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Help skin shrinking with slower loss



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Hi Sam, that's a really hard question to answer without more information about how far along you are and what surgery you've had! Could you fill out your stats or give us something more to go on please?

My understanding is that how our skin adapts to weight loss is a lot to do with genetics/age and much less to do with how we manage that! Do you have specific concerns?

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I don't think it matters that much whether you lose the weight slowly or quickly. That skin was stretched out to cover whatever your heaviest weight was, and once it's stretched out, it's not likely to bounce back. If you're young and not very overweight (maybe 20 or 30 lbs), it could snap back, but at the weight most of us start at, you'll probably have at least *some* loose skin. I'd follow my program and not try to eat more just for fear of loose skin. You want to lose all the weight you can, while still remaining healthy. This is your one opportunity in your lifetime when you have a chance to lose a massive amount of weight with a lot less effort than it took before surgery (granted, it does take effort, but the surgery really helps it along!) I lost over 200 lbs, and I had a TON of loose skin (have since had it removed). Honestly, no one knew it was there except for me and my husband . For most of us, it's pretty easy to hide in clothes. I think I'm speaking on behalf of most/all of the "vets" here who've had to deal with loose skin - we'd take the loose skin any day of the week over being morbidly obese again. ANY DAY!

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I echo @catwoman7’s comments. The benefits of the surgery which make the initial weight loss much easier don’t last so I wouldn’t deliberately try to slow your weight loss. It will only make it harder to lose the remainder.

I don’t have a lot of loose skin. I lost about 90lbs. I didn’t have much at all when I reached my goal (which was always my lowest weight). I think genetics helped as I certainly had my age against me. When I dropped the additional 11kg the loose skin was more noticeable though still not enough for me to justify plastic surgery. They ‘d probably only remove about a kilo of skin if they took it from all over my body. I cover mine very easily with my clothes. I wear body con clothing often & don’t need shape wear to restrain/control my saggy skin. And as catwoman7 said, I’d rather have some loose skin than still be at my higher weight.

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To recover skin that has shrunk due to slower weight loss, it is important to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly to promote muscle growth and overall skin health. Additionally, staying hydrated and using moisturizing products can help to plump and hydrate the skin. Consultation with a dermatologist is also a good idea to know the best treatment to recover shrinking skin than using any powder.

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There is usually a honeymoon period after WLS, and if you don't take advantage of that time, and instead, purposely try to slow down your weightloss when you are still benefiting from it, it may be very difficult to get the maximum advantage of your surgery and/or get to goal weight in the future.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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