So , instead of trying to answer every one's email, or question on MFP , or even posts that have been left for me herem cause I simply can not answer everyone individually, this will have to suffice.
People have been asking me , what about the excess skin, or loose skin, whichever, after having lost as much weight as I have, Have I had surgery to take care of it? Cause clearly people do not seem to think I have an issue with the excess skin. Well, OK, thank you for that, You saying that to me means I have done what I have intended to do, and that is HIDE IT WELL . YES , sadly, there is excess skin , And as open as I have been in this journey, no , I will not be sharing my pictures of all my skin for you to see, I am keeping that one to myself. You will just have to take my word for it. But Maybe its not AS BAD as some of you think. I am not sure what you expect, I get " Your tummy is so flat, Do you not have excess skin" ? Umm, yeah, But my tummy is 'flat' cause I am relatively small, I don't weigh that much,( compared to where I was) and I don't have much body fat, so the excess skin that is there, just kind of is there. It doesn't hang down to my knees ( haha, are you wondering that one?) but its not flat and pretty either. You name the body part, there is excess skin. Pure and simple.
BUT , I must say, for all of you wondering if it will happen to you too , and you are wondering if you should even, lose weight cause you don't wont the excess skin ( yes, people have actually said, I don't want to lose weight cause I don't want loose skin. REALLY? you would really want to be overweight cause you fear the excess skin? ) , there are many factors you need to consider. How long have you been overweight? how is your skin now? sun damaged? do you take care of it? How fast are you losing weight? are you getting tons of water in? are you doing strength training? BUT the key factor here , I think, is GENETICS !!
So what goes for me, may not go for you. I had held that extra weight for over 20 years, my skin had been stretched out for a very long time. it may never bounce back ,and I am aware of that. I am not freaking out over it, I don't love it, I , in fact, HATE it. But I don't have money to have it taken care of surgically, so I don't have many choices, But to deal with it. and part of my dealing with it , is being sure you don't have to see it.
Hope that answers some questions regarding the issue :)
I've been wondering for myself if I'll have that problem too, but I'm with you Tami, I think it is one heck of a good problem to have..... compared to being so very overweight and badly out of shape! Also for me, as a skin cancer survivor, it is not like I want to run around uncovered out under the sun all day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for answering the question, but I also think your privacy is just that, YOURS!!
You have been so open and honest about so very much of your journey to good health, and for that I say "thanks"
Cheers!
Thanks for approaching this - I know it's personal and stinky so I appriciate you addressing it. I have lost a minimal amount in my big ol' weight loss journey and it is already a huge issue. I will have to have it removed when I reach my goal - eventually. I have found it's going to cost us about $5K out of pocket which is scary but when I get to my goal it will be worth it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tami!!
Darla