Losing 85 pounds - Loose Skin ?

SCharlie123
SCharlie123 Posts: 17
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone, I'm 19 now and I'm currently about 290 pounds at the moment I have totally comitted myself to weight loss this time round, and I have set myself a target of losing 2-3 pounds a week. I'm sticking to around 2000 calories a day at the moment. 10,000 steps to start off with 3 days a week, and perhaps once I improve start light jogging, plus any additional home exercises. But my main worry is the 'loose skin' which can remain at the end so I have quite a few beginner questions about everything :/ .

I searched the internet and they've stated that it is best to incorporate some form of lifting exercises in order to tone and build muscle to keep the skin firm over the body, but I dont really know what they mean by this ? I can't afford going to the gym and use the lifting equipments ? Is there any home workout DVD's or youtube videos which I can follow ? I currently have quite a bit of fat under my arms which I think is a likely problem area ( I cant even do one push-up at the moment) and all over my stomach obviously. I have the Jillian Michaels 30day series, will these exercises help tone/build muscles without fancy equipment ? And I've found a few more on youtube called 'bodyweight exercises' . And not too important but for dumbells is there any suitable alternative I can find at home ?

Replies

  • msteresao
    msteresao Posts: 114 Member
    Bump
  • ermand
    ermand Posts: 54 Member
    You could try the p90x routine. You can do it all at home.
  • SCharlie123
    SCharlie123 Posts: 17
    You could try the p90x routine. You can do it all at home.

    It'll be too hard for me to do right now .
  • Just_Pam
    Just_Pam Posts: 23 Member
    You can do push ups against the kitchen counter. I do this while waiting for the kettle or microwave. Its easy and you can do it till you feel the burn. Squats work well to help strengthen your legs and just simple walking helps more than you realise. Anything you have around the house can be used as weights: water bottles, bags of potatoes, canned foods. Get creative! :wink:
  • SCharlie123
    SCharlie123 Posts: 17
    You can do push ups against the kitchen counter. I do this while waiting for the kettle or microwave. Its easy and you can do it till you feel the burn. Squats work well to help strengthen your legs and just simple walking helps more than you realise. Anything you have around the house can be used as weights: water bottles, bags of potatoes, canned foods. Get creative! :wink:

    Thanks :)

    Just a quick beginners question, its been suggested that I lose about 2-3 pounds week to prevent loose skin, if I do more exercise regarding just the toning side of things of my arms/chest/, would that help the skin situation or worsen it as I'll probably go over the 2-3 pound limit ?
  • AmandaTWaH
    AmandaTWaH Posts: 181 Member
    You can buy dumbbells for pretty cheap... usually $3-4 each. Search PopSugarTV or PopSugarLiving on YouTube and they have a lot of workouts available. Their video "10 Minute Tank Top Arms" is wonderful.
  • vilyli6
    vilyli6 Posts: 38 Member
    I am definitely not an expert on this subject, but you do have one huge advantage -- your age. The younger you are, the more elasticity your skin has so if you do it slowly and in a healthy way, incorporating exercise (walking I hear especially at this point in your journey), you should really not have as big a problem as someone who is closer to 40 years old. I applaud you for doing something about this now versus waiting until you are older when it is so much harder to lose. Good luck in your journey!
  • Alicia7519
    Alicia7519 Posts: 160
    You are young so even if your skin becomes loose it eventually will tighten up. What I have read is that it's best to take weight off slowly so that skin will not sag. IMHO, 1-2 pounds would be ideal. Another benefit of taking weight off slowly is that it will stay off. Resistance bands are inexpensive and you can do quite a few exercises to tone your arms and the rest of your body. I bought some and you can get quite the workout with these. They cost around $16. There are a lot of videos on Youtube with exercises that you can do with them. Having a variety of exercises is not going to make matters worse. If you don't want to lose weight fast, then increase your caloric intake a little bit.

    Just_Pam suggested wall push-ups. I like to do these because you can almost do them anywhere. The same goes for wall butt touches. You will have to check this exercise out on Youtube so you can see what form you are supposed to have. This is a great exercise. It is great for your hamstrings.
  • Alicia7519
    Alicia7519 Posts: 160
    I am definitely not an expert on this subject, but you do have one huge advantage -- your age. The younger you are, the more elasticity your skin has so if you do it slowly and in a healthy way, incorporating exercise (walking I hear especially at this point in your journey), you should really not have as big a problem as someone who is closer to 40 years old. I applaud you for doing something about this now versus waiting until you are older when it is so much harder to lose. Good luck in your journey!

