I am better now than I have ever been. I may qualify as the best if I win the fitness competition I finally had the guts to enter a few weeks ago. I have pulled no stops these past three months, going on the Atkins diet, hiring a trainer, and now the big one (forgive the play on words): Breast Augmentation in Los Angeles.
Nobody told me there is no established game plan on how to continue training in order to be prepared for an event after having breast augmentation in Beverly Hills, or that the surgery would disable and affect me for quite some time. I found out, for example, that if I was too aggressive with returning to my routine or that if I were to infect my sutures I might permanently injure my health. So I am telling you now: If you think you want or need cosmetic work on your body, do it but do intelligently. Do the research on how it will or will not affect your health, do your research on the institution and the surgeon you choose, and design a comprehensive program in advance of your surgery, to which you will reintroduce your body to a recovery and fitness regimen. Now it is just five weeks before The Competition. But wait, I can almost hear the gasps. What? And Why? Did I have to do that? Did I really have to go under the knife in order to compete? Let me state firmly that I did not have the procedure performed for the competition. I did it because I had wanted to improve that part of myself aesthetically for as long as I can remember, and I felt I was mature enough to understand the risks and consequences involved. I was already doing everything else in my power to naturally improve my personal beauty both inward and out, and to maximize the potential of my total body fitness. However, in today’s fitness and pageantry event environment in order for me to be competitive I knew that realistically, fair, or not, a bigger bust size would improve my chances. More importantly, I knew I needed the boost for my own confidence, making me a more formidable contender. No matter what the judges out there will think, how I feel about myself is tantamount to my success. Before the surgery, I felt just disproportionate enough to feel I always had to overcompensate for it. So, I did something about it. What is the big hush, hush secret? I am not shy or ashamed to admit I had “Breast Enhancement Surgery.” I am thrilled! I absolutely love what effect it has added to my presence. Now my physique has an edge it did not naturally and could not naturally, because although my symmetry was near perfect, my proportion was not. Before and since my breast enhancement, I searched high and low find information that would best help me continue my fitness-training program and it was near non-existent. You will still find that most women who go for the procedure will deny it, or keep it secret, as though it were something to be ashamed of. Is it that it is an”unnaturally” achieved edge, fear, or just plain embarrassment that encourages silence on the topic of breast augmentation within the fitness world? If so, I’m here to break that silence. Please be clear, this is not about advocating breast augmentation. This is an effort to stop hiding it and lying about it. This is to encourage forums for fitness experts and fans, performers, and competitors to support each other in the transformation. I am not a medical doctor, a nutritionist, nor am I a physical trainer or therapist. But I have done my research and I went through trial and error through everything I am about to suggest. Every woman must go at her own pace and seek expert advice from qualified professionals. I am just a woman who is passionate about beautiful bodies and who wants to have done her best to achieve one. If you decide on cosmetic surgery, congratulations and best of luck! If not, perhaps you can assist someone who is in the process. There is much more than just the obvious change that occurs, there is a compound evolution that inevitably follows: physically, emotionally, and socially. I am speaking out because I wish I had understood all aspects of physical fitness recovery more clearly. Why must we remain so ill -informed on what to do after breast augmentation surgery? This article’s purpose is to suggest some practices you can implement when undergoing breast augmentation so that your progress in fitness training is not wasted and your muscles do not begin to atrophy. There’s an incredible deficit of information on how the serious fitness enthusiast can cosmetically improve her body without jeopardizing the work necessary in order to maintain and progress toward a goal that is time specific and maybe the difference between losing or winning a competition you have sacrificed much for. Following are some tips I hope you will find helpful if you decide to enhance or augment your body during a time when you are committed to a competition. OPTIMUM STRATEGY FOR BREAST AUGMENTATION FITNESS RECOVERY AND PREPARATION: Preparation:Two Weeks Prior To Surgery: Do begin to take 1000 to 1500 mgs of highly absorbable vitamin C daily, and drink 10-12 8oz glasses of water a day (preferably mineral and/or electrolyte enhanced). If possible, go to a health store and purchase Arnica, a homeopathic remedy for faster healing and trauma recuperation. Make no mistake about it, breast surgery, particularly when performed under the muscle, is traumatic to the body. It must be fortified and prepared to battle infection and to encourage recuperation. Do as much cardio and toning exercise as you can to build up your fitness level. I suggest