narrower from the side view.  It does not help you at all to lose weight before the surgery but may make it better for the surgeon.  I don’t think it really matters if you lose weight before or after. I have patients who do both and they all benefit from a well done abdominoplasty regardless. You may however find that if you lose weight and do sit ups you will not feel you need any surgery at all.  The sit ups will help the rectus abdominus muscles to come closer to the midline and pull  your belly inward and since you do not have a huge overhang, weight loss may be all you need.  The issue is really, are you up for it?? Your entire body will look better as well and you will feel better about yourself. Good luck!