Scared of excess skin.

stephleaoc

I had a baby 10 months ago and in that time I have lost 16kilos
my belly is saggy but that's due to having a baby.
As unpleasant as it is the skinnier I get the better it starts to look and
I just do sit ups to help try and tone it back up.
At the end of the day I am MUCH happier being skinny with a bit of saggy skin then
To be larger and self conscious about myself everyday.
Its easier to hide saggy skin then it is fat and being healthy and fit definitely is worth losing the weight just on its own.
In conclusion stress less and DONT AIM FOR PERFECTION, AIM FOR IMPROVEMENT and you can't go wrong good luck.
also if anyone wants to add me feel free: stephleaoc

KyliAnnHobson

Hi, I've lost 70 lbs over the past 11 months and I do have some loose skin, but it's definitely improving. I'm pretty confident that if I keep working at it, I will get the results I want. It just takes time, patience, and hard work! Even if my stomach never completely firms up again, I'll take saggy skin over fat any day!

gombolyu

That is the reason I choose to loose my weight very slowly. I exfoliate a lot (every day). Exercise and massage a lot, and I use bio oil and argan oil in order to help my skin to be as firm as possible. At the moment it looks fine.

gogophers

What I'm most worried about is knowing when to stop losing weight and level out. I know it takes a long time for skin to go back even with great genetics, etc... I've never been at my optimal weight, so I don't know what my optimal weight is. Because of that, I was mainly planning on stopping when I "looked okay" but it's difficult to tell with excess skin. And, even if I knew my optimal weight, I have no idea the extent of and weight of the excess skin.

txbutterfly69

I made a mistake and did a shake weight loss plan and lost weight very quickly. My skin never shrunk :-( Truly recommend to loose it slow.....

Shrinkingmam0429

Be careful of lifting weights long term! Horrible on the shoulders & Knees!

That's ridiculous...it's not horrible on the shoulders & knees if you're doing it correctly. If the OP is concerned about excess skin, what else is suppose to backfill the space when the fat is gone besides muscle? YES to strength training. Lift regularly & don't be afraid to lift HEAVY (work up to it, of course).

Exercise in general will make the biggest difference in reshaping your body. Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water & moisturize regularly to maximize your skin elasticity. For some elasticity is limited by genetics, but not everyone.

I think "scared" is a strong word to use when talking about excess skin. Be scared of zombies, or rabid dogs, or the Sweet Genius guy. Be scared of dying from an obesity-related medical condition if you don't get healthy. Excess skin is the least of your worries, honey.

Depending on the style of weights lifted, it certainly CAN cause small tears within the Lining of the ligaments/tendons of the knees and shoulders! I do agree that if done properly the chances of hurting yourself are slim. I am a Nurse working on being a PA & I work in Orthopaedic surgery. I see this A LOT with patients who lift weights incorrectly and for long periods of time. Some people do fine and have no problems with it. Others do not.

Shrinkingmam0429

I have some excess skin, it has gone down a bunch since I started lifting in September. I lost all my weight from Jan 2011 to Jan 2012. My advice is start lifting early and only try to lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. I will take the loose skin over fat any day of the week though.

Be careful of lifting weights long term! Horrible on the shoulders & Knees!

Wha???? Our body is made to move. Keep good form and it will be ok

Your body is made to move, of course it is. Lifting weights, depending on the style & weight that you lift can (IN TIME) cause a lot of damage to the tendons & ligaments in your joints.

gogophers

Depending on the style of weights lifted, it certainly CAN cause small tears within the Lining of the ligaments/tendons of the knees and shoulders! I do agree that if done properly the chances of hurting yourself are slim. I am a Nurse working on being a PA & I work in Orthopaedic surgery. I see this A LOT with patients who lift weights incorrectly and for long periods of time. Some people do fine and have no problems with it. Others do not.

Well, yes, if done incorrectly, you can injure yourself especially if you do the exercise incorrectly for a long period of time.

Can you injure yourself even if you lift correctly? Of course! But a blanket statement that lifting weights long term is horrible on the shoulders and knees is misleading at best. You can also injure yourself doing pretty much any other exercise. Also, since lifting weights doesn't have to involve either the shoulders or the knees...

Additionally, because you work in orthopedics, of course you're going to see a lot of people with shoulder and knee issues related to lifting. But what you don't see is imaging from the 95% (a made up number) that don't come in since there's nothing wrong with them.

gogojodee

With my experience from a 65 pound wieght loss with in a year in a half made me have excess skin. Even with working out now its one of the hardest things im struggling to lose and or tighten. im sure everyone is different tho. i wish you the best!

OMG. I'm sad now ha. I have 65 lbs total to lose. :[ I hope to have no issues.

KyliAnnHobson

Hi, I've lost 70 lbs over the past 11 months and I do have some loose skin, but it's definitely improving. I'm pretty confident that if I keep working at it, I will get the results I want. It just takes time, patience, and hard work! Even if my stomach never completely firms up again, I'll take saggy skin over fat any day!

Your body actually looks good. You're a good example, I just think you're the only one that notices it.

Thanks, you're probably right. You may not be able to tell in the pic but I have a few stretch marks, too, so that's what I focus on when I look at my stomach. But, those are also improving!

Shrinkingmam0429

Depending on the style of weights lifted, it certainly CAN cause small tears within the Lining of the ligaments/tendons of the knees and shoulders! I do agree that if done properly the chances of hurting yourself are slim. I am a Nurse working on being a PA & I work in Orthopaedic surgery. I see this A LOT with patients who lift weights incorrectly and for long periods of time. Some people do fine and have no problems with it. Others do not.

