Well, when I gain weight, 85% of it goes straight to my belly, and not much everywhere else. I am kind of oddly shaped anyway (big stomach, flat butt , and my stomach already sags and has about 50 stretch marks or more (and I have never had a child, this is all from weight gain/loss yo-yo-ing), and I believe the sagging will get worse as time goes on, and I lose more weight. I have a huge 8 inch long vertical scar from my belly button down to my pubic area, and 17 staple marks on either side, from an exploritory surgery I had at age 11 (turned out to be a bursted appendix and severe perotonitis, my whole abdomen was infected - I almost died on the OR table) Well the scar wasn't so bad before I gained weight. It never really bothered me or made me feel self concious in any way. If people saw it, they would ask me about it, and I would tell them, and that was the end of that. I always thought of it in terms of the fact that it saved my life. But since I got fat, my tummy literally is split down the middle, and bulges around it, and the scar literally makes my stomach look like my butt is in the front instead of in the back.. LOL

I am hoping to find a halfway decent looking butt under all this flab, but I don't think I will ever have a nice, flat tummy that looks good in a bikini. I will definately be needing plastic surgery. What sucks is that I am 31 and have never had a child, and let's say I have the surgery, then what will happen if I ever get pregnant... All that will be destroyed. So PS will have to wait until I have all the kids I am destined to have, if any, and that really gets me down, becuase I don't want to stay this way forever... It really looks terrible.

I know I'm counting my chickens before they're hatched, but still, I think about this all the time.

Heather, I feel exactly as you do. I used to have a pretty flat tight stomach until I got pregnant and now I feel its just ruined..not fair! WAH! LOL It does start to look so much better as you lose weight though. Just amazing how it starts shrinking, so just keep at it. It will look tons better and that's a good start. Main thing is, you've got to figure out how to stop the yoyoing.

I totally understand this. As of yet, I have lost 30lbs and I am seeing sagging skin (not fat... but skin) under my arms and on my lower stomach. I don't want to have flapping wings and a pooch on my lower gut... and have kinda hit a stand still with where I want to go. I'm 20 and poor. I don't want to loose all this weight to only feel ugly. I'd almost... almost... rather be plump with tight skin then thin and sagging and not even be able to step into public... let alone in a bikini when I to goal.

Cajun/Heather
I'm 31 as well and never had a child although I have been very heavy. My weight has really made me feel deformed in some ways and it really isn't how someone in their 20's and 30's should feel is it? I don't really plan to have children so I'm not worried about plastic surgery. I also don't ever plan to wear a bikini, even if I do lose the weight and get plastic surgery. That'd be a bit too scary for me

Reddalice - you really have youth on your side. If you do lose weight, the chance of your skin going back into shape is really high. The younger you lose weight, the better your chances for your skin firming up. Even though I have loose skin, it was a lot looser a couple years ago. It has firmed up some.

where as before i was fat but firm, i am now 47 lbs lighter and have bingo wings(loose skin under my arms) and a slightly saggy crinkly stomach. it does bother me as i still have over 50 lbs to lose, but its not going to stop me trying to get slimmer. it is very difficult to get free tummy tucks on the national health service in this country(might work with "im suffering from severe depression from my loose skin"etc) and i cant afford to go private.
i lost a lot of weight in my 20`s and my skin sprang back no problem. the joys of youth

When I hit my goal, the areas considered for plastic surgery was my stomach, my arms (specifically my underarms), my boobs, and my outer thighs/hips.

Almost 3 years later the only place in "need" of surgery is my stomach and even that has improved significantly (yay running and engaging the core).... but after I have my children, it's ON.

I've had kids and been over 250 pounds most of my adult life. Yet the closer I got to goal pre-preg, the better the skin started looking. And I was NOT ashamed of wearing a bikini. I was conscious to keep my tummy tightened, especially while sitting, when wearing anything revealing. But as I focused on ab work and dropped closer to my goal, it got better and better. It'll never look again like it did pre-preg and at the age of 20, but I can STILL wear a bikini without getting a tuck. So its really not the end of the world for anyone who is stalling their weightloss over this or upset about what might happen. You won't know until you get there. And if you won't be happy with the loose skin then, I KNOW you can't be happy with skin that stands out for everyone to see in being overweight. At least I know I wasn't. We can always work to hide loose skin easily. We CAN'T hide obesity.

