A former XXXXXL mom who had to undergo double mastectomy to reduce the risk of cancer. This allowed her to undergo breast reconstruction surgery.
Tori Phillips, 39, used food comfortably for a long time for difficult upbringing and already weighed around 180 pounds. By the time she turned 11.
Over the years she tried diet and exercise programs, but she was always putting on weight again.
However, the fear of health in her late 30s was the push she needed to lose weight, halving her weight following stomach sleeves, dieting and surgery to remove excess skin.
Phillips' difficult childhood left her with food as a coping mechanism from a young age. She sneaks the treat into the bathroom and swallows them when no one was watching.
“I think my weight has been noticeable since I was just about seven years old,” she said. “I was given a Barbie exercise videotape for my 8th birthday!
At school, she was the biggest in her class and had no interest from the boys. By the age of 18, she weighs 350 pounds.
The worse her mental health becomes, the more she will resort to food to comfort her. And her meal featured most of pizza, burritos and “all pints of ice cream.”
At 21, she was 420 pounds. Size xxxxxl – her heaviest weight – but she couldn't avoid it whenever she lost weight.
“I overexercise and underestimate. I used to turn black in the grocery store. And I never kept losing weight,” she said.
However, in 2014, Phillips found out she had the BRCA1 gene and was at risk for breast cancer. Due to the nature of breast cancer and the family history, doctors told her that she needed a double mastectomy before her 39th birthday.
In the meantime, she met her husband and welcomed her daughter, Caitlyn. If she does not become slim, she will undergo reconstructive surgery after her double mastectomy.
In February 2022, she decided to pursue bariatric surgery and went under a knife in September 2022 for the stomach sleeve.
The following year, she solved “hardcore” with weight training and peloton, and tied her down again.
“I knew bariatric surgery wasn't a magic pill. It was a mental game. But it also helped me mentally prepare me for my mastectomy journey.”
Phillips lost weight to 244 pounds. I had a double mastectomy in January 2024 and had booked myself for skin removal surgery in August 2024.
She went under the knife and had over 28 pounds. The skin of the skin removed from her stomach and arms lowered her to 210 pounds, a thinner L size.
“The last step after weight loss was to have extra skin from the abdomen and arms. It was life-changing. I've never seen my upper body without my big arms or flat stomach. That was!” she said.
“It was amazing. I couldn't wear a fitted jacket for my arms. Having my 'wings cut out', as I called it, It was life-changing for me. And I never grabbed my stomach! ”
Her hard work dumped the pound and allowed Phillips to proceed with double breast reconstruction in November.
“Now I have had my final chest reconstruction surgery. I'm half my weight and enjoy what my new body has to offer.”
Additionally, she was told that double mastectomy reduced the risk of cancer to a level that was as low as the average population level.
“Now I can start living my life without worrying,” she said.
“When I was big, when Caitlyn started walking and running, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to catch up with her. Now I can chase her and I love it. You can sit with your knees bent.
Looking back on her over 20 years of weight loss journey, Phillips said she has learned to have “compassion” in her body and mind.
“When people talk about my weight loss, it's not just what I ate,” Phillips said. “I'm also mentally healing, so I'm not struggling to keep my weight down right now. I've now learned to view food differently.
“I took years to do this and now I can enjoy life in ways I couldn't do before.”
Phillips' diet at her heaviest weight
- Breakfast: A large coffee with lots of cream and splenda. Large breakfast burrito (egg, cheese, potato, meat) or two breakfast sandwiches and a large hash brown.
- Lunch: A big sandwich with chips, large diet soda and cookie orbrowney.
- Dinner: 4 slices of pizza, diet soda, breadsticks. It serves most of the garlic bread and spaghetti.
- Snacks: Cereal and non-fat milk. An entire pint of ice cream in one setting. Most of the nachos or potato chips and dip.
- Drinks: Lots of diet sodas.
Philips' diet now
- Breakfast: Protein coffee or eggs and homemade protein bread and avocado toast. Or arugula breakfast salad, air-fried sweet potato cubes, onions, avocados and two eggs.
- Lunch: Protein pasta with garlic infused olive oil, Italian seasonings, green onions and Parmesan.
- Dinner: A salad with chopped crunchy chicken nuggets.
- Snack: Protein bar. Air Fried Carb Tortilla Strip with Homemade Cottage Cheese Dip. Apple with peanut butter. Mixed nuts. Cool whip with sugar-free pudding mix.
- Drink: A sugar-free drink mixed with water. Protein coffee.
