[mimik]

For those of you that have lost a great deal of weight----

do u have alot of baggy skin?? Im so afraid that when i lose my 50 lbs ill still look fat. I already have a big hang over on my belly from having my dd.

Sorry this is sooo personal. DH says no if the weight comes off slowly. Just curious.
Thanks ahead of time1

[shrinkingchica]

Skin sagginess is not affected by the speed of the weight loss. Even if you lost a hypothetical 50lbs in a month, after a few months your skin would retract a bit and it would be the same had you lost the 50lbs gradually over those months.
I will now refer you to the wonderful sticky thread in maintainers called: Skin FAQ. You can't miss it.

The short answer to you question is a big "it depends." But my intution would indicate that you probably won't have a problem.
One thing to note though is that no matter what you do, strech marks do not/will not go away. They are scars.......that can fade a bit with time but will be with you always.

[mandalinn82]

Everyones body is different, and skin elasticity varies too. No one can predict whether someone will have a lot of loose skin or not, though most people can expect to have some skin firmness issues.

Losing the weight slowly can help, but not entirely prevent loose skin - it all depends how elastic your skin.

Personally, I have some loose skin, but not as much as I would expect given a 100 lb loss. Different areas are firmer than others. I will say, though, that disguising the excess skin is WAY easier than disguising the large rolls of FAT that used to be there, so I'm OK with it.

[RememberHowToSmile]

I already have some loose skin and I'm about half way to my goal. Realize I started out a lot heavier then you did so I'm sure how much weight you have to loose have a lot to do with it. My loose skin is around my my stomach and chest (my chest is getting smaller). I'm hoping that it will tighten up some. But similar to what Mandalinn said I would rather be healthy and loose skin then be morbily obese and not. My other thought is, if my skin stays loose, then maybe after I have children I will consider having the excess removed.

[Daisy Boo]

i agree it depends on how much you have to lose and how fast you lose it and your own body's mechanisms.

recently on the tv here they had a story about the inaugural biggest loser winner in Australia and how he had a huge amount of excess skin so he was still not happy. i couldn't help but yell at the tv "Of course you have too much skin - you lost half of your body weight in 6 months - nearly 8kg a week!".

take it slow - don't stress about it and deal with it if it comes up later down the track.

[mimik]

Thank you soooooo much ladies. You dont even understand how much motivation you guys just gave me. You took away an "excuse" for me!!

As far as the stretch marks go....im fine with them at this point. They are my battle wounds from having my daughter. I have them everywhere, and im sure ill get more!! thanks yall