Excess skin shrinkage

i am nine months out from RNY and I am thrilled with my weight loss. I am down to 18% body fat according to my scale and can see my rib cage and hip bones but I have droopy excess tummy skin that bothers me. So the question is with heavy cross fit type training can I expect much tightening or am going to need plastics to be happy?  I am 46 year old male

I don't know if you will need plastics to be happy or not, but your skin won't shrink much.  When we are obese, our skin doesn't just stretch, we grow more skin.  The larger our bodies, the more skin we grow.  Once you grow skin, you can't ungrow or shrink it.

There is a line in the book, "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies" that I love.

Weight lost surgery gave me back my health, plastic surgery gave me back my self-esteem. 

I had a tummy tuck six years ago and still love getting up every morning and seeing my smooth, tight tummy.

There's nothing you can do that will reduce or eliminate loose skin.  It depends on how big you were, how long you were overweight, age, sex, overall health, and luck of the draw.

Weight lost surgery gave me back my health, plastic surgery gave me back my self-esteem. 

That may be true for some people.  I certainly did not need to have plastic surgery to get self-esteem.

I agree completely with this. 

I have no problems with plastic surgery -- and I think if it makes someone feel better and they can afford it -- they should proudly get it!! But, like you, I don't feel a lack of self-esteem without it.  While I don't love my excess skin -- I am very proud of what it represents.  

M excess skins is still changing at 11 months out. Building muscle underneath can improve its appearance . most PS sregons want  you to be stable for at least 6 months as things are still changing...but I have a slush fund planned!

Keep up the good work!

As said above, the amount of skin shrinkage you'll accomplish is based on age, health, how long you were overweight, and several other factors that you also don't have any control over!  That's a bummer, but that's just the way things are.

On the other hand, while I totally agree that no possible lotions or skin regiments are going to make things magically shrink, to me, it just makes sense that the healthier you keep your skin, the better it will do.  I figure that if my skin would shrink between x and y amounts, then keeping good lotion and things on the skin will make it more likely to shrink the higher amount!  This doesn't mean that I expect the lotions to work wonders, to me, it is just part of keeping all parts of me as healthy as possible.

It really stinks about the droopy skin doesn't it!  One of my most aggravating moments was when a guy who didn't know any better told me that I needed to exercise to get rid of the bat wings.... he soon got educated that while exercise is vital and will really help the overall form and shape, it will do absolutely nothing to make skin shrink.

Don't get discouraged... as you get toward your goal weight, you'll see that the excess skin is still an improvement!  I always say it is better to be "under-inflated" than "over-inflated"! When you get to your goal and get stable, only you can decide if you want to have plastic surgery to tighten things up.  I'm thinking I probably will next year, but it won't necessarily be at the places I thought it would be when I was at 9 months!