First of all, I am thrilled to have lost weight and excited to lose more... That said, anyone else feeling a little... droopy?? It may just be that I'm old (45), but all parts of me are a little loose and droopy. I know I can't have expected to look the same as I did when I was last this weight - that was almost 20 years ago - but I think I subconsciously thought that was what I looked like thinner! Now everything just sort of moves around alot - I wear a lot of spanx Anyone else feeling this way?? Any suggestions??
I'm young (25) and still look and feel droopy, though I credit breastfeeding three babies in four years to that particular feature of my breasts and belly .
Foundational garments are a must! Also, carry yourself with confidence and feel good in your skin - own it! That inner expression of your feelings (I feel good, I look good) can mask a whole boatload of figure ills. So much of 'the way I look' is a mental game. I've seen mediocre-average-looks obese women who appear, to me, absolutely stunning, because of how they carry themselves and relate to the world. In the same way, stunning model-esque skinny Minnies who are almost mouselike until a second or third glance is spared, because they just curl in on themselves and their insecurity is palpable.
Short of the aforementioned foundation garments, plastic surgery, or a truly intensive body-shaping with heavy weights, drooping is genetics and age and life events (weight gain, hormones, injuries, etc). It may be a real, physical thing we cannot easily change. But a fair portion of it is energy and attitude, and those are entirely within your control.
Experiment with your self-talk when you walk around - when others look at you, what do you think or feel? Try different supplements, even sleep and waking times - these can hugely affect your energy and mood. Maybe even mess with your macronutrients - more fat, less grain. That can afford you energy and vitality in spades, if you're prone to inflammation from starch and sugar as I am.
You control so much more of your perkiness and energy than it first seems, and age- or weight-related drooping aside, what you project to the world and how you feel about yourself is sending the far more vital message.
And might I add, you have lost an incredible amount of weight - bravo! It is entirely expected, I'd say, that you may have to do some evaluating of your body image and expectations after huge physical changes like you have had during the time you gained and lost weight. The mental triumphs and struggles of weight management are quite formidable and not to be underestimated. Oftentimes reshaping our ideas about ourselves proves much more challenging than any mere adjusting of our figures
Yep, another droopy here. My belly is, well, pretty scary right now. That being said I'd definitely rather have a droopy belly than my former obese one!!! We're hoping to have at least one more kid so no tummy tucks/breast lifts are in my immediate future either. That being said it's pretty much a non-issue. I still wear bikinis but the tops are absolutely underwired ones according to my bust/band size and the bottoms are high-waisted. Between that I feel pretty confident in them.
In terms of clothes, well, I wear a lot of shapewear too! Pants can be pretty annoying because I ALWAYS have a muffin top if the pants stay up. Otherwise they're too big and fall down. Shapewear is the best but, man, that can be hot and itchy at times.
FWIW, I do do weight lifting+exercise. It's definitely helped to shape up my extremities (I love my arms/legs) but my stomach is still just as droopy. I have heard these rumors that it tightens up over time after hitting maintenance, here's hoping that that actually happens!!!!!!!!!
ETA: Congrats xmillion on the weight loss, that's just incredible!!!
Last edited by runningfromfat; 12-19-2011 at 08:21 PM.
"Droopy" is the reason I stopped at 90 pounds instead of going for the 100 pounds that I set back in January. I'm 60 and have been at over 250 for 25 years. That's a lot of "snapping back" to expect from this old skin. I want to wear shorts and tee shirts. I don't want to be self conscious when I do, so I backed off for now. If my skin tightens up at all, I'll go for the other 10 pounds.
I think the amazing amount that you've lost really does play in here. I agree that I'd rather be droopy than fat, so I'm living with the situation and doing the best I can with it.
We certainly can't know how we're going to look after a big weight loss, so I guess we just have to keep adjusting our attitude as we go. Contrats on making such a difference in your life / health! Great job.
I'm 45 as well, and if it's any consolation, the droopy DOES get better in some cases! On me it needed a good year to 'settle' and as long as I kept walking and being active things seem to shimmy into a good place LOL I was never thin so I have nothing really to compare it to but it feels pretty stellar! I never had children so maybe that helped a bit in the tummy area, i have no idea! I had horrible creepy weight-loss face for a while (where you age about 20 years overnight?!) but that seemed to soften and fill out a bit too. Not perfect, but perfectly fine for me!
Oh and I love being about 155-160, I could (maybe even should) lose more, but I refuse to have Skeletor face!
I am not at my goal weight yet but I do see some droopy around my midsection. My plan is to exercise the weight off then try and find some toning exercises after that happens. I have no idea if this is going to work or not. If I still have droopyness after that, I am ok with it because I am not going to be showing off my midsection and droopyness is way healthier than fat. My thoughts are that it took a long time to get rid of the fat so it will probably take a long time for the droopyness to tighten up, if it ever does.
Last edited by Madame Souza; 12-20-2011 at 10:26 PM.
Trazey - thanks for posting. It gives me hope that things might tighten up here just a bit. I know what you mean about the Skeletor face. I'm still getting used to how my face looks, but at least my friends have stopped saying I look like I've been sick. People who have never gone through this don't know what we're talking about, it seems. When I try to explain it, friends all say that since I'm still exercising, it will tone up. They don't get the fact that it's like having skin that's a size too big and you can't get it to shrink any more, - not that you still have fat to lose (I do, but it's staying put for a while.) If more dieting and more exercise would tighten my skin, I'd still be going at it 100%. My saving grace is that I'm 60, and most of my 60 year old friends are droopy, too, even if they were never heavy! LOL.
Thanks you guys - relieved to know that the "weight loss face" is a thing and not just me & that it may get better!! I just keep working out a lot and hoping for the best - and am considering some botox/filler
Feeling droopy
Anyone else feeling this way?? Any suggestions??
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That being said I'd definitely rather have a droopy belly than my former obese one!!! We're hoping to have at least one more kid so no tummy tucks/breast lifts are in my immediate future either. That being said it's pretty much a non-issue. I still wear bikinis but the tops are absolutely underwired ones according to my bust/band size and the bottoms are high-waisted. Between that I feel pretty confident in them. 
Shapewear is the best but, man, that can be hot and itchy at times. 
I have heard these rumors that it tightens up over time after hitting maintenance, here's hoping that that actually happens!!!!!!!!!
