loose skin minimized by low body fat

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hookilau
hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am aiming to get my body fat down to below 20%. I'm lifting heavy & so I hope I don't end up too bony :laugh: .

I'm 45 yrs old, 5' tall & have lost 30 + pounds already, though I've still got some fat to go. I'm 126# right now and I suppose it's reasonable to end up around 110#'s or so.

Currently I'm eating at maintenance but thinking of taking a modest 200 cal cut from that, in an effort to shed body fat while maintaining as much LBM as I can. I have a fair muscle base as I've been lifting (all compound lifts) for more than 10 years.

With a total of about 40-ish pounds lost at journey's end, I'm hoping I won't have too much loose skin to live with.

So I'm reading about loose skin. I've read that people with low bf percentage having loose skin is a rare thing. That if you have loose skin, you should continue to lose body fat. Obviously this is not only self-limiting but a gross generalization. However, it got me to thinking...

Can anyone comment? Now that I think of it, all of my girlfriends who's body's snapped back after weight gain had low body fat. Does this make sense to anyone? I haven't had low body fat since I was 20 & got preggers with my first child at 100#'s :ohwell:

Thoughts?

edited cause apparently grammar isn't my strong suit today -_-

Replies

  • MississippiMama87
    MississippiMama87 Posts: 204 Member
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    In for comments. :)
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    In for comments. :)

    Me too.

    ETA: I think I have 19% to 20% BF.....and have some hanging skin, does that mean it's fat??....and not just skin??
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    In for comments. :)

    Me too.

    ETA: I think I have 19% to 20% BF.....and have some hanging skin, does that mean it's fat??....and not just skin??

    I dunno =/ I mean, how low can one *really* go without looking sinew-y?

    ETA: cough: Madonna
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    I got down to 18% last summer before deciding I was too lean. I still had pretty slack skin on my abdomen and legs. Once the damage was done by two pregnancies and a long time at 200 pounds, I don't think my skin will ever recover.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    I would love to believe this, but there are pictures online of women at a medically determined unhealthily low body weight with loose skin. I remember a story awhile back in the Mirror (yeah that british rag) of a young woman who went from very overweight to anorexic after weight loss surgery. She was in danger of death due to being such a low weight, but she still had loose skin.

    Doesn't stop me from hoping I'll be the exception to the rule, but I'm not going to try to half kill myself starving to find out.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    having low body fat won't make loose skin go away. after i had two kids, i never lost my loose belly fat, even when i was down to an unhealthy 97. for years i weighed around 120, and was quite fit but still had loose belly fat that never went away.
  • kazzsj0urney
    kazzsj0urney Posts: 57
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    Having a lower body fat wouldnt improve the elasticity of the skin so I would be dubious of how true that is. I have seen stories on it on the internet too in the past. I have lost 150 pounds and still have about another 50 pounds to lose...I do have loose skin and will end up with loose skin....it partly comes down to genetics (thats a huge factor) the other things you can to minimise it is stay hydrated, sleep well, eat well and exercise (as you are doing)

    Also with the amount of weight you are aiming to lose I wouldnt expect loose skin to be a major issue for you - best of luck :)
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
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    I could be completely wrong (I generally am!) But I do think it's just "luck of the draw" more than anything else.

    I weighed around 140lb throughout my mid-late teens. Fell pregnant at 18 (at 9mths weighed 167). Dropped to 130-132 post pregnancy.

    Went up to HW 224 at 35yrs old (Had been this for a few years prior). CW 173 - Through all of this my skin is keeping up very nicely.


    *I am/have always been pretty crap at looking after my skin - I rarely remember to bother with lotions/potions/oils (my water intake could be better too).


    **Edited to say I hope that doesn't sound smuggish! I might be singing a different tune by the time I drop to goal!
  • LiminalAscendance
    LiminalAscendance Posts: 489 Member
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    snip

    So I'm reading about loose skin. I've read that people with low bf percentage having loose skin is a rare thing. That if you have loose skin, you should continue to lose body fat. Obviously this is not only self-limiting but a gross generalization. However, it got me to thinking...

    snip

    I'm certainly no expert, but this doesn't seem to make much sense, since the "loose skin" state would occur before the "low body fat" state.

    Are you implying that low body fat causes the body to get rid of all that excess skin (perhaps by "eating" it)? If anything, I would think the problem would become worse.

    I'm sure I misinterpreted something here.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    snip

    So I'm reading about loose skin. I've read that people with low bf percentage having loose skin is a rare thing. That if you have loose skin, you should continue to lose body fat. Obviously this is not only self-limiting but a gross generalization. However, it got me to thinking...

    snip

    I'm certainly no expert, but this doesn't seem to make much sense, since the "loose skin" state would occur before the "low body fat" state.

    Are you implying that low body fat causes the body to get rid of all that excess skin (perhaps by "eating" it)? If anything, I would think the problem would become worse.

    I'm sure I misinterpreted something here.

    :laugh: course not, that would be silly :happy: but made for a good visual, thinking 'pacman' :laugh:

    What I meant was, as far as I can tell, there's loose skin, looks 'crepey' and is literally loose, as in, can be picked up off the body as when checking for turgor, however, the skin fold does not stay 'tented'.

    Then there's what people refer to as 'loose skin' that is actually flabby (for want of a better term) may really just be excess fat, it's thick and though may be described as loose because it can be grabbed by the handful :blushing: I'm not talking about super obese individuals, but the average overweight person.

    Not sure if this makes sense =S
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
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    ^^Above post


    Actually this made far more sense to me.

    I've read that "loose skin" as in the bona fide that sucker is going nowhere short of surgery type - is when it looks like a deflated balloon.

    If you can pinch it & it springs back some then it still has the capacity for shrinking down.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    ^^Above post


    Actually this made far more sense to me.

    I've read that "loose skin" as in the bona fide that sucker is going nowhere short of surgery type - is when it looks like a deflated balloon.

    If you can pinch it & it springs back some then it still has the capacity for shrinking down.

    yes, that's exactly what I mean, in faaaar less words & definitely clearer :laugh: thank you.

    I don't mean to minimize actual loose skin by indicating it's possible to get rid of it if one could only lower one's body fat enough.

    Clearly that's not possible.

    However, as I've searched the internet for before & after weight loss pics & loose skin, I keep coming up with pictures of people pre & post surgery. Even searching for 'loose skin after weight loss' yields pics that don't actually look like 'loose skin' however, I can see why someone can be unhappy with it.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    In for info!

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