Hey all, I am JUST starting out on this WOL and had a question. First off, my sister has had surgery for her weight and has lost 170 pounds and now has tons of loose, flabby skin. Now, she hasn't ever exercised yet and she doesn't drink water basically. My question is...Is it possible to lose 150#(my goal) and NOT have all that loose flabby skin? She says no way, it's there for life, unless I get surgery to remove it. I thought, hoped, PRAYED that if I regularly exercise & keep myself hydrated, maybe alot of it would shrink back with me???? I don't know. This may sound silly, but just hoping some of you with experience with weight loss found this to be true. Please give me any thoughts or insite you may have.

Kelly, there are many factors that will effect your results - age, ellasticity of skin, how much water you drink and how fast you lose the fat.

Slower fat loss is not only more sustainable once you reach goal, but it puts less stress on your skin. How old you are will reflect how ellastic your skin is and how well and how fast it can "bounce back" - drinking water is essential. Exercise will also help - building some lean muscle will not only boost your metabolism it will also help to 'fill' out and tone what is left over after/while you lose.

This is a hot topic on the boards - try a search for "saggy" AND "skin" and I am sure you'll come up with many posts.

Just FYI - I have seen before and after shots of many people who have lost 100++ and while it took a few years, their skin DID 'shrink' back to fit them.

HTH
Nat

Oh my gosh, Kelly! I just posted this exact same question some where else on the board! lol!....

Is it just me, or is anyone else here afraid of ending up with some crazy looking saggy-baggy-skin-suit after the weight is gone? It's a retarded fear to have, but since we're all being honest here, I just thought I'd put it out there.

I'm 300 lbs and I want to be 130. I can exercise as much as I want, but still, I know not all the skin is gonna shrink back...

What then? Surgery??? I'm not sure why I'm even posting this right now. All I know is that with each passing day, I grow more and more resentful of the fact that I have to live like this.

(I tend to rant, so stop me if I start buggin' you. lol.)

Back to my question...

Is anybody else concerned about the flab factor?

I swear it has become my newest obsession and I haven't even lost my weight yet!! I have stretch marks everywhere, so I'm assuming the collagen and elastin in my skin are both shot to hell!

Sometimes I get SO mad at myself for doing this to my body.... GRRrrr!

It's an interesting question, for sure...

...but I like to focus on the task at hand--losing the weight--first. I figure I have enough daily stresses (not good for us) in my life to deal with, so I don't need to let myself become obsessed with this issue.

Besides, it's anyone's guess what your frame of mind will be when you reach your goal. You may be more accepting of loose skin...or not. It's hard to predict just how you'll feel then.

For now, I just try to stay focused and not throw up any reasons that might subconsciously sabotage my efforts.

Good luck to you!

Donald

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Kelly,
I think the key is how you lose the weight and how fast. The folks that have their stomachs stapled lose extremely fast and I don't think their bodies have a chance to catch up with their loss. I'm hoping with a slow loss that my skin will boing back into place. You are young yet...so don't worry about it. Drink your water and do the best you can and see what happens. Victoria

Well some 14 years ago, I lost 150 lbs in less than a year. I was 26 at the time and my skin adjusted just fine. I did exercise and I also used vitamin E creme toward the end of my diet.

Having said that, I think Don offers some good advice. I know that I have...in the past...thought about the negatives of losing weight and used those thoughts to derail my efforts. It's not just the skin thing but other things like, "I want people to like me for me and not what I look like" or "Being fat has made me a more loving person." I'm trying hard now to just think about the good that living this lifestyle affords me now and in the future.

I'm looking so far ahead of myself, that I'll probably miss the things right in front of me that might trip me up. It's a truggle to stay in the moment and just deal with what I've got going on here and now. But, I gotta resist the temptation to do and think the way I always have in the past. I mean, I'm still big, so obviously that mindset didn't do me any good. lol. I guess that's where this forum comes in...