I've been thin but I was also dysmorphic at the time because I was descending into anorexia, so I thought I was fat then just as much as at a higher weight, so I've no idea what I really look like slim without the crazy goggles on. For the most part I'd say don't worry about it because you can't change any of it, if your bust is big or small you can't do a lot with it. Maybe your skin will get better, maybe it won't but it sure will be easier to look after because there will be less expanse to cover with eczema cream and you will be able to reach it all, so you may well be able to manage it much better even if it doesn't improve.
If you've always had flat feet then there's a chance they may sort out as you get lighter but they may not, but this is the one thing I'd take specific action on - they aren't likely to spring up into beautiful arches of their own accord, if you do nothing then they will almost certainly remain flat. Find someone who can show you arch exercises, or look them up online if you can't (ideally) find anywhere they can show you what to do. Take it slowly at your higher weights, you don't want inflamed tendons in your feet, but you can get started with simple ones like sitting with feet out in front and doing the "good toes, naughty toes" ballet/gym drills of pointing and flexing your feet. Weak feet will not become strong feet without work any more than abs become strong without crunches, so be sure to include them in your overall workout program and there's a good chance you can have nice feet. Maybe you won't, maybe you have genetically flat feet, but at lesat you give yourself a better chance if you work on them than if you just leave them and see what happens.
I've been overweight since 5th grade. Became obese in my very early 20's, morbildly obese, and super morbildly obese before I was 25. I became a normal weight when I was 43.
I urge you to not stress about your skin and all that; at this point you've got to be waaaaaay more stressed by having the weight on you then off you.
Because that is what's harmful, not extra skin, not stretch marks extra, but the extra pounds.
Trust me you will be thrilled, thrilled, thrilled with the results.
Having excess skin doesn't cause numerous cancers, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, fatty liver disease, gout, shortness of breath, acid reflux and a host of other debilitating and deadly diseases.
Having excess skin will not stop you from fitting comfortably in airplane seats, restaurant booths, beach chairs, lawn chairs, etc. Nor will it keep you from looking MARVELOUS in clothing, small sized clothing that is.
And yes, I wouldn't be surprised if your skin conditions clear up with the weight loss. I was full of blemishes, now I can hardly remember the last time I had one. They are sooo few and far between.
Every area of your life will be improved so greatly, you will absolutely not believe it. Being a normal weight is better than you can possibly imagine. I always knew it would be good, I just hadn't a clue it would be "this good".
I'm in the same boat as you nebuchadnezzar, I've never been small or thin.. I wore a size 9 shoe when I was 12.. always been tall and always been obese. Ugh. I hate that word. Like you I have nothing to compare myself now with.. I can't say "when I was thinner...." etc because this is the only me I've ever known.
If it helps, I remember when I was in year 7 first year of high school I wore a size 18-20. Year 9 a 22 and after that well, I just got bigger and bigger.
Looking back at pictures, the last time I would have been considered in the normal weight range would have been kindergarten. I spent the rest of elementary school in the overweight range, moving into obesity by 6th or 7th (I would guess). As a teen or adult, I've always worn plus sizes, so choosing a goal weight is really kind of a joke to me. I picked the number because it put me at a "normal" BMI, but I have no idea if I'd be happier with a higher or lower weight
While I'm worried about loose skin or my face looking older or gaunt, there are so many things my weight has held me back from. I'm so excited at the thought of all the things I'll be able to do without this weight around my neck
I've been overweight since puberty, and obese since college. Just kept going up and up. Now I'm slowly coming back down. I'm not worried about how I'll look... I'm focused on how I'll feel. At 46, I'm beginning to feel the pull of aging, and that's been my real impetus to lose the weight once and for all.
Sure, I don't like the idea of loose skin and sagging everything. But it'll be a HECK of a lot better than where I began!
