Siiigggghh..I was checking out my bod in the mirror today, noticing the changes that have finally started to manifest..And then my eyes rest on my stretch marks..I have a nice layer of silver (old) stretch marks on my belly and hips, covered by another layer of bright red and purple stretch marks that span across my belly, across my hips, and up my back. And a fresh set that goes DOWN my back too now (right above my butt) My thighs and upper arms aren't too pretty either. I am just a tad depressed that even though I will reach a normal weight, I will probably never get to wear a bikini, or feel confident in cute little underwear. OK I vented lol.
The great thing about stretchmarks is that they fade! No, I'm not sure they'll ever be completely invisible but they won't be as noticeable to you as they are now...and even LESS noticeable to everyone else! Also, check out all the women you see in bikinis...not teens but women with children....most of them have stretch marks but you have to really look to see them. I don't think anyone is going to be looking at you as critically as you are yourself.
Personally, I love that my stretch marks are SHRINKING with my body! I never even though about it. But they used to span up my entire stomach. Now that my stomach is "deflating" they no longer cover then entire thing...but stop somewhere below my belly button. They're still there but they aren't as noticeable!!!
The way I look at it is this...yes, I've done some serious damage to my body and it won't ever look like the cover of a fashion mag. However, I'm doing GREAT things to improve it every day. I'm confident in those improvements. Much more confident than any superficial look can give me. This is about the inner me as much as the outer. Ya know?
I have the same stretch marks.. I have seen in the stores creams for this, maybe you can try one of these? I am not ready for this, I need to get into onederland before I can even consider this. good luck on the search!!
cheryl
Luckily, they do fade somewhat. Since I don't care about wearing a bikini, I always look at them as my "road map of life." I do wonder, however, how the actresses get rid of their stretch marks. Or do they just cover them up with makeup for those revealing scenes?
I always hear women talking about the stretch marks they've got from pregnancy. I hate that I have them even though I've never been pregnant. I have tons on my stomach, some on my thighs, and some on my upper arms. I also have them on my breasts. The only ones I would've had regardless of my weight are the ones on my breasts. My breasts suddenly got much bigger in puberty and I had these horrible dark red stretch marks for a long time. As a teenager, that was pretty scary. I was afraid they wouldn't go away, but they did fade. It's hard knowing that I did this damage to my own body, and that I'll NEVER be able to show any amount of skin, no matter how much I lose. Ugh. The marks have faded, yes, but they're still pretty obvious.
My thighs and upper arms aren't too pretty either. I am just a tad depressed that even though I will reach a normal weight, I will probably never get to wear a bikini
I feel the same way. I feel depressed that I cannot wear tank tops in the summer. Even bikinis when I reach my goal weight. Sad thing is that even if they fade they are certainly still there forever.
Why can't you wear a bikini? Who is there to impress other than yourself? I couldn't imagine someone other than *****y girls saying, "Look at that girl... she has an awesome body but damn! Stretch marks! She's not attractive anymore!" The ONLY people who'll nit pick you are people who aren't worth your time... and yourself.
Tanning have really helped to cover mine up. If I look in the mirror I can hardly see them. Of course they're there... but no one is perfect.
I can vouche for tanning..My stretch marks are so dark right now, as my skin gets darker they get less noticeable, since they don't get darker with the rest of my skin.
Don't worry about it so much. If you look closely at all of those skinny women in bikinis, 9 out of 10 will have stretch marks. I have never known not ONE girl who has been stretch mark free. Even a lot of men have them too.
If they are old, faded stretch marks, tanning actually will emphasize them. They don't tan -- they will stay white while your skin gets dark. So tan freely when they are young, but watch it when they are older and have faded.
No matter how much progress we make we can always find something else to worry about. If it's not being obese, it worrying about extra skin, if it's not the extra skin we're worrying about stretch marks, and if it's not stretch marks we're worrying about the fact that our face is looking more and more like a Shar Pei each day (ok, that one is just me!).
Almost everyone has stretch marks so don't worry about it. Once you reach the point where you would feel comfortable in a bikini then go for it! And like Sheila said, they do fade somewhat.
No matter how much progress we make we can always find something else to worry about. If it's not being obese, it worrying about extra skin, if it's not the extra skin we're worrying about stretch marks, and if it's not stretch marks we're worrying about the fact that our face is looking more and more like a Shar Pei each day (ok, that one is just me!).
No matter how much progress we make we can always find something else to worry about. If it's not being obese, it worrying about extra skin, if it's not the extra skin we're worrying about stretch marks, and if it's not stretch marks we're worrying about the fact that our face is looking more and more like a Shar Pei each day (ok, that one is just me!).
Almost everyone has stretch marks so don't worry about it. Once you reach the point where you would feel comfortable in a bikini then go for it! And like Sheila said, they do fade somewhat.
Tanning isn't really an option for me because I have yet to find a self-tanner that looked natural, and I'm really not a big fan of skin cancer.
But you're right, melsfolly -- we'll always worry about something. Trust me, I'm much happier to weigh 173 with stretch marks than to weigh 275 with stretch marks. I count my blessings!
I was once told that if you drink penty of water (which we are all doing anyways) and use coco-butter lotion daily that it will help stretch marks fade even more.
The stretch mark blues
