I am a 30 year old woman who has gone vegan/raw. I started at 285 pounds and have started dropping weight. Now my fear is the extra skin. This is one of my biggest fears and one reason I have not pursued much weight loss.

Is this something I need to worry about will the skin naturally bounce back. Or are there extra things I can to and add into/make sure i am getting into my daily intake to help with this?

Hi.

I'm 36 and started losing weight in my early thirty's as well.

I started at 325 (after the birth of my son) and I'm down around 120 pounds. (Just had a second son and I'm continuing to reduce my weight towards a "goal weight area.")

In MY experience, I have found nothing to help the skin issue. I do not want to get surgery to remove it, but in my case, its pretty bad. A huge part in this issue is genetics I'm sure. Strength training *helps* but barely.

That being said, I would not use the extra skin issue as an excuse to slow down my recovery. (I've gone there, believe me.) So I focus on the health and not the body image issues. (I have found my insecurities to be directly proportional to my superiority issues! Something i had to work on IN my head, not on my body.)

To be honest, I've been disappointed how this MAJOR issue for those of us that have faced food addiction and large weight losses has been avoided or skirted around. "Eat more silica and work out" is about the depth of what I've discovered so far.

The fact is though, some damage is not fixable I fear. I live in this body now, with the scars as a badge of honor as to how far I've come. Be true to yourself, love the skin your in and enjoy LIFE...the rest will fade into the background. This journey is worth it more than you can imagine!

Good luck to you sister,
Nicole (AKA: Squirrelletta)

Thank you so much for your reply, I wish it made me feel better.

I just see these Raw/Vegan people like Angela Stokes and it does not look like there is extra skin. Did they have surgery to remove it all?

My problem is I am 100% comfortable with myself how I am. If I could be vegan and stay a big girl and be healthy I would. I fear the weight lose and extra skin will create and bring back body image issues that I dealt with for 25 years of my life and I am not willing to go back to that.

I love myself but dont want to be imbarised or afraid to get naked in front of someone or possible future husband. Like I said I spent from 17 to 25 doing that and I fear going back to that place.

It sounds like these are still issues you are dealing with. What worked for me was writing about these feelings and also talking with supportive loving people who could help me past these difficult topics.

It's a long process, but if we're not moving forward, we're moving backward. Meaning, I dealt (and am still dealing with) these painful issues and I just take it one day at a time.

I used to think "size acceptance" was the answer. (I read every book on living large and enjoying life, staying in the moment, ect.)I never thought I'd be able to (or was meant to) be a thin person. I know now that was my disease and fear talking and I slowly moved through it. It seems so silly now in hind sight. Most of my fear and insecurity's we're old tapes, apparitions from my past that I was able to heal.

This stuff is NOT easy. But it's worth going through and coming out with a clarity and love for yourself that you cannot even imagine. Again, this ends up not being about size or weight loss. Its about healing the REASONS you are eating too many calories in the first place. (Be they raw or cooked.)All of this will be a positive thing to have before you meet a future spouse anyway! LOL Nothing is as sexy as confidence!

I highly recommend Angela's "Raw emotions" book if you do not own it already. Its a great start to getting to the root of this journey. She also has a reference section in the back should you choose to go deeper into some recovery.

Nicole

Actually that is not true at all. I know it is really hard for some people to believe but I love myself as a big girl. I have been 120 pounds before and hated it was not me and did not feel comfortable in my own skin. Like i said the only reason for turning to a vegan life _style_ change is I am dealing with a cancer issue.

So no I am not still dealing with body issues. But dont want to create them all over again with extra skin. So you see I dont want to replace confidence and love for myself with fear/lack of confidence.

But I can see how you might think it is a currant body issue problem because how many people do you meet that like beign fat. Well there are some of us out there..lol.

But I appreciate you response. Your weight must have been a confidenct killer for you and I am glad you did something to change that and found a way to love yourself. But like I said I love being a bbw-fatty and dont want to lose the weight, but it is a side effect that happens sometimes and I am having a harder time dealing with losing weight and thinking of being skinny than the cancer.