Hey y'all.

You know that deflated balloon look that most obese people get when they loose heaps of weight- its lookin like I'm heading in that direction already! (even afer losing only 30lb) Is there anything - any tips, tricks, excercises, techniques to do to avoid this? I don't think I would ever do plastic surgery or lipo.

Thanks!

I had it bad until I started focusing on my mid-section with a lot of situps and crunches. That firmed it up quite a bit. I also massage lotion in every day. The massage helps.

I thought I would have this bad too the way things were looking and even posted here about tummy tuck questions. I had a pretty bad apron draping the front and what they call shanks on the back upper hips. BUT, I've dropped 30 and things are actually looking better. The shanks are all but gone, the apron is smaller and less droopy and whereas I used to be able to stick like 2" of my fingers in the crease, it's been cut in half. I'm still hopeful, so you never know. I've been overweight for 20+ years and really obese for 10. So if I can see improvement at 42, there's hope for alot of people I think. Keep at it and you may have a nice surprise waiting for you. I've also heard to give it a year AFTER getting to goal, as the skin still will do some improvement in that timeframe as well.

almost heaven- how you doing? I wonder if 45 crunches on the fitball per day is alright. So do you think building muscle on the abs actually burns fat on the abs? That would be great! Also is it any type of lotion. Sorry about the bimbo questions but I'm pretty new to all this so apologies

hrbabe- I am totally thinking tummy tuck at the moment... I really don't want to have to resort to that. If I drape, I drape... Amazing what you have accomplished!! Its good to hear the skin stays pretty elastic throughought your life, I just keep seeing those TV operation shows with the dudes that have 20kg (50lb) of excess skin and stuff and well.. it seems to be a huge burden to me. Here's hoping!! Thanks for the confidence booster tho!!

In the Maintainers section there is a great thread on this subject....Weight Loss and Skin FAQs

Like hrbabe said, loose skin tends to shrink somewhat as you lose the final pounds too. So don't start thinking anything drastic until you get there and see.

I've heard that lotions don't help, that's it generally the massaging that does it, but it's easier to massage if you use lotions. I figure it won't hurt, so I use firming lotions, but any lotion is better than nothing, just to get the massaging in.

And I don't know how many crunches or situps it would take. I just know I was doing lots of them for myself. Doing any at all is better than nothing, but I'd "think" 45 should be plenty. Any exercise helps to tone. Losing weight isn't enough, we need to tone and build muscle to fill in the flabby areas.

Ilene, now I'm scared!!! After reading that article its very very likely I will have some droopage, but at least I feel prepared for whats to come rather than get there and feel really dissapointed so yeah- thanks for referring me to that article.

Almost heaven. I got alot of muscle building to do nah your right, I think the massaging works definately, and even if it doesn't it sure feels nice!

Yeah... It sucks to go from being self conscious about your weight/size to being self conscious about hiding the extra skin, but there's no comparison it is an awesome trade-up.