The ugly downside of losing nearly 200 pounds

U Yalena Figueroa lost 188 pounds

after undergoing a vertical sleeve
gastrectomy in January 2013. But
while the weight was gone, pounds
of excess skin remained on her now-
slimmer frame — serving as a
constant reminder of how much the
Astoria, Queens, 28-year-old had let
herself go
“I didn’t think I was attractive,”
Figueroa tells The Post. “I needed to
hear from him that he found me
attractive and this was OK for him. I
couldn’t figure out how anybody
would be attracted to that.”
While out with friends, she became
self-conscious about all that excess
skin. And the latex compression
garments she had to wear made her
unable to enjoy basic physical
activities with her daughters, ages 11
and 5.

“I had just gotten my feet wet with
having such a productive life, and
now I had to take a few months to
take it easy and I just didn’t know
what to do with myself,” she says.
“I’m going to the gym now, but my
core strength isn’t there. Now I have
to start from scratch.”But Figueroa says it’s all worth it.Not only is she free of the

compression garments that held her
back from being an active mom, but
she’s finally wearing clothes she
always wanted to — including
sleeveless tops. She’s even started
planning her wedding, something she
never wanted to focus on when she
was heavy or living with excess skin
.