I cant tell if I have stomach sag or just fat

lemonyorangejuice

I've never been huge, at my largest I was 180lbs (5'6) and now I'm 133. I was thinking about maintaining my current weigh, but I can't help but feel like I don't look like I should.

DearestWinter

Are you comfortable at this weight? Do you like how you look when you're wearing your favorite outfit? How old are you?

Most of us will never have perfect bodies, even if we get to an ideal weight. We'll have wrinkles and cellulite and some areas that are imperfect. Even celebrities get their flaws photoshopped all the time. I would focus more on how confident you feel at your size.

bfanny

Only you know if what's "left" is fat or loose skin, if is fat that you can "grab" losing more weight (fat) lifting/cardio will take care of it, if it is skin that you can pull maybe time but more likely, plastic surgery will fix ...genetics

AnnPT77

Loose skin is very thin - like if you pinch the skin on the back of your hand & pull that up, for most of us. It tends to hang in narrow wrinkly ways, almost like folds of a fabric like fine-rib corduroy or lightweight velveteen. Anything thicker is probably still skin with a subcutaneous fat layer, or possibly what I think of as "squishy fat".

IME, fat cells seem not to politely deplete themselves from the outer layer on one's body to the inner layer, but often randomly through one's fat mass, leaving the remainder hanging out on one's body in a less-firm form, i.e., "squishier", maybe hang-ier. This causes thicker folds if it's hang-y, like maybe stuffed-comforter-sized folds or bigger.

Personally, I decided to keep losing until I felt like the remaining fat on my fatter parts was not dragging down on the skin in those areas, under the influence of gravity. I think this might only work if you haven't lost massive amounts (I ended up losing just over 60 pounds,180s to 120s).

Appearance will improve over time, particularly if you keep working out - exercise that builds strength and muscle may be particularly helpful.

I 1000% endorse that idea of not comparing ourselves to photoshopped celebrities or Instagrammers. They don't look like that, either, and the honest ones will say so. We women, particularly, tend to be hypercritical of ourselves. A body that can do good stuff, and that feels good, is a good body. Granny sez.

clags301

If you were never really big, then I suspect it is still a layer off fat. I wasn't completely happy with my body until I got down to the minimum in my healthy BMI. I just like that lean "thoroughbred" look - it's my happy size where I feel most like myself and feel best in what I like to wear.

bibbob300

I struggled with this too, I'm 7st 7lb, 5"1 and still have a small "spare tyre" below my boobs and a saggy lower belly, not great when naked but I know myself that my face is starting to have that gaunt thin look so I can't loose any more, so personally as long as I look good in clothes ( which I'm in a UK size 6 and most clothing shops don't stock lower than this anyway) so if I lose any more weight to get rid of the flabby bit isn't a great idea, it's hard when you've worked like mad to get to your goal and you still don't like what you see in the mirror but we are our own worst critic, so I'm trying to accept that this is as good as it gets.

AnnPT77

Those of you who find your appearance not as you'd like it (in terms of body fat), but who don't want to lose more weight, might want to take a look at this thread:

Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

This strategy isn't for everyone, for a variety of reasons, but it may be worth a read & some thought, as it's about one option you can use in exactly this situation.

GottaBurnEmAll

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Loose skin is very thin - like if you pinch the skin on the back of your hand & pull that up, for most of us. It tends to hang in narrow wrinkly ways, almost like folds of a fabric like fine-rib corduroy or lightweight velveteen. Anything thicker is probably still skin with a subcutaneous fat layer, or possibly what I think of as "squishy fat".

IME, fat cells seem not to politely deplete themselves from the outer layer on one's body to the inner layer, but often randomly through one's fat mass, leaving the remainder hanging out on one's body in a less-firm form, i.e., "squishier", maybe hang-ier. This causes thicker folds if it's hang-y, like maybe stuffed-comforter-sized folds or bigger.

Personally, I decided to keep losing until I felt like the remaining fat on my fatter parts was not dragging down on the skin in those areas, under the influence of gravity. I think this might only work if you haven't lost massive amounts (I ended up losing just over 60 pounds,180s to 120s).

Appearance will improve over time, particularly if you keep working out - exercise that builds strength and muscle may be particularly helpful.

I 1000% endorse that idea of not comparing ourselves to photoshopped celebrities or Instagrammers. They don't look like that, either, and the honest ones will say so. We women, particularly, tend to be hypercritical of ourselves. A body that can do good stuff, and that feels good, is a good body. Granny sez.

I have decided to lose until that skin gets crepey instead of stuffed-comforter. I think by the point I get there, I will have lost 100 pounds plus a few.

I should note that my stomach no longer hangs at this point though the middle of my stomach is a loose mess. The lifting and improving to the bottom did happen as I lost the 95 pounds I've lost so far. Right now, there's still some fat there in the middle, though. I'll be interested to see what happens to it as time goes on.

nowine4me

Keep us posted. I too have remaining flab in my stomach and thighs, in my knee caps and upper arms. I plan to just keep going until it goes away I'm hopeful the remaining skin tightens up over time.

crooked_left_hook

I'm your same height and weight with a 27" waist (I was also 180 at my heaviest), and I can "pinch an inch" just below my belly button. This is a normal place for women to hold some fat when you have an average weight and body fat percentage. I got down to 115lbs when I was in my 20s and still had a little fat there. You'll have to work hard to change your body composition to drop fat and gain muscle if you want that to go away.

lemonyorangejuice

Thank all of you for answering, I think after looking through the replys that I will loose a few more pounds, but mostly focus on toning up. The skin dose not seem really loose like some of you are describing, though it dose still sag down. I am only 21, but I'm starting to come to terms with the idea that my tummy will always sag a bit.

spiritlevel9

My stomach actually looks better when I am about 10lbs heavier. I have had several surgeries through one bikini line scar and have a largish sausage shaped lump of scar tissue under the skin. This makes the stomach kind of hang over the scar and is more noticeable when not covered with a layer of fat. I can feel the hard scar tissue now.

Francl27

It's probably both. I have horribly wrinkly loose skin, and yeah, the remaining fat makes it look like a flab too (and there's that hanging pocket when I bend over - that absolutely was never there when I was the same weight before!).. but the more I lose, the worst my stomach looks, it's kinda a lose/lose situation at this point.

It probably doesn't help that I have stretch marks either. Oh well.

For what it's worth, I've been this weight for almost 3 years now and the skin hasn't tightened one bit.

macchiatto

I have saggy stomach skin issues from carrying twins to full-term. I still have more abdominal fat than I'd like. But when I tried to get below 130 (I'm 5'7"), I started getting too thin in other places, so at this point I'm aiming to recomp instead of keep cutting.