Empowering Woman Shares The Truth About Extreme Weight Loss

If you have ever wondered what 50 kilograms shed from an obese woman looks like, Elna Baker will show you.

The writer and performer spoke out in an emotional article about her extreme weight loss in Refinery29, sharing some photographs taken after losing more than 50 kilograms of fat.

The pictures show the blonde looking tormented with her new body, holding folds of skin in her hands and sitting down in front of the mirror staring at her stomach.

Although Elna shed the weight some seven years ago now, she has only recently spoken out about her emotional battle after visiting a health retreat with her partner in which guests spent time naked in an outdoor spa.

She said being asked to follow her partner naked into spa with a group of strangers caused her to feel insecure about her body image, conjuring up old memories of losing weight.

“It wasn’t just typical body-image issues (though I have those, too). I don’t look like you’re “supposed” to look naked. I used to be obese. At my heaviest, I weighed 120kg. In my early 20s, I went on a diet and lost, in total, 50 kg. I’d imagined that losing weight would be like that scene in The Little Mermaid where Ariel holds her new legs above her head, staring at them in disbelief. This was not the case. ”

Elna said after dropping the weight, she had so much extra skin she could lay on her side and pull it a half-foot in either direction.

She eventually resorted to plastic surgery, having four procedures in total, including breast implants, a body lift and two years later, a circumferential body lift.

“They made an incision around my entire waist, cut out a 6-inch belt of skin, and then sewed me back together, removing over 10 pounds of my skin in total. I also got a thigh lift: They cut up my legs from knees to groin and took out as much skin as they could. To heal, I had to sit in bed for a month with my legs spread open. Sorry, roommates. Now, I have a scar that runs completely around my waist, as if a magician cut me in half,” she said.

Elna jokes about her body still, saying that when she holds her arms and legs out, she looks like a flying squirrel. She also makes comments on her stretch marks that run town the tops of her shoulders.

Despite these insecurities, Elna faced her fear that day in the spa, walking naked in front of a group of strangers she described as “the types of people you’d expect to see in an advanced yoga class in LA.”

“…as if a magician cut me in half.”

“When I’m uncomfortable, I make faces “” big, mugging, obvious faces. Walking toward one of the group baths, a kiddie pool sardined with the beautiful people, I instantly reverted to my middle school self, rolling my eyes at the hot women. To cheer myself up, I invented a song, which I sang in my head as I passed people: You got that super-fly body; I got that octo-mom body.

“My boyfriend had never seen me behave like this, and asked if I was okay. I just scowled, acting like a sullen teenager. After about 10 minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore and excused myself to one of the solo baths. I sunk down in the tub, letting the water hide me like a blanket. Everything was covered except for the perfect, white circle of my knee poking out of the water.”

Her advice for others: Don’t let who you used to be prevent you from getting the things in life that are available to you now.

“I don’t know about you, but I am so sick of striving for fucking beauty.”

“It has taken up 10 to 20% of my time and thoughts on a daily basis for the past 20 years. It has robbed me of doing more important, loving, honest things. And, after all this time, I’m not even that good at it,” she said.

“Sure, there’s an “after” picture here, and in it, I look fine (I hope). But, I wouldn’t let them take new pictures of me for this story, because I weigh about 20 pounds more than I did then. So, I feel like a hypocrite writing something that is supposed to tell others to accept themselves when I don’t accept myself. The truth is, I genuinely think everyone should accept themselves “” everyone, except for me. This is the disease I am still trying to overcome.”