How much non-surgical shrinkage is possible?

[ouroborous 519]

What are the odds that I'll be able to get to a point where I'm comfortable with my shirt off WITHOUT surgery?

For the record, I'm 39 y.o. male with a BMI of 42. I have a big tummy, but it doesn't droop down over my waistband. I have some stretch marks from a rapid weight loss/regain in my teens.

What I'm HOPING is that with sufficient exercise (and eventually weight lifting) I can avoid most of the super-invasive plastic surgeries. However, I'm trying to figure out how realistic my hope is, or if I should set my sights a little lower...

The odds of me having tens of thousands of dollars for plastic surgery any time soon are... slim to none.

[kkandrod 1]

I think you'll probably be ok. Do you watch the Biggest Loser? Sam on there was WAYYYY bigger than you are and he's lost a ton of weight. I think they lose faster on there than after surgery. (I'm still a hopeful pre-op by the way) Anyway, he has alot of skin but in my opinion, he is still attractive with his shirt off and like I said he had to have had a BMI of way over the 42 that you are at. So, I'm sure you may have some but I bet you'll look better than what you are thinking you will. Especially since you will be exercising.

I rep for a company that has products that I will be using if I have surgery all along the way to combat that and if I wind up not being approved after this sleep study thing then I'll be striking out again on the road of exercising and strict dieting and I'll use the products then too. We've got some reps who've had WLS and used the products before becoming reps and it helped them tremendously. Their pics are pretty cool.

Wishing you lots of success! I know from your posts that you are big time ready to start the next phase of your life. Have fun on the ride!!!

[ouroborous 519]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. It's true that the main reason I'm getting WLS is because I've been unsuccessful with diet & exercise and the health risks of remaining obese into my 40's and beyond are unacceptable.

But that doesn't mean I would be upset at feeling a little better about my appearance!

Yes, I'm terrified of the surgery (just being honest here :mad: ) but I'm VERY ready to be done with being a porker.

[Stacy160 201]

A lot of it depends on your age and how long you've been overweight. It also depends a TON on the type of skin you have...pale, thin Anglo skin (like my own, unfortunately) won't have the same resiliency and bounce back as darker, thicker (usually oilier, but by that I don't mean greasy) skin. Once the skin is stretched, it's stretched... it won't ever look like it did originally, but so may variables play into how much it'll tighten up during and after weight loss, it's kind of hard to call ahead of time.

[KZol 0]

This is a big concern for me, too....but I have the least stretchy skin ever. Pale, Anglo, thin white skin littered with a lot of old and new stretch marks for me. Sad, so sad...

[ouroborous 519]

Yeah, I've got the pale white skin too, sadly. On the positive side, I have never smoked (which, from what I hear, is just devastating to skin health) and I'm careful to avoid too much sun exposure. I'm hoping that that MIGHT see me through...

Well, we'll see. I'm not even sleeved yet, so it's probably way too early for me to worry about this!

[thinoneday 445]

Just to shed some humor on the situation, I have a lot of "apron" skin from 2 pregnancies and obesity, I told my hubbie that once i loose all my weight, I would just use duck tape and tape it in place! hahahaha . . . won't be getting anymore surgery, too much of a risk now. . . they couldn't find anymore IV sites, had to use jugular this time. . .where they did try to start an IV, the areas are still black and blue and hard, it's been 4 months. . . not good . .

Edited April 16, 2010 by thinoneday

[KZol 0]

Oh, thinoneday, how awful about the IV sites! That sounds really painful. They do have trouble finding a vein on me but nothing like that....except when I had my first child in a teaching hospital and the trainee put the needle all the way THROUGH the vein....I went home with a beautiful baby girl and a big purple lump on one wrist.

[Phatcurves 3]

My entire back is tattooed, LOL and I keep wondering what is going to be there or where? My friend was like so is that butterfly going to be a bird? I wish I knew how its going to play out but I guess that is so far away it doesnt matter.

[pnw218 14]

My entire back is tattooed, LOL and I keep wondering what is going to be there or where? My friend was like so is that butterfly going to be a bird? I wish I knew how its going to play out but I guess that is so far away it doesnt matter.

I have had friends report both - one that her tattoo on her stomach didn't change size at all during pregnancy, and another who said hers was a distorted mess.

Mine are in places that aren't really affected by weight gain or loss, so hopefully I won't have to worry about fixing any of them! : )

[ouroborous 519]

I have had friends report both - one that her tattoo on her stomach didn't change size at all during pregnancy, and another who said hers was a distorted mess.

Mine are in places that aren't really affected by weight gain or loss, so hopefully I won't have to worry about fixing any of them! : )

I may be the only 39 y.o. man without ANY tattoos. After I've hit my "target weight" might be the time to finally get one, it sounds like :wink0:

Who knows, maybe a bit of clever ink might hide some stretch marks!

[KZol 0]

Hmmmm....ouroborous--let me know how that goes. I might need a LOT of tattoos! I have giant nasty stretch marks on my upper arms from my latest weight gain, UGH! I realize for a guy this probably doesn't scan but I am stuck in sleeves to the elbow for life! AND I live in Southern Arizona! Did I mention UGH!!!!

[ouroborous 519]

Hmmmm....ouroborous--let me know how that goes. I might need a LOT of tattoos! I have giant nasty stretch marks on my upper arms from my latest weight gain, UGH! I realize for a guy this probably doesn't scan but I am stuck in sleeves to the elbow for life! AND I live in Southern Arizona! Did I mention UGH!!!!

Yeesh... pick breathable fabrics!

[Tiffykins 673]

My entire back is tattooed, LOL and I keep wondering what is going to be there or where? My friend was like so is that butterfly going to be a bird? I wish I knew how its going to play out but I guess that is so far away it doesnt matter.

I have 3 pretty decent size tats on my back. I was extremely round with lots of back fat. Now, my ribs and backbone stick out, so it's literally just skin and bone back there. My tats have not changed at all. I have one at the top of back right below the collar, one over my right shoulder blade, and the infamous tramp stamp. All of them look fine not like muttled messes.

[redroses47 1]

I don't have any tats but I fully expect I will need some sort of tummy-tuck procedure at the end of this. While I can not predict the outcome, I suspect due to my age (44) and length of time being overweight, there is no way my skin can recover. Even my surgeon said that the possibility is high so I will deal with it when the time comes. I am fully committed to following this through to the point of my satisfaction :001_rolleyes: