Hello! I have been going through the process to get approved by insurance and was just submitted on July 12th! I'm super excited and very nervous at the same time!

I recently saw a friend who had the surgery a little over a year ago, and she has met her goal. I am so happy for her and proud of her success, but I'm also noticing that she has a lot of extra skin, especially on the back of her arms and her belly. Is there a way to avoid this? Lots of weight lifting? Or is this something that you cant avoid? I know for sure that she didn't particularly eat well once she was able to start eating food and I know she didn't work out very much.

I have also heard a lot of people say that the first two weeks are the hardest, which I expect. Is it hard because you are in pain or because of the whole "mourning the loss of food"?

Thanks for any help/tips!

So excited to start this journey!

Ok, this is my limited knowledge about loose skin:

1) genetics plays a role in your skin health (can't control that)

2) Age may affect the elasticity and hydration of you skin (can't control that either)

Things you can control...

3) hydration- keeping your body hydrated helps your skin cells stay hydrated

4) moisturizing- I like to use a firming lotion

5) exfoliation- using a scrub to exfoliate your skin increases blood flow to the area, increasing cell turnover.

6) exercise- both cardio and strength training

7) good nutrition- essential for healthy cells

8) I've heard of using compression garments- the idea behind this is the compression helps to adhere the skin to underlying tissue (in my opinion, the damage has already been done, not sure on the validity of this)

Nothing will prevent someone from having sagging skin. I'm hoping these things help though. I'll just have to wait and see!

My surgeon told me to get girdles to combat sagging skin. Arm, stomach, thigh.

Arm girdles??? I have this vision... And I need them!