FitSpirit explores the mind-body connection and the intangible benefits we gain from our efforts to stay physically fit.

So I've got this loose skin on my tummy. I thank my little boys for this curse I can't seem to whittle away. My two whopper guys barreled into the world weighing 10 pounds, nine ounces and 10 pounds, two ounces and no matter how hard I work out or how well I eat, this baby fat just hangs on tight. It's gotten better over the years -- all four and a half of them -- but still, sometimes I wish just a little bit for a tummy tuck to erase my bothersome birthing battle scar.

Would I really follow through with a tummy tuck if money were no object? I'm not sure. That's why I asked my doctor today for his opinion on this surgery. "I think it's a bad idea," he told me. Sure, it's an option, he said. And it would probably clean up my problem pretty neatly. But it's surgery. And while tummy tucks have gotten less and less invasive -- they can be performed in a doctor's office without general anesthesia -- the procedure requires an incision from hip to hip to ensure a tidy final product. And any surgery can cause problems. Infection, mistakes, difficult recoveries, and scarring are just a few worst-case scenarios. These are the very things that cause me to stray from such a seductive surgery.

A flat tummy would undoubtedly lift my spirits. But a surgery-gone-wrong could permanently crush them. So I think I'll rely on good old-fashioned hard work as I try to fix my flab. What would you do?