cardio at least five times a week for forty to fifty minutes to increase your metabolism rate. Strength training three times a week at your highest intensity is also important, utilizing at least six to eight exercises particularly for shoulders, chest, back, and abs since those will be dangerous to do for a while after surgery. Do not over work your body. It is important for your immune system to be at the optimum functioning level so that healing will be quicker and more responsive and so that your program will be quicker and easier to resume. Post-Surgery Recovery:First Ten Days: Do commit entirely to the task of healing. Listen to your doctor’s orders! Get eight hours of sleep a night, maintaining an upright semi-reclining position so that the fluids in your upper body begin descend. You will be bloated. This is a natural process of the healing. Do take naps during the day when necessary. Utilize your painkillers. Continue with the Vitamin C and Arnica supplementation. Do keep your sutures clean, by soaping them with mild-disinfectant soap, and rinsing them immediately. Dry the sutures quickly after showering with a blow dryer, and make sure to keep your bra and bandages on day and night as much as possible. Do not allow sutures to become saturated with water, lotions, or oils, and don’t apply ointments or lubricants to aid in quicker healing. Instead, try a cold compress two to three times a day to relieve discomfort and swelling. Make sure to use a cloth between your skin and the compress to prevent freezer burn. Do begin walking the second day after surgery, but keep a slow and easy, steady pace. Keep adding to your distance every day remembering not to swing your arms, keeping torso movement minimal and your intensity low to medium (you do not want more swelling, exacerbation, or sweating into your sutures). Resuming A Training Regimen:Two Weeks Post-Surgery: Do remember to respect your body. After your sutures are out, between ten days and sixteen days after surgery, you can become more active, but start with lower body. Try the stationery bike only 20 to 30 minutes a day only for at a lower to moderate resistance for one week. Add leg lifts, lunges, and controlled squats for rotating set of three at twenty to thirty repetitions a pop. All exercises should be without weights. Do not exceed thirty minutes of this kind of bodywork. It will exhaust your body and possibly hinder your healing or make your body more vulnerable to injury or infection.Keep hydrated. Stick to the twelve glasses of water a day. Diet wisdom is imperative at this stage. Stick to a comprehensive, simple, repetitive low carbohydrate meal plan. The first two or three days after surgery, you may have little to no appetite. Your hunger will return but now you will be sedentary. Include fibrous leafy greens, low-sugar fresh fruits, and white meats in your diet. These will help maintain your weight and accelerate your recovery with nutrition and antioxidant protection. Do refrain from excessive supplements and/or any diet pill unless you have your doctor’s permission at this time. Getting Back In the Game:Six Weeks Post-Surgery: Do go on a proactive, low carbohydrate, low fat, and high protein diet after you have completed a full month of recovery. Design your menu each day to duplicate the last and the next. For example: Meal One: 16 oz Lite Oatmeal, Meal Two: 3 Egg White & Crabmeat Scramble, Meal Three: 6 ozs Roast Chicken w/4 Asparagus sticks, Meal Four: 1 6oz Protein Shake, Meal Five: 4ozs Grilled Chicken Tenders w/ Asparagus and Tofu Salad, and Meal Six: 1 cup sugar-free Jell-O. Do not deviate from this menu but for perhaps the errant Atkins Advantage protein bar every other day for your sugar fix. Avoid high-energy drinks unless they are low in sodium (under 10 mgs) and zero cals, 0 carbs, 0 fat and less than 90 grams of caffeine. Caffeine stimulates the low blood sugar level and gives a false feeling of energy, which quickly dissipates. You want to eliminate the cravings and maximize on real energy, which is found in real food, real protein, and real fiber. I am exactly five weeks out from my competition. I weigh 118 lbs, I have my new bodacious breasts, my abs are like a springboard, and my hips are lean, but I am not done. I must sculpt the gluts, hams, and quads; I want an eight pack, the six is not enough; and my arms must look like art, gently curving lifted biceps, swollen triceps, and shoulders that foreshadow my entrance on stage. In one week, on the doctor’s say-so, I can resume my previous routine now enhanced and accelerated for hard-core intensity and fast-yielding results. I will eat with the precision and regularity a mechanic lubes and fuels a car. The time is coming again for the sits-ups and the push-ups, the pull-downs and the presses, jumping rope and running stairs. For now, I ride the stationery bike and walk the elliptical, I lunge and squat and I work avidly on my leg lifts. I plan to look back and say I’m a winner and I want that medal to prove it. Oh, and I want the body that shouts, Better!With best wishes,N. Risley Downs The author of this article is N. Risley Downs and can be found on http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/BETTERNO/. She is a Lifestyle Consultant in Los Angeles, California and this year in October she competed for the Ms. Bikini California title in San Diego. She won the competition. Her inspiration in fitness is her younger brother, Trevor, who lives in Kenya, an avid body builder who has won several titles of his own.
