If you listen to 103.7 KissFM in Milwaukee, you’ve probably have heard Alley Faith talk about her wellness journey live on air. Alley is one of the co-hosts of the morning show, Riggs & Alley. She recently decided to make some life changing choices, and in turn has lost over 150 lbs.
Now that she has lost all of the weight, she decided that the next step in her journey would be to undergo skin removal surgeries, as well as a few other procedures. When someone loses large amounts of weight, it can cause the skin to sag. The procedures that Alley will be undergoing are surgeries that will help her reduce the amount of excess skin and help improve not only her appearance, but her health, too.
Alley Faith’s Procedures and Treatments
Alley will be undergoing a few different procedures here at Illume to take care of the excess skin and illuminate her look. Some of those procedures include:
One of the first things Alley has done is get Botox. Botox injections are great for smoothing out wrinkles and lines. As you can see below, the results of Alley’s Botox injections look great! With Illume, Botox injections are affordably priced, at only $10 per unit. You can get the refreshed, rejuvenated look you want without breaking the bank.
Arm lifts are great for getting that excess skin on the underside of the arm removed. The loose skin is tightened for a sleeker appearance around the arms. While weight loss can be one of the factors for someone to get an arm lift, loose skin can also be due to the natural aging process.
When it comes to losing substantial amounts of weight like Alley has, there will be skin or fat deposits that don’t go away with just diet and exercise alone anymore. Tummy tucks are a way to treat that loose skin and tighten up the abdominal area.
An Interview with Alley Faith
With Alley’s surgery date quickly approaching, we got the opportunity to spend some time with her ask her a few questions to really help understand the journey she is taking and why she chose Illume to share her experience with.
Question: Can you give us a snapshot into your weight loss journey and how it made you a candidate for cosmetic surgery?
Alley Faith: “I started losing weight about four years ago doing keto, and I spent about a year losing weight just by changing my eating. I lost 150 lbs in a year and it changed my life. Once I had lost the weight, I had skin here and there and I knew that at some point I would want to get it removed if I kept off the weight and felt comfortable. Now that I have kept it off for four years, I am at a place where I feel confident and safe to get it removed. I have been working out consistently for over a year and that has helped a lot with my body and muscle tone, but you can only tone so much before you’re just left with no fix for sagging skin. This is how I ended up as a candidate for cosmetic surgery and skin removal.
Q: What was the search like to find your cosmetic surgery team?
AF: I started looking a year after I lost weight, but I wasn’t in a place where I thought I was ready. I knew I wanted to do it eventually, so I met with a couple doctors at Illume in 2019. I had a great experience but decided I wasn’t ready. Four years later I came back when I finally felt ready and met with the doctors again and it was a positive experience just like it had been in 2019.
All these people started reaching out to me saying really positive things about Illume about their experiences, the doctors that they loved, and who their favorite was (because everyone has a favorite). I was surprised how many people had done plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery and have not talked about it. I knew that I was on the right path at that point because everyone had something positive to say about Illume. I did meet with other surgeons in the area, but it was clear that after meeting with them that I was more comfortable at Illume and trusted the doctors. Going to other places honestly made it clearer that this was where I wanted to be.
Q: When you visited with Illume in office, what made you feel comfortable and connected to our staff and doctors?
AF: What stuck out to me about Illume was overall the vibe that I can’t explain. When I came in for my original consultation, I felt comfortable from the start, whether it was from the care team or the doctors that I met with. The care team was unbelievable. All the nurses and the doctors I met with were super helpful. I had a lot of questions and they answered all of them and went just above and beyond when it came to my consultation. I knew coming in that I was going to have to take a lot of clothes off because I wanted the doctor to look at my body and consult me on what I should do. From the start I felt extremely comfortable because undressing in front of somebody can be a vulnerable position, but it felt great to be comfortable and the doctors were helpful. I felt safe, I felt like I trusted the doctors and it helped that I had a lot of good recommendations from people that have their own experiences with Illume. My gut immediately told me that this was where I should be.
Q: What does this skin removal surgery mean to you now and how does it reflect your entire journey of wellness?
AF: Having skin removal surgery at this point in my weight loss journey it feels like a full circle moment for me. I have spent four years focusing on my eating and my fitness and now I feel like I am at a really healthy spot when it comes to my weight and weight loss. I feel secure, so to do this now is like the cherry on top because as good as I feel in my new body I still have things that I can’t change with working out and I have skin that I can’t remove. It would be so nice to not have to layer up different things, like shapewear, or cover up certain parts of my body that I am really proud of. To have that freedom to finally enjoy my body and be comfortable with it. I feel like I have done everything I can do at this point, so to get the skin removed during surgery will just put me exactly where I want to be and where I deserve to be. I can’t wait!
Q: What kind of emotions are you feeling as the surgery date approaches, and what are you most excited for after surgery?
AF: I think excited would be the biggest emotion I feel. I don’t feel nervous about the surgery. Everyone keeps asking me If I am nervous and I say no, I am excited, and if there is a nervousness, it’s a nervous excited. I am looking forward to doing it to make my life better for me and being happier all around. As it gets closer, I may cry, but it’s not sadness, it’s happiness and really this is a full circle moment for me when it comes down to it. It’s so surreal that’s it’s hard to believe that it’s happening, but it is happening. I’m doing this, it’s exciting, and I’ll just enjoy the experience.
As for after the surgery, I think I am most looking forward to feeling really good in my body and not having to worry about certain clothes every day, or if I have to wear certain shapewear under two tops to make sure that nobody sees my skin hanging out of my pants. Or to workout at the gym and not be self-conscious about my arms and the skin that’s sagging below them. I would love to work out in a sports bra and be comfortable in just that. For four years I have had to cover everything up including areas that I do feel great about because the skin isn’t gone. I’m looking forward to being more comfortable in my own body.
Q: What advice do you have to people who feel intimidated by the process of cosmetic surgery and why would you recommend taking that first step with the Illume team?
AF: I completely understand why people would feel intimidated taking their first step when it comes to cosmetic surgery or skin removal surgery like I’m having, but my advice would be to take the first step with Illume and come in for a consultation. It’s the first thing I did. As soon as I got into Illume, I knew that I was comfortable and felt safe. I knew that I was happy to be here. It was well overdue coming in and just finding out about different surgeries and what I can do with my skin, so I get why it’s intimidating for a lot of people, and I total understand. But once you get your foot in the door everything becomes clear. I would also say that now knowing how many people have had a mommy makeover or skin removal surgery and hearing this directly from people themselves just reminded me that it’s safe, it’s done a lot, and everyone I know that has done it is way happier after. Everyone says I wish I had done it sooner and I have no regrets- I hear that over and over. When you hear a lot of great things like that and then you come in and see for yourself, it all just kind of fits into place.
Q: If you could talk to Alley 10 years ago and tell her that you were going to be getting this surgery, what would you say?
AF: I would probably tell myself to be nicer to myself and believe in myself, because I spent a long time not doing those things. I am super proud of where I am today. I’m proud of the hard work I have put in. And I’m proud that I have convinced and shown myself that I can keep the weight off and I don’t have to be scared to get the skin removal surgery because I feel comfortable in my journey. I would tell her that it’s going to be okay. Life might be bad right now but there is hope. Hope is the keyword that your life can get better and better and better. It doesn’t stop, it doesn’t change as you get older, and in fact it can absolutely get better and healthier as you get older.