Well, yes, if done incorrectly, you can injure yourself especially if you do the exercise incorrectly for a long period of time.

Can you injure yourself even if you lift correctly? Of course! But a blanket statement that lifting weights long term is horrible on the shoulders and knees is misleading at best. You can also injure yourself doing pretty much any other exercise. Also, since lifting weights doesn't have to involve either the shoulders or the knees...

You can hurt yourself doing anything or from simply doing nothing at all, It was just a generalized statement!

Romans624

Hi, I've lost 70 lbs over the past 11 months and I do have some loose skin, but it's definitely improving. I'm pretty confident that if I keep working at it, I will get the results I want. It just takes time, patience, and hard work! Even if my stomach never completely firms up again, I'll take saggy skin over fat any day!

From here, your stomach looks pretty much amazing.

KyliAnnHobson

Hi, I've lost 70 lbs over the past 11 months and I do have some loose skin, but it's definitely improving. I'm pretty confident that if I keep working at it, I will get the results I want. It just takes time, patience, and hard work! Even if my stomach never completely firms up again, I'll take saggy skin over fat any day!

From here, your stomach looks pretty much amazing.

Thank you!!! I've been working hard!

jayliospecky

Be careful of lifting weights long term! Horrible on the shoulders & Knees!

That's ridiculous...it's not horrible on the shoulders & knees if you're doing it correctly. If the OP is concerned about excess skin, what else is suppose to backfill the space when the fat is gone besides muscle? YES to strength training. Lift regularly & don't be afraid to lift HEAVY (work up to it, of course).

Exercise in general will make the biggest difference in reshaping your body. Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water & moisturize regularly to maximize your skin elasticity. For some elasticity is limited by genetics, but not everyone.

I think "scared" is a strong word to use when talking about excess skin. Be scared of zombies, or rabid dogs, or the Sweet Genius guy. Be scared of dying from an obesity-related medical condition if you don't get healthy. Excess skin is the least of your worries, honey.

LOVE this.

angelashay42

When/if you lose the weight, you may have sagging skin but at least you won't have diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart problems. You have to put it in perspective. You may never look like a super model, and that's okay. Just be the best you can be and be proud of yourself for all you've accomplished. I'll tell you first hand, it feels great! Saggy skin and all.

Shrinkingmam0429

Depending on the style of weights lifted, it certainly CAN cause small tears within the Lining of the ligaments/tendons of the knees and shoulders! I do agree that if done properly the chances of hurting yourself are slim. I am a Nurse working on being a PA & I work in Orthopaedic surgery. I see this A LOT with patients who lift weights incorrectly and for long periods of time. Some people do fine and have no problems with it. Others do not.

Well, yes, if done incorrectly, you can injure yourself especially if you do the exercise incorrectly for a long period of time.

Can you injure yourself even if you lift correctly? Of course! But a blanket statement that lifting weights long term is horrible on the shoulders and knees is misleading at best. You can also injure yourself doing pretty much any other exercise. Also, since lifting weights doesn't have to involve either the shoulders or the knees...

Additionally, because you work in orthopedics, of course you're going to see a lot of people with shoulder and knee issues related to lifting. But what you don't see is imaging from the 95% (a made up number) that don't come in since there's nothing wrong with them.

Of course, Clinically there could be a problem within the joint and because that person may not feel pain, they would assume there was nothing wrong with them. They don't do imaging studies on people unless there is clinical need for it. That happens with A LOT of people. So instead I guess I should have said "It CAN be horrible on the knees and shoulders" With impingement or internal derangement, It may Look Horrible on an X-ray/MRI, that may look like it's in need of arthroscopic Surgery but may only feel like mild ache to the patient. My statement was not to be "misleading" It was meant to be kind words to be cautious when you're lifting weights. Some people may not know that certain exercises can cause long term problems, so should be done cautiously.

Shrinkingmam0429

Hi, I've lost 70 lbs over the past 11 months and I do have some loose skin, but it's definitely improving. I'm pretty confident that if I keep working at it, I will get the results I want. It just takes time, patience, and hard work! Even if my stomach never completely firms up again, I'll take saggy skin over fat any day!

Your body actually looks good. You're a good example, I just think you're the only one that notices it.

Thanks, you're probably right. You may not be able to tell in the pic but I have a few stretch marks, too, so that's what I focus on when I look at my stomach. But, those are also improving!

I lost over 100lbs, I have stretch marks too, big thick ones. I like them, i call them my battle scars. Just a reminder how far we came.

LOVE that!

sweetpea0727

im having the most trouble toning the skin on my arms and thighs... its so aggravating and i feel disgusting everytime i look at myself in the mirror but then i look at a picture of myself 118 pounds ago and tell myself that the skin does look better than the fat rolls everywhere.. still difficult at times but its a work in process.. just take it day by day and realize how good your body is lookin on the inside.. the outside will follow

ashbee03

thanks for all of the comments.
made me feel a lot better.
and i guess you're right.
not to worry right now, because maybe i won't have the problem.
although i will as i was once almost 300 pounds.
now i'm at 283.
288 when i started MFP.

it's going to be a long journey ... but i'm sick of being fat.
and i never really thought of shapewear.

i guess we'll just have to find out if i get loose skin or not.
and i'm sure even if i do, like most of you said, i'll feel 1000x better feeling accomplished, healthy, and smaller, that i probably won't even care about the skin.

thanks again, made me feel better, and gave me a bit of motivation.