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When I was 29 I was 220 at 5’5. I lost 90 lbs and hit my goal weight and had no sagging skin whatsoever. I even developed a 4 pack abs but I also incorporated daily cardio and strength training in my life as well.

Not sure about this one? Unlike most of the rest of your skin, your lips have no oil glands, meaning they don't rely on sebum for lubrication. I do think there could be something to the comments above related to protein drinks, especially if you find yourself licking your lips more. (Excess saliva can actually cause chapped lips.) In addition, this could also be due to nutrient deficiencies. If you're not currently taking a multivitamin, a lack of B vitamins can lead to dry, chapped lips.

The ones I use are clear tabs so they're nearly invisible! Especially when I have my hair down as the tape used on the neck tends to get pulled near the ears. & they stay on as long as you use them before moisturizer or makeup! (I find them on Amazon) I also use skin colored kinesiology tape (what boob tape is made out of) as that sticks even better even through sweat/heat. I HAVE to wear my hair down w that one though

I feel your pain! I seems to hit long plateaus and they are frustrating. I saw that although the scale wasn’t moving in those weeks - my body was changing, clothes were still getting smaller, skin was firming or readjusting - so that was nice to see! I noticed my calories and protein were on the low side because I’m struggling with amounts I can eat but when I can bump those calories and protein up some, I would notice a loss. Keep up the good work! We can do this!! :)

I put on my first pair of jeans 7 weeks post op to go to Home Depot. They were loose! A few steps into the store and my pants were falling off. A few days later did laundry. Pulled out some leggings. I have knee knows, and mtmy thighs don't touch.

My surgery center has a nearly all liquid liver-shrinking diet for 14 days, but it is causing me the worst chapped lips. I've been drinking 82 - 124 oz of water and it's getting worse. Has anyone else experienced ultra dry skin & lips during the pre-op diet? Diet : Water - 48 oz. minimum Breakfast - 30 g protein shake <5 carbs Lunch - 30 g protein shake <5 carbs Dinner - light meal: 3-6 oz lean protein, <30 carbs, non-starchy vegetable, 2 servings of healthy fat spread throughout day non-starchy vegetables are unlimited throughout the day. Sent from my Pixel 5 using BariatricPal mobile app

I have a skin condition related to skin friction & that already helps me qualify for skin removal thankfully!! I think I will get my tummy & arms done as both areas are affected. I have loose skin on my thighs too but I have no problem trying to fill them out with muslce I also wish to get my neck done but that's out of my budget. I'm trying to sneakily hide it with face lift tape & I like it so far!

The end of the honeymoon phase means not that you won’t or can’t loose anymore weight but that you’ll have to work harder to lose it. The honeymoon phase refers more to the time when you’re losing at the faster rate, your hunger & interest in eating is low, those initial wonderful benefits of the surgery. After they start to fade, you have to rely on the work you’re doing to establish new habits & your learning & understanding of food, eating & your body’s needs. For most the honeymoon period ends around the 6-12 month mark when their hunger starts to return, they’re eating larger portions & a wider variety of foods & as they get closer to the weight their body wants to be. Their are many who continue to lose weight well after this time.

Hold off on the eyelid lift @Sunnyer too. I had hooded eyelids, waste of time wearing eyeshadow, & had often mused about getting an eyelid lift. But somewhere in my second year I suddenly realised I had eyelids. That fatty skin that folded & drooped over my eyes was greatly reduced. I spend a fortune on eyeshadow now. There’s some saggy skin around the eyelid but much in the words of @ms.sss, I’m 57 I should have some lines. I decided against fillers in my marionette lines @loridee11 because I didn’t want the puffy face look. I worked hard to get cheek bones & facial definition. 😁 but as I said the filler in the hollow in front of my ears did help with depth & length of the lines. Not the most flattering pxt but look I have eyelids. (Ignore the dark bruised eye circles. They’re curtesy of my glaucoma drops. 😩) The labial fold line on my left was as long as the one on the right which was longer too. The marionette lines from my mouth changed much the same way. Oh and the slightly pursed puffy upper lip is the Dysport lip curl.