I have been a normal weight... several times in my life, and yet, I always thought I was fat. I was a real chubby "gerber" baby, a very chubby child, a little overweight adolescent, and then... a VERY THIN (too thin!!!) teenager. I started gaining "adult weight" in my late 20's. I thought I was "fat" when I was 132!!! And when I hit 152 about 10 years ago, I really thought I was huge. But now, having reached a high of 192, I realize that 132 and even 152 was just about right. It's been almost 6 years since I was a healthy "normal" weight (138) ... during those last 6 years, I have bounced from 150 to 165, to 160, to 178, to 165, to 184, to 192 to 180, to 175... for the past year I have fluctuated between 172-185.
It's disheartening. I would really like to be 135-140ish. I'd even be OK at 150 I think! Yet I KEEP TRYING. I just cannot let myself give up! I guess that's a good thing.
Last edited by Beach Patrol; 12-03-2010 at 12:51 PM.
I started getting overweight in the 8th grade. I can relate. Don't know what it's like to be thin. However, when i lost 70 lbs. (gained some back since) my shoe size went from a 9 1/2 - 10 to an 8 1/2 - 9 and i never had wide feet, narrow actually. Its weird but it happens. Don't stress, you will be ok.
Seriously, I hear so much about people who were skinny once, well...I cant remember being thin. Maybe as a child! And I dont remember what that was like, so.
Some things that scare me:
They say the longer you were fat, the worse your skin's health is. (I am COVERED in stretchmarks! Literally. Seems only my face, hands, feet and lower right leg -yeah, just the right- were spared) and loose skin looks even worse after than those who gained after being thin for so long.
I have NO idea what my body shape is under this. I feel my bones, but I don't know if I am an hour glass figure (my mother is) or something else. All I have been for so long is an apple. How can you tell at 291 pounds?
Are my breasts actual mammary tissue at this size or mostly regular body fat? No clue. What might happen when I lose weight? Couple of marbles in a sack or a C/D cup?
I have had wide, flat feet for as long as I can remember as well. Upon weight loss do/will they go down any or are ugly feet not weight related?
Skin conditions like Eczema, dandruff. Some say these are weight related, but I just don't know. Anybody got a clue for a lifelong fatty?
I've never been normal. My baby pictures, through toddlerhood, kindergarten, all through school and into adulthood, I was fat. I had rolls, I had 2 or 3 chins, I had a huge belly that I've always been so ashamed of. The skinniest I ever got as an adult was 180 (still in the overweight BMI) and I wore a size 14 and still had fat all over me. I think I wore a 14 in middle school? I really can't remember.
I picked a number for a goal that is 10 pounds lighter than I've ever been, still technically in the overweight range for BMI. I have no idea what my body will look like at that weight, if I'll be happy or if I'll try to go lower. I'm sure I'll be all flabby and have loose skin hanging around me like a veil, and I'm pretty sure I'll still have a belly I'm not happy with.
I wear a size 11W shoe, have since 6th grade. I have very wide feet, not attractive in any way. The good news is, when I weighed 180 I could wear a 10W. I may be able to get into a 9 when I go low enough, but again, the last time I wore a 9 was in 4th or 5th grade so I don't know.
I have very loose, hangy, swingy boobs, that will never look like I want them to no matter how much weight I loose, so to me the smaller the better! A DDD doesn't look like much when it's flattened out and hanging to your waist, you know?
And on body shape, I think there should be a new one. Orange. Oranges are round, right? That's me. I'm round. I'm fat all over. I can't tell if my belly will turn into a pear or an apple or a bananna, for that matter. Right now I'm calling myself an apple, cause my belly sticks out farther than my butt, and my legs are pretty much thin from mid-thigh down. That could change too.
But, there is something good about entering into uncharted territory (so to speak) in that we have no SET EXPECTATIONS about what we want to look like when we finally consider ourselves at goal. We can be happy about reaching a normal weight, without saying to ourselves "well, the last time I weighed this much I wore X size, and now I wear Y size, so I'm still not happy" or "when I graduated high school I looked like a movie star and I won't quit until I look like that again" or numerous other things people tell themselves.
