Loose skin ??????

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I have lost 40 lb in the last 6 months. Don't want to get the loose skin. I do insanity and calithenics as my excercise. Any tricks people have to prevent loose skin?- want to avoid plastic surgery.

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  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    If your going to get you will. A lot of it will come down to genetics and age, the amount you have to lose and condition of skin. Your skin can take up to two years to retract once the weight is gone so you need some patience. I've lost over 100 pounds and yes I have some minimal loose skin but not huge amounts and I'm hopeful most of it will retract. A little loose skin though is preferable to being morbidly obese and reducing life chances so if I end up with some I'll live with it.

    Some people will say if you lose slower you will minimise loose skin in reality the speed will make no difference. All losing slower means is it may be less noticeable as you're losing as it has time to retract as you're losing weight.

    Congratulations on your progress so far
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    build muscle.......that's what I'm trying to do now to fill out the loose skin.......I plan on doing more intense strengthening exercises when I lose a lil more.

    I am doing insanity workouts and calisthenics as my main exercise. So I'm doing a lot of strength training. My weight loss has slowed down where I was loosing 5 lb per month and now 2,5 lb per month. I'm not trying to do that it just is happening as a matter of fact I still have myself listed as 2 lb per week loss. But maybe a good thing as body needs time to reform. Read that the collagen needs time to remodel in the body. How have you prevented loose skin . My goal is to go from 250 to 180. I am 209 now and 40 years old. Prefer to avoid plastic surgery. Someone said sometimes have to wait 2 years for skin to remodel. No loose skin yet just floppy fat on tummy. Saw a friend recently who is same age and skin was quite hangy. (Mind you he lost a lot and quickly and did a awesome job of doing so- so big kudos to him) He was much more aerobic- running etc focused. I am doing a lot more calisthenics aerobics. What do you guys/gals think?
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    I lost 46 pounds in 2012. I had a small about of loose skin on my upper abs. Daily regular yoga, walking and barre3 has minimized it. I focus a lot on balance and core. (I was 53 years old, will turn 56 in October) I do find my overall skin tone and color is better the more I focus on getting there right macros and eating nutritionally dense food. Water as well. I try to keep sugar out of my diet as much as possible (fruit only one time a day , and avoid sugary stuff).

    I think your weight loss of 2 to 5 pounds a month is perfect to balance it all out as well as your exercise plan. Best wishes!
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
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    I'm down nearly 90, with 15 to go. There's a bit of looseness there, which I hope will tighten up over time, but compared to how it looked ~90 lbs ago, proper weight with some loose skin is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than badly obese and stretched skin.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    Awsome job everyone and thank you for sharing your experience
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    for people with a lot of weight to lose that they might have had for a while, loose skin may be inevitable.

    I have these "bat wings" under my arms that don't seem to go away. I didn't have that much to lose, and it's clearly not fat. I think it's age, but I've added some weight to my tricep and bicep workouts to see if that will help. I don't know if it will. If I do an isometric, they go away.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    for people with a lot of weight to lose that they might have had for a while, loose skin may be inevitable.

    I have these "bat wings" under my arms that don't seem to go away. I didn't have that much to lose, and it's clearly not fat. I think it's age, but I've added some weight to my tricep and bicep workouts to see if that will help. I don't know if it will. If I do an isometric, they go away.

    I read that the body needs time to reframe the collagen in the skin and it needs protein and blood flow to do so. Calisthenics or weights and eating enough protein should help. Great work so far.
  • asdelmonte
    asdelmonte Posts: 171 Member
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    If you find a solution, let me know. I've never been overweight, but my second pregnancy was twins. So, I have what I lovingly call "twin skin". It's a little loose and it's never going to get better since they are 14 now. Oh well, you can only see it when I wear a bathing suit or am naked so I'm not going to fret over it.
  • RosanaRosanaDana
    RosanaRosanaDana Posts: 93 Member
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    Flatlndr, that is some impressive weightloss. Did you workout along with your diet? What kind of regime?
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
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    Flatlndr, that is some impressive weightloss. Did you workout along with your diet? What kind of regime?

