So, I've made it through the approval process and will have surgery 09/24. I'm on my preop diet and things are going fine... I'm constantly hungry, but I'm coping! (sugar free Jello and sugar free Popsicles are my saving grace) but this isn't what I'm soooo stressed about!!

I'm 29 and I currently weigh 260 at 5'5" (that's 11 lbs less than my highest... Thank you preop diet) and I am scared out of my mind that I will lose all this weight and have huge amounts of ugly loose skin... I need to know what I can do to prevent some of this???

I hope this doesn't sound horribly vain.. But I'm single now (partially because I am sooo unhappy with my size that I don't like to go out.... Or maybe it's because I am so self conscience about being too large to find that special someone) but my fear is that having the lose skin will make these matters worse!!!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! I think about this quite often and I just need to know what others have done or are doing now...

I'm going to start dry brushing before surgery, some of the before and after pictures are so impressive you'd be dumb not to spend ten minutes a day on it!

I'm losing fairly slowly (pre-op) but am already noticing some loose skin that is not tightening up. It's the area above my stomach and under my breasts (I've heard it called the "liver-roll" because it's where your liver fat is stored?!)..

Because I've yo-yoed so much I'm not sure if that has helped my elasticity or not but this is the first time I've noticed little wrinkles in the skin where the fat has gone...

But, im still sooooo happy! I've had that little roll forever and to know it's leaving me finally, well I don't really mind a few "battle scars"

I'm only 25 and I'm taking all the vitamins, skin lotions and oils, weights and crunches, ad infinatum... But I really recommend just loving your changes every day, skin wrinkles and all, because if you hit a scale-stall these changes are what will keep you goin

Brushing? I haven't ever heard of it? Please, tell more.. what?when?where?how?

Brushing? I haven't ever heard of it? Please' date=' tell more.. what?when?where?how?[/quote']

http://www.pureinsideout.com/detox-skin-brushing.html

That is really great information! Thanks so much for posting it!

Most of the answer is age, elasticity of the skin, genetics and amount of time overweight. In other words things you do not have alot of

control over. Things that will help are exercise with strength training (weights) stay hydrated, take your vitamins, try the skin brushing.

But at the end of the day it is easier to hide some excess skin or have it dealt with then to hide 100 lbs of fat. Also, skin does not contribute to heart disease, respiratory problems, high blood pressure or diabetes.

When I was about 20, I lost from 200 down to 140 - no extra or loose skin at all. I worked out and toned up and looked great.

I won't bore you with the decades of gaining and losing....

This time I started at 308 (my highest weight was 332) and have lost over 100# and still on my way to goal.

I definately have loose skin, but the only area that really troubles me is my inner thigh.

The best compliment I ever got was a friend that I met this year in July. She didn't see me when I was so big. We were talking about getting back to the gym in the fall and I told her I want to lose 40# and she said "no way, you look really close to your right weight".

I think that when you have been morbidly obese for so long, there is this little voice that tells you "you will never look normal" - I didn't even realize that I was listening to that voice until a person told me I look "normal"

Anyway, no matter how much you weigh, there will always be something about your body you don't like. My advice is that life is to short to worry about it. If you decide to get plastic surgery after you reach goal, that is fine, but that is a decision for another day and right now is to be 100% positive and focused on your weight loss with now nagging doubts.