A healthy weight would make me so happy that I'd be willing to accept my flawed body. Good luck!!
None of those questions will have answers until those situations actually come to pass. It scares the junk out of you now but, just like everything else, the fear of the thing is worse than the thing itself.
I wish I had some insight for you but the thinnest I can remember being was 213lbs and that was in college.
I was 'normal' when I was a toddler, then weight started packing on. I wonder if it was related to moving, we moved almost every year after that until i was 12 or 13. Interesting.
I had the oposite reaction than most, I never realized I was as big as I was until a year or 2 ago. I knew I was overweight, but I hadn't ever thought I was in the obeese category.
The lowest weight I can remember ever being was 175 (that was in october )
Im enjoying seeing how it looks and feels month to month now, I have curves, natural ones I never knew I had . . . collarbones too
I think about saggin skin, sure, but I can't honestly say I'm stressed about it. I've begun to see it more like it'll change when it does, and if it doesnt - I don't think I care. It'll be a daily reminder of not only how far I've come but how proud I should be for doing it.
Just my opinion
If you are under 40, you will find that your skin will adjust better than you think. Stretch marks will fade to fine pale lines. Body shape will most likely be general, as your definition won't come unless you also become thin and fit. I never did lose the last of the lower belly, even at 147 pounds. I wore a spandex onesie when I wore a slender dress. Amazingly your feet will lose weight! I went down a couple of sizes. Hard to say on the breasts, I went down quite a bit, and when you lose all the fat under the arms and across the back, you'll be amazed at how well bras and clothes will fit! I was an apple shape, I ended up more of a tree trunk shape with a small definition to my waist. It was fine with me.
I know what I looked like when I lost 120 pounds in my 30's. But I am now 55, so I am in the same boat you are, wondering what the heck I am going to look like and in what shape as now I can expect wrinkles and sagging.
I am practicing more mirror time these days, getting to know my body all over again. It's so strange to be over 300 pounds and not recognize myself, and then, as the pounds melt away, starting to see me...but in a different light. I know I have damaged my body with excess weight, but I will be happy with whatever comes.
Me. I've never seen a normal weight since I can remember, and definitely not since I started weighing myself.
I may have just recently broken into a "normal" weight for the first time. I'm not sure what to think about it yet (other than OMG, I did it??!). I've never had this happen.
It worries me as well as excites me. Seriously, what the heck does my body look like when I'm thin? Dunno - never seen it before.
I mean, I STABBED someone with my hipbones today! Accidentally of course ("Yes, officer, she assaulted me with her pokey hipbones!"). But come on! That can't happen to me! Only it did.
"Being a normal weight is better than you can possibly imagine. I always knew it would be good, I just hadn't a clue it would be this good." -- Dear lord, I hope so.
"When you lose all the fat under the arms and across the back, you'll be amazed at how well bras and clothes will fit!" -- I am so ready to lose the weight from under arms and back. It's a pain, and I've always hated that fat more than most of the rest.
I never been thin. I don't know what the thin me even looks like. Which is kinda of depressing because I always wanted to know how it feels to no have my things rub together. How it would feel to go to a normal clothing store without worrying about whether they have have my size or not.
I remember back in junior school (in the UK, so about age 9-10) being mocked for being fat, so I think it's safe to say I've never been a normal weight. Certainly as an adult I've only been overweight or obese. My mother likes to tell me to visualize myself as a thin person - it's near impossible for me to do, having never been thin and also not having a creative or imaginative bone in my body. The one thing I will say is when I'm working out consistently and eating well, I do see changes to my body - much less so on the scale, but my clothes fit better and I start to see definition. Then something happens and I have a set back... but all I can do is keep getting back on that path and moving forward!
Good luck!!
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