confusing belly fat with loose skin?

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rosanna421
rosanna421 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a 5ft1 female and i lost 117lbs, i went from 237 to 120lbs. I keep dieting but the belly wont go away. i have alot of loose skin, but i dont know how much more weight i can go down. I want to get to 110 atleast but my weight wont budge.could i be confusing that little bit of belly with loose skin? and also, how many pounds of loose skin could someone who's lost over 100lbs retain? i am still on a 1200 calorie diet, been on it for over a year and a half to lose the weight.
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Replies

  • Nightwing1990
    Nightwing1990 Posts: 17
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    I had the same problem. Stop dieting. Your weight isn't the problem. Your problem is skin, and the only thing that will fix it is surgery, the surgery itself won't be easy (you will have a rough couple of weeks) but it will be totally worth it in the long run.
  • AdrianBry
    AdrianBry Posts: 138 Member
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    pinch the skin around your belly and then pinch skin on the back of your hand. is the skin on your hand the same thickness as the pinch on your belly? If it is then it's loose skin but if it's not (which it probably is) then you have more fat to burn and/or muscle to gain
  • glreim21
    glreim21 Posts: 206 Member
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    With your stats it is probably loose skin. What is your age? How fast did you lose the weight? These are factors that will go into determining how long or if the skin will tighten up. I don't think you need to lose any more weight but maybe start some strength training to change the look of your body. As far as getting rid of the loose skin, time will tell.
  • rosanna421
    rosanna421 Posts: 65 Member
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    i am 23 and lost most of the weight in a year and a half
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    I agree. Stop dieting. Skin weighs a lot and it has associated tissue that you can mistake for fat.

    If you're young you may lose a lot of it naturally, especially if you lift heavy and eat well. It can be reabsorbed by your body. I had two kids and gained 50 and lost 60 with each one. The skin reabsorbed. However, that varies with genetics. What happened with your Mom? Surgery is also an option. I'm going to guess (I do NOT know) that waiting until you've done all you can naturally will make the surgery easier. I'd talk to your doctor or a medical specialist in weight loss.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Do you resistance train?
  • rosanna421
    rosanna421 Posts: 65 Member
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    Do you resistance train?

    I have not trained too much while losing weight, it is something i want to start doing.
  • rosanna421
    rosanna421 Posts: 65 Member
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    I agree. Stop dieting. Skin weighs a lot and it has associated tissue that you can mistake for fat.

    If you're young you may lose a lot of it naturally, especially if you lift heavy and eat well. It can be reabsorbed by your body. I had two kids and gained 50 and lost 60 with each one. The skin reabsorbed. However, that varies with genetics. What happened with your Mom? Surgery is also an option. I'm going to guess (I do NOT know) that waiting until you've done all you can naturally will make the surgery easier. I'd talk to your doctor or a medical specialist in weight loss.

    i looked through my pictures, it definatly looks like its loose skin, i keep telling myself its fat, i think i'll try to go down 5 more pounds to see if it makes a difference and then stop at that. just cant stand the extra bludge there, was dreaming of a flat tummy once losing all that weight.... :(

    my mom had 4 kids and her belly was fine after that, but she never gained alot of weight to being with so her belly isnt a problem.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Do you resistance train?

    I have not trained too much while losing weight, it is something i want to start doing.

    Start right away, this will help IMMENSELY with your concern.
  • joybedford
    joybedford Posts: 1,680 Member
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    I agree don't lose anymore weight and start lifting heavy weights. This will change your body composition. At your age you are young enough for this to rectify itself but it will take time. As we gain weight skin loses it elasticity and this takes time to return. Concentrate on eating well, cut the junk but not necessarily the calories. I eat 1700 calories a day I am losing weight and my abs are improving, I am 42 and have 3 kids including twins so my abs have seen some serious damage believe me. Good luck.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Do you resistance train?

    I have not trained too much while losing weight, it is something i want to start doing.

    Start right away, this will help IMMENSELY with your concern.

    I'm not trying to be a smart *kitten* but what is resistance training going to do for loose skin? I keep hearing people being told that. I can see that improving your muscle under the skin may make it appear a bit less loose but skin is skin. It doesn't have any property that would make it tighten because you're lifting weight.

    It's generally accepted that it can take up to two years for skin to readjust about as much as it will and genetics plus age play a huge role in how much it will shrink. I always wonder if the mantra of lift heavy is just that while you spend months lifting the skin is just doing it's thing like it would have if you weren't lifting.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    I'm not trying to be a smart *kitten* but what is resistance training going to do for loose skin?

