Scared of hanging skin

ambee0803

I weigh 230 lbs and I should weigh around 130. Im 5"7 if that helps give you an idea. I hear all these stories about how people who lose large amounts of weight end up feeling worse about themselves because they have so much hanging sagging skin. I'm sure someone here has been about my size and lost that much. Was this a problem for you? What can I do to prevent or minimize it? I've already got a little from having kids. Its not too bad. I know it could be much worse but I'm afraid after I drop 100 lbs, it will be.

jules159

I weighed 230 at one point and got down to 157. That was years ago and I didn't have any problem. I think it really depends on your age though. I'm down to 163 now from 214 and I have a lot of loose skin this time but I'm 13 years older than the last time and it makes a huge difference. I'm 5'7" as well.

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt

Don't loose too fast, stay up on potassium,stay hydrated and don't use it as an excuse to not get fit...the rest is genetics...I went from 240 to 140 and I didn't have a problem...

Kalikel

I'm 5'8" and began around 250, now 166. I have some. It gets bad and then gets a little better. Since both times I've had improvement have been after spending buckets of time in the sun, I have this bizarre theory that the sun helps. If I get all worse this winter and much better again next summer, I'm going to believe it helped me.

The loose skin is very gross. I have to remind myself to stop being so vain and that nobody really cares about my skin, anyway.

I lost about sixty pounds before there was even the beginnings of loose skin.

Please don't waste money on creams. They do not help because they cannot help. They aren't able to penetrate deeply enough and can only affect the very top layers of skin.

DeguelloTex

It's almost all genetics. You'll have it or you won't.

Bshmerlie

I'm 45 and I will probably have loose skin on my belly and lower area. But look at it this way....it's better than fat. Besides that's what tummy tucks are for.

kshama2001

While genetics and age plays a role, you can likely minimize loose skin by losing weight slowly and doing strength training while you're losing.

See http://vitals.lifehacker.com/how-to-minimize-loose-skin-during-weight-loss-1696145766

Lourdesong

I've lost over 100 and have loose skin. It's noticeable on my upper thighs, upper arms and abdomen. The arms is what upsets me though because despite my arms being so much more slender I still have to wear shirt sleeves that come down to my elbow. Any shorter and wrinkled loose skin can be seen if I move my arms at all. I'm only 36 and having the arms of an old lady is surely disorienting for anyone who might notice.

Regardless, I prefer it over the mammoth arms I was once sporting. At least saggy skin can be covered up. Being enormous can't be.

salembambi

ive lost 150 pounds so i have quite a bit of loose skin it really sucks but its life

ShannonMpls

I lost 130ish pounds. I've been maintaining for almost three years.

I have noticeable saggy skin on my thighs. My arms sag when I hold them lateral to my body. I do not have a flat stomach.

So I choose skirts that hit at the knee, though I wear a bathing suit without a second thought. I don't hold my arms lateral to my body (unless I'm doing a lateral raise). I wear high-waisted bottoms with my bikini.

Bottom line: I feel a million times better than I did when I was obese. I don't have time to care about loose skin. I can run and play with my son and climb mountains (literal and metaphorical). Sure, it would be great to have a supermodel body but it's also great to say screw it, I'm good enough right now.

Don't let (the potential for) saggy skin be an excuse for staying obese. Instead of worrying about preventing loose skin, focus on losing weight in a healthy and sustainable way so that you keep it off. And if you learn to love and accept yourself along the way, everything will be easier. Trust me on this one.

javakitty

I think a healthy diet with lots of lean protein, vegetables, good fat, and water will help minimize loose skin. Don't starve yourself and be sure to exercise. It can also take a couple years after weight loss for the skin to finish tightening.

CorvusCorax77

loose skin on a healthy body that can do awesome stuff is not really all that bad.

gramarye

I've lost just shy of 100 pounds -- from 290 to 193 -- and it is a thing that happens. You can drink water, lift, target your diet, but no one can say whether that will help or not. You won't know until you're there.

I have loose skin on my stomach from pregnancy and being very heavy, and my arms, and on my thighs (especially at my knee on the inside). I don't love any of these things. I also don't love that my hair tends to be frizzy or that my pores are huge or that my feet are wide -- and I consider this to be just as much "one of those things" that you learn to accept about your body, because obsessive hate is only going to cause anxiety about it.

And honestly? I love my body, even though it's sort of bottom heavy (whereas I used to be more evenly hourglass) and squishy and wiggly. I rocked my first bare midrift at a bar recently, with nothing but support and compliments. Losing weight has been a huge boost to my self-esteem and my perceived self-worth. I experiment more, take more risks, and I'm a lot less likely to let other people treat me like I'm not worthy of respect and dignity.

No amount of loose skin can ruin that, IMO. Lose the weight you want to lose and learn to sort out the rest of it as you do.

(Unrelated: are you in the 5'2"-5'4" range? I'm a hair over 5'2" and 130 is what I'm told is ideal, even though I have no current plans to get even near that low.)

Asher_Ethan

I've had 2 babies both over 9 pounds when born and I gained 60 pounds in both my pregnancies. The heaviest I got was December 2013 I was 220 and 9.5 months pregnant. When I bend over my skin will sag a little in my stomach area but that's about it.

