Patient Stories
Rebecca’s Weight Loss and Skin Removal Journey
What started as a weight loss journey, evolved into growth, discovery, and self-love that goes beyond the physical. Overcoming every obstacle thrown her way, Rebecca carved chaos into transformation for herself, her daughters, and the generations to come.

My weight gain started right after I graduated high school.
People who have never experienced major weight gain love to over-simplify how one actually becomes obese. It isn’t just sitting on the couch and overeating (though that certainly played a part in my journey).
As I’m sure anyone who’s been obese will tell you, my path to being almost 300 pounds was more than just overeating. It was a blend of things in and out of my control.
To start, I had a terrible relationship with food. I grew up very poor with my single mom and younger siblings. There were a lot of times when we didn’t have a lot of food to eat.
Maybe that’s what fueled my desire to keep eating as an adult—knowing there was food now and I should take advantage of it.
As the oldest kid, I was expected to play a role in raising my siblings. I spent my childhood caring for them without a ton of support from the adults in my life.
The stress of parenting my younger siblings paved the way for anxiety and depression. The medication I was prescribed to manage my depression came with side effects, two major ones being hormonal changes (that further fueled my PCOS) and weight gain.
PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome, is a life-long and hereditary disease—almost every woman in my family has it and it also comes with a long list of side effects:
- Weight gain: PCOS can impact metabolism, making it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it. Between 40% and 80% of people with PCOS are obese.
- Type 2 diabetes: More than half of people with PCOS develop type 2 diabetes by age 40.
- PCOS can also increase the risk of other chronic health conditions, such as gestational diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure (to name a few).
I started noticing the effects of PCOS in high school. It was slow at first, but as soon as I graduated, the weight just came like a snap and it was there. Within three years of graduating high school, I put on 100 lbs.
It didn’t help that after graduation I lived with people who enjoyed cooking all the things you’re not supposed to eat—sweets and desserts and all the carbs.
Though if I’m being honest, it wasn’t even so much what I was eating, it was how much I was eating. When everything felt dark and gloomy and I felt very alone, food was comfortable.
Everything combined just kind of blew up, and before I knew it I was almost 300 pounds.
When everything felt dark and gloomy and I felt very alone, food was comfortable.

My weight loss journey started at rock bottom.
I was pregnant with our youngest when I found out my husband was cheating on me. And as dark as it sounds, if he didn’t do what he did, and we weren't in that space, I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be in this self-love era of wanting to improve.
Neither of us came from a healthy family environment. We had never seen a functional, healthy relationship in our lives, and it showed in the way we managed our own marriage and communication.
It seemed our lives, together and separately, had been one hardship after the other. We had no money. We were living with family. We had jobs that were barely paying the bills. We didn’t know how to love each other and had no healthy ways to cope with the stress that was the whirlwind of our lives.
I was overweight and struggling to play with our oldest, a toddler at the time, for more than a few minutes without getting tired. I was battling anxiety and depression, both seeming to beat me every time. I was at rock bottom. I was 24 years old and I had nothing to show for it.

The infidelity sparked a fire in me. I was tired of choosing everyone else, tired of taking care of every single person in my life up to that point, except myself. I realized I needed help. He needed help. We, as a couple, needed help.
We each started individual therapy and also began couples therapy.
I’ll never forget one day in my individual session, my therapist said, “You don’t love yourself at all.” And she was right. I didn’t.
I didn’t know how. I had never met an adult who loved themselves. I watched my mom make decisions and stay in situations that hurt and disrespected her. Affirmations did not happen and were not taught or given in my house growing up. I was told over and over again that I was not enough and I believed them.
I was told over and over again that I was not enough and I believed them.
With the help of therapy, I began to rely on and trust myself. I stopped looking for validation in those around me. Instead, I started validating myself, telling myself I was worthy, and really started to believe these things were/are true. I was unlearning and recognizing so much of the role I played in my own life and the problems that seemed to just “find” me.
My husband and I committed to our therapy together, bringing what we were learning from our individual sessions into our joint ones. Slowly, but surely, I started to heal. He started to heal. We, as a couple, started to heal.
From there, it seemed like everything else just started falling into place.
I kept seeing all of these people on TikTok going through weight loss surgery. They looked incredible. Their lives and experiences felt like a dream, not a reality that could or would ever happen for me.
But the more I looked around at my life, the more I realized I just wanted more. At the end of the day, no one was going to change my life for me. I didn’t want this to be “it” for me and decided it was time to make my weight loss dream a reality.
Losing Weight and Plateauing After Gastric Bypass Surgery
It’s been three years since I had gastric bypass surgery. Anyone who hasn’t gone through it will tell you it’s this easy way out. Anyone who has gone through it will tell you it’s one of the most physically and mentally demanding things you can do.
What they don’t tell you is that you don’t always lose what the doctors predict you’ll lose. I’ve talked with people who only lost 20 pounds after their weight loss surgery. I was lucky to lose 60 pounds before I plateaued.
I was determined to keep going. I didn’t go through the pain of surgery and recovery to still be overweight. I got myself a personal trainer (which helped tremendously) and worked my butt off to lose another 70 pounds. I lost 145 pounds in total.
I remember the first time I went to a business meetup after I had lost over 100 pounds. I still had the loose skin, but you could tell I was thin. I’m in real estate development, a field dominated by men—I’ve been to dozens of those meetups. The “fat” me never got the time of day. Men would look right past me like I was nothing.
This time, for the first time, people and men were talking to me, asking me questions, introducing themselves. I started to recognize that I was no longer invisible and to be honest, It was frustrating. I remember turning to my husband and saying, “Do you see? This is what’s wrong. I had to lose over 100 pounds just for someone to think I was powerful.”
I had to lose over 100 pounds just for someone to think I was powerful.
My weight loss journey continued with skin removal surgery.
After losing over 140 lbs, I felt “skinny,” but I still didn’t feel good. I was battling a new issue and seeing the effects of major weight loss—body dysmorphia, fear of gaining the weight back, and a lot of loose skin.
I was 28 years old and had this apron just hanging there and my boobs were sagging. Everyone kept telling me that the extra skin was fine, that it was part of it, but I didn’t want to look like that after I worked so hard to lose all that weight.

