I saw my doctor today and he encouraged me to make an appointment with a plastic surgon when I questioned him about my saggy belly. He said that nothing will fix this issue except surgery. I am now wondering if I am completely wasting my time doing all those abdominal exercises and such. What is the point of having stong, toned abs when thay are covered with loose, saggy skin? BTW surgery is NOT an option at this point in my life. (unfortunately) It is really difficult for me to loose the weight I have, only to still be dissapointed my body image.

by the looks of your current weight, goals ect., it seems to me like you've come a loooooonnnnggg way. You should be extremely proud of yourself for all that weight lost! I think you might lose more weight but your tummy will not be firm again because the skin is stretched out but please don't be dissapointed w/ your body, talk to people who are positive, who love you the way you are and can help you build a better image of yourself

Having strong abdominals is important for many reasons other then just how your tummy looks! Keeping your abs strong helps to keep your back in good shape and helps with good posture (which in turn makes you look better.)

I know it sucks to work so hard and not have a perfect figure, but I happen to think that women (and some men) put too much emphasis on physical appearance. I bet you feel better physically and are much healthier. Try to focus on that.

Also, you might want to give your skin some time to shrink up a bit. It probably won't all tighten, but it may look better given time. If not, then start saving up. How about using this as a goal to help you maintain? For instance, maybe you could have the surgery once you reach 5 years of maintaining? I know that's a long time, but it's a good goal to keep you motivated and it'll give you time to save.

EDIT: I just noticed that your name is RNmomof5. I don't know any mothers, let alone one of 5, that have flat stomachs. Stretched out skin comes with having kids as well as weight loss. It's a fact of life.

First of all... well done you! That's an impressive amount of weight you've managed to lose. Seriously, even if you don't quite look how you would like, losing the weight is so worth it just to feel fit and have so much more energy to get out there and do the things you want to do.

I just wanted to say that assuming you've only recently lost the weight, what you're seeing now is probably not the final result. It's quite possible for the skin to shrink down a fair bit, probably not as tight and smooth as you would like it, but definitely to an acceptable level where nothing would look too out of place.

Keep doing those exercises, toned stomach muscles are a real plus as far as your health goes, no matter what covers them!

All the best

ah sorry zenor77, you pretty much already said what I just posted

Thanks. I know I won't have the perfect body. This comes from 5 children in 10 years (5 c-sections) along with being really overweight all of my adult life. I do feel really good and obviously feel better about my decision to become healthier. I would gladly take this saggy, flabby skin in place of the extra pounds any day! My weight loss has ben a slow, on-going process (about 1.5 years) so I'm pretty sure my skin is what it is. I guess I just wasn't expecting things to be SO flabby after weight loss. My ultimate goal was to get my weight to a healthy range for my height which I have done, and I am very happy and satisfied with that. I will keep doing the abd exercises, for the health benifits. At least now I know not to expect major changes as far as appearance!

I can relate regarding the saggy belly, I really can. I've had two children who were very big babies and honestly, after the second one I was so unhappy with the state of my stomach, it was a mess, so much loose skin there was no way I could imagine how it would ever go away.

And I heard the same as you everywhere, that there was nothing I could do except surgery. At the time, like yourself, surgery wasn't an option for me so I just stuck with the ab exercises.

I also found those lean machine stomach toning type things seemed to have a tightening effect on my skin. I can't say for sure this is something that would work for everyone but I thought it was worth a mention.

Anyway, fast forward several years and the skin really is not looking too bad. So don't give up hope, it is possible you could see a whole lot of that skin disappear. If not, well, it may not be possible right now but there is always the option of surgery some day so either way, having the body you want is not an impossible dream.

Thank you, mimzy. That really is encouraging. I'm not sure what you are talking about when you speak of lean machine stomach toning things. I guess I can google it. I think had I not been so overweight in addition to these pregnancies, things wouldn't be so bad now. I am very happy about my weight loss, and my appearance (with clothes on!). I guess I was a little taken back when my doc told me to "hang it up" and call a plastic surgeon. I had never even considered this before. I don't know why, but I thought if I kept at it, I would still see some improvements. After he told me this, I felt like, "Why bother?!" I'll keep at it. At least now I know what I can expect. Maybe one day surgery will be an option. Who knows!

I should have been more specific, I couldn't think of the proper name for them, I meant those electronic toning machines that have the pads you strap to your stomach, the lean machine is the name of one by Beauty Works. You've probably already googled it by now

Keep doing the ab exercises - they are healthy for you and will help. A good solid foundation under the belly skin will help a bit, and core strength will help you stand taller and look thinner as well.
One other piece of advice - try out some different undergarments. I have found all-in-one shapers to do marvelous things to help hold all of my lose belly skin in place. There really are a wealth of firming undergarments that you can try until you find one that works for you.

Thanks for the advice!!!

4 Years ago I lost about 70lb - I never reached my goal because of my body image - I had a saggy apron for a belly. I was told by an instructor at the gym that there was nothing but surgery that could cure this.

This depressed me so much - I had put in all the effort to lose the weight only to be left with something that looked equally as bad to me as the fat that had been there. I felt I would never beable to wear the tight jeans I had dreamed of because I would have to tuck this flap into them and I would still look fat!!!
That frame of mind made me gain 55lb of the weight back on (along with other reasons) what was the point?????

But after lots of sole searching and health problems I've decided to try again if I still have issues with my body image when I get to where I want to be then I may think about surgery after all with all the hard work it will take (twice over) I deserve to treat my self

I am not there yet. so I don't know the true answer to your question, but I've heard that massage along with using some type of product to help stimulate collagen, is suppose to help. I don't know if this is only a myth.

Increasing blood flow to the area sounds like it might have an effect, but I do not have the personal experience to back up this idea