Firming up

croppy219

I am a female in my late 60's and I recently lost 90 pounds. I am type 2 diabetic and have been on Ozempic for a little over a year. I need to firm up my loose skin and build muscle. I would love to find friends with similar stories. I know a lot of people judge me for using Ozempic. My A1C is down 4 points. I feel better. I worked hard to lose the weight. I lost 40 pounds before. Ozempic. I am not advocating the drug. My goal is to be fit.

AnnPT77

Hello, and welcome!

I'm a female in my late 60s, too - 69 in a bit over a week. I lost only about 50 pounds, but it was back in 2015-16. (I'm maintaining a healthy weight now, and since then.) I want to talk about the loose skin, since that bugs a lot of people, and I'll also say some things about fitness. I apologize in advance for the length

In my understanding, there are limited things we can do to make skin shrink after loss - no special exercises, limited contribution from supplements or creams, etc. - but there are things we can do to help skin shrink to the extent our age and genetics allow . . . which might be more than many people anticipate.

What I perceived personally was that skin didn't really much start to shrink until I'd lost enough fat from a given area that the remaining fat stopped conspiring with gravity to keep skin stretched out in that area. At that point, skin shrinkage can start. From there forward, it's a process that takes time (and our patience), much like weight loss itself.

For sure, mine looked better at goal weight than it had part way through loss, and better still a few months down the road into maintaining goal weight. I'm pretty sure it kept shrinking at least into year 2 of maintenance, and maybe beyond. (It got harder to tell after that, since the rate of shrinkage got slower as time went on, and it's harder to perceive those tiny later changes.) At the risk of TMI, my rear view looked like a Shar-Pei's face immediately after loss, and a couple of years later it looked - as far as I can tell - pretty much like any other woman my age, including many who've never been obese.

Amongst all the before and after photos here, there are some of women our age, and pretty much all of them look good clothed. Not many have shared bathing suit photos in our demographic, but those who have shared less-fully-covered photos look better than I think most would expect after a big loss. (I'm sure those with happy results are most likely to share photos, though.)

Certainly age and genetics play a role in this. Beyond that, here are things I think we can do to help skin shrink to the extent it's able to do so, since skin is an organ like any other:

* avoid fast loss (because it's a physical stress to lose fast),
* get good well-rounded nutrition (macros and micros, especially but not exclusively protein),
* get regular exercise (both cardiovascular and strength),
* manage all-source life stress,
* hydrate adequately (not crazy much, but enough),
* avoid smoking and excessive alcohol,
* strive for good sleep quality/quantity,
* specific to skin, also avoid tanning.

I made a post about how my body looked years after losing that 50 pounds, with photos, if that's of interest. I did it not because I think I look good, but because so many women our age had asked about what to expect, what was possible, etc. . . . so I swallowed hard, tried to be brave, and shared it, hoping folks would be kind. It's here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10809632/loose-skin-50lbs-loss-at-60-4-years-maintenance/p1

When it comes to fitness, I think there's tremendous up-side potential, at most any age, including ours. Personally, I didn't start being routinely active until my late 40s/early 50s, after full-bore cancer treatment. (I felt I had to, if I ever wanted to feel good, strong, energetic, happy ever again.)

My perception is that we can do pretty much anything, within limitations of actual physical disabilities or infirmities. What I think is that it's important to improve gradually, using just a manageable, steady level of challenge.

I don't know about you, but I'm not as resilient as when I was 20, for sure! Sixty-something me pays a higher price if I overdo, can be injured more easily if I do dumb things, recovers more slowly from intense exercise, takes longer to heal if I do get injured, and de-trains faster if I have to take time off from being active because of injury. That puts a premium on avoiding injury, and allowing reasonable recovery after workouts, for example. Exactly how that looks varies, because (for example) as I've gotten fitter, I can do more without risking injury, or needing as much recovery.

You haven't said anything about what your current fitness level or exercise activity is, so it's hard to suggest anything. For sure, the most efficient way to build muscle is some form of strength training (but some cardiovascular exercise in the mix is also beneficial eventually - though one needn't start everything all at once, it can be phased in).

If you're a relative beginner, getting some help to learn proper strength training form is optimal. If a person can afford at least a few sessions with a personal trainer (who has good education/credentials, plus experience with seniors), that's ideal. Another option is group classes, but I'd advise anyone new to strength exercise to avoid those fast-paced group classes where a bunch of people are all doing the same lifting exercises to music. It's too common in those that bad form goes unnoticed and uncorrected by the instructor, and injury can result.

If a beginner, many gym's 55+ or Silver Sneakers type classes are a reasonable starting point. Those tend to have better oversight. I took a group class when first starting that was weight lifting for women, taught in a group format, but more like group personal training: The instructor would demonstrate a new exercise(s), then help us figure out individually how much weight was right for us, and help us individually with form corrections. He was great about keeping an eye on everyone when focusing on one person, too, so that injuries were avoided. That kind of thing isn't available everywhere, though.

On the cardio side, any fun thing that gets heart rate up a little is useful. Walking is one of the more easy and accessible things, or pool exercise (which can be easier on the joints). But there are many other options.

I worked up to it, but there's a photo in the spoiler of what I mostly do these days . . . for fun, mostly, 4 days a week in Summer.

I'm 3rd from left and wearing orange, the only one whose face isn't blurred out, since I didn't ask the others' permission to post. Everyone in that boat is over 60, and the woman at left is 78. We are not all lifelong athletes, even though we're all active now.



With time, effort, patience, and through gradual, manageable progress, and no matter where you start, you can amaze yourself, I predict. I know I did. Like I said, I started when completely depleted physically after surgery, chemo, radiation; while still class 1 obese; and while middle aged at least . . . after having been one of those "picked last in gym class" kids in my youth.

I'm wishing you success on every front, cheering for you to succeed. It can happen.

Best wishes!