Help me understand

[NewAshes 232]

So I want to know losing say 150 pounds by your self vs surgery still gets you extra skin if not why does only wls give you extra skin

[MrsG 329]

Because you lose it faster with wls which doesn't give your skin too much time to adjust and go back. When you do it yourself, it takes longer and it's slower giving your skin time to shrink with you. And typically you exercise more when you do it on your own which I think makes a difference too. I exercise to try to tone things up but I'm still losing faster than I can keep with.

[NewAshes 232]

Oh ok thank you I've been really nervous about extra skin and not having the money to get it removed =\

[O.T.R. sleever 3,386]

Your skin will continue to shrink for up to 2 years after losing weight. You appear young, in all likelihood your skin will shrink back, not as fast as you'll lose weight but given a little time I'm betting any extra skin will be so minimal that the only person that will even notice it is you(we can always find flaw in ourselves).

[NewAshes 232]

Your skin will continue to shrink for up to 2 years after losing weight. You appear young, in all likelihood your skin will shrink back, not as fast as you'll lose weight but given a little time I'm betting any extra skin will be so minimal that the only person that will even notice it is you(we can always find flaw in ourselves).

im 20 but I have seen some people say that age doesn't even help sometimes if you have a lot to lose and if you have been overweight for a long time.

[SpaceDust 585]

It's true that it doesn't ALWAYS get all of the skin back into shape, but the likelihood is that most of it will find itself back in place. Age DOES matter for this. As O.T.R. said, you may be able to point out loose areas, but most if not all of them will not be noticeable to anyone else.

At any rate, I agree that if you're exercising so the underlying muscle is strong, you'll probably do just fine as soon as your skin has a chance to catch up

[NewAshes 232]

It's true that it doesn't ALWAYS get all of the skin back into shape, but the likelihood is that most of it will find itself back in place. Age DOES matter for this. As O.T.R. said, you may be able to point out loose areas, but most if not all of them will not be noticeable to anyone else.

At any rate, I agree that if you're exercising so the underlying muscle is strong, you'll probably do just fine as soon as your skin has a chance to catch up

thank you!

[katikati 127]

I can't help but wonder if a tendency to have deficiencies and be dehydrated more often when one has WLS leads to less skin elasticity as well. I've definitely struggled to keep my Water intake up, and I notice how dry my skin gets, and I've never in my life had a problem with dry skin.

I have heard too, for the most part, that age is on your side if you're younger when you have surgery. What age range do you suppose is considered young enough to hold out this hope? I'm hoping that since I had this surgery at age 33 (turned 34 right after) that I'm still at the tail end of being young enough to have at least a little youth left on my side. : / Also, I know that if you haven't been a yo-yo dieter, and lost and gained repeatedly, that this can help as well.

I'm with you, Ashlie, I'm one of those people that won't be able to afford skin removal surgery. However, I have so much more to lose than your average WLSer, so I know I have to maintain the reality that I will more than likely have to accept massive quantities of extra skin. I just try to hold on to the up side of the whole thing that I will still be much healthier, will feel better, and will at least be able to look great with my clothes on.

[NewAshes 232]

But we are the ones who have to see with clothes off. I get that this is going to help and prevent so many things but I'm young and I want to feel good about my body too...I am not a yo yo dieter the most I can do is maintain because I eat so much.

[katikati 127]

But we are the ones who have to see with clothes off. I get that this is going to help and prevent so many things but I'm young and I want to feel good about my body too...I am not a yo yo dieter the most I can do is maintain because I eat so much.

Oh, I know, and I wasn't really suggesting that that was what you would have to do. I just have had the same feelings on the topic you posted. I have so much more to lose than you do, plus I'm 13 years older than you, so I was saying that that's what I know may happen for me. Believe me, I want to feel good about my body too. More than anything, and I constantly pray my heart out that my body will be forgiving and become a pleasant shape and have nothing grotesque after my weight loss. I'm older than you, but I still have so much life ahead of me that I want to live too. You just pointed out a really big question and concern I've had in my heart too, so I was using your topic to share my own feelings and fears about it.

