Loose skin

alexis_davenport

Did you have any trouble with loose skin or a small layer of fat not wanting to come off around the bellybutton area? If so, what are your tips?

weatherking2019

following!

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Yep. Flab happens! (And get's worse with age.)

My main tip is to try to focus on other things. Another way of looking at it is: if this body feature were gone, would it make any real difference to your life? Try to imagine yourself in 20 years: what will your future self you wish you had focused your efforts on?

(Being in shape and reasonably thin has many benefits, so I'm not criticizing it. I'm always trying to focus more on what I can do and not on how I look in a bathing suit. And, as you see, I'm a swimmer!)

maxwellsarah312

Am I horrible to mention skin removal?? Only if it’s severe in my opinion. I imagine I will have this issue once I’m done and if it doesn’t go away for a decent amount of time, I think I would get skin removal surgery. Although just saying it makes me want to run away. Hope you find an answer. Maybe just time is what you need at this point. My Dad has the same worry as well.

ChelleDee07

I have loose skin, but it is nothing like I had imagined. I know strength training has helped to minimize it, but it is still present. Personally the loose skin is a small price to pay to be a healthy weight with good general 'health'. I like the reply above about foucusing on other things too. We are defniitely our own Worse Critics. We see the negative of us more than anyone else... Try to shift your focus to areas you feel better about yourself.

jenncornelsen

So when I lost 70lbs I had tons of loose skin in the stomach area, like actually a flap.( the more you lose the more likely this is, or if you had huge babies like myself lol). 4 years ago I had skin removal surgery with muscle repair. For me, it was really the only way to get rid of it, and it was quite uncomfortable. This is of course a drastic option and not one I would suggest for just a minor amount, but it was the best decision for me and I still feel so happy I did it

rainbow198

I lost 80+ pounds and a lot of inches off my waist.

When I reached my goal my skin was very deflated in my trouble spots.

I thought I was stuck with it and figured either I was going to have to live with it (which was better then being overweight and obese, plus I could hide it in clothes) or eventually get it removed.

During year 2 of maintenance I noticed it was slowly going away. The worse was when I did planks or push ups and it "hung", but I was able to wear bikinis and crop tops confidently and comfortably. By year 3 my lower belly tighten all up!

So unfortunately I don't have tips (I get asked all of the time). It took me a couple years of maintenance with no regaining, lots of patience and I stayed active.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

It depends. Loose skin does shrink back for some after one has been in maintenance a while. But for many, there is a layer of fat below the skin and that is what needs to go as well. And there is no spot reduction.

kevinemsley

let's face the simple facts and not the 'fad' nonsense diets and so called science. When we shed large amounts of weight and we are no longer spring-chickens, we will have areas of excess skin on the body. Some people will retain higher levels of elasticity in their skin and this will reduce the horrid flaps but others will end up with a degree of skin leftover which will never 'spring back' into a tight youthful tone........ alas, it happens to the best of us and unfortunately the surgeons assistance may be the only route. No amount of 'magic' cream, wraps or magic potions will reduce skin sagging after extensive weight loss.

OpulentBobble

I had a fairly large baby 6 months ago and have loose skin. But it’s gotten much better and in the mornings it’s almost nonexistent. I’m going to wait until I’m done having babies, lose weight, wait a year and if I’m still not happy with the results naturally I’ll seek out surgical intervention. I wouldn’t do so now because it’s not that bad, but I’m sure it will only get worse with subsequent children and age.

NovusDies

maxwellsarah312 wrote: »

Am I horrible to mention skin removal?? Only if it’s severe in my opinion. I imagine I will have this issue once I’m done and if it doesn’t go away for a decent amount of time, I think I would get skin removal surgery. Although just saying it makes me want to run away. Hope you find an answer. Maybe just time is what you need at this point. My Dad has the same worry as well.

Not sure why this would be horrible or if it even needs to be severe to take action. It is not really our place to decide how another person should proceed. I think it would be wise for most people to wait for a period of time once they get to maintenance to be sure it is needed. For some people it will tighten for others it will not.

Loose skin is not limited to a cosmetic situation. It can impact quality of life since it can be in some pretty inconvenient places. If there is enough of it it can become infected easily and heal slowly. It can be severe enough that appearance improvement may be low on the reasons to get it done.