I'm doing this for my health and NO WAY will I stop for a fear of what or what may not be, but I was reading on the weight maitenance board last night and I got a bit freaked out about loose skin.

I have to admit, a big motivator for me right now is that I don't want to take insulin shots! Needles? me? No thank you. Even with my pregnancies, I did everythign I could to make it as natural as possible - no drugs, no c-sections.

So, the idea of making a choice of lots of hanging skin and skin removal surgery? OMG!!! I don't think I could do it! But I cannot imagine livign with skin folds the rest of my life either. As it is, I have problems with rashes and such under my breasts come summer months! ACK! And I have a pretty good guess I WOULD be one who would get the skin hanging there. I don't have very elastic skin. I get stretch marks so easily.

I have this image in my head of a Melissa at 175... and it does not include loose skin. I already told myself that no matter what, I would not make a decision on waht to do with it for 2 years after losing all the weight. i need to be able to maintain before making any rash decisions, but OMG now I'm terrified of what I might have permanently done to my body and skin. I know, only time will tell, but I am a bit freaking out! I watched a surgery of this done years ago...not happy to remind myself of it.

OMG thats my biggest fear as well!!! Ive never had ANY type of surgery and it freaks me out!

Sorry, but I would think that anyone who has had two kids and lost 100 pound would almost certainly end up with loose skin. It may or may not shrink over time, but we can only expect so much. My plan is to continue my love affair with shape wear and hope for the best. I will not rule out surgery but I'm at the very very beginning and that's a long long way off.

As for rashes and such, there are products for that. Monistat makes a chafing gel-to-powder product that works well. If you want something more natural, there are lots and lots of powders. Lush makes scented ones, even Gold Bond has some options. Discovered these a few years ago on the rec of a friend and they make a huge HUGE HUGE difference!!!

And, of course, skin folds is better than layers of fat. I totally get that and if it means I have to live with it, I have to live it as my battle scars, but it makes me sad.

I know it's premature to be thinking about the "what if". I probably won't get to goal for another 16 months. And then, even for people who do have elastic skin, it takes awhile for it to shrink back.

And I know my husband would rather see skin folds than fat, but that's not my image of 'ideal. Maybe I need to revise some of those images and deal with all the possibilities. My health is the most important, but man.... what have I done to myself and WHY? Very few can answer why.... Grrrr....

Not necessarily. I have two children and have lost almost 85 pounds and have no loose skin at all. I'm 36, so I feel like youth, perhaps, and maybe genetics are on my side. I've lost weight slowly through diet and exercise, with an emphasis on lifting.

I've read many complaints across the boards about loose skin. Everyone, absolutely every single person who has lost weight and has loose skin, says they would choose thin with loose skin over fat any day! Any day! Clothing does wonders for hiding it. I've seen pictures and you can not tell at all.

I am so worried about it as well. Im just working out to beat the band and crossing my fingers right now. You're right. Skin is better than fat and it IS for our health.

I have excessive loose skin from pregnancy and I was 5'5 and 165lbs at the delivery!!!! I'm 130 now. Unfortunately there is not much you can do about it, although I have come to terms with it. I sort of compare it with the stretch marks you get in pregnancy - you are far more worried about it before it happens than after it happens. You come to terms with it, you live with it, it is a part of you - it is a battle scar. You can own it.

I have a lot of loose skin. I have been obese forever (and have been heavier than my start weight shows...around 280 pounds), have yo-yo'ed, have had two kids, and 2 c-sections. There are a lot of factors that play into this, but I think the odds of me having it were way better than not, and that's how it's turned out. Of course, I am still losing - so hopefully it will tighten up, but for now I have a lot of it.

Like you, I would rather do things naturally. I did not want my c-sections, in fact I had planned a home birth - but things did not turn out the way I wanted them to. I hate the idea of more surgery. I am going to see how things go over the next few years, and make a decision. Luckily, I am with a wonderful man who loves me no matter what, and I look good clothed, and I feel great, so it's definitely worth it...but I have moments where I berate myself for what I've allowed to happen to my body, and wonder what might have been. Not that it does any good, but those thoughts do come.

loose skin is the last thing on my mind. I've lost 90 pounds and haven't really noticed any loose skin yet anyway. But my thought is I'd rather have loose skin and look amazing in smaller clothes and be healthy than have tight skin under fat, not healthy at all clothes.

Well, I'm not at my goal weight yet, but I've lost 115 lbs and I don't have loose skin. Now, a lot of my remaining weight is in my stomach, so as I lose the next 20-40 lbs, I could end up with some. I've had three kids and have plenty of stretch marks, so I was really worried about it when I started, but it hasn't manifested. Under my arms is a little swingy, but I had mini=bat wings even when I was in college and weighed 115 lbs and worked out 5 days a week - so I don't expect those to disappear any time soon.

I know its hard to NOT worry about something, but truly, deal with it when/if it happens. The loose skin you're probably picturing is not necessarily what you'll have. I carried around the extra 100 lbs for more than 20 years and while I don't have a gorgeous naked body, not deformed in any way either.

There is so much you can do to help prevent it from getting too bad- such as doing toning exercises for your muscles to help tighten up the skin, also lotioning is good for your skin, it's not going to make it flawless but skin hydration IS important. Before I used to never wear any lotion- now I lotion up after showers and I have noticed a HUGE improvement in my skin, specially on my legs and butt! I've been lotioning consistently for months so it's not going to show up after a day or so- but I have learned my skin needs some loving too!

I'm not talking about those ridiculously expensive lotions either, I use the Palmer's brand lotion and it's soo good and very affordable

Obviously genetics and how fast/slow you lose plays a role, but so far I haven't noticed too much loose skin with the 40 lbs I've lost.

I worried about it before I started losing weight and then I got so consumed in the actual losing of weight that I put that on the back burner.

My husband said he was thrilled to be able to completely put his arms around me after I lost the first 25 lbs so if he doesn't mind, why should I?

I wouldn't hesitate to have surgery, if I had the extra money. If not, I think after exercising and doing the physical part, get the shapers. Who really sees you naked besides God, you, your significant other and your ob/gyn?

There was a time that I was worried about loose skin too. I am in my mid-fifties and was super morbidly obese for many years. I am a long way from goal but have lost 100 pounds. I don't really know how to categorize the current state of my skin. I don't have any hanging skin or skin folds. I do have some wrinkly skin in places like my upper arms and thighs. When I lose more weight, I may have hanging skin and/or folds but no longer am concerned. I feel so much better than I did at my highest and I know that I will feel better and better. I am focusing on the positive aspects of this weight loss.

Like I have heard here many times, I can always regain if I prefer tight skin to weight loss.

Oh, you just reminded me of yet another perk to losing weight!! Less skin to lotion!! I never used to lotion up my legs because it would take three hands full of lotion to get the job done on just one thigh!