[NewAshes 232]

Oh, I know, and I wasn't really suggesting that that was what you would have to do. I just have had the same feelings on the topic you posted. I have so much more to lose than you do, plus I'm 13 years older than you, so I was saying that that's what I know may happen for me. Believe me, I want to feel good about my body too. More than anything, and I constantly pray my heart out that my body will be forgiving and become a pleasant shape and have nothing grotesque after my weight loss. I'm older than you, but I still have so much life ahead of me that I want to live too. You just pointed out a really big question and concern I've had in my heart too, so I was using your topic to share my own feelings and fears about it.

its one of my biggest fears next to sticking to the diet lol I was seeing pics of people who can do it on their own and it made me feel bad =\

[Butterthebean 8,146]

Your skin doesn't care if you lose the weight with surgery or without. There will be no more extra skin either way. If you lose 150 pounds you will likely have some loose skin. I understand wanting to feel good about your body but having loose skin is way better than having 150 pounds of extra fat....IMO. The reason you hear more about people having WLS and loose skin is people who do not have WLS generally do not lose that kind of weight. It's so rare that when someone does it they are usually on a talk show somewhere. But WLS patients who have lost that much weight....there are many.

The odds of someone losing that kind of weight without surgery are very slim. Keeping it off is even slimmer...less than 5%. Nobody wants extra skin but I can tell you from experience it's not as bad as it seems like it's going to be....compared to the alternative.

[SpaceDust 585]

Your skin doesn't care if you lose the weight with surgery or without. There will be no more extra skin either way. If you lose 150 pounds you will likely have some loose skin. I understand wanting to feel good about your body but having loose skin is way better than having 150 pounds of extra fat....IMO. The reason you hear more about people having WLS and loose skin is people who do not have WLS generally do not lose that kind of weight. It's so rare that when someone does it they are usually on a talk show somewhere. But WLS patients who have lost that much weight....there are many.

The odds of someone losing that kind of weight without surgery are very slim. Keeping it off is even slimmer...less than 5%. Nobody wants extra skin but I can tell you from experience it's not as bad as it seems like it's going to be....compared to the alternative.

Butter, while in general I agree that it won't make much, if any, difference in the end, I do think that it can be less traumatic when you lose the weight more slowly (i.e., with a typical diet and weight loss average of 5 lbs./month). By that, I mean you won't suddenly deflate, then wait a year for your skin to catch up - it will have a chance to come closer to keeping up throughout your loss. In the end, you may have the same amount of sagginess, but you don't ever see that extreme state that happens when you lose 80 lbs in 3 months.

You're absolutely right about it being rare for people to lose that much weight without assistance from surgery and managing to keep it off. I've watched too many people do the mega yo-yo, and I only know one person that kept almost all of it off (she did gain back about 15 of the original 140 she lost, but she was actually a tad on the too-thin side and was having a tough time maintaining that level of thinness. Apparently 15 lbs more and she had no more issues maintaining and she was still in a healthy BMI range)

[O.T.R. sleever 3,386]

I can't help but wonder if a tendency to have deficiencies and be dehydrated more often when one has WLS leads to less skin elasticity as well. I've definitely struggled to keep my Water intake up' date=' and I notice how dry my skin gets, and I've never in my life had a problem with dry skin.

I have heard too, for the most part, that age is on your side if you're younger when you have surgery. What age range do you suppose is considered young enough to hold out this hope? I'm hoping that since I had this surgery at age 33 (turned 34 right after) that I'm still at the tail end of being young enough to have at least a little youth left on my side. : / Also, I know that if you haven't been a yo-yo dieter, and lost and gained repeatedly, that this can help as well.

I'm with you, Ashlie, I'm one of those people that won't be able to afford skin removal surgery. However, I have so much more to lose than your average WLSer, so I know I have to maintain the reality that I will more than likely have to accept massive quantities of extra skin. I just try to hold on to the up side of the whole thing that I will still be much healthier, will feel better, and will at least be able to look great with my clothes on. [/quote']

Well, to start, with VSG, you should have no deficiencies, nor should dehydration be an issue after the first few weeks(never was a problem for me). We have no malabsorption issues due to the surgery, and liquid restriction is pretty much nonexistent.

As far as how long youth is on your side, well, obviously the younger the better. Our bodies are still developing & changing well into our mid to late twenties. I can tell you my experience, I am 28 years old (been 28 for 12years now) and I after 1 year have seen about a 75-80% reduction of my excess skin. Remember, your skin will continue to shrink for 2 years, so 75% in one year sounds good to me.

[AussieLady 521]

I haven't had a problem with excess skin but my niece had a lot of excess skin. Even though her insurance didn't cover her for weight loss surgery it did cover her for the removal of the excess skin. This is in Australia, but it may be worth the inquiry.