Is this mostly excess skin, or a lot of fat?? (Pictures) PLEASE help!

NikonPal

Just watched a video clip from aol re: The Doctors TV Show focused on weight loss / skin surgery. Might be of interest to some.

Here is the link: http://on.aol.com/video/jon-calvo-s-question-about-excess-skin-517939221

crack0825

numinousnymph wrote: »

Just a heads up, these pictures are a bit unsightly.






I'm 5' 4", 121 lbs. I am 24 and have been overweight since I was around 7. My highest weight was when I was 15, at 192 lbs. When I began losing weight, I knew there was a risk of getting loose skin. But I thought, oh, since I'm young, and I don't have 100 or more lbs to lose, I probably won't get sagging extra skin. Well, here I am, 71 lbs lighter, and I have this awful, terrible abdomen. I hate it, am disgusted by it, and it really crushes any confidence I have from losing weight. I feel like it makes me look like I'm pregnant when I stand. When I sit, it will still bulge. I do a decent amount of strength training, including core exercises. I am trying to get down another 5 - 10 lbs, to try to eliminate as much fat as I can, because if there is any chance most of this is still fat, I need to get rid of it. Once I get to around that 5 - 10 lb mark I'm going to try some body recomp. Sometimes it gets me so upset that I will cry and be so angry at how I look and feel so hopeless and defeated. So I need to know if I'm really getting upset over fat, or skin. I know a body fat scan would be the most telling, but until I can do that, I'd just like peoples' opinions.

So, I'd really like everyone's 100% HONEST opinion. Does this look more like mostly skin or mostly fat to you?




And just if anyone's confused, the first picture is what my stomach looks like from below when I am bending over.

8 years back i loose around 90 pounds of weight in 7months and my skin was also like this. when i started to gain weight again my skin started to become normal. so dont worry start doing muscles gaining and strength diet and exercise u will start to look result in 3 to 4 months..

jflores9797

Any updates on the mid section area? I am currently in the same boat, I am 21 years old, 5’9” I weighed 260 Pounds at my heaviest (2015-2017) and I got down to 230 after high school by just getting a job and from February to December this year (2018) I’ve lost 60 more pounds so I’m down to 170 now, everyone tells me not to go lower but I still see the same thing as you did when I have my shirt off. It’s pretty discouraging after all of the hard work and healthy eating to tell the truth... and viewer discretion is advised, I know I personally hate looking at it but it looks very similar to yours did. Thanks in advance! And

mph323

OP's last post was in July 2017 - sadly she didn't stick around longer for an update.

To me it looks like a bit of loose skin over some remaining fat. Do you do any weight training? I would suggest you look at a recomposition*. The BMI calculator I'm using puts you just around the top of a healthy weight, so if you decided to go that route you could afford to lose a few more pounds, but if you like where you're at you can work on developing some muscle so that you'll look tighter. At 21, you could see a fairly rapid change, both in shrinking of loose skin and reduction body fat percentage, though where the fat comes off is up to genetics. Search "recomp" or "recomposition" in the forums, there are a bunch of informative threads.

*Recomposition: building muscle while remaining the same weight

AnnPT77

Here are the links that will be most helpful, IMO:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

@jflores9797, I think you still have a bit of abdominal fat left. When it's loose skin only, it will look more like wrinkles in fabric (I can see some of that in your photos, which suggests your weight loss is recent, since the actual loose skin is pretty likely to shrink well in someone who's as young as you are).

Things that are more like 1/2"+ folds or rolls probably have some remaining subcutaneous fat keeping the skin stretched out. Many of us find that that midsection area is the last to lose fat.

You can either go to recomposition (link above), or continuing very slowly lose a few more pounds (as long as you feel good, and the rest of you keeps looking fine/not gaunt). It's pretty normal for our friends to say "stop loosing", "too skinny", and that sort of thing if we lose a good bit of weight fairly quickly, because they're used to seeing us at a heavier weight (and they may be at a heavier weight themselves ).

It's good to consider friends'/family's comments seriously, as sometimes our own self-perception can be out of whack. But their opinions aren't gospel. The ones that matter most are yours, and your doctor's.

At 5'9", 170, you're still just barely over the line into overweight BMI. (Body mass index; you're at 25.1, normal range is 125-168.5 at your height, but that range is for both men and women of all builds, so I know you don't want to be 125. Some people can be most healthy above the normal BMI range, but that's typically going to be a person who's ultra-muscular (think bodybuilder) and/or with a very broad-shouldered, broad pelvis, wide kind of build. Probably 80% or so of people will find a healthy weight within the normal BMI range.)

Since it's unusual (though not impossible) for someone to be at their best weight above the normal BMI range, it's probably not unrealistic for you to lose a few more pounds, if you want to do that. If in doubt, ask your doctor if you have room to lose a bit more.

Hang in there, you're doing great!

tcunbeliever

100% honest, it looks like a combination of fat and skin.

Give it a full 2 years at a stable weight for the skin to finish adapting. If you still don't like it there are lots of cosmetic surgery options available.

I think another 5-10 lbs will probably get rid of the remaining fat, but it's hard to tell because everyone looses it differently.

In the mean time...high waist bikinis and that retro look are all the rage right now...enjoy it and rely on the beauty of modern fabrics to give you the look you want while you wait out your body adjustments.

mph323

tcunbeliever wrote: »

100% honest, it looks like a combination of fat and skin.

Give it a full 2 years at a stable weight for the skin to finish adapting. If you still don't like it there are lots of cosmetic surgery options available.

I think another 5-10 lbs will probably get rid of the remaining fat, but it's hard to tell because everyone looses it differently.

In the mean time...high waist bikinis and that retro look are all the rage right now...enjoy it and rely on the beauty of modern fabrics to give you the look you want while you wait out your body adjustments.

Totally love this - the person who asked the question is a guy!

jflores9797

High waist bikinis, got it 👍🏽😂😂 Thanks for all of the input guys!

pinuplove

jflores9797 wrote: »

High waist bikinis, got it 👍🏽😂😂 Thanks for all of the input guys!

:laugh: That's hilarious. My advice: don't plank for photos. Works like a charm for me!

KKSW1981

Skin mostly! And you are ahhhhmazing ❤ I hope you know that!

youngmomtaz

Uhfgood wrote: »

sounds like you've been doing some body weight exercises for strength training. If you aren't doing it already would suggest hitting the iron. And mostly the compound exercises, squats, and the like.

Also I wouldn't worry about losing any more fat/weight.

This. I am heavier than you by at least 40 lbs but when I moved to lifting heavy(bench press, squats, deadlifts, ohp, etc) my waist tightened and pulled in by 2-3 inches quickly. That was with no dedicated core work. Just supporting my body through movement. I have had a new lifter friend join me recently and she has been amazed!