Loose Skin After Surgery (Repost)

From time to time I repost this:

Update to below, right now I'm in a size 10 and weigh 161, but I don't currentlly fit the "skinny jeans" in this post because they're a 1980's size 12"

I thought I would post my excess skin post I posted before... a lot of people found it useful. I posted this a year ago.

I've been wanting to post this for a long time. To share the less glamorous side of weight loss surgery because if you have a LOT of weight to lose, you might end up with some of the following when you look in the mirror.

Here is where i came from:



Now here's the good news. This is me, now, in clothing. I am NOT wearing shapewear, and I have NOT gotten any plastic surgery. This is what a nice pair of jeans looks like. The jeans are a size 12, the top is a large.



I carried a LOT of my weight in my thighs and in my legs. Oh, and in my buttocks!

When I look in the mirror, naked, this is my abdomen:


I just took this picture a few minutes ago.

Side View of the above:



When I flaunt my awesome biceps, this is what I see:


There are a few more pictures of me in my profile, in the folder entitled "skin" that show off a large side view, as well as what I call my "flubber thighs".... They really look like I have a set of hippopotamus sized vagina lips drooping on my inner thighs below my own..... seriously.....earlier in the process when they had more fat in them, they looked nothing so much as a pair of bull testicles.

This is a less-than-glamorous side of weight loss surgery that is often not shown on here, and I thought I would share.

Overall though.... I'll take what the mirror gives me, when nekkid, if I can enjoy what the miror gives me clothed:

 Thank you so much!

You're welcome. Ultimately I hear people say "I don't want all that sagging skin" and I think about it like this: The skin is THERE... it's part of your body already. You have it until it gets lopped off by a surgeon. If you honestly prefer it stuffed and taut with a lot of plump fat cells beneath, don't get WLS, but if you'd prefer to look good in clothes, and understand that the nakedd truth can be pretty ugly... well get WLS.

It's easy to think it won't be that big of a deal. But it can be! 

 thank you for posting this :) 

I want to get Wls because I feel like I can't lose it on my own but having excess skin scares because I am only 19 and I don't have money for plastic surgery I know it would be well worth to get the surgery and lose weight but I'm afraid I'd have more body self consciousness with a lot of skin hanging off of me but I'm starting to think that it would be worth it. Thank you for posting this it lets people like me who are still debating the surgery see that there is a good and bad part to the surgery. I wish I could do it on my own but it is so hard. Thanks again for posting this!

I live in AZ. It's supposed to be 112 today. Perhaps if I lived in a colder climate, I might have hidden the excess with three-quarters length shirts. But frankly I just bare the arms, and few people make any comments. And keep in mind I teach teenagers, and whiel I'm not sure it's pleasant, they don't make comments about the flappy arms.

I think that I had a sort of epiphany one day (pre-op) when I was at the airport. I watched the people moving here there and everywhere and I looked specifically at the women. Older women often had droopy arm skin and yet they presented themselves with panache and elevated self consciousneess and pride in their bodies. If you MAKE it a problem, it will Be a problem. But if you just end up OWNING it, you're more likely to find out that it's just not that big of a deal.

Also, at 19 you have your whole life ahead of you. While you may not be able to afford the PS right now, that won't preclude you from having the option in the future if you come into money, or whatever. It's just a matter of what you are going to have as your attitude. if it will be an issue because it bothers you, it will, but if you don't let it, you'll find that few others really notice it. We are our body's biggest critics.

 Looks like I'm staring into a mirror nekkid :)

Though I still have a significant amount of weight left to lose, I definitely have the hanging belly and arm skin (and deflated breasts).  Thank goodness a good bra and flattering clothing is easy enough to find!  I'll take the excess skin instead of the extra 100+ pounds, high blood pressure, and borderline high blood sugar levels I had before surgery!

 Thank you for sharing... I agree with Dara... It's like that's a pic of me..... I get complimented on how I look when I'm out and about... (Very rare for me to wear shape wear) and say thank you... All the while thinking if you only knew what it looks like with out the clothes... But I do not regret it..... Would do it all again..... I'm 36... Just turned ...so I've decided to get serious about saving and in 4 yrs when I hit 40...  I'm gonna finish my transformation with the plastic surgery...