loose skin

[JoyceGA]

I am developing loose skin left and right. In the past, my skin went back with dieting, but I've reached the age that it no longer goes back after stretching out.

SO.... is it possible to exercise enough to get it under control, or is PS the only option?

These bat wings are driving me nuts!!!
:wacko: :wacko: :wacko:

[Diva]

It is sad but true-we don't snap back the way we used to. How tall are you Joyce? Maybe things will get more firm as time goes on.
I am short and my weight is focused on my butt, hips & thighs. So my tummy, waist and chin are shrinking with no problem. I won't have an apron but I will have shar-pei thighs and a saggy droopy butt.

[HeatherGurl]

Joyce, I am 24 and have the UGLIEST bat wings on earth. I don't think there are any options BUT PS if I want to lose them. :(

[Tricia K.]

Joyce, I'm 35 and, because I've been overweight since the age of 11 or 12, my skin has been stretched out for a LONG time. I'm afraid that no amount of exercise will help with the saggy skin on my tummy, inner thighs and upper arms. I also have this lovely (cough, cough) fat on my tummy that doesn't seem to want to go away either.

[JoyceGA]

I am turning 50 in December and 5'2". Diva, you describe my body. My face is going back, but below the waist just hangs. I put on 200 in four years following several close deaths about 5 years ago. BUT I don't see the skin "remembering" where it was.

Thanks, everyone. I know what to ask family for Christmas/Birthday -- donations to PS Fund.

I just can't imagine how this is going to look when I get down to 200. I think I will get one leg done soon, because of my inner thigh/knee tumor. The other leg seems to be going back. My butt is another matter. Then there is the bat wings -- that EVERYONE wants to touch and squeeze.

The skin seems softer. Is that normal??

[NotSoFunny]

Joyce, something to be cautious of when you get to goal and are considering plastic surgery for your loose skin is that the skin takes time for it to catch up to the weight loss. If we lose it quickly, we could find that the skin may take an extra year to two years to tighten up as much as it is going to. Some people can't wait, and get the surgery. But most plastic surgeons like to wait at least a year after you reach goal before oing any sort of skin removal and tightening. It ensures that the skin is not only in its best shape, but that the goal is set, an reache, and you won't find your self needing more PS later, or worse you find that goal is not easy to stay at and you gain wait back. I know that i will need surgery on at least my tummy and arms and boobs. But I will wait, to my husband's despair, till one year after i am at goal. (he is so anxious to see the finished product LOL)

[JoyceGA]

I just want the tumor gone -- it is a hard mass between my legs that hinders walking. I can wait for the rest.

Does the loose skin turn men off in bed? Cowboy won't care -- in fact he is for me not having PS at all. But my other studs in the barn are younger than me -- and I wonder about that. Guess, I might close the barn door for two years till PS is done.

Looks like I'll get my reading stack down to the bottom of the basket.

[Diva]

Joyce,
What tumor? I think I recall you writing about it on the other board but I don't recall how you were feeling with it or when it could be removed.
Also, nice to know I'm not the only short stack!

[NotSoFunny]

I would check with your doc about getting it removed now. I am sure that a tumor removal would be covered by insurance. Are they waiting for your weight to come down more before doing the surgery?

On a sie note, you crack me up!! How many studs do you have sitting in pasture waiting to come in out of the rain? LOL

[JoyceGA]

Funny, I had a man on my front porch last week telling me what great shape he was in -- running and such. True, he looked fine for 65, but as my dad says, "he is a few bricks short of a load." I wouldn't let him into the house, and no, he is not a potential stud.

If you remember Dorothy in "Must Love Dogs" -- that is my life. I'm on about seven dating sites and have a ball. Most never get beyond a wink with me, some make it to e-mail, and few make it inside my door.

[Susan]

Joyce, I just want to say that I love and admire your attitude. You seem like a woman who truly knows how to enjoy life!

