I am going to get gastric bypass hopefully before the year is out (you know that insurance thing grrr) and I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I have seen many before and after photos of weight loss and everyone looks wonderful, but I was wondering what they looked like before they put on the weight and if after losing the weight if their bodies looked the same from when they were skinny before. I am currently 240 and 5'1''. When I was 20 yrs old I was 145 and of course the same height. Please share any info you can. Thanks.

My body is generally the same....with the usual sag associated with weight loss and age.  When I was at this weight (at age 17), I had muscular thighs, a more athletic build and when I put a couple of lbs on....my tummy was flabby.  I am still the same.

My absoulute high weight was 225.  Mt sirgery wt was 212.  I am now 125....and I am trying to drop a couple that crept back on  :)

Well, the last time I weighed what I weigh now I think I was about 11 or 12 and it sure does look a lot different now.  I didn't have any stretch marks, scars or loose skin for one thing.  As far as size, every time I have lost weight (and there have been a lot) I always wore different sizes then I wore the previous time I had lost weight.   For example, when I had my first WLS I got down to about 117lbs at my lowest but I was wearing children's sizes.  When I hit 117lbs this last time I was in a size 4.  I know that clothing sizes have changed in the last several years but usually they size them down, not up.  I kind of doubt that in the last 8 years what used to be a childrens large size is now a women's size 4.

Well, to be realistic, you are going to have saggy skin, no matter what you do.  I have to say that I am pretty blessed, I have not saggy arm or leg skin.  It is all tummy and boobs.  

I think, now, I have a really nice shape.  I am proportional.  When I was in my 20's I was never this thin but when i got close I was much more tone.  I am 40 now and being that tone would take more hours in the gym then I have time for.  

Body image is a strange thing.  A year ago I would have given my right arm and then some to be the weight I am today and wear the size I wear now.  Yet, I spend most of my days looking in the mirror upset that I am not thinner or just constantly judging myself.  I still walk into every room and try to see if I am the fattest person there.  It is just a struggle I am having with body image.  

My sister who has been thin most of her life said that when you are thin you are still hard on yourself, like it is never enough.  I don't think that all or even most thin people think this way, I think people with messed up body image feel this way.  I have a messed up body image.   

I have to be honest I will probley do the same thing when I lose. I have always been hard on myself. You look really good right now and your not that far into it. How tall are you? Just asking cause were similiar in weight but I might be shorter than you.

 Thanks, at times I do look at myself and think I am looking good but I often have times where I am so critical of where I am.  Why can't i just be happy to be here?

I am 5'8" tall, so pretty tall.  I carried most of my weight in the "apple" shape, so in my boobs and tummy.  I do have and have always had small butt and thighs.  Where you carry the most weight is where you will have the most skin problems.

I read that you don't think you are going to ever be as thin as you were "before".  I think most people find just the opposite, they are thinner then they really ever have been as adults.  I know I am, even if I am having trouble accepting that.  

Good luck!  

I understand I will have saggy skin but I was wondering if my body will have a different shape. Thanks for all who shared.

I am 49 years old and the last time I was this size I was about 25 years old and it was following a bout with Graves Disease which causes weight loss.  (I started gaining weight again within about 6 months.)  Prior to that, I had not been that size since Junior High School!

My body -- even after having a panniculectomy, mons lift, tummy tuck, and brachioplasty (arms) -- looks NOTHING like it did when I was 25.  Even though I am the same clothing size, my waist is thicker (some of that is probably just the normal aging process),  my boobs (which were always big) are a little larger (36DDD rather than a DD cup) because of all the extra skin (and now they literally hang to my waist), my thighs have a LOT of extra skin and a little bit of residual fat along the inner thigh, BUT thanks to the plastic surgeries my arms and hips are smaller.  My butt is a little saggy, but, once again, that may be just normal aging.

You don't say how old you are now, which can make a big difference not only in body cahnges purely from aging butb also in skin elasticity, but you should probably NOT expect to look like you did when you were 20 (unless, perhaps you are only 30 now).  What you SHOULD expect is that certain physical traits that were present before you gained weight will remain.  If you had large breasts, a large butt, very muscular arms or thighs, etc. you will still have those traits.

Lora

I am 30 now and did have big thighs and boobies. I was so curious though becasue it made me wonder looking at all the before and after photos. I don't expect to be skinner then before I'm just super excited to start my journey and lose all my dead weight. lol

Last time I weighed 185 I was a senior in high school..32 years ago with a low just before starting my junior year of college. Otherwise big for most of the time. From what I remember, my body shape is about the same, but somehow stayed bustier so far. The last time I wore a size 14 pants was 1985. My sister found an old bin of clothing she wore back then...boy do we ever have vanity sizing! An old 16 is really tight.