hi, uhm just wanted to know for anyone that has lost a great amount of weight, or who just, knows, is there anyway to get rid of the loose skin, or lessen it a bit? im rather clueless when it comes to that aspect. id hate to lose so much weight only to have so much loose skin sagging for the rest of my life. i know you can have surgery to get rid of the skin, but was thinking something more natural....and like..how much of it will go back to normal, if any, and how long would that take. just like to know ahead of time, so if anyone knows, thanks. oh, and i mean like, losing about 100+ pounds type of weight lose, so i imagine thats a good bit of saggyness >_<

That's a good question and one I've wondered about. I know that the younger you are, the better. I know that the slower you lose, the better. I'm not aware of anything that will make loose skin shrink up again after all the weight is gone. I hope someone else has better news.

hey guys
I have lost 151 lbs to date, and my skin is not bad! I didn't lose it very fast,maybe over the course of 5 yrs. when I belonged to W.W they allways said that skim milk tighten the skin! and I find that wt.training helps to get rid of the flab and help the skin appear tighter!
aUDREY

There is a very informative thread regarding loose skin in the Maintainers forum. There really are too many contributing factors to predict exactly how any one person's skin is going to react to weight loss. Age, amount lost, quality of skin to begin with, how long you were overweight, whether or not you smoke, etc.

I haven't found a thread yet though where anyone with loose skin said that they wish they had stayed fat. Some might have opted to have it surgically removed but even they have indicated loose skin would have been the better alternative if surgery had not been an option. I think it boils down to loose skin not being a health issue (except in extreme cases) and that it is easily camoflauged behind clothing. Fat, on the other hand, can't been hidden and can kill you.

I am 5'2", 36 years old, and have lost almost 60 pounds. With 20 pounds to go until I reach my goal I don't foresee any serious loose skin issues. I have it on my stomach but that is more the result of a twin pregnancy than weight loss. And it isn't visually HORRIBLE. Of course, ever wearing a bikini is out of the question. But if that is the worst fate of having lost weight I suppose I'm in pretty good shape!

I would suggest that you not concern yourself with it until you are close to your goal weight. At that point you will have an idea of what to expect. Even then, though, consider giving your body six months to a year to "snap" back. Unless you've lost ALL elasticity from you skin some improvment will come with time.