I kept getting pushed back too. You must be feeling so disappointed after doing all that prep work too! Just think of when you do get the surgery you lock out all the weight you have already lost. The surgery as a lock sustained me through many bumps in the road. You’ll get there. Have a proper cry then Keep loosing weight to beat that lock out and make the loss more sustainable. You got this. Covid/RSV/ flu can’t beat you!

yep, i felt like i had some seriously deep laugh lines and i tried out filler to address it. while yes, it definitely lessened their appearance, and in the lower section by my mouth it totally disappeared, i just didn't like the look of it. it didnt look natural to me. i mean, im 50 yrs old, i should have some lines...personally, i think i looked like i was a walking instagram filter, lol. also *i* felt it made me look chubbier...whether that was true or not...its important to note here that no one else thought so, if they even noticed. most everyone besides my bffs and my daughter just thought i was taking care of my skin. even my husband didn't/doesn't notice. so now i just stick to cheek fillers (i have lovely looking cheekbones now), which does have a small side affect on my laugh lines. the filler pushes out the skin which lifts up my lower face a teeny bit and stretches out the laugh lines, which lessens the appearance. it's subtle and more natural looking imo than filler directly into that area. you didn't ask, but i'll speak to the undereye and chin filler i had that i also wasnt a fan of. undereye filler: tried it to adress my sunken undereyes. yes, it got rid if the sunken look, but combined with cheek filler i thought again, that i looked chubbier in the face and had a rounded cheek look instead of the angular look i preferred. so now i just use a good concealer and live with it. chin filler: my tech suggested i try on my chin to adress my semi-turkey neck and to get a more defined jaw. and yep, it did help with both the loose skin on my neck under the chin and give me a nice profile, but i felt like my chin looked too big for my face. i was just probably used to my normal chin though. and again, no one even noticed. anyway, didn't do it again after that.

I'm planning on a lower body lift of some sort, an upper body lift of some sort, and probably brachioplasty. I'm hoping that I can find a surgeon who is able to combine top surgery with a back lift, but it seems like the sorts of surgeons who do top surgery are often not the same ones who do skin removal well. Judging from the way things are hanging now and the extent of my stretch marks, I'm going to have extremely bad loose skin most places on my body, so... yeah, definitely planning on plastics.

My program doesn’t set goal weights (however they do ask if you have one to asses if your goals are realistic). My goals were focused on my health (all met and surpassed) so far, but I have personally set mini goals for myself. First one was get below 300 pounds. (Check) Second mini goal was loose 100 pounds total (as of today check… 57 pounds before surgery, 43 pounds since surgery). I haven’t set my next mini goal yet - I need to think about it a little. I am hoping to loose a good bit more… working towards a healthy BMI, but along the way if I feel like “this is where I feel and look my best” I’ll stay there. I’d love to hit ONEderland, just because it’s been forever since I’ve been there… but we will see where this journey takes me.

Update & NSV: Friday was my 4 month follow up. I weighed in at 47 pounds down from surgery and 97 pounds lost total. My clothes are getting pretty big on me but I’m trying to modify my clothes rather than buy new for as long as possible. I was helping at a school event and one of the other volunteers came up to me (who hasn’t seen me since last April) - gushing over how good I looked … saying “I almost didn’t recognize you”. I have had several people tell me that lately (many saying it’s was due to my shorter hair, I think they were embarrassed or unsure how to mention my weight-loss). Funny thing is because my loss has been gradual my family and I don’t really “see” it as much - so when people react to it, usually it’s sweet. I’m struggling getting enough calories and protein because I have some sinus drainage that make eating difficult but otherwise my dr and nutritionist think I’m on a really good track and are encouraging me to keep up the good work. I would have like to have lost more by now, but one advantage to slower loss is my skin is looking pretty good in general. I still have a lot to loose. I don’t have an ideal number set in my mind. I’ve already met all of my health related goals. In my perfect world getting down to the 100’s would be great, but as long as I’m healthy and avoid regaining… I’m happy. Having lots of plateaus which can be frustrating but with my calories being low that’s kinda expected.

