Scared of baggy skin!!

[RedFiona 0]

Hi all,

I have been on and off this board since my surgery in August 07. I started at 307 and am currently at 227, oh, and I'm 5"3'. I have had steady weight loss so far but recently I have noticed my arms and legs starting to get alot of loose skin on them. I am not afraid of having plastic surgery to correct it, but it is the idea of where the money will come from and me turning into a big bag of loose skin.

I get alot of anxiety over this and I'm not even half way thru my weight loss!! What will I look like in another 50lbs!! I find myself thinking about foods I have not eaten nor had any interest in since my surgery. I dont want to sabotage my weight loss, but I dont want to turn into a flubber monster either!!

Thanks Y'all

[kei1170 0]

It almost sounds as if you're looking for someone to tell you to eat the foods that got you to this point in the first place - to what, fill in your loose skin - clearly you must have known your skin becoming loose would happen - keep focused and don't try to let that hinder your amazing weight loss ~ what a little saggy skin compared to being healthy?

Look at it that way.

[ziahmama 0]

try to do some muscle toning exercises and you may try some firming creams ,i dont know if they work but i have been told that given a little time your skin may start to improve on its own. do not give up on doing the right thing i know it is hard when you start to crave all the goodies that really are bad and unhealthy but it is not worth the guilt you will feel after all your hard work to get this much wt off. just give your skin so time and extra tlc and it may get firmer.

[KelinTx 1]

Ill take my saggy baggy flabby skin any day over weighing what i used to! I can hide my saggy skin for the most part but theres no way i could of hid 359 pounds.

[RedFiona 0]

kei1170 thanks for the health reminder. That is a BIG improvement, no more pills, yay!! I guess I can get so caught up in the day to day stuff that I can look over the big picture. Thank you!!

ziahmama I havn't even thought of the firming creams!! Thanks!

[Jachut 487]

Its a fact of life for almost anyone, but you cant really tell how bad its going to be. However, I did go through a stage about halfway through my weight loss where it looked like it was going to be really band and then over the rest of my journey it did firm up, its much less at goal than it was 50lb ago.

[She Smiles 2]

I became the master of trying to hide/disguise my weight with clothes when I was bigger. Now I am thinner, I use those skills too but have more options of the types of clothes I can wear to disguise the loose skin I have on my stomach and hips. Like Jachut, I came out of this not too badly, so I'm kind of lucky. I did look into plastic surgery earlier in the year but simply could not afford it, so I've now made peace with the fact that my body isn't going to ever be bikini ready. And thats ok.

Don't let the fear of having loose skin stop you from becoming the person you set out to be in having your surgery to start with. Best of luck.

[Chrisann 0]

My mother swears that drinking skim milk tightens your skin. The problem is I can't get skim down, I drink 1%.

I also was told by my primary care doctor that by losing weight slowly allows the body to catch up to the weight loss, and minimize your loose skin. I was also told to start now with the firming exercises, so I am doing pilates, and yoga with some weight training.

I too don't have the finances for plastic surgery down the road, and have no extra funds to even start saving for it. I am afraid of having loose skin too.

[maryrose 2]

Chrisann,

Skim milk? That is interesting. Do you think it's the protien?

[mamato3 1]

Like you, I have been doing alot of stressing about the loose skin thing lately. Why? I have no idea. I KNEW it was going to happen before I ever had this surgery. I know I would rather have loose skin then fat, but I cant stop thinking about it! Plastic surgery will not be an option for me financially. So, what to do? Love what is, I guess. The reasons I had this surgery had very little to do with appearance. Or so I thought! I did it so that I could be healthier, live longer, keep up with my children. Those sort of things sound great until you look in the mirror and your sagging cottage cheese thighs and bat wings are staring back at you! HAHAHA!

But we are still better off then before, right? And what is the worst that can happen to us? We wont be hopping around on the beach in a bikini?

[Jachut 487]

Exactly. I think that's a healthy attitude. I know my avatar looks fine, but believe me, I dont move a lot if I'm in that bikini in public. I need to drape myself just so, lol. There's plenty of jiggle and jelly there and I'm pretty much at peace with that's how it is. I figure I"m 40, for crying out loud. For the size of the problem I have, what's the point in going through such horrendous surgery as a lower body lift when no matter what I do, I will be 50, then 60 etc and my skin IS going to get lax, slack and old very quickly from now on. I'm an Aussie, I've spent my youth in the sun, the damage is done.

Getting the boobs done though. I figure with a great rack, nobody will be looking at my flabby bum anyway.

[mstrina27 0]

Hi all,

I have been on and off this board since my surgery in August 07. I started at 307 and am currently at 227, oh, and I'm 5"3'. I have had steady weight loss so far but recently I have noticed my arms and legs starting to get alot of loose skin on them. I am not afraid of having plastic surgery to correct it, but it is the idea of where the money will come from and me turning into a big bag of loose skin.

I get alot of anxiety over this and I'm not even half way thru my weight loss!! What will I look like in another 50lbs!! I find myself thinking about foods I have not eaten nor had any interest in since my surgery. I dont want to sabotage my weight loss, but I dont want to turn into a flubber monster either!!

Thanks Y'all

Congratulations making it this far... Not sure if you are lifting weights... if u are not start.. if u start lifting weights walking, doing squats... or just go to the gym and get a personal trainer or if u cant afford one just watch them train someone else...lol.. that's what i have done in the past and trust me u will tone really really good... There is someone from this board that I saw their before and after pic's and she did not have any plastic surg. at all u can still see the scars on her tummy and all but she is fit and toned... u can do it...

[RedFiona 0]

Thank you all!! You guys are the BEST!! The best way to get through something is to talk about it, so that is what I did.

I am working on doing more reps with my arm weights and longer time on the treadmill. I would like to get up to heavier weights but first things first.

Thank you all soooooooo much!!

[massa36 2]

Try ordering the FIRM exercise DVD's ! they really work! If you start using them now they should surely help with toning! Good luck!

[juliegeraci 7]

I have lost 110 lbs and just had plastic surgery. I had a Tummy Tuck and thigh lift. I would save your money for plastic surgery. There is probably nothing you can do to help the situation. Exercise will help but genetics play a big part. Congrats on your weight loss to date.