Does anyone else feel like they are looking a bit like a deflated balloon?

Beyond plastic surgery - any skin care secrets to share?

Thanks!

I do, and there are no secrets other than your genomic mapping.

Spanxs, spanxs and more spanxs. LOL....

I have often wondered the same thing.

sigh. yes. I read all these posts about plastic surgery success, and I so admire and am so happy for these people.

Trouble is, I dont have enough of a problem to justify plastic surgery and even if I did, there's no way on earth that I'd ever divert so much of our family budget to it. Its just not right for our personal situation. My kids education and where we live and what we live in mean more to me than the superficialities of my naked body. I look find dressed so I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved.

I dont look that bad naked either, lol. But I've got a pair of boobs I could probably tie around my neck (they're pretty impressive all trussed up though!) and my tummy looks like the tummy of a 40 year old who's had 3 babies. Which is what I am. My backside and thighs look 40 too.

I look but dont look. Its life. I'm going to get old. That's the simple truth. I could spend a fortune now fixing what really is natural as I havent suffered too much due to weight loss, I've been very lucky on that score. But I just kind of think, why spend $25,000 making my body look 30 when in 15 years time I'll be nearing my 60's. I'm still going to get old, its still all going to drop. I just think my best bet is to comfort myself that I look a darnsite better than a lot of my peers now, I'm in the BEST shape fitness wise that I can be in, I appreciate my body for what it can do, and I've pushed it to the limits on that score and achieved things I never thought I'd achieve and that makes me proud and happy. A bit of flabiness is not going to rain on my parade.

I have absolutely nothing against PS, I think its a fantastic way to end this weight loss journey, its just not for me for those reasons.

My solution to the minor flaws I now have is what I've just said - positive thinking and an appreciation for your body for what its done for you. I have 3 beautiful healthy children as a trade off for that soft belly!

I'm glad you started this thread because I'm facing the same issue. I've found that my skin hasn't been keeping up with me for the past couple months.

For me, I want surgery to fix it for me...it has nothing to do with vanity. It's because I've worked damn hard to lose this weight and I want to be able to feel comfortable in my own skin. Those of us who started at a high BMI will most likely have extra skin. It's not a vanity issue of a little flappy stuff under our arms...it's EXTRA SKIN. It doesn't lay properly and feels gross. So, I completely am in support of anyone who want to get that taken care of. I can only hope that when the time comes that I can find some way to pay for it. I fear I wont be able to, though. It would make my transformation complete to feel as good about my outside as I do my inside.

I've talked to my doctor about this issue in the hopes that there was some Vitamin or something he would recommend to help. All he said was that I need to focus on losing the rest of my weight and try not to worry about it right now. He said that sometimes our skin just needs more time to catch up. He said that filling my body with good muscle will help hide some of it. So, that's what I'm doing.

PS--I'm also probably wasting money, but...I'm using a firming lotion all over every day. I think it has helped a little, it hasn't fixed the problem but I think it might be preventing it from getting too much worse. It just seems to be helping my skin stay pliable. Plus, like a good little patient...I'm working out and doing my strength training. He's been right about everything else so far so I'm trusting him on the staying fit idea that it will help out the extra skin problem!

I sleep in a sports bra and a comfortable girdle. That means that 24/7 I am trussed up. It's all I can think of. I know gravity wants to pull everything down - but I fight gravity 24 hours a day.

I am hoping that if my skin doesn't have too much gravity to deal with, it can spend all it's time shrinking.

I will still need PS - I needed an apronectomy before I ever started - but I am doing what I can to keep everything from flopping around when I walk.

I would still much rather have trussed up floppy skin that the 350 lb body I started with.

:]

So, yes

Spanx, Spanx and more Spanx.

:]

I just cannot imagine wearing Spanx for the rest of my life. Spanx in a bathing suit....Spanx in the shower.....Spanx with a nightie....where will the madness stop!!!

Thankfully my arms are tightening up....but my stomach seems to be what is bothering me most....breasts come in a close second....legs and rear - pulling up the rear *LOL*

My stomach is starting to feel weird when I lay down....soft, squishy and wrinkley My stretchmarks seem to be more pronounced *to me*.

Someone told me that when you skin starts to show the orange peel apprearance and feels really soft/squishy, that you are about to lose inches. Anyone else heard of that before?

My stomach is starting to feel weird when I lay down....soft, squishy and wrinkley My stretchmarks seem to be more pronounced *to me*.

Someone told me that when you skin starts to show the orange peel apprearance and feels really soft/squishy, that you are about to lose inches. Anyone else heard of that before?

LOL...it does feel weird and mine feels gross. You can just feel that the extra skin isn't really a meaningful part of my body any more and it just doesn't belong there any longer. It's a very strange thing!

I've never heard of the orange peel thing or at least it doesn't seem to happen to me. I guess everyone has different "stuff" happen to them!

Sorry to reiterate, but yeah, Spanx is what I had to go through before my lower-body lift. It was a miracle... really. But, if you can afford it and it's a realistic option, there is a new thing out there called Thermage. It causes the skin to produce collagen and "firm up" and become more elastic in about 6 months time (after the 1-time treatment). The results are pretty good, in general. I'll be doing Thermage on my arms pretty soon.