Loose Skin Precautions?

UmaMageswarymfp

Heyyy, just wondering what can I do to prevent lose skin because my arms are starting to look saggy and I do dumbells workout for my upper body once a week. Is there anything else I can do because I still have 25 kg to lose and I’m worried by the end of this it’ll look horrible

NovusDies

1) Limit how fast you lose weight so that your skin gets nutrition.
2) Take the normal steps for skin care
3) Hope for the best.

Once you are done losing if your skin is in pretty decent shape it should tighten over time. If not you may have to choose between living with it and surgery.

Cherimoose

Unless those dumbbells are very heavy & challenging, try chair dips. Instructions are on youtube.

Skin can take 2-3 years to snap back, so losing slowly can give the appearance of less looseness during that time, but the end results are the same as losing quicker.

Search the forum for other opinions - it's been discussed a lot.

cmriverside

I'm with Cherimoose.

Part of weight loss is loose skin. Depending on your genetics it could be in any number of places, but it will tighten up in time.

Lots of women have issues with upper arms, it's not necessarily something you can "fix" in a particular way, just the way God made us.

Diatonic12

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10595913/120-lbs-to-lose-how-to-avoid-excess-skin

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1442949/how-to-prevent-loose-skin-during-and-after-weightloss

See Moderator replies on both threads.

VeryKatie

build muscle (hard to do on a deficit) and lose slowly.

missysippy930

I guess I have a different take. What’s worse, saggy skin, or morbid obesity? Losing over 1/2 my body weight, I certainly get your concern. I’m fortunate that the worst is my upper arms. I’m so happy to be wearing normal sizes, that I don’t worry about it. Lesser of two evils

As far as surgical removal, you can get some perspective watching some episodes of, My 600 Pound Life, Where Are They Now. After losing vast amounts of weight.

AnnPT77

It's common to look worse partway to goal than at goal; and to have loose-skin appearance continue to improve for many months after reaching goal.

Fat doesn't deplete starting with the outside-most layer of fat cells, then proceed inward. It can deplete anywhere in our fat mass. If that happens, the result is that the fat mass gets more squishy, floppy, hangy - kind of like a water balloon partly full of water (floppy and droopy) vs. all the way full (more firm and rounded). So, that squishy fat conspires with gravity to keep skin stretched out, until the fat's more fully depleted from that area. At that point, anything that's true loose skin can continue to shrink, but it's a slow process.

I'd suggest that you check out the Success Stories part of the forum. There are many posts with before and after photos. Some people have bathing suit photos, some actually talk about their loose skin experiences. As a generality, though experiences vary, I think you'll be surprised at how little loose skin many people have, after they've reached goal and been there a while.

It's very common for people to imagine, part way to goal, that their loose skin is going to be much worse than it actually turns out to be, long term.

As far as what you can do to minimize loose skin: Skin is an organ. The things that give the best odds of healthy skin (so more elastic, willing to shrink) are the same things that help all organs stay healthy: Not losing weight extremely fast**, consistently getting good well-rounded nutrition, getting both cardiovascular and strength exercise regularly, hydrating adequately, avoiding/managing stress, not smoking, moderating or avoiding alcohol, not sun-tanning, etc.

** This part is not primarily because losing slowly gives skin time to shrink. This is because fast loss tends to be bad for your body - physically stressful - so contributes to sub-optimal health in a variety of ways, including skin health.

UmaMageswarymfp

AnnPT77 wrote: »

It's common to look worse partway to goal than at goal; and to have loose-skin appearance continue to improve for many months after reaching goal.

Fat doesn't deplete starting with the outside-most layer of fat cells, then proceed inward. It can deplete anywhere in our fat mass. If that happens, the result is that the fat mass gets more squishy, floppy, hangy - kind of like a water balloon partly full of water (floppy and droopy) vs. all the way full (more firm and rounded). So, that squishy fat conspires with gravity to keep skin stretched out, until the fat's more fully depleted from that area. At that point, anything that's true loose skin can continue to shrink, but it's a slow process.

I'd suggest that you check out the Success Stories part of the forum. There are many posts with before and after photos. Some people have bathing suit photos, some actually talk about their loose skin experiences. As a generality, though experiences vary, I think you'll be surprised at how little loose skin many people have, after they've reached goal and been there a while.

It's very common for people to imagine, part way to goal, that their loose skin is going to be much worse than it actually turns out to be, long term.

As far as what you can do to minimize loose skin: Skin is an organ. The things that give the best odds of healthy skin (so more elastic, willing to shrink) are the same things that help all organs stay healthy: Not losing weight extremely fast**, consistently getting good well-rounded nutrition, getting both cardiovascular and strength exercise regularly, hydrating adequately, avoiding/managing stress, not smoking, moderating or avoiding alcohol, not sun-tanning, etc.

** This part is not primarily because losing slowly gives skin time to shrink. This is because fast loss tends to be bad for your body - physically stressful - so contributes to sub-optimal health in a variety of ways, including skin health.

Wowww thank you so much 💜

UmaMageswarymfp

Thanks everyone I’ll check out the links and forums 💜