TATTOOED? Help me!

vyvrhovat

I need some reassurance. Every single person I talk to tells me that my tattoos will grow and shrink with me, but.. well, I've seen tattoos on people that haven't! I know it is entirely based on how quickly the weight is gained or lost, but I was hoping that anybody out there on MFP happened to have any pictures of their tattoos changing with them? I've got a few big ones, but I start my sleeve in like 8 days. Even though my artist reassures me that even though I still have like 60 pounds left to lose that it will not distort at all, I am still apprehensive.

So, can anyone show me evidence that their larger tattoos maintained their artistic integrity during subtantial weight loss? Pretty please? Ease my mind!

PS, sorry for the cross-posting. I'm not sure where to post this, so it's going a couple of places!

Marll

The only tattoos that I have ever seen stretch out and not come back into shape are stomach tattoos on women who get pregnant. No matter how gradual the weight loss they never seem to return to "normal"

Arms and other areas I wouldn't worry about too much.

LacieLamp

I have a big tattoo around my belly button I got when I skinny but then I got pregnant three times and everytime it got huge but has always shrunk back down and is fine but I dont have any pictures sorry

Robyn405

I dont have before photos, but i have a pretty large tattoo on my forearm, and on the back of my arm going from shoulder to elbow. Its the picture of a penguin and it looks even better now than it did when my arms were fatter. It shrunk down with me and looks fine. I am wanting to start on a sleeve too, but im not sure i want to until l tone up a bit more.

EricInArlington

if you wait to get them after you loses the weight shouldn't it be cheaper since its less of you to work on?

epj78

I asked my SIL's sister who is the most talented tattoo artist I have ever seen. Here is her response:

I don't think there's a simple answer to that. There are so many different skin types... its like predicting if you will get stretch marks or if your skin will stay loose after losing a lot of weight. I think that the better you take care of your skin overall the better your tattoos will be in any scenario. I've seen some armbands looking a little saggy in the back after loss of muscle tone. They generally change with your body and the better it flows with the shape of the body part the less distorted it will be when your skin moves around. I'm sure you saw carries birds when she was knocked up. They stretched out but didn't look bad and then they went right back. But then my mom got a lower back tattoo and then gained a lot of weight and it actually shifted probably half an inch to one side so now its not centered anymore. The only part I would be worried about is the tricep. And I guess that doesn't have much to do with weight loss or gain because a lot of old people just have baggy skin either way so who knows. I wouldn't worry about it in your situation because 60lbs isn't that much of a change, especially to your arms, and you're young so I'm sure you won't get saggy. There is an issue with a lot of weight gain on the other hand. Stretchmarks through a tattoo are bad news. It splits the tattoo apart and its really hard or impossible to fix that. So as long as it flows really well with your body like a good tattoo should anyway I wouldn't worry about it.

shannonpatton

Great post!! I am also wondering this as well. I am starting my sleeve this weekend !