    I finally decided to stop worrying about loose skin after I saw several YouTube videos of women who had lost around 200 pounds. They revealed how their arms and stomachs look now, but they said they would rather look like they do now instead of how they did before their weight loss. They have inspired me a lot.
  • craigers13
    craigers13 Posts: 241 Member
    I recently went to my Dr. regarding loose skin. I've lost 92lbs over 14 months and I have a little bit here and there. My Dr suggested weights to build muscle, drink lots of water and give it at least another year to tighten up before considering any kind of surgical options. When I look in the mirror it seems like the skin is slowly starting to catch up with my weight loss (at lease I hope so :p)
  • BR3ANDA
    BR3ANDA Posts: 622 Member
    I think the best way to avoid loose skin is to lose weight slowly, so your skin has time to catch up with the weight loss. I aim for no more than 2 lbs per week, my skin is tightening nicely (and I'm 41). Staying well hydrated also helps, along with making sure your skin stays moisturized with a good lotion. Toning or building muscles will help with creating more definition, which makes your muscles larger, taking up more space under your skin and help burn the fat that lies underneath it, so it helps too. Combining all these together wont necessarily increase the shrinking time, but you will get better results rather than just doing one thing.
  • desiv2
    desiv2 Posts: 651 Member
    You can buy dumbells for a fair price at some stores, to make sure you have the right weight you should be able to do 8 reps, then find the next few difficult.

    I have started bidding on exercise dvd's and equipment on ebay, I've already built my collection up that way for very little. I like 'The Firm" series of dvd's, and Jillian has a beginners dvd you can try. Also, if you look it up on youtube or google you can find some easy body weight exercises.

    Exercising isn't just good for helping loose skin, but for keeping and building lean muscle, which is very important. :)
  • SCharlie123
    SCharlie123 Posts: 17
    Thanks everyone for the posts :)

    Yeah I think I will increase my calorie intake to around 2000 to combat losing more than 2-3 pounds in a week. I'm slightly confused however , my exercise program on this site is doing 10,000 steps three times a week (320 calories for one day or so), and if I do do that combined with my intake I'll safely lose about 2 pounds in a week.

    But if I incorporate body toning exercises for my body, should I eat slightly more on that day to make sure that I will lose only 2 pounds ? Or would it be safe to do additional toning on the same intakes as toning just helps the muscle in the area to balance the fat loss?, so my plan would look like the following, and just alternate: Monday : 10k steps 2000 calories , Tuesday : Body-weight exercises 2000 calories .

    I tried my first set of ab workouts including the wall push-ups and I felt out of breath so fast, so they definitely work :P .
  • trinitrate
    trinitrate Posts: 219 Member
    Charlie,


    Im working on about 80 - 90 lbs myself, and started at 297 this past Jan. For loose skin, my best advise from the 1/2 way mark is to take things slowly. You didn't get there in 6 months, don't try to lose it all in 6 months. 2 lbs a week is good for a while, but consider even dropping lower than that if you start seeing sagging skin where you dont like it. 1 lb a week will get you there just fine!

    For adding calories to make up for strength training, you probably dont need to worry about it. Although strength training is great, it really doesn't burn that much unless you doing it for hours and hours (based on your comments I'm betting thats not the case!).

    Some 'easy' strength training ideas if you're really starting from bare minimum capabilities:

    Stand on one foot - This is great for balance and also will strengthen the supporting leg
    Wall pushups - This was suggested above, as you get stronger progress to 'girl pushups' where you do the pushup from your knees.
    Lift common household items - gallon of water is ~ 8 lbs and is free. bag of dogfood is 25 - 40.. you get the idea.
    Squats & lunges - If your knees are up to it, these will build some strength and probably get you a little out of breath. Add weight in your hands as you get stronger (dumb bells, gallon jugs etc.)

    Feel free to add me if you want other ideas or support.
  • vanillarama
    vanillarama Posts: 101 Member
    There are tons of body weights workouts and exercise resources online. Just Google and look at YouTube. The lucky thing is, most of them will have progressions and regressions that you can do at any level. Pushups and Squats are fantastic, no matter what your level is.

    Someone mentioned that you have age on your side- this is true. Someone else mentioned doing it slowly- also a good idea, not only for loose skin, but for keeping that weight off.

    I'll be perfectly honest with you- I lost over 75 pounds in my mid-20's and I'm 38 now. I have loose skin, and unless I I get some sort of surgery, I always will. I exercise in just about every way I can, and I take resistance training very seriously. It gets to me some days, and I have to admit I am sometimes envious of people who have lost tons of weight and you could never tell. That person could be you.

    Just don't obsess over it. Remember that ultimately your health goals have nothing to do with looks, although the benefits will be there no matter what :)

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