You did the work and the pounds are gone, but the skin didn’t disappear.

Dr. Vincent Gardner walks through what a full body lift actually does after major weight loss: how a lower body lift combines a tummy tuck with a buttock lift and an auto-augmentation so you don’t end up flat, and how an upper body lift erases the back rolls with an open book tummy tuck that carries the incision all the way around.

He also clears up the timing questions people get wrong. You no longer have to wait a full year at a stable weight, it doesn’t matter whether you lost the weight with GLP-1s, bariatric surgery, or diet and exercise, and the single biggest predictor of how well you heal isn’t the surgery at all — it’s whether you’re getting 90 to 100 grams of protein a day.

For anyone living inside leftover skin, Dr. Gardner makes the case that this is less about the scars and more about walking out feeling like a different person.

Questions answered by this episode:

1. What is a 360 body lift and how is it different from a tummy tuck?
2. What is the difference between a lower body lift and an upper body lift?
3. What is an open book tummy tuck?
4. Do I need a buttock lift and auto-augmentation after weight loss?
5. Should I have my tummy and buttocks done at the same time or separately?
6. How stable does my weight need to be before body lift surgery?
7. Does it matter if I lost weight with GLP-1s, bariatric surgery, or diet and exercise?
8. How much protein do I need to heal after body contouring surgery?
9. How long is recovery after a 360 body lift?
10. Will body lift scars fade, and how do I make them look better?

Alabama the Beautiful is the cosmetic surgery podcast co-hosted by Dr. James Koehler and Dr. Vincent Gardner, surgeons with over 2 decades of expertise in cosmetic surgery and their trusty co-host Kirstin, your best friend, confidante, and the snarky yet loveable “swiss army knife” of Eastern Shore Cosmetic Surgery.

Have a question for Dr. Koehler, Dr. Gardner or Kirstin? Record your voicemail at alabamathebeautifulpodcast.com and we’ll answer it on the podcast.

Eastern Shore Cosmetic Surgery is located off Highway 98 at 7541 Cipriano Ct in Fairhope, Alabama. To learn more about the practice or ask a question, go to easternshoreplasticsurgery.com

Follow the team on Instagram @easternshorecosmeticsurgery

Watch Dr. Koehler, Dr. Gardner & Kirstin on YouTube @JamesKoehlerMD

Alabama The Beautiful is a production of The Axis: theaxis.io

Theme music: Never Need a Reason, Guy Trevino and Friends