Body Image and Issues after Weight Loss Including discussions about excess skin and reconstructive surgery

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Old 02-11-2008, 10:23 AM   #1  
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Default Should I Stop Losing Weight?

Wow, Meg. Thanks soooo much for taking the time to write out the FAQs for us. Such a huge help to read all this info. I'm down 80.5 lbs. and am seeing where my skin will probably not recover, inner thighs, stomach, etc. I'm ok with looking good in clothes, not necessarily naked. I have a great DH who loves me no matter what, I feel very fortunate. However, I just wonder if I should just lose down to where I've lost 100 lbs and stop. I have thought about going down to 147 or so (-130 lbs.) but getting really scared now that I will be forced to have surgery. My lower body is two sizes larger than my upper body already. Not sure how it'll be later. So far I'm losing at the same rate all over so it may stay that way, 2 sizes apart.

Anyhoo, thanks again. May I ask if anyone here has stopped losing for fear of the way their body will look afterward? I am going to make a decision soon. Any advice will help. I need to decide because if I'm not going past 177 I am going to buy all my new clothes in that size. If I am going to keep losing, I'm just buying a few and wait til the last size to buy the rest.

Thanks!! All of you in maintenance are awesome, such inspiration for those of us in pursuit of that stage.

Selina
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Old 02-11-2008, 02:55 PM   #2  
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I don't know about others, but the longer I hover near my goal weight, the less loose my skin becomes. I lost to 170 lbs. over a 2 1/2 year period. Then, I sat at 170 for over a year. Now, I'm in the process of losing the final 20 lbs. I noticed that my skin firmed up a bit over the year of maintenance. Now that I've added weight training into my routine, I'm seeing good results in my arms and legs. The skin on my stomach still bothers me. That's where I've always carried most of my weight. And I'm certainly not going to have Victoria Secret model boobs! I don't think I'll ever be running around in a bikini, but I feel optimistic that, with the loss of the rest of the weight and some time spent maintaining at goal, I might not come out looking quite as "saggy" as I had thought.

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Old 02-11-2008, 09:58 PM   #3  
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I didn't really feel confident until family members told me they'd fund skin surgery/boob job. That was one less thing to worry about to let me plow ahead with my weight loss. Of course, I try to keep in mind that I don't know what will happen the next 50/60 pounds. I can't tell the future, so why try? My skin may bounce back in maintence.
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Old 02-12-2008, 01:12 PM   #4  
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Thanks for all the input. I just know that everytime I lose, if I gain back some it only goes to my stomach and my arms and legs, face and upper body stay the same so it's not really an option to lose down and see and then gain a little back to look better. It won't go where it needs to. So I have to decide now. I think I will go to 177 and b4 buying clothes try to decide then. Any other thoughts are welcome here too. I just now got to read these, so glad you responded with your experiences.

hugs, Selina

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Old 02-13-2008, 11:58 AM   #5  
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Having lost 200 pounds many years ago, and keeping it off, I can tell you it takes at least 1 year for your skin to tighten up so don't make any decisions now about how you will be looking next year at this time. Do you exercise? I found that is the biggest help.
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Old 02-13-2008, 04:01 PM   #6  
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Smile What about a healthy weight?

You didn't mention about considering what a healthy weight is for your height and age. I am two inches taller than you. My weight range for a healthy BMI is 124-155 lbs. At first, I wanted to be 124 lbs although I have only been that after really extreme dieting and even then it was difficult for me to maintain. My weight seemed to settle between 135-140 when I wasn't dieting so I changed my goal weight to reflect how my body will probably set its own end weight.

For me, at 5'6", 177 lbs would be considered slightly overweight. Have you checked with a doctor to determine if you will be healthy when you reach this weight? If he/she gives you the go ahead then I would say "stop there" if you want to.

