[beautifulone]

Hi all! just wanted to give a quick hello

I'm in my early 20s and according to the scale today, I'm at 262. I've been reading posts about stretched skin staying loose after weight loss.. which I admit has made me feel a little sad even though that's not something I'm dealing with at the moment, but I guess after all the hard work that comes with losing so much weight I had hoped that my body would look a certain way, forgetting indeed about stretch marks and skin possibly not shrinking. I want to be healthy and I want to be able to run and otherwise be physically active and fit. But a small part of me wants to look good, wear skirts, shorter sleeved shirts, etc., and feel great in that clothing... and for years I felt uncomfortable doing so because of my weight, that I thought if/when I finally lose it I'll be able to wear certain things, only to now realize that I may never feel comfortable doing so and it might be that I'll just never have had that opportunity... does that sound very shallow?? I'm not a shallow person... I'm really not, but I guess part of me always wanted this and now I'm realizing it may never happen. So I keep reminding myself that taking care of my body and my health is supremely important, that being able to participate in activities would be amazing, and in the end, looks will always go... as someone once wrote, beauty is a state of mind not a state of body. so true..

My question is, if I aim to lose around 5 pounds/month.. will that possibly aid my skin shrinking than losing something than 10 pounds/month? (of course, I have to lose all that first... easier said than done but entirely possible ) I want so much to lose weight and increase my level of fitness but at the same time I feel confused and a little lost because I'm not sure what the best (or a great) way to do that is.

So that's me. nice to meet you!

[supernurse_mommie]

great to "meet" you!

Im not sure actually.. ive been wondering this myself.. I actually do have a bit of loose skin already.. so.. *sigh*.. i guess im not gonna be a lucky one.

I know that Meg has some wonderful skin threads.. ive read them..

Best of luck to you!! Hope to see you around!

[jtammy]

Here's the link to the loose skin thread. That's a popular question .

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36040

[Sakai]

'ello and welcome !
i had problems with this as well. It almost made me want to stop losing weight. "Why lose the weight if I'll have bags of skin?" silly huh?

I was 3 pounds hevier than you when I first started working out a while back. the skin isn't very lose, more like it hangs a bit, but It slowly shrank the longer I kept at losing the weight. It needs time to recover. Plus I was young (18).. there are many good threads about here in 3FC. Don't let it stop you from your goal. Trust me. you'll be so happy you won't even care about the skin.

[thistoo]

This is something I have thought a lot about too, though it's never stopped me from wanting to lose the weight. You can still look cute in smaller clothes even with loose skin. Bikinis and such are a different story, of course, but if you reach a point where you're at goal and you're just not happy with how your body looks, then it's time to start considering surgical options.

Regardless, I don't think it makes you shallow to think about the 'after' and want to be attractive. There is a part of all of us that feels that way. And you're doing the right thing, losing slowly. Losing too fast will make the skin problem worse. One thing that can help some (but not stop it completely) with loose skin is weight training. Plus, it helps you burn calories more efficiently, so weight training is win-win.

[Glory87]

I lost around 70 lbs and I have a lot of loose skin on my belly and a little loose skin on my inner thighs and the inside of my upper arms. I have stretch marks on my stomach from weight gain/loss and stretch marks on my hips/breasts from just becoming a woman. I still look VERY CUTE in most clothes. I realized that I would never have a "super model body" in a bikini, but really, who does besides super models (who have every imperfection airbrushed and made 100 times more beautiful in magazines anyway).

[beautifulone]

Thanks so much to all, it is so comforting to know that I am not alone in this!!

Of course I will work hard towards losing weight... and I'll see what I look like when I attain my healthy goal weight. In the meantime I'll continue to remind myself that I'm doing this for my health, ability to participate in physical activities, and just feel great about myself physically - feel more like ME, and I guess along the way I'll discover more of who that is! Appearance is somewhere on the bottom of that list (whew! :smile) - thank you again!!!

[MelodyL]

Welcome to the board. I lost a lot of weight in my 20's and didn't have a lot of problems with loose skin, I think losing weight now I will, I can already see loose skin on my arms just from losing 27 pounds and I have a lot to go. But like the others said, you can still look great and there are other options to consider if it is a problem for you after you've lost the weight.

[buonoj13]

Beautifulone, I am new here too and just read your post, I wanted to say that from my own personal experience, my skin went back, I have been yoyo for years, but I was weighed 108 prior to getting pregnant with my son at the age of 25, I had been that thin due to the use of drugs, so when I found out I was pregnant I quit taking drugs, I gained over a 100 pounds, I quit getting on the scale when it hit 200. I gave birth the weight of course stayed on. I went on to lose weight over the next couple of years and went back down to about 120, and my skin went back. I didn't have pounds of skin dragging around behind me. I have since regained much of the weight I lost (again lost through the use of drugs which I will never use again because the weight just piles back on as soon as I stop), but I think at your age, skin is elastic as time goes on it loses elasticity, but I think you'd be surprised at how much it works with you. That is just my experience and I am sure there are other people who would disagree with me.

[ChocLabLover]

to the forum!