Hi Bandsters,

For those of you who have reached or are approaching goal weight, I'm wondering...how many of you have loose skin, and how loose/how much?

Please answer with how much weight you lost and whether you wanted/needed/considered plastic surgery.

Thank you for your input.

Mslynn

Though not banded....

about 20 pounds from goal. down 70.

A good handfull of loose skin on inner thighs. a fairly good flappy apron going on.

The trick will be just how loose it is in a couple of years time. Takes a good long while for everything to draw back up (as much as it is going to).

If it remains unchanged - I'll be pretty bummed. I'd probably consider surgery if I cared how I look.

I would be interested to know the results of this poll as well. My doctor said it doesn't matter how young you are or how many massages/lotions/foods/whatever you do to make your skin go back, once its stretched, its stretched. He said if you have been MO for more then 5 years, the chances of you needs PS to get rid of extra skin are pretty good.

This is what is dictating my "goal" weight. If I lose more weight, I think the loose skin issue will get bothersome. The worst is my arms; I still feel like I can't wear sleeveless tops (not that I ever could, so this is nothing new). PS is out of the question for me anytime soon so my only choice is to live with it.

I've seen it change for the better in the last year, though, so I'm hopeful more time will help. But I'm not in a rush to lose more weight (though I have plenty left to lose) just to add to this other problem I can't do anything about. For now, things are good.

Hmm. I've lost 76 pounds and would like to lose an additional 20 pounds or so. My skin hasn't done all that bad, but I do have some loose areas at my inner thighs, and arms. My boobs and butt have dropped as well. Overall, I think I can live with it all as I am healthier and look good in my clothes.

Shawn

I'm nowhere near goal, but based on where I can see stretch marks, I'm thinking I"ll have a fair amount in the chest/stomach, and maybe a little bit in thighs/arms, but those seem manageable.

Not banded yet, but I already have a dunlap (my gut dun lapped over my belt). I know that I will have a tummy tuck. I would also like to have my boobs put back where they belong :girl_hug:

I have lost 97 pounds - about 10 pounds to go - and I feel like the saggy baggy elephant sometimes. I don't have much of a tummy apron, but my upper arms are terrible, as well as my thighs.

I would love to have PS, but my husband and I are both retired, so I would have to hit the savings/401 K accounts and he would stroke out at the thought...LOL.

If I won the lottery I would have everything done, from my face to my ankles, but I'm willing to settle for arms first, then thighs.

When I had lost between 50 and 75 percent of my excess weight I thought my skin was keeping up well and maybe (hopefully) I wouldn't need any plastic surgery.

In the last month my body has been toning and "reshaping" itself and I am noticing some loose skin, primarily the arms, which I hate because I wear a lot of suits with sleeveless shirts and sometimes I take my jacket off. And now that it is summer I am wearing cami's and such on the weekends so I am looking at my arms lots.

This is round 3 for me of being obese and then loosing to my goal weight (I pray 3 is the charm). My arms were the issues both times before so I started using arms weights everyday to try and keep them in shape. I still work on my arms everyday but I travel (by plane) 50% of the time and just can't put 4-6 pounds of weights in my suitcase and meet the airlines weight limit on baggage. So, I have this set of bands they are like huge rubber bands and I keep them in my suitcase and use them when I am gone. Otherwise, I don't do much excercise unless you consider carrying luggage through airports and hotels with high heels exercise :-). And I have also started swimming in the hotel pools in the evening, I do it more to relax but it is good exercise. I had stopped even taking a swimsuit for years but since I have gotten back in regular sizes I always take one.

To answer your question on how much and how loose I will come back and edit in a little while. I am going to ask my husband to help me measure and figure it out.

I'm surprised that so far no one has not had loose skin. I was hoping that we may have had a few people whose skin bounced back. I plan to lose a lot of weight, so this is good information. :straight

Mslynn

I have loose jiggly skin already! Tummy, arms, thighs, and boobs. I have already starting preparing DH for the PS bills next year.

I, lost a 115 pounds and had lose skin, when I moved my arms my skin would slap make a noise. some on on this site told me to start lifting light weight tone up! it worked!

I think is was Big Ethal?

how is she doing?

Im at 198 pounds and have been here or about 7 plus months the last 13 pounds is killing me!

I dont have any loose skin. I'm about half way to my goal, I wanted to lose 35-40 kg so 90lb give or take. But I'm 5ft 10, so I had a BMI of 35. I didnt have a hanging stomach or huge arms - I put weight on all over and didnt have any real "problem" spots.

Not that I'll have a washboard stomach at the end of this, I've never had a truly flat tummy. I've always had plenty of skin to pinch there, but I've had 3 large babies, all over 10lb and dont have any stretchmarks at all so I'd say I'm just lucky that I have skin that will bounce back. So far its shrunk back fine, it looks the same as it did 10 years ago when I was last this weight.

I think it depends on your expectations too. I'm happy to look like most people - better dressed than naked, lol. I dont feel the need to be perfect, I have no desire to have a huge scar across my stomach in order to be able to say that its perfectly flat. I've had 3 babies and I'm nearly 40 and I'm happy enough to look that way.

I lost 55 lbs and got stuck for a while. In the time I was stuck (about 7 months), I noticed the skin on my tummy come up a bit. I think there is a decent chance that *most* places will be ok, but that I might still want work on my arms and thighs. I am already planning on having a breast lift.

Has anyone other than jqpublic found that their skin decreased with weight lifting? I've read this but not heard from anyone (until now) that it actually works...

Thanks,

Mslynn

I had hoped to lose 100 pounds when I was banded 10/04 (starting weight 242) - when I reached an -85 pound loss I had plastic surgery (TT w/MR and a BL w/implants). I started exercising at 11 months out and had plastics at 17 months out. I don't think exercising earlier in the process would have helped my loose skin situation, but it would have helped me lose more weight. I had 2 c-sections and a regular birth and at my highest weight (pregnant) I was over 270. My stomach had more stretch marks on it than skin, and as I lost my tummy looked like an old sharpee dog. Not a pretty sight!!! But my arms were fine enough not to warrant surgery. I had considered having a thigh lift, but had complications after my plastics so have opted against any future elective surgery. Great poll idea!

Kristin