Hey everyone! This is Ashley. I had surgery on October 6th and had to start my pre-op diet in the beginning of June of this year... My heaviest weight is 356 lb... The day of surgery I was at 313 lb... And as of today I am at 264 lb!!! I was so thinking excited when I hit the 90 lb mark of weight loss ! Can imagine what if you like once I lose 100 !!! My goal weight is about 180 lb. Some about 85 lb away from that goal I believe ... More than halfway there just from the pre-op diet and 2 of post-op!?! It took me a while to be more comfortable with trying new foods as I was terrified of throwing up or having dumping syndrome... I had the gastric sleeve and things have been going much better than expected! I'm able to eat very healthy but lots of different types of foods which is really exciting! I even ate a sliced apple the other day which some people can't tolerate the skin and I did create! The reason I'm reaching out to y'all is because I'm dealing with chronic constipation. The only time that I can really go to the bathroom without any pain is if I take milk of magnesia... I tried to avoid it but The 2 weeks ago after realizing I hadn't gone to the bathroom in 2 and 1/2 weeks but I had no stomach pain or anything so I totally lost track of it! I had a bowel movement " naturally" If you can even call it that took two days to get out last Sunday and Monday... It was an extremely painful experience and extremely hard to the point where put it this way. I had to plunge the toilet a couple times just to be able to get it down.... Details are gross I know but this is what this page is all about getting help for our gross details! I just now took more milk of magnesia because I haven't gone since that severely constipated situation... I have been very good about eating very healthy and drinking a lot of water and getting my protein intake. I have however unfortunately not been great at taking vitamins and keeping up with them. I ordered some more vitamins today and decided to get back on track. Even before surgery I was deficient of vitamin d very severely as well as low on iron to the point of anemia. So I'm wondering if my nausea that I've been having isn't just constipation but also vitamin deficiency and if maybe that's why I'm constipated as well... I also ordered benafiber tablets to see if that helps... Do you guys have any advice on how to go better? What do you do when it's been a few days and you haven't gone? In the past? If I don't go for three or four days pre-surgery I had to get stomach cramps and pains and things like that and that's not happening this time around. Advice is welcome. There is hope if we just stick together. I love you all so much. You are like a family to me! I look forward to your responses!! Sent from my Pixel 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

So sorry if I sound harsh here but this is setting my alarm bells ringing. You need to have a talk with your hubby fast. Controlling behaviour is very scary and does not come from a good place. He is very frightened he will loose you, its his problem and yours to deal with.

Another NSV is finally getting my wedding ring replaced. It kept sliding off my finger. I went down from US size 12 to Size 9 and still it is a bit loose. I got a "temporary" tungsten ring and planning to get a new silver / platinum one for our 10 years anniversary next year 😀

Haven’t done plastic surgery. Don’t think the recovery & scaring is worth it for the little lose skin I have. If they took it from all over my body they’d probably only remove 1or 2 kilograms. But beauty treatments, I’m like @ms.sss. My name is Arabesque & I’m vain. It’s something that only started in the last two years. Was never this bad before surgery. It’s my new addiction. Had Dysport (Botox) in my forehead, between the brows, chin & upper lip (lip curl) several times. I love it. The lip curl is amusing as for the first couple of days after it starts working, I sort of lisp & feel like a can’t pronounce some words & cleaning my teeth is a hoot - can’t spit out the toothpaste it sort of drools out. Several RF sessions in my second year. Don’t know if it did anything because I did it around the time my weight was stabilising & my body was resettling. Liked the experience though - soothing. Filler on the side of my face. Had sunken pockets of no fat in front of my ears. It lifted my marionette lines a little. Had one derma pen (deeper micro needling) treatment (subsequent sessions delayed for many reasons) but am having my first combined micro needling & RF (even deeper needling & RF which occurs below the surface of the skin) in January. Takes three moths to start to see any effects & you need about 6 treatments of derma pen but inky 4 with combined treatment. Think I see a little reduction in my acne scarring, which was the main purpose of having it. The combined treatment is supposed to aid skin laxity. We’ll see. Have monthly facials, pedicures (like doing my own finger nails) & have had micro blading (best thing ever). Having first teeth whitening this afternoon. Don’t know what I’ll try next.

I finally got my wedding band replaced. I went down from size 12 to 9 and still it is a bit loose. I got a temporary tungsten ring for now and planning to get a silver or platinum one for our 10th wedding anniversary next year.

i get comments all the time from people i dont know who see me every once in a while. Even the staff at my local post office that i go to recently told me "You loosing a lot of weight, looking good" and so on. I personally like it. I am not a person that is easily offended in anyway regardless if someone is mean or nice. They are just words.

I’m currently 22 weeks pregnant. Have only gained 11lbs so far in pregnancy. My baby bump is just a bump - not like my last pregnancy where I gained so much weight I was just a giant fat person. Eating the proper foods and nutrition is incredibly manageable. My low was 183, I’m keeping that as my marker on this site and will continue updating once I have this babe. I figure it’s not quite the same experience being pregnant, so my weight loss journey, in a sense, is on hold. Yesterday I had two people comment and say I don’t even look pregnant (shirt was hiding the bump) but that was a weight loss compliment. We’re going to Florida next week and I’ve had a hell of a time trying to find a bathing suit that fits my flat a$$ and big belly. I did though! The need for maternity clothes has been a challenge as I’m Constantly confused by my size due to the weight loss. I can pull my size 10 jeans up and they’re loose, but they don’t button - that’s a win in my book! Hope you all are doing great! Cheers to the new year!! Happy Holidays!! ❤️

remember there is nothing you can do to reset the pouch you have to reset your brain and make yourself relearn new healthy habit… that’s what gets you to loose weight have you been in therapy for food issues?

I wonder if he'd even notice the incision scars. Mine were so tiny I really didn't notice them (I think they're gone now - since I had a lower body lift - but if they're still there, I sure haven't noticed them). You're far enough out from surgery that he probably assumes you're just a light eater. Nothing unusual about that - a lot of my women friends who've never been obese eat lightly - they'll either order an appetizer or, if they get an entree, they'll eat half of it and put the other half in a to-go box. I do that, too, now. I'm sure no one suspects I've had WLS at this point. Also, you're not the only person who doesn't care for sweets or doesn't tolerate ibuprofen. I'd say whether or not you tell him is up to you. You already told him you'd lost a lot of weight, hence, the skin issue - as far as the rest, I'd be a little surprised if he put two and two together. I wasn't in the same situation since I was married when I had surgery (still am), but if not, I personally probably wouldn't have mentioned it unless the other person brought it up in conversation (and then I'm not sure how I'd respond - I guess it would depend on how serious I was about the relationship). But then, I'm me and you're you. I was always pretty private about my surgery - very few people know.

I haven't posted in a minute - life is feeling very normal now that I'm almost a full year post op so I haven't been perusing the forums too much. I've finally reached my first goal weight which is great. I've lost 120 lbs. I still have restrictions on my eating. I don't get food stuck as much but if I take that "one bite too many" I can get nauseous for solid 1 to 2 hours but dating is feeling pretty easy in terms of eating. I know what works and what doesn't when planning meals with my partner. I have recently started seeing this guy and it's getting pretty serious with that. He's super into fitness and is a martial arts athlete. I am recently starting to train for a marathon so we've been able to bond a bit over training and stretching properly but as someone who was recently super morbidly obese, I feel super awkward still talking about exercise and nutrition with him which is a big part of his life. I told him I recently dropped a lot of weight and he's super encouraging and is always telling me I should be proud of myself because I can be quiet about it around him and others. I am terrified to tell him that I got weight loss surgery because I don't know what he thinks about it and I feel like some fitness people stigmatize it a lot. It's even as crazy as me keeping my shirt on during seggsy time or turning the lights off completely because of my incision scars and I'm also super self conscious about my loose skin which I've already told him about and he says he loves my soft tummy which is nice but it makes me kind of want to die (metaphorically lol) because I hate my body so much. But he's super kind and just wants me to be comfortable really but I am so scared to tell him about surgery and I get so awkward talking about fitness because I still feel like I'm 340 lbs. Anyone have to deal with a situation like this? I mean at some point or I guess at what point will it become obvious? How long can I really keep the lie up? I told him I lost the weight with calorie restriction. I told him I have an ibuprofen allergy and that I hate sweets (really though because of dumping lol). I feel like a horrible person though because I am really starting to care about him. I would appreciate any advice. My family says that I owe no one an explanation and there's no obligation or moral reason to tell people that I had the surgery. I kind of agree with that but there are moment where it's like - is she just being really shy around me? Why is she eating like half of a serving of food? Or getting nauseous or taking all my horse pill supplements and dealing with some vitamin deficiencies every now and then? Idk. Not sure how this usually goes for people. Thanks!