Hi..introducing myself!

[jennadh]

Hi folks!
I just joined. I had weight loss surgery a few years ago. My highest weight was 460 (the scale stopped there). I now fluctuate around 230, still a lot for some folks but I am tall and have a very large bone structure. I could stand to lose a few more pounds but feel very comfortable considering where I was. Honestly, I am starting to regret my weight loss surgery. Health-wise, I feel so much better but I like to be active and carrying all this loose skin around depresses me. At 460 lbs. I felt much more comfortable in a tank top and shorts or a bathing suit because the skin was not just hanging there. Now I have this body that, without all the loose skin, would actually look fairly decent but I am so uncomfortable in anything that doesn't cover up all this loose skin. So I end up in huge baggy (2-3 sizes larger than I wear) clothing to cover up all this skin. Not to mention, the hanging skin is very uncomfortable to my body, especially the arms. If I don't wear a shirt that supports the skin, my arms ache. I have the loose skin in my thighs and stomach but it's not as bad as the arms. It's pretty sad that at 460, I could wear a tank top when it's hot outside but at 230, I have to wear long sleeves or a jacket all the time. I am just feeling more confined and restricted than I did at 460. I guess I am just looking to find someone else who may have some idea what this feels like because no one else in my life has any idea.

 

[Omega]

Hi

Have you considered surgery to sort out your loose skin?

Although I have not dropped as much weight as you - I have more than halved my weight - and come down a fair bit when you consider that I am a lady that is 5ft3in tall.

I am planning on having surgery when the time is right - but am still a/ learning to maintain and b/ coming to terms with being this size.

I have been lucky regarding my loose skin in that many areas of my body have come out of this pretty well. I have loose skin on my legs - but not too much and can wear shorts that are not the skimpy type - if the shorts go halfway to my knees I look absolutely normal. My arms are pretty good too - I did arm exercises pretty much throughout my weightloss and many "always skinny" women my age (50 next week) have worse batwing problems than me.

I think that the daily creaming that I did when I was losing the bulk of my weight would help to some degree. We are more inclined towards loose skin if we are not in the first flush of youth. I know that other factors like genetics are involved too.

My two terrible areas are my boobs and my tummy. I have to wear a very unusual bra size (30HH) and it is all loose skin. I am actually flat chested as the entire contents have disappeared as I lost weight... I also have to wear a specialist bathing costume which is built around this unusual bra size...

My tummy has a load of loose skin which I believe makes my waist bigger than it should be. I tuck it nicely into my jeans and no-one would guess that it was there.

The fact is that the weight of the loose skin means that I am a lot thinner than I was when I was this weight prior to my weight gain. The loose skin that I carry does carry weight. It means that my BMI is magnified by the loose skin too. When I have the surgery my weight will come down and my BMI will too.

My figure looks pretty good these days if I am wearing a standard t-shirt and jeans - I just think "thank goodness for clothes". I am certainly a lot healthier and feel better. I believe that both my quality of life and life expectancy have improved. I am certainly less likely to be jeered at in the street these days - than was the case when I was big.

I do not regret for one second my weight loss - which I class as a major achievement. I am still planning on that surgery though!

There are quite a few people on this forum that have lost as much weight as myself - or indeed more. I am sure that you will see that there are people here who have a good idea how you feel.

Best wishes
Margaret