Will I have loose skin with a loss rate of 2 lbs per week?
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AMC110
Posts: 188 Member
I know as my weight decreases I'll have to reduce my rate of loss but for now I'm losing 2 lbs a week (current weight is 230 lbs). Is this likely to result in loose, excess skin?
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Replies
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What's your goal weight?
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
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Possibly. It's not the RATE of loss that usually determines loose skin, but how much weight you have to lose overall. My experience with clientele is that 80+lbs of weight loss will usually result in some loose skin. Other considerations are genetics and age.
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 3 -
Possibly. It's not the RATE of loss that usually determines loose skin, but how much weight you have to lose overall. My experience with clientele is that 80+lbs of weight loss will usually result in some loose skin. Other considerations are genetics and age.
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
Agreed.
Fast loss does not cause permanently loose skin. The skin damage that occurs due to gaining weight is what causes that. By the time you decide to lose weight, the damage has been done.3 -
I know there are some great long threads floating around on loose skin if you poke around a bit. Ultimately, it’s something you can never 100% control, so you really just have to accept the possibility and remember that even with loose skin, you will be in a much healthier place.3
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I started at 220 and took 2 solid years to hit 130. I lifted consistently along with running and walking. I have loose skin on my arms and belly and flab filled skin on my thighs. I look good in jeans, a bikini not so much. Do I care? Not one tiny bit.14
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At 165 with a goal of 135, should I have lose skin when I get to goal?0
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Jackibrazil wrote: »At 165 with a goal of 135, should I have lose skin when I get to goal?
If you're doing it right, yes.1 -
I started at 230 am now 151 with a goal of 125-130 and I have loose skin. Not a lot but my arms are a little saggy, and my belly (where I carried like 80% of my weight) is flabby. I'm 22 so my skin is still pretty tight so I imagine it will firm up. Meh whatcha going to do tho. I'd much rather deal with some loose skin than an obese body.5
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I think the main factors are age, amount of weight you're losing, weight training, and genetics. I weighed over 350 I am now in the 238 range I have been able to lesson the lose skin in my arms, legs and chest with weight training but the stomach area does and more than likely will continue too have the lose skin. Sure it sucks, but I even in my athletic days was never a guy who walked around with my shirt.off0
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Weight training won't help with loose skin. People always say that but really, unless you're building a LOT of muscle to replace the fat (which you won't do at a deficit, and won't happen in the belly area anyway), it will not do a thing to help with loose skin (the only place it can help is probably arms and legs if you're a man and planning to bulk up down the line, but that won't happen during weight loss).
As people said, it depends on genetics, how long you were overweight etc. Skin takes 2 years to bounce off (when it does. Still waiting for mine to do so after 3 years), so losing faster or not will have no impact on it anyway...3 -
Possibly. It's not the RATE of loss that usually determines loose skin, but how much weight you have to lose overall. My experience with clientele is that 80+lbs of weight loss will usually result in some loose skin. Other considerations are genetics and age.
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
Agreed.
Fast loss does not cause permanently loose skin. The skin damage that occurs due to gaining weight is what causes that. By the time you decide to lose weight, the damage has been done.
Agree with both.
If are sufficiently overweight enough to be able to lose 2 lbs a week sustainably and were at that weight for a while, you've stretched your human suit quite a bit (unfortunately)--some level of loose skin is inevitable.6 -
Weight loss has a good chance of being faster than skin shrinkage, unless loss is very, very, slow. Furthermore, skin shrinkage isn't likely to make much progress while a layer of subcutaneous squishy-fat is still conspiring with gravity to pull the skin downward.
Folds that are 1/2" or more are likely to still contain fat. Actual loose skin is thin wrinkles, more like medium-thick fabric - think about how thin skin is when you pinch some up on a bony part like kneecap, elbow, or back of hand. The thin wrinkles are more likely to shrink, IME.
I lost 50+ pounds at age 59-60 in just less than a year. The true loose skin (thin wrinkles) kept shrinking well into my 2nd year of maintenance. Some of those areas improved a lot. The areas that still had thicker folds, or areas where I kept losing/regaining that last 5 pounds or so (
) - not much shrinkage.
Everybody's experience is different. Just don't assume that what you've got at day 1 of goal weight is permanent.4 -
If someone said "yes" would you choose to stay at your current weight?
Examine your motivation carefully. Appearance alone isn't very motivating. Health is much better.3 -
"Fast weight loss causes more lose skin" is sort of a myth. The reason why you see more lose skin after fast weight loss is because your skin couldn't keep up. If you lose it slower, your skin can adjust more as you lose it, so you'll notice it less throughout the process. However, it really only matters at first.
Whether you lose it fast or slow, skin will keep tightening over the next few years after reaching your goal. Fast loss can make lose skin more noticeable at first, but after a few years of maintaining both methods will likely yield the same results. The only things that really matter are your genes, muscles, and how hydrated/healthy your skin is.
With 90 pounds to lose, you will likely have some minor to moderate loose skin after reaching your goal. The damage has already been done. Don't lose hope, most of that can disappear over the next few years. If you lift weights and bulk after reaching your goal, you can likely still achieve great results.2 -
I'm losing weight and getting some lose skin.
I'll take it.
It beats the hell out of being fat.1 -
I lost 100lbs over the course of a couple of years nearly 10 years ago and still haven’t got any loose skin. However, like with anything, there’s no guarantee that that’s the case for everyone. I would just say, focus on your health and your goals and don’t let the thought of loose skin put you off.2
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