Thanks again for the great comments. About the speed I'm progressing--there are 2 things going on. First my percentage of body fat isn't as high as one would think for somebody my size. Its in the upper 30s right now. Because of that I don't have as much of a skin issue. However, I'm specifically going slow. One time before in my life I lost a lot of weight and I got under 240. That's actually below my current goal. I did it in an unhealthy way though and I rubber banded back and then some. I also know that that first picture isn't my top size. I started at a size 64 pants a few years ago and lost weight down to a size 60 which is where I started this process from. I lost somewhere between 40-80 pounds without regaining it. I just didn't have a scale that could measure how big I once was. I have also made exercise a part of my routine. I wonder if that will help counteract that skin problem.