I have been an obese person through my childhood, adolescence and early adulthood.  All I had ever dreamed of was the day the fat suit was taken off.  If there are other overweight people out there, who have dreamed the same dream, then you can relate to my thoughts and for everyone else, well, I hope you just understand.

As a boy and young man I had dreams, varying in that they revolved around the notion of one day waking up and realising that the fat I was carrying was just a suit.  Something had rubbed off down one of my sides to reveal that there was some kind of hinge or something similar, that would lead me to discover that the suit could be removed and there was something wrong with the skinny body inside that had caused me to require the suit in the beginning. The whole idea behind the fat suit was that I was at the point in my life where I was ready to evolve and change.  I guess it was like a cocoon that I was ready to break free from.

Growing up and having dreams like this gave me a false hope that once I lost weight I would end up with that tight muscle bound body that I’d seen on other men.  Having lost the weight, I would find myself in the position where I had earned the right to enjoy the brilliant new body that came at the end of massive weight loss.

Boy, was I wrong!

As I began to lose weight, I quickly realised that the slimmer, nice body that had filled my dreams growing up, was not going to happen and the hope of ‘toning up’ was never going to be.  I was so naïve.  Even as I started to lose weight I had no idea that I would be left with all of the excess skin that had haunted me throughout my whole life.

I had never really thought about the fact that the skin I had was saggy while I was still fat let alone once I had lost 60 odd kilo’s.

As I chewed my way through the kilos, all of the bits of me that were hanging (and I hated before) were getting worse.  My belly apron was hanging further and so were my boobs.  I had become a lot ‘saggier’ as I was no longer filled with fat.

After becoming the winner of The Biggest Loser in April 2006, I had found a new life due to my weight loss. But with this new life came a lot of disappointment. After a trip to Salt, on the north coast of NSW in August 2006; I realised that I had some major issues with my body.

At the resort where we stayed ‘Peppers’, they have a beautiful, lagoon style pool.  I found I was too embarrassed to swim with my shirt off.  Now, without sounding up myself, it's not like I should have a problem.  Everybody in the resort knew who I was and would not have looked at my body in the same way that I did.  I couldn’t bring myself to swim, let alone walk around without my shirt on.

I had been toying with the notion of having surgery and had looked into it a little prior to this holiday. After that weekend away, it confirmed the issue I had with my body and it was time to take action.

I found a plastic surgeon, Dr Mark Kohout, who practices at leichardt NSW (you may have heard of him, on the news or on surgery shows like Overhaul etc) and made an appointment.

Once I had made the appointment to see Dr Kohout, I began to research the possibilities of what I thought would fix my problem.. I really began to think about what it would mean for me to have surgery to remove the excess skin. I realised that I was hoping the surgery would give me ‘closure’. I needed this surgery because psychologically I was still the same obese person.  I was proud of the fact that I had lost so much weight but I still had a body that looked exactly the same to me.  The only difference was that I could fit into a medium shirt and size 34 pants instead of a 3 or 4XL shirt and size 52 pants.
With my clothes on, I was the thin person that I had worked my “butt off” to be.  As soon as I had my cloths off, there were my boobs and all of the rest of the hanging skin.  I often  felt cheated. after all of this effort to lose weight, I was still burdened with this fat saggy body and ,of all things, I still had boobs!
‘This isn’t how it was meant to be.
  I had lost weight so now I should have this great body.’

After going to four other surgeons, I really felt most comfortable with Dr Kohout.  It is very important if you are considering something like this that you are:

1. Comfortable with the surgeon; and
2. Comfortable with their past work you have see

Armed with knowing exactly what I wanted from Dr Kohout and the surgery itself, we began to plan the procedures.

The operations I chose to have were:

• A full circumferential body lift which is a combination of a tummy tuck, an outer thigh lift and a buttock  lift, so in other words what Dr Kohout was going to do was cut me all the way around from my belly button to my belly button.
• The next operation was a gyneocamastia which is a male breast reduction and lift, and also would rid my of those “tuckshop lady” arms, and
• The last of the procedures was an inner thigh lift.

My first surgery which was on the 3rd October 2006 was the full body lift.  I was on the operating table for over 6 hours and woke to find that everything went better then well.
I was on my way to recovery and actually left the hospital after 4 days. 
At my 7 day check up, Dr Kohout was impressed with my recovery and how well my body had responded to the surgery. He had removed 4 kilos of skin and the dimensions were (if you can imagine a belt around my waist) nearly 25cm from the belly section, 13.5cm off my hips and 10cm off my back ( I imagine it to look something like a Champion title belt for boxing).  There was no pain, in my opinion but there was a lot of discomfort and my bottom hurt from lying on it for the 2 days I was in bed.

My second operation was held on the 14th November 2006 and this operation involved removing my boobs and taking out all of the excess skin from my arms. I was on the table for only 3 ½ hours for these operations and left the hospital the second day after the operation.  I was told by Dr Kohout that what he removed from my body during this procedure was purely empty skin and only weighed in at 100gr per arm and 200gr per boob. This operation I think had Dr Kohout a little nervous as he had never had to make such large boobs flat. I mean the doctor has done hundreds of boob jobs but I wasn’t exactly after perkier breasts. After this operation, I felt no pain and I didn’t use the PCA (self controlled pain relief) at all.  The main risk for this operation, was that my nipples had to be skin grafted back on and there was a chance that they may not ‘take’.  When I went back for my 7day check up, he was amazed by the amount in which my body had healed, again.

I believe that the fast recovery and healing process was due to a healthy mind and body.  I went into the operations expecting a particular outcome and never doubted the benefits that surgery held for me. The psychological closure from being the old fat person to being the “new me” was what I was after and it was definitely what I got.
I am most impressed and amazed with the fantastic results. I have a scar that wraps around my body which is about as thin as a pen line and the same on my chest and arms.

As with all surgery there are little bits that still need adjusting and correcting but I am still very impressed and think that I made a wise choice, with a brilliant surgeon. Thank you again, Dr Mark Kohout, for everything so far, and in the future.

I have filmed interviews and the actual surgery itself with a professional film crew, Laurance, Curson and Adrian Irwin. I am considering making a documentary about the effects of excess weight and weight loss, as there is so much more to consider when it comes to weight loss. How do we handle the ‘what now?’ feelings and the disappointment that life isn’t suddenly peachy after the weight loss? The main reason for the documentary is to give an inside look at what to expect and what not to expect, and to do it through the eyes of someone whom most of Australia can relate to, Me. Adro Sarnelli the winner of The Biggest Loser 2006!