I would rather have sagging skin than be as big as I was.

ald783

You will probably have some loose skin but the amount really varies by person.. genetics, etc. Some things can help but at the end of the day when you gain and lose a substantial amount of weight, your skin has been stretched out and it will not go completely back to what it was.

I lost 115 pounds (I'm 5'11) and had some loose skin on my stomach, arms, and thighs but it wasn't bad. I decided to have surgery on my stomach and arms and I love the result but I could have lived very happily with the loose skin. It is certainly not a reason not to lose weight, and I think anyone that says they're more unhappy with their body post-weight loss due to loose skin is probably dealing with deeper body acceptance issues. The benefits of weight loss FAR outweigh the negatives of loose skin.

MommyL2015

I'll take the loose skin on my belly over all the fat I had hanging all over me anyday. Loose skin tucks into things easier.

FatFreeFrolicking

Loose skin > Being obese

kjurassic

Age and genetics will determine this....I lost 95 lbs and have loose skin on arms, stomach, inner thighs, butt!!! It looks like a deflated balloon in those areas, droopy, wrinkly, NOT ATTRACTIVE. Naked, I looked better fat. Clothed, I look better now. The jury is still "out" whether or not I think all of this is "worth it."

mbcieslak87

Fat causes health problems and loose skin does not... so for that reason alone, don't let a fear of loose skin hold you back... especially because genetics plays a huge role and you may not have any issues.

Furthermore, if it bothers you a lot, once you lose the weight, give yourself a "keep it off" time period, where you save for surgery to get rid of it, and the you'll know you can keep it off and love the way you look... if it comes to that

PAV8888

A friend told me not to dare complain in front of a woman who had a baby in her 30's
I always head her advice

I can and do complain. And with my first billion I will be sponsoring a series of "deflated balloons look GREAT" art appreciation festivals.

Still, there is no jury as to whether it was "worth it": my health is way more important than anyone's opinion (including my own) about how I look.

PaulaWallaDingDong

True, nobody wants to look saggy, but I was more afraid of having a family member find me dead in my bed.

kshama2001

kjurassic wrote: »

Age and genetics will determine this....I lost 95 lbs and have loose skin on arms, stomach, inner thighs, butt!!! It looks like a deflated balloon in those areas, droopy, wrinkly, NOT ATTRACTIVE. Naked, I looked better fat. Clothed, I look better now. The jury is still "out" whether or not I think all of this is "worth it."

@kjurassic - how long has it been since you lost the 95 pounds? I've seen posters say it took a while (at least months, maybe even a year) before the skin tightened up after hitting goal weight.

kjurassic

It's been about 6 months since I've pretty much reached my goal. But, I'm old (60) that skin isn't going anywhere. And....when I was obese I had low to normal blood pressure - After I lost all the weight - blood pressure going up?!!!! I lost the weight to remain active and "healthy" and to try and ward off all of the bad stuff, diabetes, blood pressure, etc.

PAV8888

kjurassic wrote: »

It's been about 6 months since I've pretty much reached my goal. But, I'm old (60) that skin isn't going anywhere. And....when I was obese I had low to normal blood pressure - After I lost all the weight - blood pressure going up?!!!! I lost the weight to remain active and "healthy" and to try and ward off all of the bad stuff, diabetes, blood pressure, etc.

I don't think you picked the two pictures you've juxtaposed on your profile randomly.

Losing weight doesn't guarantee anyone of us a single extra day. Forget health concerns that come with age: I've almost been run over by cars more times since I started walking around, or cycling, than I ever came close to while sitting on my couch!

But, I've gone on hikes this year, I've gone cycling this year, and I've gone kayaking this year. Two years ago I begged off a whitewater rafting trip because I was not sure I would be able to physically cope with the experience.

lalepepper

I'm down 97 lbs and my stomach is a bit wobbly, but I also have a bit more weight to lose. I'm taking it at a reasonable pace, staying hydrated, and exfoliating which helps it look a bit less wrinkly. It's important to remember that any remaining fat will make your extra skin SEEM like more than it really is. I've seen many people drop a lot of weight but still have a higher body fat %, then complain about loose skin. Skin is quite thin on its own but can easily be weighed down by cutaneous fat - if you can get to a low body fat while keeping or eventually gaining back some muscle, you'll probably have less loose skin in the end. When my dad lost weight he lost about 10 lbs past his goal then bulked up again, which really helped his skin bounce back and he ended up a body composition he was happier with. It's unfortunately easy to end up at a healthy weight but with a higher body fat % than you'd like when losing large amounts of weight. Having a "take it as you go" attitude vs. thinking in absolutes is also important. I've accepted the fact that I don't know if I'll be happy with things at my current goal weight, and I may feel the need to go further. I also have accepted the fact that I might not be happy with my extra skin and it might cause problems for me, but I'll bridge that if/when needed. Anything is better than how I felt at my biggest.

I tell you, I love my squishy tummy compared to carrying around an extra 12 year old child worth of weight, but I've been overweight since childhood and have never had a stomach I've cared to show off.

Cherimoose

ambee0803 wrote: »

What can I do to prevent or minimize it?

Lose it relatively quickly.

Follow a full-body strength program to minimize muscle loss.