loose skin after weight loss

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leannabananavii
leannabananavii Posts: 1
in Getting Started
I've read a couple of threads on this subject but I still have a few concerns. I just started really buckling down on working out and watching what I eat this week. I'm 22 years-old, currently 270 lbs with a goal weight of 170 lbs. Is loose skin something I should be super concerned about? I've heard losing weight slowly helps currently my goal is to lose a pound a week. Any help is much appreciated.

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  • Bellodesiderare
    Bellodesiderare Posts: 278 Member
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    With a 100 lb weight loss you will more than likely have some loose skin. However, if you lose the weight slowly (1-2lbs/week) and incorporate strength training you will not have nearly the amount of loose skin as you would if you lose the weight too rapidly or lose lots of muscle mass. I lost 77 lbs and only have a little bit of loose skin. I progressively weight trained 3-4 times a week while losing, in addition to cardio and HIIT (high intensity interval training). Good luck to you!! You can do this :)
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
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    Here's the good news, you're only 22 years old so there's a good chance that your skin will recover after a few years, you're lucky. I'm 30 years older than you and I'm already talking to a surgeon. Stop worrying and spend your time on eating right and exercise!
  • jayliospecky
    jayliospecky Posts: 25,022 Member
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    You should not be super-concerned about loose skin. Getting to a healthier weight is more important.

    You may or may not have loose skin - there seems to be a combination of factors that affect it - including genetics. But it shouldn't hold you back or worry you. Focus on losing weight and getting healthier. Losing at a reasonable pace (as you said, 1 lb per week is a good rate) will help. There is some evidence that weight-training may help a little as well. But in the end, if you lose the weight but still have loose skin, I think the trade-offs are worth it.
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
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    how fast you lose the weight doesn't really change how loose your skin is, it's just that the slower you do it, the more time the skin has to catch up on tightening before you'd notice. As I understand it, your skin will take x amount of time to tighten. Let's say 1 year for argument's sake...though everyone will be different. If you take a full year to get to your goal weight, your skin will have had that time to tighten up as much as it will as you lose. If, however, you were to dump the weight in 6 months....your skin would still be taking a full year to do what it's going to do....so you'll notice more loose skin for those 6 months after you finished losing the weight since there's nothing at all anymore filling it out as it tightens. You're lucky in that you have youth on your side. The older you get, the less elasticity you'll have. I, for example, have a ridiculous amount of skin and always will because I was so big for so long and am into my 30s now. you have a much better chance. good luck.

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