[floating rose]

hey everyone!

i've been fighting the battle of the bulge for one year and 4 mos and have gone from 225lbs to 152lbs... my goal of 135 closer than ever. but with all the positives that have resulted with the drop, there was one negative... skin. My body is all stretched out and i feel like one of those wrinklely pug dogs. Does anyone know if this excess skin will tighten in time and exercise of is this a permanent side effect???

[2cute2Bfat]

Congratulations on your weight loss.
I think it is different for everyone on the skin issue.
It depends a lot on your age and regular exercise program.
If young enough and your exercise... it should go away at least some.

[Punkinseed]

First of all Rose, CONGRATULATIONS on the incredible loss!!!!!

Now, as for the Sharpei effect... it depends on your age, the amount of weight you've lost, how many times you've lost and regained it, if you're exercising and what kind of genes you've got.
Personally, after loosing 56 pounds, I shrunk up to what I'd call almost perfect (I was also 22). I regained all 56 and then some, then lost 89 pounds and had a soft, annoying pooch left over, but still, not bad and it was quite "normal" looking (around 26). Now, I'm about 1/4 of my way to goal *again* (@ 32 and needing to loose 120 pounds when I started) and I'm thinkin' there's no way in God's green earth that I'm gonna get rid of the apron of skin I've got goin' now. I'm afraid I've used up all the generosity of the elasticity of my skin and the amount of weight I'm loosing is of such a quantity that I've never experienced before - my body's not responding to this loss the same - but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and doing all I can to help.

I've made a deal with myself that if I loose all the weight I want and can maintain it for the first time in my life for *1 year* and I STILL am a saggy mess, then I will gift myself with mini-abdominoplasty - that's right, tummy tuck. I've started educating myself now, even though the possibility of this procedure is more than 2 years away. The biggest stipulation is the maintenance, I've never maintained my weight, I'm always in the process of loosing or gaining and I WOULD NOT do something this radical unless I've got a firm grasp on my weight - it would be a huge waste of money.

For now, I'd suggest you keep your skin moist, drink tons of water, keep exercising and keep your fingers crossed - you may "snap back" very well! Barring that, find the best, most qualified, well recommended plastic surgeon and treat yourself like a queen.

Terri