loose skin

mitsimr
mitsimr Posts: 194 Member
edited December 1 in Fitness and Exercise
I have not lost a lot of weight yet but I am trying to be proactive. I am 218 lbs so obviously I have a lot of weight to lose. I know working out helps but is there anything specific I can do to keep loose skin to a minimum without surgery?

Replies

  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
    I would say just make sure you don't lose the weight too fast so your skin has some time to start snapping back. I think many of us will be left with some loose stuff no matter what we do though.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    A lot of it is genetic.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    At this point there is nothing you can do to minimize permanently loose skin from past times of being overweight. What is done is done. As @cnbbnc said you can lose slowly so that your fat loss doesn't outpace your skin shrinkage rate but that will not necessarily be completely effective. Your skin may still take longer to shrink or shrink less than all the way.
  • akboy58
    akboy58 Posts: 137 Member
    I'm a year into maintenance after losing almost 80 lbs over the course of two years -- 255 lbs --> 177 lbs, 2013-2015. There was a quite a lot of loose skin at first, but it has slowly gotten better. I've been working out a lot, trying to replace some of the fat bulk with muscle, so that helps; and the leaner I get the less noticeable it seems to be, so at least some of my "loose skin" initially was probably stubborn flab. And I am (still) quite careful about my diet, which I believe is an important factor. I don't know how much better the loose skin will get, but it doesn't show in clothes, and at 57 years old, I'm not QUITE so concerned about "looking better naked" ...
  • mitsimr
    mitsimr Posts: 194 Member
    I figured as much. That's fine though. When I get to my goal weight I'm thinking of getting some tuck work done then. Do yall know anyone who has had it done after losing a lot of weight and it looked good. I have seen before and after photos online but would feel more comfortable if someone knew something about this first hand.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I don't know anybody IRL who has had it done. There are certainly many people who have minimal loose skin and for whom it's only visible in certain positions. You may be completely fine. Not everybody ends up with it. I have it and tbh it has kind of surprised me because so many other people have way less of a loose skin problem. It's been surprising in a way.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories