I changed my whole diet and outlook regarding food about 15 months ago, starting at the height of my obesity at 388 lbs. I'm now at 225 lbs or so and still losing. My goal is about 190. I'm 45 years old and 5'11". I'm not on any program or anything because those never worked for me in the long run. I'm just eating balanced meals and lots of snacks that are as natural and additive-free as possible. I cut out all food coloring and almost all sugar and almost everything with any additives that shouldn't be there. I tried to lose the weight gradually to have less of an impact on my body, sticking to about 1500 calories a day. When I started to get around 280 I really started to notice loose skin on my belly. I don't really have a big flap like people talk about, I just have wrinkled spots that are clearly loose and deflated. I have loose skin in other places but it's not bad, I think that will eventually go away or improve.

I've read a lot about loose skin but I can't really find any information about whether it eventually improves or goes away after say 5-10 years. I've read it will redistribute over a few years, but what I'm wondering is does your body eventually tighten it up or am I stuck with this forever? 15 years from now it will be the same? Is surgery the only option? I really hate the idea of surgery, but it's pretty sad when people are calling me "skinny" every day at 225 and under my shirt it looks like a deflated balloon.

No, it will never go away, unless of course you regain your weight.

We can grow more skin as we get bigger. But skin never disappears, unless you use a scalpel.

Nobody likes the idea of surgery but they love the result.

Ditto what everyone else said. Once skin is damaged from obesity, it stays damaged. Reconstructive surgery is the only solution to get rid of the excess skin.

If you were in your 20s, maybe. At that point, your skin has a good bit of elasticity and might rebound some, but by 45, no such luck. In many cases, health insurance will cover the removal of the "apron" of skin below the belly button if you can document issues with rashes, infection, etc.

FYI, "natural" and "additive-free" doesn't necessarily mean "healthy."

When it comes to weight loss, the game is CALORIES.

Agreed. I cut out all those foods for long term health and other possible problems they cause. I've had my blood tested a couple times in the last year and everything is showing normal without taking any vitamins or supplements. Much better levels than I've ever had. Keeping the calories in check is a priority, but I'm not doing what a lot of people do when they attempt to eat the same junk food in less quantities while trying to lose weight. I've tried that in the past and in the long run you end up hungry and fall back to old routines. To stay within my 1500 calories, which is where I determined I need to be to lose weight gradually, and not be hungry all the time, I had to start eating better. Meaning more vegetables and more fruits which are high in nutrients and satisfy hunger but still low in calories. While doing that I started caring more about the quality of the food and the ingredients, which also caused me to care more about the source of the food.

The driving factor in all this was my doctor telling me I could die at any time due to sleep apnea. She said I needed to be on a cpap machine immediately and said I should lose weight. I already knew that and had tried various things for several years that didn't work, eventually realizing that it was pretty simple and there's no magic bullet. Quit stuffing your face with high carb high fat food and monitor calories. I spent over $1500 on tests and cpap equipment when I threw in the towel and really changed everything. I don't preach to other people and point out their bad eating habits, but at this point I find it disturbing to see people severely obese strapped to a cpap machine and eating and drinking badly, then saying they need to lose weight and can't. Those machines are supporting bad habits. I'm not saying everyone with sleep apnea has it because of weight, but I bet a lot do and just losing that weight might solve that problem for them and get them off the machine. At the very least that should be the first place to start, not the last. My sleep apnea is gone now and when I look back to 2-3 years ago I was almost in a haze. Tired all the time and almost never thinking clearly.

I still have a lot to work on, but at least now I'm active like I used to be because I'm not tired all the time. The loose skin puts a damper on a lot of activities, even meeting new women, but I'm not sure I can do surgery at this point. I hunt, fish, boat, kayak, ride dirtbikes, hike, bike, you name it, but just getting a needle in my own arm freaks me out.

You are coming across as someone who thinks he is better than the rest of us here because you are doing things the right way and did not choose surgery.

Let me explain to you that those of us who have had weight loss surgery also make healthy choices to try to improve our health.

I hope you realize that.

I have a friend that has lost 130 lbs the "natural" way on Weigh****chers. She has lots of excess skin and needs/wants surgery.

I lost 143 lbs via gastric bypass (i.e. "unnatural way") I also need to have excess skin removed from my thighs. The quantity/loseness of my excess skin has not changed in the 2 years post op at goal.

The skin only has only so much elasticity and once it is shot, it is shot.