Loose skin

cfuersty07

Anyone else dealing with loose skin after weight loss? Is this due to age, losing too fast... Suggestions to help?

pridesabtch

When I lost weight the last time, I was in my early 40's. It did take a while for my skin's elasticity to catch up, but the skin did tighten in most areas. Was it perfect? Nope, but it did significantly improve. I even wore a bikini out in public. It was a huge step for me.

Hydration helps.

Good luck!

Lietchi

Losing fast certainly will be worse than losing more slowly. Being older certainly will be worse than younger. But a lot of it will depend on your own genetics etc.

My skin is problematic at the best of times. So many stretch marks, even just from puberty and becoming obese certainly didn't help. Those stretch marks will never disappear (unless perhaps surgically, which is not an option for me).

But I lost weight quite slowly (from 208lbs to around 135lbs now in 2.5 years, most of it in the first year though) and even though I can see loose skin, it's not quite as bad as I anticipated. And I'm not even fully at goal, from what I've read skin can still tighten months and even years after losing weight.

I was extremely worried about loose skin when I started my weight-loss. Nearly to the point of not even starting my weight-loss journey. I'm so glad I lost weight anyway. I might not fully like the way I look naked, but I feel like a million bucks dressed now. And the people who see me undressed are a very small minority anyway.

Thewonderofitall

During the Covid quarantine I stopped eating the crap that was always in the office at work and managed to lose around 40 pounds. Realizing I had a good thing going, I completely overhauled my diet, started exercising, and ended up losing 85 pounds in about a year and a half. Most of the weight came off my belly so I had a lot of loose skin. I have been drinking a lot of water and taking collagen supplements and after six months I see quite an improvement. This Winter I have hit the weights in my home gym and that is also helping. Come Summer I hope to be able to post a successful before and after photo. Stay tuned...

AnnPT77

Don't panic yet. Mine continued to improve well into my second year of maintenance, even at age 60+.

True loose skin is fairly fine wrinkles, like wrinkles in a medium weight fabric. Thicker wrinkles or rolls, like 1/2" and up, still have some subcutaneous fat conspiring with gravity to keep the skin stretched out.

Are you all the way to goal weight now, or not? If not, please know that some of us look worse part way to goal than we will at goal. The fat depletes anywhere within the fat mass, not neatly from the outer layer then inward, so part way through the fat mass gets squishy, and that gravity thing makes it floppy/droopy. (It sure did for me!) That effect can still improve with further weight loss, if you're not at goal yet. Only after most of the fat is gone from an area can the skin in that area begin to shrink, and the skin shrinkage itself is slow, too, unfortunately.

So, even if at goal weight, the true loose skin can keep shrinking, depending on genetics and other factors: Give it some time. Also, at goal weight, continuing to work on body composition (adding muscle, reducing fat) can further deplete some fat areas that are keeping skin stretched, while still staying at a healthy goal weight, and can fill out some of the loose areas (slowly) with tauter muscle. More about that here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

As far as suggestions to minimize loose skin, here's what I think: Genetics matter, and likely age does, too. That's the hand we're dealt, and it's unpredictable and pretty much unchangeable.

Beyond that, skin is an organ. The things that keep other organs healthy will also tend to keep skin healthy, which means elastic and more willing to adjust. These include:

* if still losing weight, avoiding fast loss (because it's a physical stress to lose fast),
* getting good well-rounded nutrition (macros and micros, especially but not exclusively protein),
* getting regular exercise (both cardiovascular and strength),
* managing all-source life stress,
* hydrating adequately (not crazy much, but enough),
* avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol,
* specific to skin, also avoiding tanning.

People will say all kinds of things about creams, dry-brushing, supplements, etc., but personally I'm inclined to think those are mainly ways to pass the time while skin does pretty much what it was going to do anyway. Help a little? Maybe. Big help? I doubt it. But it can feel good to feel like we're doing *something*. Just my opinions, though.

Best wishes for good long term results!

Luke_rabbit

I lost a smaller amount of weight recently in my mid 50s. I had lost much larger amounts of weight when younger with very little issues with loose skin. This time I had quite significant loose skin. It has improved in the past 2 years of maintenance, but it's still there. Oh well, I'm not that worried about how I look.

Beautyofdreams

I have lost 89 pounds and have fine wrinkles on my arms, stomach, buttocks, thighs and calves. It will probably require surgery or self acceptance. Despite the pleated skin, my health is so much better and I feel more energetic and mentally sharper and happier. Suggest that you focus on the positive aspects of your weight loss, don’t compare to others and your skin will do what it is going to do while you continue to pursue new fitness goals.