loose skin after weight loss

Ryan70286

Any ideas on how to minimize loose skin when losing weight? I read that it depends a lot on diet, how much weight you need to lose and how fast you lose it. In addition, how long have you been overweight.

Greatly appreciate any ideas you have and thank you in advance.

earlnabby

Lose slowly and be generous with the moisturizing. Otherwise it is all about patience.

Ryan70286

lotion all over your body?

earlnabby

Ryan70286 wrote: »

lotion all over your body?

as well as decent moisturizing body wash instead of drying soap.

Ryan70286

I'm currently 286 right now I lost about 26 lbs. I need another 100 lbs or so to go. I'm trying to lose the weight gradually (1 to 2 lbs a week) and lift weights. I seen a lot of people who lose 100 + lbs and they look unhappy with the loose skin hanging over.

Dreysander

I've lost 100 + and I have a good amount of loose skin, not a whole lot but a good amount. I think that with a big loss like this you should expect a bit.

Tedebearduff

Ryan70286 wrote: »

Any ideas on how to minimize loose skin when losing weight? I read that it depends a lot on diet, how much weight you need to lose and how fast you lose it. In addition, how long have you been overweight.

Greatly appreciate any ideas you have and thank you in advance.

I feel like it's genetics, I know people who have loss less weight then me and look allot worse. I'd say focus on lifting weights like I did so that you have muscle to fill out the skin as you lose the fat. (I went from 355lbs to 182lbs, currently I'm 219lbs I like to be around 200-220lbs)

The lotion thing is helpful apparently but I never used it, if you go down that road you can use any lotion from the dollar store.. it doesn't have to be $30 bio-oil (I had 3 doctors tell me so I believed them).

Something to think about too is that you might not like yourself really skinny or small. I did not like being a size small, it's just not for me ... I'm okay with a medium but prefer myself in a large. It's just where I feel like I look good I guess and I'm not freezing cold all the time!! (seriously always cold when I was super small it's the worst!!)

oocdc2

I was substantially overweight. I've accepted that I'm just going to have loose skin. I consider it an acceptable price to pay for good health and size 10 pants.

(And, Tedebearduff, right there with you about being cold all the time! Being comfortable in my office space is the one thing I miss...)

Ryan70286

Tedebearduff wrote: »

Ryan70286 wrote: »

Any ideas on how to minimize loose skin when losing weight? I read that it depends a lot on diet, how much weight you need to lose and how fast you lose it. In addition, how long have you been overweight.

Greatly appreciate any ideas you have and thank you in advance.

I feel like it's genetics, I know people who have loss less weight then me and look allot worse. I'd say focus on lifting weights like I did so that you have muscle to fill out the skin as you lose the fat. (I went from 355lbs to 182lbs, currently I'm 219lbs I like to be around 200-220lbs)

The lotion thing is helpful apparently but I never used it, if you go down that road you can use any lotion from the dollar store.. it doesn't have to be $30 bio-oil (I had 3 doctors tell me so I believed them).

Something to think about too is that you might not like yourself really skinny or small. I did not like being a size small, it's just not for me ... I'm okay with a medium but prefer myself in a large. It's just where I feel like I look good I guess and I'm not freezing cold all the time!! (seriously always cold when I was super small it's the worst!!)

Big help thank so much. Yes I am lifting weights and yes I'm open to having a little bit of loose skin but I hope it's not that bad as some people I have seen. I don't want to be to small I have changed my goal weight from 172 to 186 and maybe gaining 10 lbs of muscle after reaching 186. That's gonna be a long time, but that's my plan. Will try the lotion, to be honest not really a big fan of using lotion all over my body. But will try it out though

Ryan70286

projectsix wrote: »

Genetics, length of time of being overweight, the degree or severity of how overweight you are, and your age are all factors that come into play. After losing 100 lbs and getting fit, I tried everything and nothing helped. Lotions, butters, laser treatments, waist wraps, ice baths, nothing helped. I ended up paying $6.4k for a "modified abdominoplasty" to remove the skin. Good luck!

