The skin left behind

ElloSweetie

As Im losing weight, Im getting a LOT of loose skin piling up under my belly "roll" and I have NO idea what to do about it. Surgery will never be an option for me and the more natural, the better.
Anyone have success in getting rid of the skin?

AllTehBeers

Eating right, lifting and LOTS of time.

I've always said I would rather be a size 8 with loose skin then a size 26/28 where I began.

RoadsterGirlie

I think it's a combination of genetics, and what you do for yourself during weight loss mode exercise wise. I lost 90 lbs and am extremely lucky that I have nothing but a few stretch marks. That said, during my weight loss I did both cardio and weight lifting, and I think this helped a lot.

trchristy

I feel your pain, I had soooo much skin. I had to have it removed, I am sure I was a extreme case though, once I lost around 70 lbs thats all I had in my abdominal area.

Sabine_Stroehm

You should meet Ed. He's a well known and very well liked poster on here.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/EdDavenport

He lost over 300LBS. And knows a lot about excess skin.

AllTehBeers

You should meet Ed. He's a well known and very well liked poster on here.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/EdDavenport

He lost over 300LBS. And knows a lot about excess skin.

:drinker:

Ed is a great inspiration for hard work and dedication.

JesterMFP

From what I've been able to gather, the best thing for it is time. Genetics will partly determine how much loose skin you end up with. Losing slowly, maintaining as much of your muscle mass as possible and staying hydrated may all help (and certainly won't hurt). I've heard people say that theirs improved after some time spent maintaining.

crazy4lulu

it does take time but i assure you, you can make it look a lot better on your own!!! trust me i have been there!!!!!

slkehl

First of all, congratulations on your weight loss so far! Since you haven't lost a ton of weight so far and you're relatively young, most of the excess skin should go away on it's own. Just give your skin time to recover and focus on building up muscle so you're losing fat, not lean body mass. You can prevent saggy skin in the future by losing weight slowly and steadily. Aiming for 1-2 lbs a week will save your skin's elasticity.

zoukeira

54lb down and I had loose skin on my tummy, arms and thighs. 57lb down and with increased muscle mass I have nearly no loose skin at all.

I was always told I'd have it regardless, which never made sense to me - after all pergnant women don't have masses of loose skin after they have babies. Skin is fairly elastic (although more for some than others) and the loose skin you see has a slight layer of fat underneath - it's about getting that fat off (which is unfortunately one of the last places you'll loose it) and filling the skin out nicely with shapely muscles. In my opinion anyway :flowerforyou:

Pinkigloopyxie

There was a topic earlier about sucking in your gut while walking around to help engage your core muscles all day. You could try that.

I sort of do that normally because my belly fat is loose and hangs over my pants all gross. When I suck it in it's all even. Yeah.