Does EVERYONE have saggy skin?

[AvaFern 3,516]

I was 29, 5'2 and I started at 237 pounds. I looked like an empty bag of skin when I had lost weight. It was still better than being fat. I then had 3 plastics procedures and I am now in a body that never even since I was a kid could I have imagined. It is so weird to be able to put on a tight, sheath dress and not worry about my stomach pooch...or to be able to zip a pair of tight pants closed and feel only bone and skin on my hips, without worrying about my love handles.

Ultimately, you may have extra skin and you may need to consider secondary procedures after this one, but first you have to get to that point and having saggy skin should not be a deterrent for losing weight. I am probably one of the most shallow people on this board when it comes to my looks (I have fake boobs, fake hair, fake teeth, a fake butt, and I'm basically Barbie without being hot), and I can still say that losing weight and being healthy should be the goal, and you can worry about the rest later.

[staceface 38]

Thank you ladies!

@@candygirl that helps A LOT, thank you. Sometimes I don't know where to start, so I DON'T, and sometimes I am TOO enthusiastic and that's not good either.

And @@AvaFern you're right and I completely agree that the fear of a saggy, baggy body shouldn't be a deterrent...it certainly won't be worse than the way I feel right now! And I am not against having secondary surgeries, I'd just like to do ALL that I CAN to minimize the need. ...

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[staceface 38]

@@Candygyrl - body moisturizer? What do you use??

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[laceemouse 631]

is there hope for me, my lower arms are thin already as are my hands, I have the angel wing flapper upper arms, my inner thighs look like bad pantyhose and I've naturally had panni tummy for a while so what do I have to look forward to, more floppy skin? No wonder some of us consider suicide. Not active about that, passive but if Death Angel showed up , I'd open the door and say " Not you TOO" and give him a lopsided smile. Pulled out panty hose cause my legs were cold only 2 out of a dozen fit. Wahhhh!

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I guess a lot of it depends on your age, your relationship status, and what your expectations are. If I was very young, single and dating, and comparing myself to a super model I would probably be really worried about loose skin after losing weight. I am older, happily married, and accepted a long time ago that I would never be walking the cat walk. My guess is that most of us would be shocked to see what everyone else looks like under their clothes. We imagine them all to be perfect, firm, and wonderful. Clothes hide a lot of flaws and shape wear is a billion dollar industry. Even my 25 year old size 2 (never overweight) daughter wears control top undies when the outfit calls for it.

I had four huge babies, even now, pre-surgery, my tummy is a slightly sagging pooch. But guess what? My husband has never once been turned off by my body. I jokingly tell me kids he only looks at the parts he is interested in anyway.

Go to YouTube and you can see lots of videos of people showing their skin after weight loss. Most of them are teeny and beautiful, you would never guess when you see them clothed.

Of course some do opt for plastic surgery after weight loss, you can save your $$$$ for that if you like. If someone wants that I am all for it. I just know I probably won't care to have it.

[cbonet 336]

I'm just starting my journey and trying to read as many horror stories as possible (maybe that's bad, but I KNOW the positives; it's the negatives I'm trying to wrap my mind around!) like understanding how hard the pre-op and post-op diets are... but if I can't do that then I can't make the change necessary to live with the sleeve, right? Because it's not like you go back to eating "normally" (normal for an overweight person I guess I should say...), right?

My new fear is the loose skin after the weight loss is complete. I'm not against having cosmetic surgery on one spot, but am I really going to have saggy thighs, saggy arms and a saggy belly??!! I'm 5' 4" and 228 lbs.

Thanks everyone; just a little scared!

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SO everyone as I'm sure you know by now is different. Not sure where you are in your journey but sounds like you are a pre op lower BMI. If I were you I would start working on strengthening and toning exercises now. Resistance bands, light dumbells, push ups, planks etc all pre op. I'm not having issues with saggy skin just yet BUT I'm sure I will. I am 13 weeks post op today annnnnnd I workout on average of 4 days a week. I do strengthening and toning during every workout coupled with about 30 min cardio. Now that my abs are stronger I do at least 300 crunches each workout, 30 min cardio and I work on 2 other areas like legs and butt, or arms and back. I'm a pear so I carry mostly in my hips and thighs but finally started gaining in my arms when the fat had nowhere else to go.

There will be saggy skin in my thighs but I think my arms and belly will be ok. I'm in the low 200's and my stomach is almost flat. There's a little pooch but I think once I get to goal I can live with any remaining skin there. My arms appear to be toning, I've increased my weights during exercise but not sure that I will be able to tone them enough not to end up with "wings" but I won't worry about it. Now my thighs-- that's another issue. When I lift one leg up to put on lotion, my inner thigh has some drooping that resembles those you tube videos of saggy skin. Like you I'm willing to get cosmetic surgery on 1 or 2 areas my plan is for breast lift and a repair of my worse area (thighs or arms or belly).

How long after surgery were you allowed to start working out?

[OzRoo 1,492]

Hey,

Who mentioned kangaroo ???

[losergrl75 277]

Hey,

Who mentioned kangaroo ???

OzRoo.jpg

Lmao that would be me and I love my little kangaroo pouch. It beats the hell outta my preop stomach that was larger than when I was 9 months pregnant!

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[OzRoo 1,492]

Hey,

Who mentioned kangaroo ??? :D

OzRoo.jpg

Lmao that would be me and I love my little kangaroo pouch. It beats the hell outta my preop stomach that was larger than when I was 9 months pregnant!

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@@losergrl75,

Love it that you love your little kangaroo pouch Good for you and Well Done !!!

Here is one for you, but this pouch is lot bigger

[cbonet 336]

I hope there isn't something hiding in my pouch!!!

[OzRoo 1,492]

@@cbonet

For sure !

OK, maybe money ?

LOL

[Icantbelieveit 955]

What I'm turning into, but not as cute. Lets talk about having a turkey neck. Or as I call it, a vagina puddle forming on my lower neck. Especially when you do that trick of putting you tongue up to the roof of your mouth it get rid of the double chin for pics or just looking in the mirror.

Shudddddder

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[goplay94123 575]

My areas of sag are definitely my breasts and arms. A weird little fat flap at the stomach hip area. But i still feel it looks fine

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[Guest]

@@erp FANTABULOUS!!!

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[Alex Brecher 10,484]

@@staceface,

Good question, and you’ve gotten some good answers! It’s hard to predict exactly how you will look and the nature of your loose skin after losing weight: where it will hang, how much there will be, whether it will make you feel uncomfortable, and how noticeable it may be to you and to others.

Since you can’t predict these things, one thing you might want to do is ask yourself what the worst case skin scenario is. If you have multiple spots of loose hanging skin that feels heavy and floppy, is that better than being at the weight you are now? And if not, would you feel comfortable considering skin removal surgery at that point?

It is great that you are trying to think ahead to consider all of the possibilities that could go wrong as well as right before surgery. It is a big decision! Good luck.

[staceface 38]

@@Alex Brecher

Thanks, yeah, there's been a lot of good feedback. And it's true that the likelihood of loose skin in the end doesn't deter me from following this path, because at least I would be healthier...I guess I'm trying to be prepared for the possible outcome (HOW bad, etc) just because I remember the disappointment after I gave birth to my first child; I was so shocked at how ...GROSS... my body was afterward. I BAWLED. I expected - naively - that the baby would be there and my body would be (at least MOSTLY) back to normal. Um, no. Big, loose, spare tire dropping around my middle. It was mortifying to see my body like that. I was just trying to think ahead.

I don't want anyone to think I'm super shallow and this is some deciding factor. It's not. I'm

Just scared of the unknown.

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