Hello,

I am on day 14 of IP and so far am really happy with the results. It took the first week to stop feeling the headaches and to "stop feeling hungry".

I'm definitely committed to the process without cheating, but I was wondering. I have 80lbs to lose as a 27 year old woman (who's Five-Five). Should I expect a lot of lose, saggy skin? Potential surgery?

Does anybody have any advice or knowledge?

The more fat you lose and muscle you gain, should determine how your skin will be. Also genetics and your skin health has a lot to do with it. You're still pretty young so the elasticity in your skin should still be good. Make sure you moisturize your skin a lot, drink plenty of water and tone up your muscle. I have seen many videos on YouTube of women that lost a lot of weight, and though they have loose skin, you can't really tell until they pull on it and stretch it out, because they've gained muscle and lost fat.

I wouldn't think about it too much until you're close to your goal. It's just one of the things that can give us a subconscious excuse not to stick to our diets/lifestyle change/etc.

I lost 90 pounds at the age of 31 and the main area of loose skin was my tummy (which was more due to my four huge babies and c-sections). The rest was pretty toned up. I gained a good part back (I'm now 44) and down 40 pounds in the past 4 months and skin is still good. What others said about muscle tone and hydration is important.

I have known some people that have used IP and have done great with little to no loose skin but I have also seen a couple who have lost and did have lots of loose skin. I think its partly genetics, partly how fast you lose it, and partly what exercises you do to tone up. Coconut oil massages on the trouble spots also help I've heard. Try anything right?

I had done IP once before and lost 135 pounds. (due to issues I gained back 100 - not the diets fault at all!) While I was doing it the first time I had the same concerns and I spoke to my dermatologist. He said while all the things the ladies mentioned are factors there is one thing that can help it from being worse for the belly area... He said to wear the bra high spanx as you lose weight as what happens is the skin does start to loosen and then gravity starts pulling downward, making the stretching worse. For example - I have about 90 pounds to lose (already down 50) and the skin is still pretty tight on my stomach but the belly flap is hanging a little lower....at this point is when I start wearing spanx to support the stomach and keep the weight from pulling down.

I was down 130 pounds (165) and still wanted to lose another 35... but at that point in time I had no lose skin on my stomach at all, while I did a little bit on my thighs. At this time I was 45 years old. I think this time around I will wear the ones that go from the bra to the knee and see if it helps the thighs.

Kat117 - Your reply was super helpful. I'll look into some Spanx as I too have this concern.

SweetEpiphany I bought the Hanes brand at Walmart as they were much cheaper - and remember you will have to keep getting them tighter as you lose weight. I have them from a 2x to a Med/Large. Glad I kept them

Genetics, age, and length of time overweight are all factors.

I lost 90, have put back on about 10 in muscle and filled out some areas that had me in tears when I phased off last October. I literally had elephant thighs - it was horrible.

BUT:
I've been overweight since I was 5
I was 200+ in 5th grade & not done growing (so really did a number on my skin / elasticity)
My highest weight was around 240
All of my family got 'saggy' as they aged

For all this, with the weight training and running, I've come a LONG way without surgery - but it's been a lot of work and I still have sag around my belly and rear-end.

Spanx! Don't worry about saggy skin, it's nothing compared to having the sore knees etc etc. People always asked me on my way down "aren't you worried about saggy skin". I would always reply "well everyone's kinda saggy everywhere eventually".

Also, there's always surgery. I had a tummy tuck with muscle repair and some lipo in Jan 2016 and wore my first bikini this summer, incredibly freeing feeling

Oh & I'll add to Ishbel's thoughts on sore knees and that is I believe our overall health should trump the vanity of 'saggy skin', especially if you're outside the overweight range (obese / morbidly obese).
Science has proven obesity leads to a plethora of health problems - heart disease and diabetes, just to start - where as saggy skin isn't going to hurt you much, outside of swimsuit season.