"Empty" Areas Where Fat Used To Be?

arabianhorselover

OP I know you said you have been doing strong lifts 5*5 for a year, but i'm wondering how you are advancing the weight.. after a year of steadily increasing the weight im thinking you should have been moved to something like a 5/3/1 scale

I switched to 3x5 months ago. I have made great gains in strength on this program, but have eaten at a deficit the entire time, so can't really expect muscle gain.

I don't increase the weight every workout. Basically, when I get comfortable with a certain weight, I increase it.

arabianhorselover

The problem with these discussions is that there are people participating of all different ages. When I was in my twenties, thirties, forties and even in the beginning fifties I had no skin problems after dropping some weight. Now I am nearly seventy and since menopause my weight has been fluctuating too much and the skin really shows it. The ideal situation would be if we all could stay at our ideal weight all the time and then our skin would not get so saggy and have these empty pockets. But unfortunately that is not the reality. I am determined to find something beside surgery to help this condition. I am taking cold showers all the time, I dry brush my skin and in winter I will go to the Sauna again. In summer I live in a sauna, so I sweat enough:embarassed:

Yeah. Seriously... exercise won't help when you were 50 to 80 pounds overweight for 15 years. I have killer triceps now... but my bat wings are not going anywhere, and I doubt the skin on my stomach is either... even if I kill myself at the gym. There is definitely some detached fat under the skin there though, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere either. Maybe if I go down to 15% body fat or something.. which isn't happening :laugh:

But losing 25 pounds that you gained in a couple years and losing 80 pounds that you had for 10+ years = not the same situation at all. Exercise will not always help.

:brokenheart: You're right.
I say give up...or you could suck it up and do what you have to do
I'm not sure what kind of reassurances you need but as a natural part of aging, your skin becomes less elastic. I'm not really sure how much of that is hormonal vs weight loss, but does it really matter?

I was overweight for 17 years....lost the weight during the course of last year. I've been lifting heavy for at least 10 of those years.
Only this past year since losing the weight there are visible changes.

At the beginning of the summer, I tried on a size 6 jeans and they fit really niiice. Encouraged, I tried on a size 6 pair of shorts. YOu should've SEEEN the look of horror on my husband's face when I opened that dressing room :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I opened the door & the look on his face was all I needed, I just closed it again & changed back into my old jeans. He felt horrible, but I knew it wasn't a good look.

My legs looked like deflated balloons with cellulite :laugh: I can laugh now cause it was THAT awful. My legs have improved so much from just a couple of months ago that I can almost wear shorts out in public & feel confident

OP, I don't mean to sound harsh, but really, you'll either have to do something about it or accept it. However, I don't see how it's productive to kvetch about it =/

You sound like a really nice lady, I wish you all the best & hope things turn around for you.
:drinker:

I think I am pretty much doing everything I can about it.

Francl27

The problem with these discussions is that there are people participating of all different ages. When I was in my twenties, thirties, forties and even in the beginning fifties I had no skin problems after dropping some weight. Now I am nearly seventy and since menopause my weight has been fluctuating too much and the skin really shows it. The ideal situation would be if we all could stay at our ideal weight all the time and then our skin would not get so saggy and have these empty pockets. But unfortunately that is not the reality. I am determined to find something beside surgery to help this condition. I am taking cold showers all the time, I dry brush my skin and in winter I will go to the Sauna again. In summer I live in a sauna, so I sweat enough:embarassed:

Yeah. Seriously... exercise won't help when you were 50 to 80 pounds overweight for 15 years. I have killer triceps now... but my bat wings are not going anywhere, and I doubt the skin on my stomach is either... even if I kill myself at the gym. There is definitely some detached fat under the skin there though, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere either. Maybe if I go down to 15% body fat or something.. which isn't happening :laugh:

But losing 25 pounds that you gained in a couple years and losing 80 pounds that you had for 10+ years = not the same situation at all. Exercise will not always help.

:brokenheart: You're right.
I say give up...or you could suck it up and do what you have to do
I'm not sure what kind of reassurances you need but as a natural part of aging, your skin becomes less elastic. I'm not really sure how much of that is hormonal vs weight loss, but does it really matter?

I was overweight for 17 years....lost the weight during the course of last year. I've been lifting heavy for at least 10 of those years.
Only this past year since losing the weight there are visible changes.

At the beginning of the summer, I tried on a size 6 jeans and they fit really niiice. Encouraged, I tried on a size 6 pair of shorts. YOu should've SEEEN the look of horror on my husband's face when I opened that dressing room :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I opened the door & the look on his face was all I needed, I just closed it again & changed back into my old jeans. He felt horrible, but I knew it wasn't a good look.

My legs looked like deflated balloons with cellulite :laugh: I can laugh now cause it was THAT awful. My legs have improved so much from just a couple of months ago that I can almost wear shorts out in public & feel confident

OP, I don't mean to sound harsh, but really, you'll either have to do something about it or accept it. However, I don't see how it's productive to kvetch about it =/

You sound like a really nice lady, I wish you all the best & hope things turn around for you.
:drinker:

But my point is that sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. Short of getting down to 15% body fat or something, like the poster above said... and that's something I'm just not willing to do, or I'd be skin and bones.

What irks me is that some people don't want to admit that lifting weights is not a miracle solution for everyone - not the loose skin itself.

OP I'm right there with you! It sucks, but we're going to have to accept it until we win the lottery or something.

hookilau

jrodri0105

Looks to me that you didn't consistently meet your protein intake.

arabianhorselover

I generally strive to get 100 grams per day, but no, I don't always make it.