glowingwillow,
I lost one hundred pounds in one year (before becoming macro; mostly liquid diet and vigorous exercise, hitchhiking from Southern California to North Carolina during the hot Spring to Summer while carrying a very heavy backback) and though my clothing sizes were smaller, I never had loose skin so my feeling is that maybe you need more vigorous exercise to compensate for the skin loosening, not any chemicals or cosmetics.
Are you tired when you wake up?
Just like most people in the greater society need more liquids, they also need more sleep.
Waking up hungry is a sign of good health and if you are sleeping five or more hours and waking up hungry, just be grateful.
Years before macrobiotics I slept an average of 8 to ten hours a night (I was smoking pot often and eating what most people eat).
Just before macrobiotics I met
Scott Nearing who told me that he slept only 5 hours a night, going to bed at 10, getting up at 3am, writing till sunup, working outside until sundown and then cooking and eating dinner and retiring at 10pm (Scott lived until a week after his 100th birthday!).
From 1974 till recently I slept just 5 hours per night.
Sometimes I sleep more and take naps during the day (I wash street-level windows during dry weekdays and drive taxi rainy days and some nights for 12 hours per shift) so my sleep can be somewhat irregular!
Anyway if you are not sleepy when you wake up, that's what can happen when you stop eating meat, dairy and all the other foods of the greater society.
Reorganize your day and make good use of your extra awake time!
Thank you, very much.
Bruce Paine