[beginme]

Hi. I'm 5'3, 37 years old, and weigh about 255 lbs right now. I've only been this weight for about a year. Was 180s before that for a few of years and 150s and less the rest of my life. My goal weight is 135 which I last saw 14 years ago.

Is there any chance I won't have loose skin?

I thought my skin was in good condition, but I now have stretch marks on my stomach and a couple of other areas.

Do stretch marks mean your skin is too far gone to shrink with the weight loss?

Thanks for any replies, I know that this has been discussed a bit.

[harrismm]

We lose elasticity as we age.Im 38 and hust began having this prob.

[DCHound]

I'm 39 and I'm not having a bad problem so far, mostly just lower abdomen, and I've spent two five-year periods in my life at well over 300 lbs. Mostly it's just a genetic roll of the dice, though.

[kaplods]

The loose skin problem is highly variable, it's hard (if not impossible) to predict how much of a problem you'll have. Hormones and other aging proccesses play a role, so the younger you are (in general) the better, and after menopause it tends to be significantly more of a problem - and I don't believe that stretch marks have any bearing. Stretch marks just show where your skin stretched, not necessarily whether or how well it will snap back. My youngest sister (in her mid twenties and the only person in the family to not have any weight issues other than losing pregnancy weight - which she's always done very quickly) gets HUMONGOUS when she's pregnant. She's had three boys and with each of the three pregnancies strangers and friends alike were predictiong that she "must" be carrying twins. She looks like a watermelon attached to a corn stalk, and her belly is criss-crossed with more stretch marks than I have on my entire body (and I have alot), and yet it snaps back after each pregnancy (it takes a little more time with each successive pregnancy, but still in a few months she's always ready for bikini season). The stretch marks don't go away, but they do fade - so even though she has stretch marks, you don't really see them, unless you're a few inches away. They came up for my birthday the weekend of March 20, and she looked great in her bikini (her youngest son is 8 months old) - you had to be really close to see the stretch marks. They're slightly more noticeable in the summer, because they don't tan at the same rate as the rest of her skin.

I know the stretch mark thing is a bit off topic, but I used to be really concerned that the stretch marks (nearly as much as the loose skin issue), but a few months ago I was watching a comic on Comedy Central, and he was talking about how men don't care about stretch marks - and said "they just make you sexier - like a tiger, Grrrr."

Hmm, stretch marks, sexy?! Heck, why not! It's funny because seeing my sister reminded me of that (and she's got such a great body, I'd definitely wear a bikini if I had that body, stretch marks or not too).

[chickiegirl]

I really just took a look at my stretch marks the other day and I can't believe it. I'm totally stunned at how many and how red they have become and well-aware that I purposely tried not too look at them for the whole time I was gaining weight.

I'm in the same boat as you. Waiting to see what the effect will be on my skin.

It is a thought that scares me, but I figure some loose skin being thin will be better than stretch marks and weighing almost 300 lbs.