Do you guys use anything to help try and hope that skin won't stay too flabby? I know there's going to be excessive skin no matter, but I'd like to actively try something to help. Any recommendations?

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I have zero personal experience, as I'm still pre-op, but I am also worried about this, so I did some homework.

Here's some tips I found:

1. Drink lots of Water to keep skin hydrated. Dry skin wrinkles and stays loose rather than elastic.

2. Consume Gelatin. Pure gelatin (like the Great Lakes brand available on Amazon) is not only a good source of Protein, but will also keep hair from falling out and skin from being loose (it also helps with elasticity). (Note: I plan on making my own Jello with the Great Lakes gelatin by adding drink mix powder for flavor.)

3. Dry brushing. Google this. It supposedly helps prevent cellulite but people also swear it helped them have tight skin after 100+lb weight loss.

4. Be cautious what lotions and potions you use on your skin. Some have chemicals and additives that will damage skin at the cellular level which prevents it from being healthy and elastic. Natural products are obviously better (and usually not so much more expensive...at least not as expensive as plastic skin removal surgery!).

Hope these tips help!

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Red Light Therapy is helping with my scars and most of my stretch marks are pretty hard to see. It can really help with sagging skin.

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Great stuff guys! I'll look into them

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How do you make your own Gelatin???

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I haven't made this yet, so no guarantees that this will work. But here's my plan. The Gelatin recipe is from Great Lakes website.

1 tablespoon Great Lakes Gelatin

1/2 cup cold liquid

1 1/2 cup hot liquid

Soften gelatin in 1/2 cup cold liquid. Dissolve thoroughly in 1 1/2 cups very hot liquid with desired flavorings and sweetening included as a part of liquid measure. Pour into 2 cup mold and chill until firm before unmolding. Serves 4.

I plan to make a pitcher of Everly flavored Water and chill in fridge first. Then use that for the cold liquid part of the above recipe. I bought all four Everly flavors, so I will make four batches. But if you only had one flavor and wanted it to last for your pre-op/post-op diet, I would multiply the recipe to make enough servings since it only makes 4 servings as is.

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Edited February 4, 20179 yr by BosseNueva32

Updating the recipe above now that I've made it. I would add twice as much Everly powder to the water when you make it for jello, because once mixed with the gelatin powder, the gelatin dilutes the flavor. If you don't like overly sweet, then ignore this. As it stands, there is a hint of flavor, but not much. Doubling the flavor will likely make it taste more like traditional jello.

Thanks for the recipe!! Hydrolyzed collagen such as Great Lakes is great for hair and skin. But only so much it can do. You will have some saggy skin after losing weight but the health and energy benefits are worth it!

I thought I would want to lose weight as fast as possible. But a few weeks after surgery I started working out, a little at first. Then I had to adjust my post op diet because I stalled and only lost 2 lbs a week. And because I'm building muscle, I have to consume even more protein and fluids, because muscles need fluids to tone up. So I'm losing weight slower. But the great news is my body is shrinking. My skin is elastic. I 'dry brush' the areas where I need to lose fat, or where have cellulite. I also put Vitamin E on those areas. And it's working! No loose skin anywhere. And I'm watching my carb intake, keeping it low. So soon I'll start losing more again, while my body keeps up with the weight loss.

There are a few people I have run across on BariatricPal and other pages on FB who did not have loose skin. So I know it's possible.


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That's good news!! It probably also depends on your age. I'm old so after losing 130 pounds there is skin that lost its elasticity. Luckily it's not too bad! I'll try the skin brushing and Vitamin e but it might be too late for me.

Wow, great info! Thanks for sharing!

I've also heard that strength training helps.

Can't wait to make my own jello!