Saggy skin or just fat? I need input please!!
tonyalynn26
Posts: 49 Member
I was doing planks just a few minutes ago in just my sports bra and shorts. I happened to glance down under me and noticed what I consider scary, I was actually in shock.
My mid-section has always been an issue for me since having kids and I am trying to at least flatten it out a bit. I have lost 30lbs and just want to have a flat tummy, I don't need visible abs, but after what I seen I am not sure if it's even possible for me to have a flat tummy. I know I still have fat to get rid of and I know that it's not all saggy skin, but now I wonder if a lot of it is.
Here is a front view, and a side view(not good quality) in plank poisiton and then front and side view of me standing.
What are your thoughts? Is it fixable? Is it mainly saggy skin or mainly fat?
My mid-section has always been an issue for me since having kids and I am trying to at least flatten it out a bit. I have lost 30lbs and just want to have a flat tummy, I don't need visible abs, but after what I seen I am not sure if it's even possible for me to have a flat tummy. I know I still have fat to get rid of and I know that it's not all saggy skin, but now I wonder if a lot of it is.
Here is a front view, and a side view(not good quality) in plank poisiton and then front and side view of me standing.
What are your thoughts? Is it fixable? Is it mainly saggy skin or mainly fat?
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Replies
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Maybe a little bit of both. I have the same thing, but I don't really worry about it because I know that having kids changed my body in many ways. That and pretty much the only people likely to see me doing planks in just a sports bra are my kids and I gave them life so they can deal with the "horror." As you continue to lose weight it will get smaller, but without surgery to removed the excess skin, it will probably never be perfectly flat.0
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A combo of both, but I think it's more fat than skin.0
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JenAndSome wrote: »Maybe a little bit of both. I have the same thing, but I don't really worry about it because I know that having kids changed my body in many ways. That and pretty much the only people likely to see me doing planks in just a sports bra are my kids and I gave them life so they can deal with the "horror." As you continue to lose weight it will get smaller, but without surgery to removed the excess skin, it will probably never be perfectly flat.
I am pretty close being done losing weight, now focusing on body fat loss, and surgery is not an option. Guess I will just keeping working on strengthening my core and hope that maybe it will go down a bit more.0 -
I say it is mainly saggy skin. You can tuck it in or get surgery. You look like you are in magnificent shape by the way. I love this guy and the way he approaches life, also dealing with saggy skin. Note how buff he is under the skin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpKDteQ3FIQ1 -
I_Will_End_You wrote: »A combo of both, but I think it's more fat than skin.
That is reassuring because I can work on that.
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That looks more like excess skin to me. You could theoretically lose a little bit of fat but I would guess it would mostly require surgery to get rid of it.0
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I agree, a little bit of both. I would know, mine looks/looked similar. Doing compound movements and lots of different plank work has definitely helped it "hang" less and slowly the fat has gone down while I believe the stronger my core gets the less the skin sags so much. It's a slow process and probably will never look completely flat without surgical intervention. Congratz on the 30 lbs so far and just keep up the hard work. You may never look like before you had kids but health and fitness is still worth it.0
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It's probably mostly skin.
Someone here once said 'it takes about a year to lose the fat, and another for your skin to catch up depending on how much you lost and how fast'. Finding that to be the case myself. About 3 months ago (when I started maintaining) my stomach looked like that. I haven't continued to lose, but people kept saying I looked like I was still losing. The last few weeks I've noticed it's just my skin slowly shrinking back. Still jingly bits everywhere but it's definitely getting better! Kind of looks like my skin is being sucked into my bellybutton XD0 -
Looks like excess skin. My stomach does the same thing when I plank. I just don't look down...0
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I have a very flat stomach . . . when I am standing. Mine does the same thing when I do planks or push ups. I know it's loose skin left over from my pregnancies. Meh, no one is going to see it but me. Mine is smaller than that, so when you lose more weight it will get a little smaller, but not disappear completely. (until you stand up)0
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It looks like a combination of fat and skin to me. But probably more skin than fat. I don't know that I would agree that surgery is required to get rid of it. It should shrink up some on it's own over time.0
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maroonmango211 wrote: »I agree, a little bit of both. I would know, mine looks/looked similar. Doing compound movements and lots of different plank work has definitely helped it "hang" less and slowly the fat has gone down while I believe the stronger my core gets the less the skin sags so much. It's a slow process and probably will never look completely flat without surgical intervention. Congratz on the 30 lbs so far and just keep up the hard work. You may never look like before you had kids but health and fitness is still worth it.
I know in the end that it is worth it. Sometimes it's just discouraging to know I have been working so hard and then to see that. I will just keeping doing my thing in hopes that it gets better!!