[DonnaB]

*knocking on wood*

I think I may have dodged the 'batwing' bullet, but I'm definitely going to have inner thigh wobblies. The jury is still out on the tummy dangle and the girls will probably need a little pick me up. Think a cup of coffee will do it?

*sigh*

[Richard Froshiesar]

yep ps is the only answer

[Diane]

Thankfully, all of my skin has gone back to normal for me! Not sure how I got dealt the lucky card, but I really don't have a lot of flab hanging except for a little in my tummy area. But, I figure if I give it a year or two, that may tighten back up into place if I keep exercising. (crossing my fingers!!!!) I'm 35 yrs. old, do you think that makes a difference? I also exercise too.

[JoyceGA]

Joyce, I just want to say that I love and admire your attitude. You seem like a woman who truly knows how to enjoy life!

Thank you, Susan. When my serious beau (thinking marriage and kids) dropped me for a Hooters waitress, I was 44. I knew it was too late for the picket fence fantasy, so I remembered a classmate's mother after her husband died. She changed her life.

This mother of four boys at age 50, lost weight, had plastic surgery, dyed hair blonde, and became a model. She dated men as young as 35 and old as 65. AND...my favorite...she had a nude oil-painting of herself with a spotlight over her bed.

At my lowest point at age 44, I knew I wanted to be Shirley.

I love the power that comes from this independent lifestyle. Once a man gets too serious, he is dropped cold. Cowboy has picked up on this, so he always says -- I love you, but it ain't that sticky, marrying love. He had to climb over the bodies to get to my door the first time.

The lifestyle is not for everyone, but it suits me to a tee.

[JoyceGA]

Thankfully, all of my skin has gone back to normal for me! I'm 35 yrs. old, do you think that makes a difference? I also exercise too.

It's the age. When I was 30, I lost 122 lbs in four months. I didn't have any loose skin. In fact, this is my first experience with loose skin.

I think exercise will help to a point, but once the skin looses it's memory, it doesn't seem to go back.

[Tricia K.]

Joyce, how the HECK did you lose 122 pounds in 4 months? Did you lose a skinny husband or something? Hee hee.

[JoyceGA]

I lost the 122 pounds in 4 months by doing Shaklee shakes, cutting my daily calorie intake to 840, and exercising 3 hours a day. I was 30 and my knee didn't go in a different direction from the one I wanted to go back then.

I did lose my radio DJ job, where I put on the weight sitting all day.

I was able to keep it off for six years. Then I dated a chef...and real good chef.

[Telly]

I chatted with a girl who lost 96lbs in 3 months. She did it by eating weight watchers ..but only 1 meal per day. I thought to myself, how horrible to starve like that. She said it did the trick but now she's struggling to lose that weight again. Crash dieting is not the key.

[Jachut]

Age makes a difference. There's nothing wrong with a little tune up and hanging tummies are uncomfortable and hinder you, they definitely should be "medically approved".

We have a tabloid mag here, New Weekly which has an article this week "Worst ever Bikini Pics". Well, Donatella Versace truly IS nasty, but I think Jerry Hall having flabby knees, a crepey tummy and jiggly bum is quite acceptable for 50 and there's no reason in the world why she shouldnt be on the beach in a bikini. She's still a beautiful woman, if like me you believe women that look 50 at 50 at beautiful and women that look 30 at 50 are freaks. Heck, there's even a pic of Kate Hudson sans airbrushing and she has one very wobbly (if skinny) behind and quite a bad case of loose abdominal skin. Even Nicole Richie has a loose belly.

As long as mine isnt hanging and swaying in the breeze (which its not) I dont care. I've got plenty of jiggles but 2 weeks on the beach has reminded me that EVERYONE is jiggly, apart from a very few ironwomen and genetic freaks.

[Jill]

I'm 41 and have been overweight most of my life. I have huge amounts of hanging skin :/

I'm going to give it six months after reaching my goal. Then it's coming off, come hell or high water.

