I have over 100 pounds to lose and have been losing kind of slowly. I was wondering if losing it slower causes the skin to snap back more, rather than losing 100 pounds in a short time period. I am really scared of plastic surgery and don't want a ton of hanging skin when I am done. I haven't noticed so much sagging so far, except for my breasts. Does slow weight loss cause less sagging skin??

From what I hear, it depends on a lot of things, like how much weight you are losing, your age (sad but true), and your genetics--basically, how elastic your skin still is and how stretched it was to start with. I don't think the speed of the weight loss makes a huge difference, but some. I know that's not very official. A PS would be the ideal person to ask this question of. (Any PS out there? LOL)

actually, there is a PS that reads this board - post any question to the Plastics board - put Dr. JLo in the title.

i, personally think, that plastics is more than likely needed than not... especially if you lose so much weight.

good luck

Wow, really? Cool!!

It does help a little bit to lose more slowly. That being said, I have really taken my time to lose 100 lbs and I still need PS.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you are 20 and have only carried your excess weight for a couple of months, you will have sagging skin! Unfortunately skin is not elastic enough to snap back from a 100 pound loss. Think about it - when you lose 100 pounds that is a massive number of inches off of all areas of your body. When I look at my body, I realize that I have basically "deflated". Not pretty, but it is reality.

I was watching "Big Medicine" on the learning channel last week and they showed the plastic surgery journey of a young (I think about 27) year old who gained and lost over 100 pounds in about 1 1/2 years-2 years. The rest of her body looked pretty good, but her stomach was very saggy.

Dunno. I had pretty slow weight loss overall (probably 1lb a week averaged out over the whole 90lb) and havent got sagging skin and I'm 40. But who knows? That could be just me.

I'm going to say something I will get ABSOLUTELY FLAMED for, lol, but here goes. I reckon you can pick a mile off people who have had fast weight loss on high Protein diets. It produces a very distinctive look, and I was quite happy to eat carbs and lose weight slowly thanks.

I don't have hanging skin, like a big stomach, but I definitely would benefit from having things tightened all over. There are pics on my blog (link below) of my stomach which I think makes me look a few months pregnant or a few months post pregnancy lol. People have told me that I got out of my obesity pretty lucky, all things considered, but I really think its very subjective. What one person can live with might be a desperate situation in dire need of PS for another. You'll not know what YOU will look like minus 100 pounds until you get there, each journey is unique. Good luck!

I also hate to be the bearer of bad news. If you lose 100 pounds I'm practically sure you will need PS, unless maybe you are only 20. I am only at 70+ pounds and I look terrible. The tops of my arms, my belly "flap", my upper legs, and butt look like a baggy melted mess.

Oh, I dont know, I think it depends a lot on where you carried your weight. It seems to me that unfortunately the apple shaped people really suffer the most with deflated tummies and arms, whereas those who were more pear shaped didnt have really big arms or tummies in the first place. Dont ask me about my backside though, lol.

I think how you carry your weight matters too. My arms are still kind of skinny and, yeah, I'll have some batwings when I lose weight. But generally not too bad. Now, I'm older this time, so maybe they'll be worse than in the past, but looking at how much fat I have now, I'm thinking I'll be okay, especially 6 months out from goal -- because normally you do get some more tightening for a while after reaching goal.

I think body shape matters too. I am a pear shaped person so I don't really think my stomach is so big right now. My arms are shrinking. If I do have extra skin, it will be on my legs and behind. I think my elasticity is good also because everyone always tells me I look a lot younger than I am. However, my boobs concern me because they are so saggy. It seems like so far I am snapping back into place except for the boobs so hopefully the rest will too.

My lap-band surgeon warned me from the beginning that with significant weight loss, the amount i was overweight and how long ive been overweight for...

All that stuff in mind he said i will most definitely need a some sort of PS.... especially the tummy area... thats where i carry majority of my weight.. i always have (unfortunately)

But to tell you the truth the PS doesn't scare me.. (the $ part does) The way i think of it is i worked damn hard to get here i deserve it.. And it doesn't help that im obsessed with watching PS on TV... so i know what goes into the procedures

I think it has a bit to do with how much of the lost weight is fat, and how much is muscle. If you maintain you protein levels, exercise, and lose sensibly enough that you're not sacrificing lean muscle mass, then the overall results look better. That has no effect on loose tummy skin, of course, but it DOES affect how the arms and thighs/buttocks look after weight loss.

Jeni, I had to laugh when I saw you were a PS addict (I find I'm becoming one too)! My family is probably getting sick of all the 'weight loss' or PS shows I'm taping, but I find it really helps keep me focused and motivated.

I know I'm going to need some tightening up when I get down to goal...

I agree it matters where you carried your weight and how much overall you lose. My arms are already getting bad and my thighs will be a mess by the time I'm done losing.

My boobs sag but bras help that. No way to cover arms and legs at the beach!

I keep warning my husband to be ready for the PS bill.