Saggy skin after losing weight

I can see from your profile that you are not 20 years old, so my comments will not be as encouraging LOL! I'm in the same boat and I am a grandma. It's been almost 3 years since I lost about 45 pounds. I also had a surprising amount of saggy skin. Lower abdomen, upper arms, inner thighs, and yes, butt cheeks. Alas! I'd lost a lot of body fat so the skin just kinda hung around. Not pretty. I seriously considered skin surgery. My doctor told me that because I am not young anymore, the skin will not "snap back" as well or as quickly. She said "Don't gain the weight back. Give your skin time to accommodate your new size." She also said to "Moisturize, moisturize, moisterize!" She added that I should give it 2-3 years to shrink up some. She also suggested strength training to build up muscle underneath the flabby skin. That does help but it doesn't do anything to the actual skin; it just puts muscle underneath to fill out the saggy skin. Today, almost 3 years later, my skin has "snapped back" to some extent. I've decided to concentrate on keeping the weight off, and see what I think in another year. In the meantime, I'm just enjoying being a normal size again. Good luck to you!!

l lost twenty five percent of my body weight in seven months. It left me with very saggy skin. I didn't do resistance training while I was losing weight. I am doing Zumba twice a week. Now I am doing resistance training two or three times a week for 30 minutes. Is there anything I can do to make my skin not look like my grandma's?

Trying to stay VERY well-nourished will help (good fats are essential to maintaining resiliency in the skin--in addition to many other nutrients) but it is a difficult problem you face. Resistance training will help to "fill the gap" left by the weight loss. Age, the rate of weight loss, and genetic factors influence the outcome. Supposedly, there is cold laser therapy to help tighten the skin but I have not investigated it. If you try it, make sure to post a thread telling everyone about it.

Baggy skin after weight loss is an extremely common problem. Some, who have lost a tremendous amount of weight are pretty much forced to get skin reduction surgery, but it can be dangerous (blood clots, hemorrhage, and the problems of any surgery/general anesthetic, etc.). If the problem is merely a cosmetic one (and the vast majority of baggy skin problems are merely cosmetic) then it makes much more sense to use a conservative, less invasive, way of dealing with the problem.

This is really encouraging I wish there was a Like button! I don't want surgery. I always think about the morticians snickering at wrinkly old bodies with perky breasts and flat tummies.

So I guess I am not the only one concerned about this. I am really excited to wear a small size. It will be a challenge to not gain the weight back. I am really glad to hear that it might be better in a couple of years.

I've never had a flat tush before, it looks strange. I am starting to do lots of squats and lunges. Do you think that will help? I am kicking myself that I did not do resistance training when I started losing weight.

What about if I work out with weights every day? I am really lazy about it, and only manage to get in a half hour every other day or so.

There's got to be a way!

At your age, (I'm of a similar age) you will get better results from working out with weights every 48 to 72 hours rather than every day. You need plenty of recovery time if you are over 40. In between, you will want to make sure to stay active (work, walking, etc.--anything to avoid being sedentary) and you will also want to make sure to avoid the junk (and chemical-laden "food") and instead eat the really nourishing stuff--making sure to get plenty of good fats (NOT most vegetable oils) from avocados, eggs (yes, eat the yolks there is amazing nutrition there) nuts, cold pressed oils like sesame oil, coconut oil, organic butter and cheese. About 50% of your calories should come from fat, 20-25% from protein, and no more than 25% from carbohydrates. This will help you to avoid regain (which will sabotage your work) and help your skin to be more supple. And drink plenty of water, water, water (not so much that you want to throw up but the guidelines here are pretty good--at least 8 glasses per day). Another benefit of staying off of junk food is that you will naturally eat more vegetables and fruits which have amazing micro-minerals that benefit the skin.

Squats and lunges will definitely help to redevelop muscles that have shrunken. The good news is that you really only need "a half hour every other day or so". You want to avoid a lot of cardio because that will undo what you are trying to do. Aerobic cardio is "catabolic" (that is, it tears muscle down---think of the stringy muscles of long distance runners) whereas weight lifting is "anabolic" (that is, it builds muscle up). Instead of aerobics, try short periods of "sprints" (High Intensity Interval Training---HIIT for short). It's actually better for the cardio-vascular system and it doesn't take very long. Two or three 16 minute sessions a week are all you need (I would do them separate from the weight routines). I do two swimming sprint sessions a week and 2 to 3 weight-lifting sessions a week and am seeing better results than I was with a lot more cardio. Since muscle burns more calories 24-7 than does flab, you will stay naturally trim without having to worry about calories---IF you stay away from the empty calories of junk food and continue to work out a couple of times per week and stay active the rest of the time.

I'm 18.5lb down but have a lot left to go but I am worried about ending up with spare skin. I'm exercising 4 times a week, swimming and weights at the gym and hoping it will help but I guess what will happen will happen. I'd definitely rather be slim with spare skin than the size I am now

I did resistance/strength training the whole time and still have saggy skin, if it makes you feel any better...

the only thing you can do about saggy if you aren't young or if you have been stretched for decades is surgery the skin will never rebound, you can fill out the space that the fat took up but you will never have the skin rebound.

all you can do non surgery wise is work on weights and core resistance to increase the Lean Body Mass which will fin in some of the space.

oh i forgot my loose skin is entirely in my gut, my arms, legs and chest were always somewhat muscly i carried 90% of my excess weight in my face and waist. and my pouchy skin is where my abs should be that wont change

Building really big muscles might take up some space and fill some of the area up, so the skin will be less floppy, but lifting weights won't put more elastic in your skin.

Yay on lifting, if that's what you want to do! But don't be too disappointed if, in the end, you still have loose skin.

I do weight training and all that as well and I already know I will get a ton of saggy skin because my skin has been stretched for YEARS! Plus I had a baby and it stretched even more. Sometimes, that just happens.