missrocky, I totally agree!

I don't care about any stretch marks or extra skin I may have after I lose weight; I just don't want to be fat anymore!

I can't wait to see what I'll look like. I can't remember a time in my adolescence or adulthood that I've been under 140.

Agreed with all that. Last time I lost weight my stretch marks faded to the point where only I could see them anyway. Right now they are red and angry-looking, but I don't care. I'd rather be thin with some sagging and horrid stretch marks than overweight, jiggly and have stretchmarks too. ^_^

Well I started at 300 and have lost 131 pounds and I still have strech marks, I have sagging skin, and if you see me without my bra on my boobs sag. I'm 24. I am actually getting more and more ok with it everyday. It's hard and sometimes I hate my body but then I think of how I use to be and I accept it.

I am fairly sure that I will end up getting surgery to remove the skin and either a breast lift of implants to fix my boobs and I'm ok with that too.

If you want more information about it you should look at the maintance forum they have one on body image. I have posted there several times and they are really helpful.

So i've lost like 12 lbs and i'm noticing that it's like i'm getting squishier than before if that makes sense??? this has never happened to me, and i'm scared...it's like i jiggle more.... anyone else have any experience with this or have an explanation..cuz it's creeping me out!

I jiggle as it is, I really worry about excess skin, but I mean I've known people that are bigger and older than me that look totally fine after their weight loss, so I don't think I should worry, I'm only 20 so my skin should have plenty of elasticity left right? :s Also, you know that second set of boobs that you get underneath your regular boobs (lol) any ideas of how help work those off???

OMG mine are abnormally big...whatever they're called..like when i bend forward they're nearly the size of my boobs. Seriously, it's that bad. I've tried situps and crunches but they just won't budge. I'd really like some help with this if anyone has any ideas or information?

lol miss rocky you are so right...i'll be happy to deal with some extra skin...

Something that helped me a lot before and is still helping me is Jergen's skin firming lotion. It's been a HUGE HUGE HUGE help to me. Especially in my arms and the insides of my legs. I talked to a dermatologist and she pretty much said to keep moisturized and it would help the elasticy(sp?), however I don't know how much to believe her on since docs seem to be wacked out these days. :S As for the second set of boobs, I've been doing a lot of twisting action and it has seemed to help. Like just holding a weight in your two hands and twisting from side to side. "Experts" say that walking helps a lot with that since you are twisting naturally, again everyone is an expert when they publish an article.. pssh

When I lost 70lbs I was 21, and I lost the weight in just under a year. My boobs are saggy, my stomach has extra skin that hangs when I do yoga, and I have skin on my upper thighs. I get really uncomfortable with it sometimes, and really angry sometimes that I can't seem to get rid of it. With that said - most of it can be hidden with clothes! I will never wear a bikini, but when I'm toned, I look pretty okay in a bathing suit.

Another quick point - other people are way more "forgiving" than we are. A new friend asked me the other day about loose skin, so I showed her my stomach, and she kind of looked at me with a blank stare. Her response was "at least it's a flat stomach". To me it's not, but in reality it's pretty close. I think that once you have boday issues, they're always there in some form.

Agreed! You can always cover up your body - and of course the flaws that we think are the most noticeable in our own eyes are probably not even noticed at all by others, they're too busy worrying about their own! My "tricks" for any size are: 1. make sure I'm actually buying clothes that FIT me - don't try and wear something I don't feel comfortable in... and 2. tanning makes me feel skinny! being outside and getting the natural glow or spray tan, it makes me feel like my imperfections, i.e. stretch marks, are less noticeable!

I wonder this too..i'm 26 and i am so afraid of the excess skin.. i'm hoping I can tighten it up though with exercise... but they are right anything will look better than where I am now.. we can do this!

While I'm not at goal yet, I have lost almost 70 pounds, so hopefully this helps a little. I started out with a lot of excess, and had been especially worried about my stomach (c section tummy). I had huge arms and thighs, too, which I have been worried about.

For my stomach, I have been pleasantly surprised. What started as a huge apron of seemingly extra skin is almost gone. Now, it's still jiggly, but the flap is almost completely gone, and I think with the right kind of exercise it might mostly go away all together. My arms have shrunk dramatically and so have my thighs.

I still have another 30-40 pounds to go, but so far I am feeling pretty good about where I am going to be when I get there. I totally agree with everyone, though... I'd rather be healthy with some issues than obese with the same issues filled with fat!!

red stretch marks can be diminished by using any kind of cocoa butter on them.. palmers works wonders for me anyways... my red ones from being pregnant are almost gone.... white ones will be there forever they may fade a tad over time but you cant get rid of them...ive had them for years on my arms and my boobs.... that being said.... if you dont care then theres really no problem

You won't know what you'll look like until you get down to goal, unfortunately. I do have to suggest to everyone who just posted that DO NOT let your fears of extra skin and stretch marks stop you from getting to where you want to be.

I have stretch marks. I have extra skin. I've lost somewhere in the vicinity of 100lbs since high school. I was NOT going to come out of that unscathed. Do I hate my body because of the stretch marks and extra skin? Nope! How many people can seriously say they lost 80+ pounds? If someone makes fun of the stretch marks on my back (because God help me I AM wearing a bikini for the first time in my life) then I will give it right back to them.

I have to say though, I think weight training helped prevent extra skin. I've got muscular arms and legs but a little pooch left on my stomach. It's annoying, but I can deal with it. So, lift weights ladies!