You want to lose weight but you are afraid of loose skin. Indeed, it's a trap: on one side a heavy burden of obesity on the other, the prospect of the loose skin - not a pleasant sight on its own.
To simply argue that obesity's dangers are outweighing any cosmetic imperfection of the loose skin is not dealing with the fear. Fear is fear. It doesn't go away by pointing out the drawbacks of the alternative. It needs to be faced and dissected before it's gone and gives way to will to change.
Any fear can be dealt with by unpacking it and seeing what's inside. Is the fear of loose skin is justified? Let's play doctor and cut it open, shell we?
Why do you fear the loose skin? When exposed, it is ugly and embarrassing.
Good. Those two reasons are valid enough to fear the loose skin. It deals with the self-esteem, body image, and sex life. Now we know what your fear is made of.
Now, knowing that obesity is a 24-hours a day thing, how much of the day the loose skin is?
Meaning: you are obese when you are alone, when you in a company of others, when you are asleep, when you are awake, when you are with an opposite sex. So when are you "loose-skinned"?
Let's try to find the answer to that.
When you are asleep, you are not "loose-skinned" - you are just healthy, fit person, having a good night rest. 8 hours of not being "loose-skinned" right there! Great! We got just 16 hours to unpack.
We wake up and we are immediately become "loose-skinned"! Solution: sleep in a t-shirt. Aeswone! Let's move on.
Shower = loose skin. Yep! 10 minutes of that. No good solution there.
What's next? Exit the shower, dry your bum and put your nice, new clothes you just got because your old XXXL clothes are falling off of you. Are you "loose-skinned"? Not anymore. Not a single person will be able to tell what skin you got under those clothes. They all will see a regular person, with a regular body.
How long that's going to last? All day long. You work, you play, you ride a horse, you skydive. As long as you not doing any of it naked, you are not "loose-skinned". How much time are we talking about? 12 hours, more or less?
So that and the sleep we total 20 hours a day not being "loose-skinned".
After a long day outside, you are back home. You might change clothes to more comfortable attire. You might be shirtless for a minute. You might take a shower. Here is another 15 minutes of being "loose-skinned". Let's have a final tally?
Here we go: if you are not an avid nudist, your total amount of being exposed to other people is 0 minutes, and by yourself is 26 minutes out of 1440 minutes in a day. That changes a lot.
There are two scenarios that left untouched. One is going to the beach. Wear a t-shirt or don't go to the beach.
The second is, an intimate situation involving another person, or simply put: sex.
This one needs unpacking of its own.
If you are in the relationship, most likely the person you are with will not mind the loose skin. Ask him or her if they prefer the obese you or the healthy, longer-living, non-future-diabetic, skinny "loose-skinned" you. If you trust them with your life, put this into their hands and let them decide your destiny. You can show them pictures of other people with loose skin, before they make the decision. This way they will know what they are about to get in to.
If you are single, it is even easier. When you first meet a girl or a boy of your dreams you are not "loose-skinned". 100% of the time you'll wear clothes when it happens. They cannot see the loose skin, so it's irrelevant at this point.
By the way, when you are not obese, you will attract more boys or girls of your dreams. That sucks for the obese people, but those are facts of life.
After several days or weeks, you will grow close and intimacy will be needed to consummate your relationship. Nakedness will be in order. Luckily there are two perfect resolutions to the moment you are dreading so much that it's affecting your decision to start your weight loss journey now.
Resolution number one, more likely: she/he likes you a lot and your loose skin is a non-issue. You both have a bit awkward, but sweet love - the best kind.
Resolution number two, less likely: she/he gets grossed out by the loose skin, leaves you and never calls.
Why the resolution number one is more likely? Because by the time you are intimate with you partner she or he knows your story. She or he knows about your weight loss journey, the loose skin and your insecurities around it. You can show them pictures of you with the loose skin, before they make the decision to move forward. This way they will know what they are about to get in to.
If she or he doesn't know about all of it before you are getting naked, then it is too soon to get naked.
The solution is obvious: communicate your insecurities clearly and early. This way she/he will clear the path for the next partner or will stay and fall in love with you and every inch of your loose skin.
So much drama! How can you miss all that?!
