Loose skin

Samanthaaa4493

Hi everyone,

I've had abit if a journey, losing 6 stone putting 5 back on due to having a child, then I've nearly lost 4 stone again, I've got another 2/3 to loose to be at my goal but I have loose skin, is there anything I can do to help this?

Thanks in advance everyone! Keep on going ! 💪 x

AnnPT77

Loose skin takes time to shrink, and it can't even get a great start on that until most of the fat is depleted from a given area. My loose skin kept shrinking well into year 2 at a healthy weight (after losing 50-some pounds at age 59-60), and maybe longer - hard to tell because the rate of shrinkage slows down later in the time period.

It's quite common to look worse part way to goal weight than one will at goal; then worse at goal than some months down the road while staying at goal weight. Some people freak out at that "part way to goal" stage, and give up in discouragement. Don't. It's a process that takes time.

As far as how 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:

* 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,
* getting adequate good-quality sleep,
* specific to skin, also avoiding tanning.

People will say all kinds of things about creams, dry-brushing, 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*.

But I could be wrong. For sure, some people recommend various creams, collagen supplements, and dry-brushing routinely, compression garments much of the time. I'm pretty sure the *-ed list above is important, though. The creams, supplements, etc., won't make up for serious problems in the listed items.

Best wishes!

ninerbuff

When skin stretches out, there are a few things that come into play: age, genetics, and how much weight you lose. I've found that anyone over 80+lbs to lose will likely have loose skin.
Give it about 2 years to retrach. If it hasn't by then, then it's probably not going to. Since all creams, dry brushing, etc. are topical, they only provide temporary (like hours or a day) visual change. Stretching goes all the way down to the dermis and topicals don't affect it.
If having loose skin is the result, your choices are learning to live with it and maybe use garments to hide it, or consider having surgery to remove it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition