After exhaustive search, most sites I visited say that hanging skin is unavoidable, especially if a "lot" of weight is lost and/or too fast (more than 2 lbs a month).
The only solutions offered/available seem to be acceptance or surgery.
However, no site offered a clear definition of how much "a lot" of weight is. Adjectives used are: Significant, massive, a lot, etc... but no hard figures are ever provided, nor are the demographics about the people themselves.
Some medical sites provided pictures (of pre and post-operatory pacients) of people who have lost 200+ lbs and seemed to be physically inactive, as well as "older" (another adjective without definition. My guess, from the pictures diplayed, were that they ranged from 45 to 65 and older). Although these people had lost a lot of weight, it was apparent that they had much more to loose and had no muscle tone to speak of.
Some of the sites that I found that spoke against the hanging skin syndrome (my name for it) argue that fat is not lost evenly from the outside in (I guess they mean from the outer layers, close to the skin, towards the inner layers, close to the muscles). This would naturally cause the remaining fat cells close to the skin to weigh down and sag as the underlying fat the previously supported it no longer present (or reduced). They claim that people normally do not loose all the weight they could/should and once you are able to burn that fat as well, the skin adapts and conforms itself. One site (and this I found rather tasteless, but made me think nevertheless) even mentioned that there are no famine or war refugees ever with such a problem, even though it is incontestable that they did loose a lot of weight and too fast.
I also searched several "success story" sites, looking for people with similar profiles to my own. All the pictures posted were of the subjects fully dressed and, thus, could not give any clues regarding their skin situation. Not one of the stories related mentioned skin surgery or hanging skin, with the exception of a man who took part in a TV show called "Extreme Makeover" (or similar) who apparently did not have the endurance to undergo the diet and exercise program and opted for a gastric bypass surgery, liposuction and , then, the skin surgery...
I am 38, 5'9" and want/need to loose 100 lbs (from 264 to +/- 164). I have good muscle mass (not a body builder -I surf and bike-) and bone structure (wide shoulders), don't smoke and drink very little.
Does anyone out there know, for a fact, of the real consequences of weight loss on the skin? What is the skinny (pun intended) on those success stories?
Keep on loosing!

the reason there are no numbers involved, is because all of the following factors are very important: age, muscle tone, height, weight & weight loss, skin genetics ... i'm sure there are others, but that's off the top of my head.

I've known quite a few people that have lost a lot of weight and they all have access skin ... but, they have all said that they can live with it knowing how much healthier they are. Some say, if they had a lot of extra money that they would look into surgery, but it's not at the top of their list.

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Thanks for the input.
You are right, there are a lot of factors involved and that is why I have tried to search the internet regarding the situation. My hope was to get a better idea of some of the factors that affect the condition. Age, for one, is a great factor as we can see people who have been skinny all their lives have sagging skin. Gravity has its effects on all of us. but one ust also take into account that the parts that most often "sag" are under the eyes, breasts, cheeks, buts, underarms. Areas that have fat deposits and a lack of underlying muscle or bone support.
I am interested in these people you know. Ironically, your post is simlar to the ones that have been frustrating me. Could you offer some more details as to how much weight they lost (in pounds or kilos), their age, lifestyle , height, etc?
you also have made a good point I missed in my original post. There is no doubt anyone will become a healthier, more attractive, etc individual, regardless of hanging skin. The point is that this thread was started as one of my concerns, but it is not the defining one. Depending on my mood, this (as well as sacrificing the foods I love to eat, for instance) will grow or shrink in importance on my catalog of currently active thoughts.

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then, I contradict myself.
I am large, I contain multitudes.

~Walt Whitman~

male, 25, originally 280, now 195 - tons of extra skin, especially in the stomach
female, 32, originally 230, now 165 - only a little around the hips and arms

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i used to be 210 (pregnancy) and now finally 5 yrs later im back down to 135ish. (i'm 33 and 5'5")

i have a little sagging in the belly area, but really not as bad as i was expecting it to be! (there's a pic in the before and in between section)
also have BUTT sagging just cause i had (and still have) a butt thats just so out of proportion with the rest of me. i also have loose skin in the thigh area that bothers me. my biggest mistake was taking so long to lose the weight after i gained it. otherwise i dont think the looseness would be as bad.

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What did one saggy boob say to the other saggy boob?
If we don't get some support soon, people are gonna think we're nuts!!

height:5'5"
hw:210
sw:185 (4/04)
gw:115 (12/05)
cw:115
over 70 pounds GONE!

Peepies ^_^

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"If you can hold on, hold on"

190? r u sure? how tall are you?

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- I choose not to fail. -

I'm just starting my weight loss process...but, I'm not worried about the excess skin. The fact is that my fat is already sagging. My arms hang, my stomach droops down .. It seems to be easier to hide the sagging skin then it is to hide the buldges of fat under my clothes.

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That makes a lot of sense Pinch.

I expect some of those finalists in The Biggest Loser, might have issues about their skin - but on TV there was no obvious saggy skin. Some seemed to be very firm skinned already, despite their rapid weight loss.

A couple of friends of mine who were never overweight had loose skin on their tummies after having children. They had no stretch marks, and the skin looked normal - it didn't hang down at all. Yet if they grabbed on it and pulled, it would stretch out a lot further than other skin.

Show me someone with sagging skin, and I'll show you someone that still has a good 10-20 pounds of fat to lose.

Having excess skin is my biggest fear about losing the weight. Like someone said before me, I'd rather stay fat than have loose skin. However, because I'm only 19, I hope that my skin has still has enough elasticity for this not to happen to me.

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If you have a healthy body fat % and have saggy skin still then it may be a problem, but I guarantee if you get a decent and healthy body fat % you wont have much.

That is my next mission, weight is down to 198 which is good, I could drop another 10lbs maybe, but I just want to get my body fat % down and build muscle.

Its my next step.

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I'm not trying to criticize you or call you out but...I think that's WAY too much weight to lose for your height. If you lost 170 pounds, that would make you 100 pounds. That's a very low weight for being 5'7". And losing 190 pounds would be even worse. Just want you to be healthy.

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