I lost 106lbs for my 50th birthday, and did not get wrinkly or liney or floppy. If I can find those before and after photos, I'll show you.
I was worried when I restarted this year (I'd regained 80), particularly about the fatty bit under my chin: I worried that it would just empty and leave the skin a-dangling. So far so good, and the whole thing is just receding decently.
Update: 3 and a half months on and 34 more lbs lost ~
Still no saggy neck. What seems to happen is that my chin gets a bit more pointy, and the neck underneath it droops a bit. I panic, that finally The Wattle is Here but then the droop tightens up, and on we go.
Roisnante: Way to go on losing 106 pounds for your 50th birthday.That is fantastic!!!!! How long did it take you to lose that much.A lady in my WW meeting lost like 112 pounds in little over a year.She's probably in her late 60's/mid 70's. I have trouble getting past the 45 mark.I'm like a yo-yo up & down all the time.Congratulations on your weight loss.
I have just discovered this site and hope to be active. I am 64 and have just retired from teaching. 20 years ago weighed 125 lbs and now weigh 225 - it just kind of happened but now to seriousl do something about it. I am not sure how to get going. I have htought about starting the diet shakes like slim trim - what do you think. i would like to end up sort of trim taut and terrific but I guess I will be satisfied with sagging sad and sorry, any help appreciated. Thank you
My experience with loose skin has put me in stall mode. I dropped 30 lbs in about 3.5 months and I noticed that I started getting turkey neck, and of all things, the top of my inner thighs was wrinkled. Not a bad thing, but I stalled any further sudden weight loss in its tracks. For about 6 weeks, I have added additional healthy calories to my diet, more protien, more veggies/fruit, than my previous diet had. I didn't go up and have been going down slightly at a snail's pace. It took all this time to lose 5 more lbs.
But, I think that extra time helped. I no longer have turkey skin chin and the thighs are smoother. Just let my skin spring back, although at my age (almost 51) it took longer than when I was younger, but it did go back. I do have the arm wings, but even they aren't quite as bad. I'm sure weights will help a bit, over time.
Now, I just have to get back to another weight plunge......
I'm going to post on a different aspect. Having lost the weight and having plastic surgery to make the skin ok. After I losts 70+ pounds, my skin on my upper arms looked like crepe paper hung up by pins (my elbows). Same on my midriff with the belly button holding up the crepey skin. It was icky. I was more embarrassed by my skin than the previous fat. BTW, I have very dry, sensitive skin and I believe the skin itself plays a role. So I opted for arm, tummy tuck and lower face lift for the turkey waddle that was crepey too. Those three areas embarrassed me and left me feeling fatter and uglier than before losing weight. 14 months later, I'm happy I made that choice. I don't intend to have PS ever again because I'm ok with the wrinkles that come with age. My thighs and boobs still look blah but they don't bother me like the arms did. Since I did gain nearly 20 pounds back, where I was crepey has filled out a little and I am not aiming for the 130's again. I looked old at that weight. I'm looking to re-lose 12 pounds but the skin will be more of a guide than it was two years ago.
Marie
I posted this when at 242 pounds (having gained over 20 due to lifestyle change and too many restaurant meals/a boyfriend who kept feeding me). I dropped about 20 then stopped due to having too many things going on (16 credit hours, long days, sticking to a plan seemed like deprivation because of so much other stress). Back on track for a few weeks, glad I didn't gain what I had lost. I find that my face actually looks a lot better. The fat on the lower half of my face is less, which of course is not pulling everything down as much. Slow loss for those of us "older" women is a blessing in that it give our skin more of a change to rebound, so it's all good! Thanks everyone for sharing
I am 55 and I see a HUGE difference in weight loss this time around compared to the last 3 major weight losses I have had in my past. I always snapped back into a youthful body before, but not this time. With menopause, my skin has thinned out, the gooseflesh, the sagging, the flaps....ugh. Even my hair has changed in texture and has greatly thinned out.
It's not always easy to accept aging when we really see the dramatic changes going on before we expect it to happen. But I am determined to age naturally and I do not colour my hair, nor will I do anti-aging regimes, surgery or botox. Losing a massive amount of weight is not going to be pretty, fat layers under my skin did help smooth out wrinkles....BUT my health is being affected (I now have diabetes and arthritis) and the quality of my life is awful being this obese. So I will not come out of this in any way, shape or form as a butterfly as I did before, but I will be healthier and have an easier time moving in the last half of my life. I would rather sag and bag now and FEEL better inside than the opposite. Men no longer look at me, even my husband doesn't see me as men once looked at me, so I feel pretty weird in this new place. The reasons I lost weight before no longer hold true now. I often feel a bit lost with it at this age.
So there are ups and down with our perceptions of our selves, our image and it all depends on how we deal with it. I never wanted to remain young forever, but I sure didn't expect weight loss to show the damage it did to my body, this time I paid the piper.
Your face looks amazing, you are so pretty. I too have let my feelings about myself be somewhat dependent on whether men are looking, but the alternative to getting older is worse. I knew some women a few years back when I worked at a senior citizens center and there are a few I keep in my mind as role models, very active, springy, upbeat, ATTRACTIVE ladies, and part of my goal is to be a cool old lady who is doing exciting things and enjoying life (doing some of that now, just bigger than my mental picture). Heck, I even bought colored eyeshadow (been using neutrals for a few years), am letting my grow a bit (discarding the "shorter hair after a certain age" thinking) and feel obligated to myself to be positive (always a battle but worth it).
I am 64 & lost 34 lb--and my jowls! My face looks slimmer and younger, as does the rest of me.
I have some sagging here and there which goes along with my age, but I now feel so healthy, dress so cool and move so well, that the total impression is great. My whole image has changed and people tell me I look fantastic.
I don't think I look too saggy for losing 70 pounds. We'll have to see what the next 30 bring! I posted some before and after photos in a thread called "me minus 70 pounds" in the 100 pound club. You can decide for yourself if the sagging is too bad!
To One Small Bowl - I can't imagine what your husband will think when he sees you! Have you been sending updated photos? Maybe that's a dumb question. He is going to be sooo proud of your accomplishment!
Since January gone from 241 to 213 and my face looks tons better. Even the bags under my eyes seem better, I guess because less pulling my face down.
Started making short videos on my computer a month or so back, and am so glad I have them, they both horrify me ("I look like THAT!!") and encourage me now that I can see some changes.
How has it affected your face? All this talk about lose skin and all, I am wondering if I should prepare myself for even worse looking jowls and sagging skin. Just interested in what you all have to say about this!!!
Thanks and thanks to all for this site, it is a great comfort and inspiration to me!
I have lost 126 pounds and the only place that really looks bad IS my face. I don't have bat wings or sagging legs and the loose skin on my stomach is minimal. (A snug pair of panties takes care of that). I did have a very round face and now its sagging everywhere. I am looking into plastic surgery to make me look a little younger. I'm 60 but at the moment look 90.
