You mention nothing about exercise. Do you? There is nothing you can do about loose skin other than surgery, but building muscle does help fill it out.

I've worked myself into a pretty muscular build, still have bat wings, tummy skin, and some inner thigh looseness but my svelte shoulders, quadriceps and calves make for a nice trade off for the flappy stuff.

I guess my posts are getting moderated so they're delayed, but yes I get a lot of excercise in all my activities. I don't go to the gym or "workout" because any free time I have is usually doing something active outdoors. Plus I do all the yard work and mow a fairly big lawn with hills with a push mower once a week which is a workout in itself. I don't focus on certain muscles which would probably be a good idea. I've been looking at some versatile gym equipment to focus on my belly area. As far as my legs and arms go I work them out almost daily doing something. Luckily (or unluckily depending how you look at it) my belly is about the only thing that's an issue. My arms, legs, feet/ankles, and neck are all fairly normal after the weight loss. Those areas have extra skin for sure but it's not like noticeable hanging flaps thankfully. When I was a teenager I wasn't fat, but my weight always fluctuated and I was never comfortable taking off my shirt in public even when I was "normal" size. It would be nice to be able to comfortably do that at some point.

Wish there was a love button. I have had the same experience. Keeps me going to the gym.

When I was young and fat I could lose 50-100 pounds and my skin toned up. That continued to a lesser degree until menopause (I was 58 when menopause started...seriously!) I am 64 and I expected my huge thighs to get flabby arms are a flabby wrinkly horror and I still have at least 20 pounds to go.

I have seen research on HRT, estrogen and skin elasticity, but I can't seen to find a link right now. I have wondered if HRT would help some.

I read a bit about HRT after you mentioned it. Sounds promising even for men. Also Vitamin A & C increases collagen. My sister always tells me being able to fit it into normal clothes and feeling and looking better is well worth the tradeoff for loose skin.

Congratulations on losing that amount of weight without surgery. It really is an awesome feat.

I would give you the same advice I would give to anyone who lost a lot of weight, with or without surgery - maintain the weightloss at least a year, if not two before going under the knife for plastics. I'll bet most of us here have lost weight over and over, but for ALL of us, maintenance is the hard part. Make sure you can sustain your new lifestyle before parting with $$$$

My brother lost 150 pounds. His belly went down without surgery. You can see the small 1.5 inch skin wrinkles on his back, arms, legs but his belly was huge and only has the small skin hanging over his belt. He was 62 when he had the surgery. So, you never know. Me on the other hand, I need surgery but not I don't look horrible, so maybe it is genetic??

I frequently read comments about waiting a year for plastics. here. All four of the plastic surgeons I consulted agree that since you skin will not tone up waiting a year for necessary plastic surgery is an arbitrary "rule". i

I don't view skin removal as a reward. I feel no reason prove I can maintain my weight before I have it. In fact it's just the opposite. I am positive that I will have a better chance of long term maintenance when my upper arms and thighs don't gain so much momentum that they wildly flap back and fourth every time I run or row.

I briber they want your weight stabilized not to challenge you, but to make sure your surgery will be successful and not distorted by drastic weight fluctuations.

The TRUTH is that your skin DOES tighten up slightly over the course of 1 year (slower than the weight loss) ...but if it has been over a year and the skin is still loose that is what you are stuck with. There are a few things that can be done other than a surgery ... but they are very limited and won't fix the typical baggy skin that a person has after losing over 100 pounds. If your problem area is not that serious than a deep chemical peel or a laser treatment might help.