Is this mostly excess skin, or a lot of fat?? (Pictures) PLEASE help!

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  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    It can take time for the loose skin to tighten up, so until then I'd concentrate on lifting.adding more muscle will definitely help.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    Give it more time. The body is pretty amazing and you are young.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I am also 5'4 and 119lbs, 27 yo. My tummy looks like yours, and it doesnt bother me, at all.

    I used to be 175lbs, and my stomach was much bigger then, and now its a little bit of skin that I can choose to remove at some point (but likely will not).

    I had two kids via Cesarian section, but I have met another mom who's stomach went back to flat after her c-section, so who really knows.

    Maybe its fat in there, maybe its just skin... maybe its not even worth caring about.
  • mamasitaroja
    mamasitaroja Posts: 52 Member
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    It looks like loose skin to me. I am 40, have had 3 kids (gained and lost the same 75# with each one), and six months ago I could have taken a belly selfie that looks almost identical. I've lost 36# in six months, and there is improvement weekly. Wait and see if your body catches up and firms up before getting desperate....I use a mix of Eucerin lotion and some polypeptide face firming cream to give it extra help, and it seems to be working.
    Standing up straight, my stomach is almost completely flat. But bend or sit, see the pics above.
    You're so young, I would bet you will continue to see improvement in skin tone. Good luck, and keep a photo record for sure!
  • juanitarochelle2014
    juanitarochelle2014 Posts: 58 Member
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    Yes its skin..i know what u going through I have some too and I have 3 kids and my youngest is going to be three and I have lost almost 100lbs in the past 8 yrs after my oldest son who now is 13 .... I just need about 15lbs to lose and tone little more ....u will transform your body just give it time my exercise is speed walking and jogging 4 miles 5 days a week and slim in 6 DVD that has help me with my inches lost in my waist good luck you can add me if u like ok take care :)
  • daydreams_of_pretty
    daydreams_of_pretty Posts: 506 Member
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    I think that it's not just skin, but you should switch to more weights.

    Also, I still think that you look beautiful and should be proud of yourself. :star::smiley: I understand why you're upset, but it seems worse to you than it does to others.
  • 1nnocenteyes
    1nnocenteyes Posts: 7 Member
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    Looks like my stomach since I had my c section almost 3 years ago... Honestly it is NO WHERE NEAR as bad as you think.... In my opinion it is loose skin but with a little bit of fat there too, I mean if you lose a tad more weight some of it might go, but the will always be some loose skin there, nothing that can be done about that really, but honestly, it doesn't really look that bad so don't let it get you down... You have done really well.
  • Fatandfifty3
    Fatandfifty3 Posts: 419 Member
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    There's a lot of sensible stuff being said here. For what it's worth I'd say it was a mix, some loose skin/some body fat. Like someone else has said your skin looks in good condition, nice and smooth, not wrinkly so I reckon given time it will snap back. What I'm concerned about is your own mental image of yourself. You do look good. Surely, if you compare those pics to what went before, do you not feel a little proud? You should be! Be a little kinder to yourself. wear things you feel good in (the how you 'feel' is important not necessarily how you look) and if it makes you feel better get some spanx. The added support whilst your body sorts itself out wont hurt. You've done great things here.
  • onionparsleysage
    onionparsleysage Posts: 103 Member
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    Congrats on the weight loss!

    It does look like skin, and a doctor can nip that off pretty easily if it really bothers you. I wear compression shorts when I'm feeling self-conscious about my stomach fat, which could be an option for you if you get self-conscious about your silhouette under fitted clothes, too. Maintain your healthy body weight, and enjoy your fit body!
  • missmiller1
    missmiller1 Posts: 131 Member
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    We have very similar backgrounds. Overweight from the same age, got up to almost 200 pounds by the time I was 13, slowly dropped weight in high school and college. In grad school I worked out 6 days a week doing cardio, light weights, and running and got down to 112 pounds. I had the same tummy as you, but even worse. The skin on my legs was saggy too at that weight. Still unhappy with my body I decided to start weight lifting to get some definition. I lifted heavy weights for 2 years and while my legs and butt looked better, I still had the overhang on my belly. Now nearly 30 and battling my body weight for half my life, I have decided to look into getting a tummy tuck.
  • NikonPal
    NikonPal Posts: 1,346 Member
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    Just watched a video clip from aol re: The Doctors TV Show focused on weight loss / skin surgery. Might be of interest to some.

    Here is the link: http://on.aol.com/video/jon-calvo-s-question-about-excess-skin-517939221
  • crack0825
    crack0825 Posts: 16 Member
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    numinousnymph wrote: »
    Just a heads up, these pictures are a bit unsightly.






    I'm 5' 4", 121 lbs. I am 24 and have been overweight since I was around 7. My highest weight was when I was 15, at 192 lbs. When I began losing weight, I knew there was a risk of getting loose skin. But I thought, oh, since I'm young, and I don't have 100 or more lbs to lose, I probably won't get sagging extra skin. Well, here I am, 71 lbs lighter, and I have this awful, terrible abdomen. I hate it, am disgusted by it, and it really crushes any confidence I have from losing weight. I feel like it makes me look like I'm pregnant when I stand. When I sit, it will still bulge. I do a decent amount of strength training, including core exercises. I am trying to get down another 5 - 10 lbs, to try to eliminate as much fat as I can, because if there is any chance most of this is still fat, I need to get rid of it. Once I get to around that 5 - 10 lb mark I'm going to try some body recomp. Sometimes it gets me so upset that I will cry and be so angry at how I look and feel so hopeless and defeated. So I need to know if I'm really getting upset over fat, or skin. I know a body fat scan would be the most telling, but until I can do that, I'd just like peoples' opinions.

