i am so afraid of what i'm going to look like once i lose this weight. i know its so early in the game but this isn't my first time either. about 10 years ago i lost 90 pounds and had lots of extra skin. i'm afraid that i'm now 35, when i lose the weight my skin is just going to look like draping. so nervous and find it depressing. i know i'm going to need tons of plastic surgery. i'm trying not to let it get to me. how are you all dealing with this issue?
thanks!

Loose skin is better than diabetes, heart attacks, and restricted movement that tends to come with obesity. Seriously?

I admit, as many times as I have heard this argument/excuse on 3fc, it has never made any more sense to me... If loose skin is a deterrent to weight loss, don't lose weight. Otherwise, accept that it could be a natural consequence of being heavier to begin with, and move down the scale anyway. The benefits on the other side are so worth it. Moreover, most people losing weight through diet and exercise lose slowly enough that loose skin is almost a non-issue, or at least well camoflauged by clothes and improved by strength training.

If that is your only worry about lose weight, don't. Don't even go there. Because it is so irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, especially given the benefits of losing the excess pounds. And to worry about something you most likely won't even experience in any significant degree is a waste of mental energy.


Honestly, you'll be fine! Far more fine with a little jiggle to your skin than fat bearing on your joints and depositing in your organs. Cross the loose skin bridge if and when you come to it

As to how I deal with it? I shrug and move on. Really.

Loose skin isn't any more of an issue than my stretchmarks from three children. It's no more problematic than my surgical scars, acne scars, uneven pigmentation, or anything else. My body is a workhorse, it's been through a lot, and I'm not so vain as to believe that somehow a little extra skin will be the straw the breaks the camel's back in terms of my personal beauty

I acknowledge the worry, shrug my shoulders, and move on. I was lovely at 270 pounds, I'll be lovely at 170. Or 130. Or whatever. Just as grey hair and wrinkles won't make me less beautiful in any way that matters to me and my husband, neither will empty fat rolls. It's just another mark on the map of my body, telling what journeys I have been on.

Heck I was terrified I was gonna look like a Sharpei but I've lost a whole person and it's ok - not bikini ready by any means LOL but I'm very happy. Oh and i'm ALIVE, that's kinda important.

let's see... stay fat and die, or get thinner and maybe have some loose flab. Hmmmm kind of a tough one LOL

I rejoice in the fact that I can tie my shoes and look pretty good in clothes!

Seriously, loose skin gets better with time. Give your weight loss a chance this time and you'll be amazed.

I love your new before-and-afters, Lori! As always, you look fabulous!

Thanks Arctic! Since we have a lot of newbies lately I thought I'd put a few out there for awhile to let the new Chickie's know it can be done!

I'm in my late forties, I've lost over a hundred pounds, and I don't think I have any more loose skin than I did before.

Here's the thing. I really think that many of us, at the beginning of our journeys, get too caught up in the idea of losing weight until we achieve perfection. And so we worry about stuff, like not making it all the way to goal, or having loose skin, that would prevent us from being perfect even if we lost the weight.

But most people, fat or thin, are never anywhere near perfect. And when we lose the weight, even though we are still not perfect, we are still way better off than we were before.... because it's just healthier and more comfortable to be thinner. Life is better.

wow. That is so true.

i like you are scared of loose skin! i have so many stretch marks on my hips that go up to my armpits pretty much..now what is going to happen to them when i lose the weight? i gather they are going to look like a saggy gut but on my sides! it's something that i do not look forward to, and im scared taht i wont even look good IN clothes, let alone out.

but i HAVE to lose this fat.. it's not healthy, not good, and i have a daughter to live for..

I have stretch marks and loose skin. I also have body hair and my armpits are slightly darker than the rest of my skin and my elbows are dry and gross and my nose is oily. Most everyone can find something about their body that bugs them, or that they downright hate. But they're all things you just learn to deal with, and they don't make you any less beautiful. Stretch marks and loose skin are FAR better than carrying around all that extra weight, and I'd take them over the weight any day.

Well said!!

Clothed I love my new body. It doesn't ache, and I can get up out of a chair without hauling myself up, I can cross my legs, and there is evidence that I have bones because I can feel them! Clothed I look pretty hot
Naked I look like my skin is rippled, my stomach looks like a deflated balloon, and my legs are descending from my foofoo to my knees. Do I feel less sexy? No siree! Does my husband find me less sexy? No Maam! Does it worry me - fleetingly, then I remember what I looked like at 300lbs.
Honestly whilst it is a problem aesthetically, like all the other clever chickies have said here, loose skin is nothing compared to a BMI of 47........

I always love this topic because I've spent many years thinking about it. As said above ubergirl I think my worries of not being perfect when I reach my goal weight has in fact kept me from reaching my goals. I've always had this image in my head of me being totally perfectly hot like a girl I see in a movie or magazine. Having a perfectly smooth toned stomach, etc. etc.

The truth is my body is completely covered in stretch marks. All of them are old and already white/silver because I started gaining weight at a very young age and much too quickly. I have them on my thighs, knees, all over my tummy, breasts, down my hips and around my bum cheeks (where girls get tattoos), down my back and sides, on my shoulders, and down my arms. So yeah like literally covered LOL. I have also reached over 300 lbs and I think I'm finally accepting of the fact that I am never going to have a perfect body. I don't necessarily think my stomach will hang everywhere, but I think I'm going to have some floppy underarms and inner thighs.

I don't care anymore. I know I will be happier regardless. Saggy skin is an excuse for me personally that I've used for far too long as a reason to stay fat. I hope that when I reach my goal I can look at my stretchmarks and skin as battlescars of something I overcame and won!

My attitude toward loose skin is a big "Mehhhhh."

Even twenty pounds gone has given me vastly greater stamina, energy, confidence, and comfort. Why on earth would I wring my hands about whether I might face some loose skin? I might get mauled by a bear, but I'm not going to avoid a walk in the woods because of that remote possibility.

As for "needing tons of plastic surgery," I tend to think of necessary surgery as that which is crucial to sustaining a patient's life or granting them mobility that otherwise would be lost--bypass surgeries, joint replacements, that kind of thing. There are some people who have enough excess skin to make walking or moving about normally an ordeal, but that's more typical of someone who's suffered with lymphedema and lost many hundreds of pounds--the kind of surgery you'd more likely see on the Discovery Channel than at your local hospital.

You might desire surgery to remove excess skin at some point, which is fine and dandy for people who choose it, but I wouldn't worry so about needing surgery. Considering your high weight and mine were about the same and I'm snapping back quite nicely at age 41, I doubt you'll find it a medical necessity given that you're younger and taller.

Lori Bell: The new pictures are indeed fantastic! I covet your wintry white coat and hat.