    Nothing. It's one of the standard MFP myths.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    pinch the skin around your belly and then pinch skin on the back of your hand. is the skin on your hand the same thickness as the pinch on your belly? If it is then it's loose skin but if it's not (which it probably is) then you have more fat to burn and/or muscle to gain


    THIS.

    Please don't assume, like most people mistakenly do, that your scale weight has ANYTHING to do with whether you still have fat left on your abdominals. If somebody tells you it has to be "loose skin" because they personally think your scale weight is too low, ignore them.

    Most people confuse scale skinny with lean. They are not synonymous. You can be scale skinny and still have a high bodyfat percentage. And MANY people mistake damaged, disconnected fat with "loose skin". But the truth is how often do you see truly lean people, with six packs, striations, and prominently visual musculature with all that so called "loose skin"? Rarely, and when they do it tends to look like paper thin wrinkles at the bottom of their lower abdominals.

    I really suggest you try and get a DEXA test done, or the like. If you're curious as to whether your "loose skin" is fat, or not, try and get a high quality test done like that which will tell you exactly what's on your body. Even most slimmer people carry a surprising amount of extraneous bodyfat around.
  • unbreakablemoth
    unbreakablemoth Posts: 28
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    My starting weight was quite a bit higher than yours at 345, and my doctor advised that when I get to around 200 pounds I may hit a point where to go lower I need to have my extra skin removed. I wouldn't say that the extra skin would be as thin as the skin on the back of your hand necessarily--because the loose skin can carry with it fat that is practically impossible to get rid of. There are lots of people on youtube.com that video diary that weight loss, including their before/after panniculectomy skin issues, and it could be good to look.

    Here is a nice one: http://youtu.be/GmijIMw8HRo
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    I'm not trying to be a smart *kitten* but what is resistance training going to do for loose skin?

    Nothing. It's one of the standard MFP myths.

    No, its not a myth. You have a bag around you which is your skin. Increasing muscle will increase whats in the bag, smoothing out some of the wrinkles in the bag, the more thats inside. Just like the fat which stretched the skin out in the first place, its very simple.

    You dont have to be a musclehead to see a change either, you will gain some muscle and diameter long before "bulging" so dont worry :) It wont necessarily eliminate the problem, but will help some, and as you are working on increasing strength, your body naturally will be working on the "it takes time to resorb the skin" effect too, meaning you are working on the problem from two angles and would see results faster.
  • jayliospecky
    jayliospecky Posts: 25,022 Member
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    I'm not trying to be a smart *kitten* but what is resistance training going to do for loose skin?

    Nothing. It's one of the standard MFP myths.

    Well, while resistance training may not help the loose skin directly, if you build up the muscle underneath the skin it can greatly improve the appearance.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    pinch the skin around your belly and then pinch skin on the back of your hand. is the skin on your hand the same thickness as the pinch on your belly? If it is then it's loose skin but if it's not (which it probably is) then you have more fat to burn and/or muscle to gain

    ^^This.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Don't use the hand test. The back of your hand naturally has less fatty tissue than your midsection.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Don't use the hand test. The back of your hand naturally has less fatty tissue than your midsection.

    Which is entirely the point of trying to assess whether the "loose skin" on her belly is actually all, more mostly, skin, or actually a skin/fat combo.

    Extremely lean people can have midsection bodyfat almost as low as the back of the hand.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    I'm not trying to be a smart *kitten* but what is resistance training going to do for loose skin?

    Nothing. It's one of the standard MFP myths.

    Well, while resistance training may not help the loose skin directly, if you build up the muscle underneath the skin it can greatly improve the appearance.
    Primarily this ^ but actually it might. Cytoplasmic remodeling is activated by various signals that we do not fully understand but for soft tissue and bone, it appears that calcium signaling (think of it as electric microcurrents created by the effort) impacts actually tissue organization. The calcium channel model is the state of science for bone remodeling, there are probable peptide signaling is soft tissues such demonstrated in recent neural re stimulation and growth induction.

    Tissue remodeling through effort is a thing. Plus, as you state, the underlying tissue is tightened making loose elements (fat and skin) appear tighter.

    Or you can listen to Mr Knight and do nothing. Who knows - I only have degrees in biomedical engineering with biology research on tissue adherence (actin/myosin adhesion) from 3 top universities. Tissue responds to tension and effort - it's how we grow pockets of skin for surgery by placing balloons under the skin and placing them under tension by filling the balloon.

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