Scared of hanging skin

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ambee0803
ambee0803 Posts: 89 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I weigh 230 lbs and I should weigh around 130. Im 5"7 if that helps give you an idea. I hear all these stories about how people who lose large amounts of weight end up feeling worse about themselves because they have so much hanging sagging skin. I'm sure someone here has been about my size and lost that much. Was this a problem for you? What can I do to prevent or minimize it? I've already got a little from having kids. Its not too bad. I know it could be much worse but I'm afraid after I drop 100 lbs, it will be.
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Replies

  • jules159
    jules159 Posts: 567 Member
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    I weighed 230 at one point and got down to 157. That was years ago and I didn't have any problem. I think it really depends on your age though. I'm down to 163 now from 214 and I have a lot of loose skin this time but I'm 13 years older than the last time and it makes a huge difference. I'm 5'7" as well.
  • IILikeToMoveItMoveIt
    IILikeToMoveItMoveIt Posts: 1,172 Member
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    Don't loose too fast, stay up on potassium,stay hydrated and don't use it as an excuse to not get fit...the rest is genetics...I went from 240 to 140 and I didn't have a problem...
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited July 2015
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    I'm 5'8" and began around 250, now 166. I have some. It gets bad and then gets a little better. Since both times I've had improvement have been after spending buckets of time in the sun, I have this bizarre theory that the sun helps. If I get all worse this winter and much better again next summer, I'm going to believe it helped me.

    The loose skin is very gross. I have to remind myself to stop being so vain and that nobody really cares about my skin, anyway.

    I lost about sixty pounds before there was even the beginnings of loose skin.

    Please don't waste money on creams. They do not help because they cannot help. They aren't able to penetrate deeply enough and can only affect the very top layers of skin.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    It's almost all genetics. You'll have it or you won't.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    I'm 45 and I will probably have loose skin on my belly and lower area. But look at it this way....it's better than fat. Besides that's what tummy tucks are for.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,986 Member
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    While genetics and age plays a role, you can likely minimize loose skin by losing weight slowly and doing strength training while you're losing.

    See http://vitals.lifehacker.com/how-to-minimize-loose-skin-during-weight-loss-1696145766
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    I've lost over 100 and have loose skin. It's noticeable on my upper thighs, upper arms and abdomen. The arms is what upsets me though because despite my arms being so much more slender I still have to wear shirt sleeves that come down to my elbow. Any shorter and wrinkled loose skin can be seen if I move my arms at all. I'm only 36 and having the arms of an old lady is surely disorienting for anyone who might notice.

    Regardless, I prefer it over the mammoth arms I was once sporting. At least saggy skin can be covered up. Being enormous can't be.
  • salembambi
    salembambi Posts: 5,585 Member
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    ive lost 150 pounds so i have quite a bit of loose skin it really sucks but its life

  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    edited July 2015
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    I lost 130ish pounds. I've been maintaining for almost three years.

    I have noticeable saggy skin on my thighs. My arms sag when I hold them lateral to my body. I do not have a flat stomach.

    So I choose skirts that hit at the knee, though I wear a bathing suit without a second thought. I don't hold my arms lateral to my body (unless I'm doing a lateral raise). I wear high-waisted bottoms with my bikini.

    Bottom line: I feel a million times better than I did when I was obese. I don't have time to care about loose skin. I can run and play with my son and climb mountains (literal and metaphorical). Sure, it would be great to have a supermodel body but it's also great to say screw it, I'm good enough right now.

    Don't let (the potential for) saggy skin be an excuse for staying obese. Instead of worrying about preventing loose skin, focus on losing weight in a healthy and sustainable way so that you keep it off. And if you learn to love and accept yourself along the way, everything will be easier. Trust me on this one.
  • javakitty
    javakitty Posts: 31 Member
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    I think a healthy diet with lots of lean protein, vegetables, good fat, and water will help minimize loose skin. Don't starve yourself and be sure to exercise. It can also take a couple years after weight loss for the skin to finish tightening.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
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    loose skin on a healthy body that can do awesome stuff is not really all that bad.
  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
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    I've lost just shy of 100 pounds -- from 290 to 193 -- and it is a thing that happens. You can drink water, lift, target your diet, but no one can say whether that will help or not. You won't know until you're there.

    I have loose skin on my stomach from pregnancy and being very heavy, and my arms, and on my thighs (especially at my knee on the inside). I don't love any of these things. I also don't love that my hair tends to be frizzy or that my pores are huge or that my feet are wide -- and I consider this to be just as much "one of those things" that you learn to accept about your body, because obsessive hate is only going to cause anxiety about it.

    And honestly? I love my body, even though it's sort of bottom heavy (whereas I used to be more evenly hourglass) and squishy and wiggly. I rocked my first bare midrift at a bar recently, with nothing but support and compliments. Losing weight has been a huge boost to my self-esteem and my perceived self-worth. I experiment more, take more risks, and I'm a lot less likely to let other people treat me like I'm not worthy of respect and dignity.

    No amount of loose skin can ruin that, IMO. Lose the weight you want to lose and learn to sort out the rest of it as you do.

    (Unrelated: are you in the 5'2"-5'4" range? I'm a hair over 5'2" and 130 is what I'm told is ideal, even though I have no current plans to get even near that low.)
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I've had 2 babies both over 9 pounds when born and I gained 60 pounds in both my pregnancies. The heaviest I got was December 2013 I was 220 and 9.5 months pregnant. When I bend over my skin will sag a little in my stomach area but that's about it.

    I would rather have sagging skin than be as big as I was.
  • ald783
    ald783 Posts: 688 Member
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    You will probably have some loose skin but the amount really varies by person.. genetics, etc. Some things can help but at the end of the day when you gain and lose a substantial amount of weight, your skin has been stretched out and it will not go completely back to what it was.

    I lost 115 pounds (I'm 5'11) and had some loose skin on my stomach, arms, and thighs but it wasn't bad. I decided to have surgery on my stomach and arms and I love the result but I could have lived very happily with the loose skin. It is certainly not a reason not to lose weight, and I think anyone that says they're more unhappy with their body post-weight loss due to loose skin is probably dealing with deeper body acceptance issues. The benefits of weight loss FAR outweigh the negatives of loose skin.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    I'll take the loose skin on my belly over all the fat I had hanging all over me anyday. Loose skin tucks into things easier. :)
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    Loose skin > Being obese
  • kjurassic
    kjurassic Posts: 571 Member
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    Age and genetics will determine this....I lost 95 lbs and have loose skin on arms, stomach, inner thighs, butt!!! It looks like a deflated balloon in those areas, droopy, wrinkly, NOT ATTRACTIVE. Naked, I looked better fat. Clothed, I look better now. The jury is still "out" whether or not I think all of this is "worth it."
  • mbcieslak87
    mbcieslak87 Posts: 206 Member
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    Fat causes health problems and loose skin does not... so for that reason alone, don't let a fear of loose skin hold you back... especially because genetics plays a huge role and you may not have any issues.

    Furthermore, if it bothers you a lot, once you lose the weight, give yourself a "keep it off" time period, where you save for surgery to get rid of it, and the you'll know you can keep it off and love the way you look... if it comes to that
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,826 Member
    edited July 2015
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    A friend told me not to dare complain in front of a woman who had a baby in her 30's :smile:
    I always head her advice :blush:

    I can and do complain. And with my first billion I will be sponsoring a series of "deflated balloons look GREAT" art appreciation festivals.

    Still, there is no jury as to whether it was "worth it": my health is way more important than anyone's opinion (including my own) about how I look.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    True, nobody wants to look saggy, but I was more afraid of having a family member find me dead in my bed.

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