I felt a burning sensation inside of me to be my dream girl. I was inspired by Dr. Hunter’s Instagram and his before and after photos and all of the life-changing surgeries I saw in Bustmob.
I decided that was going to be me and I wasn’t going to let my fear of surgery or recovery determine whether or not I got to be my own role model. So I booked a consultation.

As of today, I’ve had two phases of skin removal surgery with Dr. Hunter in Raleigh, NC. My first phase was a mommy makeover—a breast lift with implants and a tummy tuck.
The breast lift removed the damaged, stretched-out skin and the implants helped give shape and life back to my boobs. The tummy tuck removed the loose skin from my stomach. The tummy tuck also included liposuction and muscle repair to bring the ab muscles back together (much needed after two kids and 145 pounds lost).

I remember how genuine and wonderful that whole team was. I was absolutely blown away by the aftercare. It was everything and more. I don’t think I could have asked for a better doctor or team.
Every time I had a concern or just wanted to ask a silly question, I got a response if not immediately, within an hour—even after-hours I got responses. I felt like every single person on my team cared and I can’t say that about a lot of experiences I’ve had at other medical offices.
Amelia just felt very family-oriented and that was one of the biggest reasons for my decision to have my second procedure.
My second surgery was a thighplasty, also known as a thigh lift, to remove excess skin and fat from my inner thighs. I only had my surgery a few months ago and my final results won’t be until around a year post-op, but already I’m in love.

As for the recovery time, something I was deeply worried about as a working mom with two kids, it turns out wasn’t as long as I had anticipated. My husband was so emotionally and logistically supportive, ensuring I was cared for and that our girls, home, and business were cared for too.
For my mommy makeover (my tummy tuck and breast lift), I was up moving around on the second day and back to extracurricular stuff by day 4 post-op. Granted the thigh lift recovery was a little slower and longer, but even still I would do it all over again.
For me, the skin removal surgery was so necessary. Being overweight my whole adult life stripped me of any confidence and carrying around all that extra skin made me feel like I wanted to hide in my body.
Skin removal gave me the confidence I didn’t have, and now I just want to show the world who I really am. It helped me blossom into the person I am today. I feel better about myself and that makes me want to do better things with my life.
I feel better about myself and that makes me want to do better things with my life.

If you think I’ve changed, it’s because I have.
If someone saw me on the street and said, “You’re not the same person.” I’d say, “You’re right. I’m not.” That’s what transformation is.
People say to me all the time, “You were beautiful before” and “You’ve always been this kind person who just wants to do more.”
And that may be true, but I was kind of hidden. I was not an outgoing person. I was very shy. There was no confidence. There was nothing. I lived in sweatpants and sweatshirts. I just didn’t want anyone to look at me. I didn’t want to be seen.

I’ve worked so hard to get out of that dark space—the old chaos and sadness that felt so familiar and normal for so long. I am so different now.
I don’t want to be hidden. I don’t want to stay in the house. I want to do my hair and put on cute outfits. I want my voice to be heard. I want to put myself out there and make all of my dreams come true.
I’m now allowing myself to see all the opportunities and they just keep coming. My possibilities are endless. I didn’t see or think about that when I was 300 lbs.
As time goes on, I want more and I just want to keep growing. I want life to be grand and amazing.

This photo was taken on my birthday (Christmas Eve!) in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The last three years have been so fast and full—the infidelity, weight loss, the skin removal, buying our own house, a better career, a new perspective.
It’s messed up to say the infidelity is what sparked all of this for me. I really thought I was going to end up a single mom with a two-year-old and a new baby. But as dark as that time was, I would not choose a different path.
Am I still hurt about the infidelity? Yes, I think I’ll carry that forever. But the way he looks at me now and the way I look at him and the way our relationship is we wouldn't be here without all that chaos.
I feel like if I never gained the weight, I would have never started the journey, had a plastic surgery and skin removal, and had the opportunity to help other women in this way.
Listening to it, living it. It’s been a difficult journey, a necessary journey to be my best self, to show up for myself, to love myself, and I would do it again.
Now that everything is done I’m able to enjoy it for what it is. My husband and I are now in a beautiful place. I’m grateful for the work we’ve done individually and the work we’ve done together.
I bought a house. I am leveling up in my career. I’m doing things I never thought in a million years I would be able to do.

Through my journey, I realized how much of a cool person I am and how I am a breath of fresh air and I can be the person that I want to be. No one can take that from me. Even if it’s lonely, it’s going to be okay.
The growth is beautiful and so worth it.
The weight loss was for me. The lifestyle is for my kids.
The weight loss and skin removal were for me, but the lifestyle is for my two daughters. I want to show my kids that they can do anything. I want my girls to know they are boss babes and they can make their dreams come true too. I want them to see what it looks like when an adult loves and cares for themselves.
Everything I do for myself shows up in my kids. All the decisions I’m making right now in my career and health, are all for them and generations to come.
I’m rooting for my daughters’ futures and for every woman to know they deserve to feel so good, so hot, in their minds and bodies.


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