    Thank you.

    No secrets, no fads. Just calorie control, good mix of food across macro and micro nutrients, plus exercise. My diary is open; feel free to have a peek.

    As I have a dodgy knee, exercise needs to be low-impact, so I've been walking many miles. I started off barely doing one mile, now I typically do 4-5 per day. This week, I've joined a gym to start doing strength work (which I should have started long ago).

    Hope that helps.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    Flatlndr, that is some impressive weightloss. Did you workout along with your diet? What kind of regime?

    Thank you.

    No secrets, no fads. Just calorie control, good mix of food across macro and micro nutrients, plus exercise. My diary is open; feel free to have a peek.

    As I have a dodgy knee, exercise needs to be low-impact, so I've been walking many miles. I started off barely doing one mile, now I typically do 4-5 per day. This week, I've joined a gym to start doing strength work (which I should have started long ago).

    Hope that helps.

    Awsome job- you are a inspiration. Keep it up. Just went to dermatologist and asked how to prevent saggy skin. Said its genetic dependent on the elasticity of your skin. Some people don't bounce back and some do. No big deal- if it's to significant a little skin removal is not so bad. Wishing that I have more elastic skin. My wife looks like hers will likely not bounce back. So as she looses may need a little cosmetic procedure. Health is most important so keep ur up everyone .
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    I think loose skin depends on a lot of things, that are out of our control...genetics, age, how long you were overweight, how overweight you were, where you carried your extra weight etc. You can fill it a bit by lifting. If you are 'lucky' that will suffice.

    I was always overweight to obese. I reduced my weight from 96kg to 76kg in my early thirties (12 yrs ago). Gained half back over 10yrs time and now lost 29kg in 14mth. At 57kg I've been in the normal weight range for a few months and have 3kg to go to goal. I have never been this small since late childhood. I gained alot of weight in my early teens and then again in my later twenties.

    Most of my weight was in the front torso and inner thighs. Though I am happy with how I look in clothes, I will be getting my bust fixed in October and my stomach next June. Though my skin has retracted some, my breasts look like deflated ballons hanging south (I've lost two cup sizes) and I have a big belly flap as well as alot of extra skin around the abs. I do alot of sports and some weight / body weight training, but it will never be enough.

    I'm often amazed, how well other peoples skin retracts and I am happy for each and every one of them...mine isn't. I wasn't nice to my body for too long.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    I think loose skin depends on a lot of things, that are out of our control...genetics, age, how long you were overweight, how overweight you were, where you carried your extra weight etc. You can fill it a bit by lifting. If you are 'lucky' that will suffice.

    I was always overweight to obese. I reduced my weight from 96kg to 76kg in my early thirties (12 yrs ago). Gained half back over 10yrs time and now lost 29kg in 14mth. At 57kg I've been in the normal weight range for a few months and have 3kg to go to goal. I have never been this small since late childhood. I gained alot of weight in my early teens and then again in my later twenties.

    Most of my weight was in the front torso and inner thighs. Though I am happy with how I look in clothes, I will be getting my bust fixed in October and my stomach next June. Though my skin has retracted some, my breasts look like deflated ballons hanging south (I've lost two cup sizes) and I have a big belly flap as well as alot of extra skin around the abs. I do alot of sports and some weight / body weight training, but it will never be enough.

    I'm often amazed, how well other peoples skin retracts and I am happy for each and every one of them...mine isn't. I wasn't nice to my body for too long.

    Awsome you are doing great. Keep it up- it's a lifestyle to keep it off. They say that only 3% of people who loose jeep it off. I want that number to rise. If we stick to our mfp goals and watch the fork we can do it. Let us know how it looks and feels after you have done the procedures. Your doing great.