["Just" Paul]

After a consultation with a PS, I learned that Lipo can help SOME of the loose skin.

If the loose skin is not TOO serious.

It works like this... when lipo is performed, it creates scar tissue under the skin... scar tissue naturally contracts (thus many of the issues burn patuients have). This scarring MAY contract some of the excess skin. The doc I talked to explained to me that he uses this method for tummy tucking, to avoid going all the way around the abdomen. He removes the excess skin in the front, but for the flanks, he uses the lipo, not sio much to remove the fat, but to cause the "scarring" and retract that excess skin. he says it varies by patient, but can be very effective, and much less invasive.

He also recommends the "wait 6-12 months" after reaching goal weight to see what the body does naturally... not that he won't do it sooner, but he says many WL patients move to PS too soon, not giving the body any time to try to recover.

Just my 2 cents.

[Telly]

Thank you Paul for the LIPO info. That's good to know. I know me though, lol and I will be on a plane the moment I am 10lbs from goal... that 10lbs more.

["Just" Paul]

Telly, one thing I admire about you... you always take it by the horns!

I have no doubt you'll get it done ASAP, and that it will be a roaring success.

Can't wait to see your new abs!

[Vegaswildflower]

Hey, I have to tell you guys, I am in my 22s ... wow thats awesome, and Im so excited!
I also noticed for the first time the dreaded loose skin...its giggly and gooey and gross..
So thank you all for this thread, yes, I have been picking up my apron and checking myself out for years, its nice to see it finanly happening!!

I know I will need some PS but after reading all this I think once I get to my gal weight Goal May 30 2007 I will wait a while , excersize like I still do, and be bound to a life of shaper underware .. so maybe no PS for a while ( I wonder how long I can really wait) I want to be confortable in my new body and if I can wait a year and save pain and suffering That would be ok with me..

[Jachut]

I've not really been banded long, 10 months or so but I have noticed too that five months ago my stomach was looking worse than it does now, it has indeed tightened up a little bit. I dont think it would tighten so much though that waiting a year would mean you didnt need PS, I think you can tell if you need a tummy tuck or not even before you get to goal.

["Just" Paul]

I think where the PS I was talking to was going, is that if you waited, you might need LESS work, and therfore, and easier recovery... I don't think he meant you'd be able to eliminate the need for a TT, then again... I'm no PS.

I think I will need one... by the time I'm done I will have lost 1/2 of myself, and I find it difficult to believe my skin will ever recover from that.

[JoyceGA]

One PS I have always wanted is my bat wing arms. BUT I hate the long scar it leaves. WELL, on ABC GMA this summer they had a story about a new arm lift that only leaves a scar in the armpit. It combines lypo with skin removal.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=1803772

[Telly]

They have a new scar now where it's under your armpit. Those Tijuana P.S. do this procedure for a good price.

[Tricia K.]

Joyce, thank you soooo much for sharing that video with us. I had basically decided that I wouldn't do my arms because of the huge scar that it left. Now I know that there is another option. :)

[NotSoFunny]

my plastic surgeon in mexico does it too. but for me, i don't care about the scars. i have scars already, what are a few more. and i would rather have the scars than the flabby skin, but that is just me. i don't want to be jiggly anymore. :( it makes me sad.

[Alicia521]

PS is not really an option for me anytime soon. I want to be at goal (140) by my 30th b-day in May 2007. I’m 52 lbs away so far. DH and I will probably try for baby # 2 sometime next year. DS was 10lbs so needless to say my tummy is already a little saggy and has been since he was born in May 2005. Thankfully the stretchmarks have faded and are just white instead of bright red. I figure I will wait 1-2 years after having babies to consider PS. I don’t know if I want to wait that long, but I need to! I already know the girls are going to need a lift though. 14 months of BF took a toll on them and they weren’t all that perky to start out with.