losing weight and inches, loose skin ??????

Guys, I have a question.  I am down about 85 lbs from my highest weight and I am noticing that my upper arm area is a little "flappy" and I have some looseness around my gut.  I am only a little over 3 months post RNY.  I started my journey at 304 lbs. at my initial consult in November and this morning was 218.   Now my question is will my skin naturally return to a normal look when my body stabilizes?  Is there anything I can do to help my skin have elasticity to return to normal?  Is exercise and vitamins helpful for this?  I guess I am a little worried about excexx skin but I am feeling so much better and hey who don't want look there best when they are feeling good physically.  Thanks for any insight some of you may have.   Thanks, Steve ps  any thoughts from you  buff and ripped guys?  (NotDave and KipD)

I'm not far enough ahead of you to anwer any of your questions, but I do have the same concerns. Pre-op I felt like I probably wouldn't have any skin problems because I carried my fat fairly uniformly and all over my body, and wasn't just enormous in any one area. But 110 lbs or so down and another 120 or so to go, I've already got some problems on the backs of my upper arms and on my inner thighs right up next to my nutsack. Since I paid for my RNY out of pocket there damned sure won't be any money to do anything about it for many a year.

The back of the legs is where I have the most lose skin.  I just learned to live with it.  It feels wierd swimming or going in the hot tub...it flaps around alittle.  For me the one area that bugs me the most is in the neck.  When I dropped below 200 I started to see a turkey gullet.  A big lose flap of skin just below my chin.  Most people don't notice it on me.  But for me it makes me look 5-10 years older.  Brian

I've been fortunate that compared to some that have lost the amount of weight that I have (250+ pounds) I don't have much loose skin.   I have some loose skin around my belly and I'm afflicted with saggy old man ass but other than that I'm good to go.  I attribute that to working out religiously, eating lots of protein and rubbing fresh baby seal blood all over my midsection.   Just kidding about the baby seals of course.  :)   There's not much you can do to retain the elasticity of your skin.  It's either going to snap back or it won't.   You can HELP by exercising and lifting weights.  Replacing the fat with muscle is always a good thing.  

Now that you HAVE all the loose skin what do you do with it, especially the loose skin around your belly which I'm sure that most of us that have lost 100+ pounds have.   Two words...  Under Armor.   Buy Under Armor (or your favorite off brand) compression clothing and they will do wonders.   I wear them as undershirts for work and of course when I work out.   It keeps everything nice and compresses and stops my loose belly skin from flopping around when I run.   The trick is to buy the compression garments a size smaller than  you normally wear.  So if you wear a XL t-shirt, buy a large top.  

Hope that helps and good luck on your journey!

Chad

Thanks for the responses guys.  I guess I will see what the 'ol body does on its own.  I also am going to start on some weight/resistance training.  My Surgeon just recently gave me the go ahead with no restrictions although she did not mention anything about ab work.  How long should a person wait to do any crunches etc... after having laproscopic RNY?  Thanks again for any advice. Steve

My surgeon gave me the go ahead for any kind of workout I wanted after 6 weeks. He actually approved me for lifting and stuff a little earlier than that, he said to avoid ab wor****il the 6 week date. Scott

OK guys I have lost 350 pounds I have so much loose skin that I fell like I take two steps before my ass even moves Hell I can wave at someone and damn near give myself a black eye from the loose skin flabbing on my upper arms!!

owg thats funny Flopeyeman .  Thanks for the laugh . Nick

How much your skin re-tightens I think has a lot to do with age and if you ever smoked. If you exercise and take all the vitamins that you're supposed to, I think your skin will tighten up some from what you are seeing now. I would give it at least 2 years for things to stabelize. Doug