I'm not saying I won't be happy. Even with excess skin, I will be happy with being a size 8 or 10.... I have never really been one that concentrated on vanity, I don't care what strangers think of me, and I will deal with whatever comes in the future. I will probably never wear a skimpy bikini anyway, becuase of my scar and the stretch marks. But I don't really care about bikinis and what not... What I care about is looking in the mirror and not being disgusted by what I see staring back at me. But not only that, but feeling like my body is abnormal makes me a bit modest when it comes down to being undressed in the presence of others (and I have never really been a modest person before) Now, I do have a pretty face, but other than my face, I feel disgusting and unattractive, and becuase I feel this way, I feel like men will find me disgusting and unattractive as well. I know shouldn't care what they think, right, but I do. I can't help it. I want men to love me for me, but I also want them to like the way I look too. I want to like how I look. I know we are our worst critics, and the things we see, others may not see us the same way at all. I know this all may sound pathetic, but it's how I feel, and I think many single ladies here might feel the same way. Maybe even some married ladies worry about their husbands not being attracted to them anymore. My horribly low self-image and self esteem has put a strain on every relationship I have had in the last decade or more... I just want that burden lifted from me forever, and I want to never feel like I have to hide my body... from anyone...

Hi girls! Except swimming I have read somewhere about the lady that was massaging her body with olive oil, every night, and set in a bath tab like that for 15 minutes, than washed that out. I think that can be helpful - some kind of oils, lotions and staff like that in combination with swimming and toning up - the risk must be minimal. I am also afraid of it because my boobs are too big and when I get weight its all in my stomach. I am not at my heaviest now (I was 2 years ago at 114 kg, that is around 150-160 pounds) and now I can see that with that minimum loss my tummy is wrinkled. But, what the ****! I don’t want to be obese anymore. If it will wrinkle - let it wrinkle!

If you are interested in tummy tuck you can see here how this girl did it and how much it coasted

http://weightwatchen.com/tummy-tuck/

Stop shuddering at exercise at pick up some weights! Having some nice shapely muscles to fill some of the skin will make you look a whole lot better, make you FEEL better about yourself, and make you heathier. You can learn to at least love what your body can do...and then maybe come to terms with liking your body.

Give yourself time- I've been maintaining for 5 and a half years. Yes, I had a tummy tuck, but my stomach skin was shredded by a huge pregnancy where my baby lay sideways instead of vertically. My skin was shot by the time I was 27 and up to then, my top weight pregnant was 165. The rest of my skin has slowly tightened up. I was never over 200 pounds, but darn close. I didn't lose the weight until I was 45. I have a little bit of loose skin in my armpits, but hardly any otherwise. Eating a very healthy diet and getting lots of exercise including lots of muscle building weightlifting is what made the difference, IMO. I'm not genetically blessed, and I spent years trying to fry myself on the beach. You won't know how your body will respond until you give it some time.

Mel

Prairie Pixie, I hear you hon.... I, at about 180 lbs., still have a poofy stomach around a vertical surgery scar that makes my tummy look more like a butt! And my tummy hangs a little in the front already, and I imagine my "flaps" will worsen with time and more weight loss. I have what seems like hundreds of stretch marks.

But, with my income, who could afford plastic surgery, not to mention hospital costs and anesthesia?

For what? I have gone so far as to have had 8 Plastic surgeries actually performed on my body. It really isn't that bad as far as healing ect. goes. And I prefer a scar to sagging flabby skin any day.
Is it expensive? Yeah. Like $50k expensive, and insurance won't cover it. Which sucks of course. But, I want to have a "normal" body, or as close to it as I can get. And it is/was all worth it.
I am 23 and am still years away from having kids. So, I will need to get a few procedures "redone" in probably 15 years. But, meanwhile I can revel in the results.

The part that really sucks the most is living on a waitress's income, needing and/or really wanting the surgery, and not being able to afford it. I work full time, sometimes more, and make enough to live and maybe have a little left over for me. It's all hunky-dory if you can afford to dish out 10 grand per surgery (I'm am not at all downing those who can afford it, I'm just making a point), but most people like me can't afford the high cost, and they would have to save money for years to be able to afford to have one procedure done...

I guess if I were married and had a husband who worked and paid some bills, maybe I could afford to save more money, but as it stands right now, it's a choice between a decent car that doesn't break every week, or a tummy tuck...