A tummy tuck removes excess skin and fat from the tummy and also tightens lose abdominal muscles. Even though the amount of skin and fat removed can be dramatic, the actual weight loss is not that much. It’s typically not more than 5 lbs. The goal of the operation is not one of weight loss, but instead to improve shape and contour.
Quite often tummy tuck patients are so happy with their new shape that they are inspired to workout more often and go on to lose additional weight after their surgery.
The largest benefit from tummy tuck surgery is in the significant improvement of your contour and core strength. The tissue which is removed often does not weigh more than several pounds. An exception to this rule is body contouring procedures performed on massive weight loss patients. I often remove 10-15 pounds of tissue in those cases. Even though the average patient does not lose a great deal of weight after an abdominoplasty they will notice a large improvement in their waist and flank size along with the way clothes fit on their new contours.
Tummy tuck is not a weight loss operation. The weight of the skin and fat that is typically removed in a tummy tuck is usually around 5 to 8 lbs, although it can be as much as 14 lbs. The goal of the surgery is re-contouring of the abdomen, tightening the muscles, removing the excess skin, and revising the belly button.
Excess loose skin and tissue usually does not add up to very much. It all depends on how much excess you actually have. I’ve removed anywhere from .5lbs to 30lbs (30lbs was an extreme case of a patient who was extremely obese). If you are interested in losing weight or maintaining weight, you may consider undergoing a TT with mesh. The mesh acts as an internal girdle to ensure a long term flat abdomen. It also creates a feeling of early satiety so that over eating is abandoned. Patients who undergo this procedure usually lose an average of 10 lbs the 1st 2 weeks. The higher the BMI pre op – the more weight a patient looses. Early weight loss after this procedure seems to promote a healthier lifestyle and the ability to exercise on a regular basis. Patients with normal BMIs do not experience dramatic weight loss, they do however, enjoy a flatter tummy and the ability to maintain their new improved silhouette.
Typically you will not loose that much weight with a tummy tuck. A range of 1-4 pounds would be average. A tummy tuck is not a weight loss procedure. The benefits are a flatter abdomen with a better contour.
Most patients see a profound improvement in their figures following a tummy tuck. Typically the skin and fat I remove weighs 3-15 pounds, with the average being on the smaller end of that range. Patients who drop 5 pounds on the scale appear as though they lost 20 pounds because of the large amount of skin that is removed.
This procedure is not really a weight loss procedure. The tissue removed is the skin and fat from the belly button to the pubic hairline. Whatever you can grab, we can remove!
The bigger part of this procedure that most women don’t know about is the “internal corset” that is performed on the muscle layer.
This is what gives patients the hourglass waistline after a tummy tuck, and is every bit as important as the amount of tissue removed.
How much weight you lose depends on how thick the skin and fat layer is on your lower abdomen. However, the purpose of this surgery is not weight loss, but reshaping your body. Tummy tuck can give you a waist again. The center of the hour glass is very important for your overall shape and a tummy tuck can usually deliver that.
Despite the amount of tissue that may hang from your abdomen, very little weight is lost by removing the tissue. The fat and skin removed may occupy a large area, but this tissue doesn’ t weight that much. I tell patients to think of the tissue removed like a piece of styrofoam, occupying a large space but not weighing much.
A tummy tuck is generally not used for weight loss purposes. Typically there is minimal to no change in weight since a majority of what is removed from the procedure is skin.
The amount of weight a patient will lose after a tummy tuck procedure will vary depending upon a number of factors. These include, how much skin is resected and how much fat is removed. The typical range is between 5 and 8 pounds. I have had some patients lose 3-4 pounds and others who have lost 20-25 pounds.
Tummy tucks do more to improve shape and contour than removing excess weight. The ideal candidate often loses only a pound of skin. The real benefit comes from the improved muscle tone and contour as well as improved skin tone from the tightening procedure.
It is possible to have very little weight loss after a tummy tuck. If your skin is thin without much fat, your weight change will be minimal, perhaps only 1-2 lbs
If you have a very thick amount of extra skin, you can expect to lose 2-5+ lbs but not initially. You will have tummy tuck swelling and water retention from the surgery and your weight might even be INCREASED! Don’t worry it will decrease after 2-6 months
Tummy tucks are to remove and smooth the extra rolls of fat and skin in the tummy and waist area, of course you will lose some weight but it is not primarily a weight reduction surgery.
The amount of weight removed is usually not much. It may weigh less than a pound in a thin patient or several pounds if a patient with more loose skin and fatty excess. Remember that early on you may not notice much weight loss due to fluid retention so you may not notice weight loss at all for several weeks.
For most women, loosing inches is more obvious with tummy tuck instead of loosing pounds. We are removing excess skin and fat, and tightening weak abdominal muscles. Excess skin typically does not weigh that much, but can be very bulky. Ideally, you will get your best results if you loose your excess weight first.
A tummy tuck operation will usually provide excellent improvement in appearance by removing excess skin and repairing abdominal muscles that have been stretched by pregnancy or weight gain. Surprisingly however the skin and fat that are removed with a tummy tuck do not usually weigh as much as one might think. Frequently the amount of tissue removed can weigh just between 1 and 5 lbs. There are, of course, some exceptions to this.
Typically, patients will loose anywhere from 3-5 pounds from their tummy tuck procedures. This minimal weight loss may be surprising to some; however, it is important to realize that these are body contouring procedures, and not a weight loss substitute.
During many tummy tuck procedures, including my own CLASS Tummy Tuck technique, liposuction is utilized in conjunction with skin excision and muscle plication to improve the overall contour of the abdomen. Although you will see significant improvements in abdominal appearance with this procedure, the resultant weight loss is minimal.
I do not think of a tummy tuck surgery as a modality of weight loss. With that said, some may anticipate losing some weight. Some patients may in fact, see the reverse of a slight weight gain because of the intraoperative fluid retention. However, this is generally lost shortly after surgery.
Those with a low body mass index are likely not to lose much less weight from a tummy tuck surgery. Patients with a body max index over 30, however, can potentially lose as much as 8 to 10 pounds.
Again, this is entirely dependent on your weight and body mass index at the time of surgery. Other things to consider is how much of the tissue to be removed are skin versus subcutaneous fat?
And of course, how much liposuction is performed and added at the time of the tummy tuck procedure.
So the “weight loss” question is quite variable and very individualized.