Brachioplasty, also known as Arm Lift or Arm Tuck, is a plastic surgery procedure designed to remove redundant, flabby, and sagging skin folds of the upper arms. Hanging arm skin folds, also known as “Bat Wings,” “Batwing Deformity” and “Bingo Wings” are not only unsightly, but also interfere with one’s ability to fit in sleeved tops, as well as causing underarm skin rash and irritation. Candidates for Arm Lift surgery are often embarrassed by their large and “jiggley” arms which they can’t hide! Brachioplasty can now offer patients the freedom of a lifestyle that they couldn’t enjoy previously. In fact, the popularity of Brachioplasty has soared to a point that according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of Brachioplasty plastic surgeries has tripled since 1997, with nearly 15,000 procedures being performed in 2005. Arm Lift surgery is not exclusive to women. Actually, many men also undergo Brachioplasty. The majority of candidates for Brachioplasty are those have lost massive weight following Bariatric Surgery, also known as “stomach stapling” or “lap banding.” While these patients reap many health and psychological benefits from this weight loss, one of its aftereffects is sagging skin that hangs from the arms and other parts of the body. Because the skin has lost its elasticity following years of obesity, no amount of diet or exercise can restore firmness and tone to the arms. Another group of Arm Tuck candidates are those who have developed upper arm flabbiness, simply due to the loss of elasticity that accompanies aging or chronic tanning. Fortunately, Brachioplasty or Arm Lift can help restore a person’s ability to wear blouses and shirts comfortably, to show their arms without feeling self-conscious, and to conduct their lives with greater freedom and confidence. Men and women who are not good candidates for Brachioplasty include those who predominantly have excess fat, which are better served with first undergoing Liposuction. Also, people with Hidradenitis Suppurativa — a persistent ongoing infection of the sweat glands in their armpits, should not undergo Brachioplasty until treated appropriately. Finally, women who have had Radical Mastectomy or extensive breast cancer surgery are at risk of developing chronic arm swelling after undergoing Brachioplasty. The type of Brachioplasty performed by your plastic surgeon depends upon the amount and location of your excess skin. If excess hanging skin is located within two inches from the armpit, your cosmetic surgeon can potentially pull up and tuck this excess skin into the armpit with an Axillary Brachioplasty or Mini Arm Tuck. For those whose excess skin extends like a “Bat Wing” from the armpit to the elbow, the only option is the complete removal of the arm flab in a Standard Brachioplasty or Standard Arm Lift. An important consideration for Brachioplasty patients is the resulting scars. With a Mini Arm Tuck, the scar is limited to a semi-circular line hidden in the armpit. Standard Brachioplasty, however, results in a permanent scar extending the length of the upper arm, from the armpit to the elbow. This scar is either placed on the inner side of the arm, which is hidden in a normal pose; or at the bottom of the arm just, like the seam of a shirt. The severity of the scar’s appearance varies from patient to patient and cannot be predicted. Therefore, it is extremely important to decide whether having a permanent scar is a good “trade off” for having smaller and firmer upper arms.
