Warning: The photo below is graphic and may disturb some readers.
It's the downside of extreme weight loss, and some end up with it, some don't – baggy, saggy skin.
It all comes down to genetics, muscle mass, how much you've gained and how much you've lost.
In the past month, two high-profile weight-loss bloggers, both of them New Zealanders, have undergone skin-removal surgeries in the United States.
Elora Harre from Christchurch is the first to return home and the first to show off her new figure.
Online, Elora calls herself the Shrinking Violet, but she's never been shy about showing off her body or her fat pants.
She even prepared a meal to eat, live on TV, to showcase her switch to healthy eating – no gastric surgery; diet and exercise alone are how she shed 55 kilograms, from size 24 to a size 14.
Fellow Kiwi dieter Simone Anderson, whom Story met a fortnight ago, has also just undergone skin-removal surgery in the US, also funded by online followers.
Elora's Givealittle page raised $12,000, which was then matched by Los Angeles plastic surgeon, Dr Cat Begovic, who saw Elora's story and gifted US$8000 of consult and surgery time.
Two-and-a-half kilograms of skin and tissue were removed from Elora's abdomen.
Elora is now home in Christchurch, still swollen, but without her "apron".
"I don't have to tuck my skin into my pants anymore," she says. "I can see my bellybutton. That's a huge one. It's just such a good feeling that I'm not going to have to put up with any infections and ongoing skin problems."
Back, underarms and upper legs – Elora would like to be rid of it all over time. At age 21, time is on her side.
Elora's excess skin is seen following surgery (supplied)
Story
