ok, i've always thought -- god i'm HUGE, if i lose weight it'll be hanging off me and I'll have to go on Dr. Phil or Oprah and show everyone so i can get free surgery OK, sorry to be flippant !!

I browsed thru the AMAZING before/after photos and everyone looks so trim and great -- is it a myth? do some folks snap back ok? is it a question of losing it slowly and toning up along the way?

SHARE please

Trazey, I don't have as much loose skin as I had feared. I do have some, but not too bad. The health aspect of losing weight was so much more important to me than the loose skin issue. It took me a little over a yr. to lose the weight and I mostly just walked for exercise. There is a great post under the maintainers forum about loose skin that you might want to check out.

WOW Lilybelle!!! What an inspiration. I know the loose skin will be an issue for me also (I am 46 years old - there is NO elastic in there I am sure!!) I am not going to worry about it right now. Focus on getting healthy first and foremost - I just hope a year from now I will have that to think about!

Although I've lost 70 lbs, I still have another 90 to go, oh brother , but whatever, I already have some loose skin on my inner thighs and belly, so chances are it's gonna get a whole lot worse. But like Lily says I am doing this first and foremost for health reasons. Thank G-d I've had no health issues as of yet - and that's just the way I want to keep it. I'd rather be 125 lbs with lots of loose skin, then 287 lbs and barely able to function and just waiting for a tragedy to happen. And who know's maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones who will escape with a minimal amount of excess skin .

There is a whole thread in another forum dedicated to this, do a sear4ch under loose+skin. I will see if I can find it.

Mrs. Quadcrew, I'm also 46 yrs. old. I don't have the elasticity of the skin that I had when I was younger and before having children. But, I am happy with my results none the less. With clothes on, I think I look just fine and don't plan to have any surgeries.

That's the one Sucha!!

Also, the main thing is NOT TO GET TOO CONCERNED PREMATURELY. As that might hamper your weight loss efforts. It can be too easy to freak out about something that is at least a year away and it can be too easy to make it an excuse to stay at a weight that one is really not satisfied with.

And like lily says... it should really be about health first. And when the time comes you might find that your insurance *might* cover some of it if you meet certain health issue qualifications.

But, one step at a time........!

lilybelle - I would never have guessed you to be my age!! Thank you for the encouragment though - I can't tell you how great it is to see someone REAL that has done this and is willing to share. You look marvelous!!!!

Hey,
Congrats on the weight loss so far. Keep it up. I've been a plastic surgery tech. (Pass the scalpel) for a while now 9+ years. The only real time that I saw dramatic skin hanging was when people had the gastric bypass and lost so much weight so fast. If you have been doing it on your own and exercising it shouldn't be anything that you would go on Oprah for. (sorry, now maybe she will give something else instead of a surgery) ; )
Keep me posted on your progress I would really like to know.
XOXOXO

I feel the same way as lily. I would rather be 135 or so and healthy with a little bit of excess skin(hopefully not much) than to be 280 pounds with tight skin and more susceptible to health problems of the obese.

I think many of us worry about it, but as I see it, it's fixable, and I'd rather deal with that problem than the weight problem!

Well said CLCS.

Out of curiosity, how much loose skin is "a little" and what does "a little" loose skin feel like?

After losing 90+ lbs. at 53 years old, I don't have any loose skin. In fact, people in my water aerobics class (whom I've showered with!) have commented on that fact. I do, however, have a stubborn roll around my waist that I'm working on, but I had that even when I was younger and lighter.

I don't have a concrete explanation for having no loose skin, but I did lose slowly, I lifted weights and exercised all through the weight loss, and perhaps I have good genetics, although I would have preferred naturally low cholesterol to good skin elasticity.