I think every one assumes they will have skin that hangs on the floor when they are done but that is not always the case. Unfortunately, how much we sag after we have lost weight is a combination of genes, family history, race and general health. If you have lost the weight in a healthy way, you should have enough natural collagen (the protein which gives your skin that elasticity to snap back). By eating healthy and focusing on toning type exercises plus weight training to build muscles underneath your skin, you should be pleased with the end result.
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Old 02-13-2008, 04:08 PM   #7  
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I have wondered where to stop, not because of how my skin will look, but because of my bone structure. I am afraid with the way that I am built that I will just look bizarre if I am "thin." I want to keep enough fat on me to keep my curves and prevent my huge ribcage and hips from looking disproportioned to my waist and thighs. LOL, I am such a weird shape... I have a hard time buying dresses and jeans because certain parts of me just don't fit the norm.
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Old 02-14-2008, 11:19 AM   #8  
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I have a lot of weight left to lose, I gave myself a long term goal of 160, being 5'5 that puts me at the high end of a decent body weight. I have a large bone structure and I lift weights, so I figure once I get to that weight I will evaluate, if my body thinks it needs to lose mroe then I will, if I am comfortable then I won't. I think it all depends on your body type.
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Old 02-16-2008, 11:10 AM   #9  
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Now that I am at goal, under my official highest normal BMI, I would like to lose a few more so no matter what time of the day and month, clothes or not, I am at BMI.

I have started thinking recently that I don't want to lose more than that because of the skin issues. I had really big arm so I have a lot of loose skin in my arms and of course my tummy. I am afraid, I would be really unhappy with the skin if I lost a lot more. I am not the happiest with my skin right now but I can live with it because I really don't want, much less afford, surgery.

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Old 02-16-2008, 11:53 AM   #10  
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Smile Congratulations Bluex!

You didn't mention how long it took you to lose the 102 lbs?

What plan have you been following?

How long have you been maintaining this weight lose?

As others have said in their posts, the body does sort of shrink up some on its own. I would think that if you wait a while and let the body handle some of the shrinkage and then you work out, it won't look so bad after all.
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Old 02-16-2008, 12:04 PM   #11  
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I started march 2006. I am on my own low carb diet. I just reached my goal, but I lost 70 some pounds in the first year. I am not changing my diet so I am not sure how much control I have over the weight loss. The only thing i can change is the way I exercise. I am hoping to stick around this weight for a year so that I can see if I can get some shrinkage. I would like for my body to finally have some rest, it seems like it's been in flux for a while. I am just not that hopeful.
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Old 02-16-2008, 12:26 PM   #12  
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We may just all have to decide that it's ok to have loose skin if we want to be in a healthy weight range. To answer some questions, yes I do exercise some but not a lot, I have a lot of small kids and there just isn't tons of time for it. I usually just walk and do toning exercises when I do exercise. I know weight training helps because it's helped me b4. I can't do it anymore with my arms bc of doctor's orders. I have carpal tunnel in both wrists and it makes it worse.

I lost most of this weight in 2004/2005. Then lost the last 41 since last August. My skin has tightened some but I just find it hard to absorb the fact that it won't go all the way back to normal. I'm finding out that it just happens to some of us. I may decide to go to 147, but will be happy to take it more slowly once I get to my 100 lbs off mark, 177.

Thanks for all your input. Keep it coming. Congrats to those of you who have lost weight! That's the first battle!!
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Old 02-17-2008, 04:19 AM   #13  
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Congrats on your loss thus far!!

I wasn't sure how far I wanted to push my weight loss, so I set a goal that was attainable for my build and decided to maintain that for a minimum of 6 months before I decided if I needed to drop more or not. I made a commitment not to lose until then, partly because I didn't want to get caught up in a "just 10 more pounds..." loop and accidentally lose too much! (I ended up losing a bit more anyway as my body settled out, but I'm not actively losing.) I was also concerned about loose skin and wanted to see if it would tighten up or not before I decided to push further.

So yeah, I personally see no harm in getting down to 177lb and hanging out there for a bit to see how you feel.

Good luck!!

Last edited by maalisse; 02-17-2008 at 04:20 AM.
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