I'm 2 lbs shy of 90 lbs and still looking to drop another 30-40 lbs putting my total lost at 120-130 lbs. (geez...that's a person) Anyway, looking at my body now, I really can't tell if I'm going to need surgery or not. I know that will cloths on I'll be fine, they already do, but it's the bathing suites and other stuff that I'm a little concerned about. I'm only 30 so I don't want to spend the rest of my life completely covered up, but surgery is totally out of the question any time soon. I work out regularly, but don't do much resistance or weight lifting, just mostly jogging and hiking. Anyway just curious if anyone lost 100+ lbs and didn't need surgery.

Great question. I'm wondering about this myself. I want to lose 100 lbs total and I'm concerned about the need for excess skin removal afterwards.

"Need" is a very strong word. There have been many people on 3FC who have lost 100 lbs or more. Some have had skin removal surgery and some haven't. I am not at goal but by the time I get there, I will have lost about 200 lbs. I have loose skin although my arms seem to show it more right now most although my stomach definitely has plenty of loose skin.

I am not sure if I will ever get skin removal surgery but it is a possibility. I was also over 300 lbs for 15 of my nearly 35 years of life and also heredity isn't on my side as my mom has quite a bit of loose skin from her pregnancies although she only reached barely over 200 lbs.

I've lost well over 100 pounds, (nearly 200) and I don't "need" surgery. If I could afford it, and knew of an excellent surgeon, and recovery time wasn't an issue, I might do it, but I don't have any medical issues that are magnified by excess skin. Although my stomach is NOT ideal, and NO I do not look like a super model...or even a normal person, my skin doesn't spill over anywhere, and (TMI) it doesn't hang so low it covers any private parts. I can look down and see the top of my pubic area...

My breast went from DD to B, so it might be nice to have a little of them back, but I am kind of used to being "flat" now, and it really doesn't bother me. I found a great swim suit that makes them look pretty good.

I wouldn't be in such a rush to make any decisions regarding surgery yet. My body is still changing even after reaching my initial goal in December 09. Do I have loose skin? Yes. Does is bother me? Yes, sometimes it does. But for the most part I'm ok with it. Like Lori Bell, I'm not going to be a super model. I'm 47. With the right clothing it is not noticeable at all.

I've lost just over 100 pounds and am between 10 and 20 from goal. I have no noticeable loose skin, and don't think that will change much in the next 10 or so (hopefully just 10). I have "bat wings" but as both me, and, apparently, my boyfriend, have noticed, they are shrinking along with the rest of me, and I firmly believe that they will continue to do so, especially as I am going to incorporate more strength training into my workout routine (drumming did wonders, but is not enough at this point). I have no intention of getting surgery, partly because if I do have loose skin, it appears thatit will be minimal, and also, I haven't had children yet, and don't need the added complicatin of a previous voluntary surgery. Not for arms either, as they seem to be fixing themselves.

There are so many factors involved in wether you have lose skin or not, and they include rate of loss, amount of weight loss, how you carried it, age, genetics. . . you won't know until you get there. And from what I've read around here and elsewhere, many women find that once they reach goal or very near and stay there 6 months-year, what lose skin they had reduces, the body, including the skin, adapts to the new weight.

I have loose skin on my tummy and at the very top of my thighs (backside). My tummy may be from having two babies in two years though. My stomach didn't look like this when I was fat so I am unsure which one caused it.

Like Lori I don't "need" it medically. Cosmetically, yes I would like to have it done. I have gone from wearing a DD to A/B bras.

Would I change anything because of the way I look now? Nope. Not. One. Thing.

I'm getting pretty close to goal, and while I really don't LIKE the sagging skin and such, I'm leaning towards not getting surgery. I'll live with it for a while, and see if it really bothers me all that much, but unless it bothers me a LOT, I can't see surgery happening.

I'm glad the question was asked. Three pregnancies left me with loose tummy skin, and that's from 20 to 25 years ago. I even noticed with the beginning of my second pregnancy that I had a loose flap hanging down from under my baby bulge. I asked the doctor about it, and the doctor didn't seem to think anything was amiss. In fact, I got the impression she thought I was stupid for even being concerned. Two of my babies weighed well over 9 pounds at birth, and one was nearly 11 pounds, so I'm sure that contributed.

If my bat-wing arms are any indication, I'm going to have a strong shar-pei effect going on when I get to my goal weight. If strength training doesn't help tone me up, I don't know what I'll do, but unless it's very extreme, I probably won't get surgery.

This scares me too I'm hoping that because I'm so young (23) and have gentics on my side that I won't "need" anything. I've already decided that if my boobs aren't perky, I'm going to have implants. My husband hates the idea, but like I told him, it's not his body and it's for ME and only ME