Wow. That sounds painful how long did your body healed?

ald783

Unfortunately I think it is mostly determined by factors out of your control at this point (genetics, past weight history, how much you have to lose). So while drinking water, strength training, etc. might be slightly helpful and are good things to do anyway for other reasons, I don't think it's worth spending a lot of effort or money trying to avoid loose skin down the road. I don't really know of anyone that has lost 100+ pounds that hasn't had some amount of it, though some have it better or worse than others.

I'd say stick to the healthy habits you're doing and keep losing weight, and then address the skin issue when you get to that point.

DeeDiddyGee

projectsix wrote: »

Genetics, length of time of being overweight, the degree or severity of how overweight you are, and your age are all factors that come into play. After losing 100 lbs and getting fit, I tried everything and nothing helped. Lotions, butters, laser treatments, waist wraps, ice baths, nothing helped. I ended up paying $6.4k for a "modified abdominoplasty" to remove the skin. Good luck!

I did the same. The smaller I got, the bigger the loose skin seemed to be. Modified abdominoplasty = cutting off the skin without entering the muscle wall.

DeeDiddyGee

projectsix wrote: »

Ryan70286 wrote: »

projectsix wrote: »

Genetics, length of time of being overweight, the degree or severity of how overweight you are, and your age are all factors that come into play. After losing 100 lbs and getting fit, I tried everything and nothing helped. Lotions, butters, laser treatments, waist wraps, ice baths, nothing helped. I ended up paying $6.4k for a "modified abdominoplasty" to remove the skin. Good luck!

Wow. That sounds painful how long did your body healed?

It was indeed one of the worst recoveries from any surgery ever, it was horrible. Essentially, they cut at the bottom of your stomach, open it up, sew your lower abdominals to the abdominal wall and re-shape them, then pull the skin tight, take off all the extra skin, sew up your old belly button hole and give you a new one (cause they pulled the skin down tight) and the skin is sewed really tight. I had to sleep seated for the first 7-10 days so that no stretching was put on the sutures. I had 2 drains in that had to be drained twice a day for fluid. You can imagine how brutal it is to try and do really ANYTHING. Even just reaching for something requires abdominals. I had to take a full 6 weeks from the gym and even now I can't feel the outside of my skin in my lower stomach because the nerves have been so damaged.

It's no joke and you have to really be mentally (and financially) prepared for such a surgery but there is nothing (currently) that will remove loose skin but surgery.

I had mine done in October 2006 and can still see the suture line, which bums me out. I see others who have had it and their scar is totally gone. Is yours?

Isn't it strange feeling your old belly button under your skin? It's a funny feeling when I touch where my OLD belly button used to be.

Ryan70286

^^ At least you overcame it thanks for sharing you two have been a big help.

Ryan70286

I'll just hope for the best I guess and continue my transformation process.

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt

I hear eating extra potassium is supposed to help... Potato, yogurt, banana etc.

JamesParman

I'm 46 and 5'11" not exactly in my youth but feel 21, I've lost 140lb and 91 of those in the last 12 months, now down to 158lb and very happy with a vmi of 22.
I surprisingly have been left with very little lose skin, just a tiny bit on my belly which Pilates is taking care of very well.

Kullerva

Any lotion with vitamin E in it will improve skin elasticity and reduce loose skin.

Most people who lose have a lot of loose skin in the first 1-2 years after their weight stabilizes at or near their goal. Usually the skin snaps back gradually--you didn't gain all the weight in a day and it takes the body time to adjust.

If there's a *lot* of loose skin, surgery may be the only option. I've been hovering 10 lbs from my goal weight for a while and have noticed the loose skin I had from losing 40+ lbs starting to tighten up after about 4 months. I use lotion about 3 times a week.

Ryan70286

Most everyone here is saying lotion, should I put lotion in my entire body or just certain areas?

Francl27

I've been maintaining for 1.5 year and the skin just looks worse and worse (I've still lost a couple inches in that time). But I don't want to spend money I don't have on surgery, so I'm going to have to learn to live with it...

LivingtheLeanDream

Over time that loose skin will tighten up, it takes a while....exercise /strength training really helps.