Sudden stretchmarks after working out!

ddaphne90

After two weeks of belly dancing (3 days a week for an hour and a half for my toning goal) and healthy eating I began noticing stretch marks on my hips. I have always carried a tiny bit of weight on my hips and belly but never saw these marks before. They shocked me and seemed to appear over night. I am staying hydrated, eating tons of spinach but stressing over these marks. Am I doing anything wrong? Has this happened to you?

piheart

Sometimes when you lose weight, stretch marks that were already there start to become more visible. Similarly, when you gain weight, stretch marks appear. From personal experience, new stretch marks are red, old ones are closer to skin color but can look like scar tissue as well.

jdj595

Use a high quality lotion or organic Shea or cocoa butter. It will help them fade.

PinkPixiexox

I've noticed stretch marks on my thighs that I didn't have pre weight loss. Own them. They're your battle scars

Sued0nim

jdj595 wrote: »

Use a high quality lotion or organic Shea or cocoa butter. It will help them fade.

No, it won't

eleanorella1989

Just learn to embrace them and don't let it to allow you to hate yourself like it did with me until I learned to accept them. Everyone has them. I've had them since I was 12 when my body was changing, I was freaking out for years until finally Google helped me realize what they were. And now with the extra weight I have, I've gotten a ton more of them this year because I gained 20 pounds. It's no big deal. They're unattractive and annoying to look at but it's life.

ninerbuff

jdj595 wrote: »

Use a high quality lotion or organic Shea or cocoa butter. It will help them fade.

Not really. They are scars. Camouflage cream would do a better job of hiding them, but it have to be applied everyday and that would get expensive. And still doesn't solve the issue of them being there.
They're part of losing weight. Lots of people call it "earning your stripes".

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

tomatoey

piheart wrote: »

Sometimes when you lose weight, stretch marks that were already there start to become more visible. Similarly, when you gain weight, stretch marks appear. From personal experience, new stretch marks are red, old ones are closer to skin color but can look like scar tissue as well.

This - when you gained, the deeper layer of your skin, the dermis, stretched and tore. Stretch marks are scars from those tears, in that deep layer. Creams and lotions can't reach them.

Stretch marks are sometimes more obvious with weight loss, bc you're losing the water and fat that fills up the space under your skin, so it's less taught.

Orphia

I'd be fairly confident to say that the stretch marks didn't suddenly appear. You just noticed them for the first time.

They'll fade with time, but not with creams, lotions or potions, no matter what the latest trademark is that any beauty companie$ have registered.

tomatoey

ninerbuff wrote: »

jdj595 wrote: »

Use a high quality lotion or organic Shea or cocoa butter. It will help them fade.

Not really. They are scars. Camouflage cream would do a better job of hiding them, but it have to be applied everyday and that would get expensive. And still doesn't solve the issue of them being there.
They're part of losing weight. Lots of people call it "earning your stripes".

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I don't understand how marketers are allowed to continue to be as misleading as they are. Their ads do tend to say, "Product X improves the appearance of stretch marks" but everyone knows how that gets read by people who want to believe otherwise.

Duchy82

I actually got the majority of my stretch marks when i was a teenager and the most active in my life, training for swimming 5-6hours a week and 1-2 swimming matches a week. And a healthy weight. Stretch marks are by no means something you get when you gain weight and you can be more prone to them than others. They will fade down to silvery lines, Own them, most people have them, no one has perfect skin.

ellarishee

Orphia wrote: »

I'd be fairly confident to say that the stretch marks didn't suddenly appear. You just noticed them for the first time.

I second this. I've never been particularly overweight, maybe 15 - 20 pounds and I have a few stretch marks on my thighs. I never really noticed them until recently because I never expected to have them. My mum and sister were both quite over weight for a long time, and now having lost the weight they don't have stretch marks. My mum doesn't even have stretch marks from having three kids. So I guess I thought I thought I was genetically 'immune' or something. (Dumb) They will fade with time and patience, but imo they're really not as big of a deal as people think they are!

Edited for spelling mistakes

yesimpson

I know new stretch marks look angry and red but they will heal up and become silvery, almost unnoticeable (especially on pale skin). I don't think I know ANY women who don't have them to some degree (and quite a few men who do).

oh_happy_day

jdj595 wrote: »

Use a high quality lotion or organic Shea or cocoa butter. It will help them fade.

No it won't. Time will make them fade. Correlation isn't causation.