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Mostly fat IMO. But you look good overall. Keep up the hard work.0
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I have the same thing. I honestly don't know because I still have some fat on my hips too and, well, it definitely doesn't hang like that. But the belly... yikes. I guess it has slightly improved in the year I've been maintaining though (but man I also have a huge roll when I sit down).
Good luck trying to get rid of it though! I've mostly given up.0 -
Yes I had the same problem from 152 lbs to now 118 lbs as you lose weight it shall decrease not to perfection morr than likeley it loks like fat weighing the skin down mostly tho.. mines has reduced to 1 fat roll now I did have 2 now my only problem is my lower belly.. a fat pocket at the bottom... urs looks like fat mostly skin is thin so I doubt that being all skin. Skin is not that thick now. Not on humans anyway. .I_Will_End_You wrote: »A combo of both, but I think it's more fat than skin.
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Combo of both. I'm still working on mine and when I'm at lowest body fat, its very minimal and only noticeable when I plank. Will never look pre-pregnancy though without surgery, imo.0
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Mine was the same but have been doing major work on my core, don't think it will ever go away, try squats,kettleball squats, planks, full sit ups, leg raises, mine has got a lot better recently - I had twins and a csection so feel your pain0
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For me the lower body fat or weight the more reduced that belly area is ofc I kno it wont be flat ever but accept that .. even still when I plank / push up I have still that everlasting roll but I know better to think better and improve ..0
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littlemissorange wrote: »Mine was the same but have been doing major work on my core, don't think it will ever go away, try squats,kettleball squats, planks, full sit ups, leg raises, mine has got a lot better recently - I had twins and a csection so feel your pain
Btw i had 2 c-sections as well0 -
Both. I get the sag like you have in the top picture when I lean over. See those loops of skin at the bottom of your belly in the face on picture? That is just skin. Sadly if you lose more fat they'll get worse. Then over a couple of years that skin should tighten. You should be able to tuck it into a swimming suit though.
I have loose skin too.
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Both. I'm not one for posting pics online, but assure you that others (including me) have worse and grosser loose skin than you ever will. Hope that makes you feel better.
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Both. I get the sag like you have in the top picture when I lean over. See those loops of skin at the bottom of your belly in the face on picture? That is just skin. Sadly if you lose more fat they'll get worse. Then over a couple of years that skin should tighten. You should be able to tuck it into a swimming suit though.
I have loose skin too.
I have those loops of skin on each of my butt cheeks now. I can imagine what the tummy will look like when I get to goal. I think my bottom will be a good predictor of how much I can expect the skin to tighten up.0 -
Just consider it a little padding. No man I know of wants to be knocking boots with a bone....(break out the urban dictionary.....it's all the youngish people I hang around....
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I'm going to say both as well.
I have something similar going on as well. I'm hoping it will tighten up, but if it doesn't then I might actually consider surgery (I'm giving it a few years though).
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Loose skin is the same as pinching the back of your hand. If pinching another area is more than that, there is still fat to lose. Fat doesn't weigh very much, contrary to popular opinion. Five pounds of fat is about the size of a medium pumpkin.
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It is both, like others have said. And I don't think you look bad at all.
I have loose skin, on my bottom, my arms, my thighs, my stomach, my neck, and all I can do is hope is will tighten over time. I still have another 15-25 pounds till my goal weight. I spent my youth overweight and my adulthood obese, so I know I will always live with skin, unless I want to go under a knife. Mine looks alot like shadow2soul, but much fuller. I need to work on my core too.0 -
atypicalsmith wrote: »Loose skin is the same as pinching the back of your hand. If pinching another area is more than that, there is still fat to lose. Fat doesn't weigh very much, contrary to popular opinion. Five pounds of fat is about the size of a medium pumpkin.
No. Most people don't have much fat at all on the back of their hands, but pretty much everyone has some fat on their belly, so there's no way it will feel the same at all.
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I have a similar stomach now, especially when bending over. I think it's a combination of the loose skin and any fats that's still there having more room to "wiggle" around (I feel like the fat I have now is super jiggly and more loose compared to it being more firm and pudgy).
I like to look on the bright side and see the loose skin as a reminder of where I've been and where I never want to return to. That, and I like grossing out people by stretching out the skin.
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atypicalsmith wrote: »Loose skin is the same as pinching the back of your hand. If pinching another area is more than that, there is still fat to lose. Fat doesn't weigh very much, contrary to popular opinion. Five pounds of fat is about the size of a medium pumpkin.
No. Most people don't have much fat at all on the back of their hands, but pretty much everyone has some fat on their belly, so there's no way it will feel the same at all.
They don't feel that different. They really are similar when you have low body fat. If it is just loose skin (like my picture above) it will feel nearly identical to the skin on the back of your hand.0 -
The ripples in the skin would indicate to me more skin than fat.
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