    So, I'd really like everyone's 100% HONEST opinion. Does this look more like mostly skin or mostly fat to you?




    And just if anyone's confused, the first picture is what my stomach looks like from below when I am bending over.




    16ie3yr.jpg
    8 years back i loose around 90 pounds of weight in 7months and my skin was also like this. when i started to gain weight again my skin started to become normal. so dont worry start doing muscles gaining and strength diet and exercise u will start to look result in 3 to 4 months..
  • jflores9797
    jflores9797 Posts: 2 Member
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    Any updates on the mid section area? I am currently in the same boat, I am 21 years old, 5’9” I weighed 260 Pounds at my heaviest (2015-2017) and I got down to 230 after high school by just getting a job and from February to December this year (2018) I’ve lost 60 more pounds so I’m down to 170 now, everyone tells me not to go lower but I still see the same thing as you did when I have my shirt off. It’s pretty discouraging after all of the hard work and healthy eating to tell the truth... and viewer discretion is advised, I know I personally hate looking at it but it looks very similar to yours did. Thanks in advance! And8o0g62ihyr6a.jpeg
    5bwmbpv650xo.jpeg
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    OP's last post was in July 2017 - sadly she didn't stick around longer for an update.

    To me it looks like a bit of loose skin over some remaining fat. Do you do any weight training? I would suggest you look at a recomposition*. The BMI calculator I'm using puts you just around the top of a healthy weight, so if you decided to go that route you could afford to lose a few more pounds, but if you like where you're at you can work on developing some muscle so that you'll look tighter. At 21, you could see a fairly rapid change, both in shrinking of loose skin and reduction body fat percentage, though where the fat comes off is up to genetics. Search "recomp" or "recomposition" in the forums, there are a bunch of informative threads.

    *Recomposition: building muscle while remaining the same weight
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,741 Member
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    Here are the links that will be most helpful, IMO:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    @jflores9797, I think you still have a bit of abdominal fat left. When it's loose skin only, it will look more like wrinkles in fabric (I can see some of that in your photos, which suggests your weight loss is recent, since the actual loose skin is pretty likely to shrink well in someone who's as young as you are).

    Things that are more like 1/2"+ folds or rolls probably have some remaining subcutaneous fat keeping the skin stretched out. Many of us find that that midsection area is the last to lose fat.

    You can either go to recomposition (link above), or continuing very slowly lose a few more pounds (as long as you feel good, and the rest of you keeps looking fine/not gaunt). It's pretty normal for our friends to say "stop loosing", "too skinny", and that sort of thing if we lose a good bit of weight fairly quickly, because they're used to seeing us at a heavier weight (and they may be at a heavier weight themselves ;) ).

    It's good to consider friends'/family's comments seriously, as sometimes our own self-perception can be out of whack. But their opinions aren't gospel. The ones that matter most are yours, and your doctor's.

    At 5'9", 170, you're still just barely over the line into overweight BMI. (Body mass index; you're at 25.1, normal range is 125-168.5 at your height, but that range is for both men and women of all builds, so I know you don't want to be 125. :) Some people can be most healthy above the normal BMI range, but that's typically going to be a person who's ultra-muscular (think bodybuilder) and/or with a very broad-shouldered, broad pelvis, wide kind of build. Probably 80% or so of people will find a healthy weight within the normal BMI range.)

    Since it's unusual (though not impossible) for someone to be at their best weight above the normal BMI range, it's probably not unrealistic for you to lose a few more pounds, if you want to do that. If in doubt, ask your doctor if you have room to lose a bit more.

    Hang in there, you're doing great!
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    100% honest, it looks like a combination of fat and skin.

    Give it a full 2 years at a stable weight for the skin to finish adapting. If you still don't like it there are lots of cosmetic surgery options available.

    I think another 5-10 lbs will probably get rid of the remaining fat, but it's hard to tell because everyone looses it differently.

    In the mean time...high waist bikinis and that retro look are all the rage right now...enjoy it and rely on the beauty of modern fabrics to give you the look you want while you wait out your body adjustments.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    tcunbeliever wrote: »
    100% honest, it looks like a combination of fat and skin.

    Give it a full 2 years at a stable weight for the skin to finish adapting. If you still don't like it there are lots of cosmetic surgery options available.

    I think another 5-10 lbs will probably get rid of the remaining fat, but it's hard to tell because everyone looses it differently.

    In the mean time...high waist bikinis and that retro look are all the rage right now...enjoy it and rely on the beauty of modern fabrics to give you the look you want while you wait out your body adjustments.

    Totally love this - the person who asked the question is a guy! :)
  • KKSW1981
    KKSW1981 Posts: 87 Member
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    Skin mostly! And you are ahhhhmazing ❤ I hope you know that!

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