loose skin an issue if weight loss of 50 - 60 lbs?

I started at 195, 5'4.75" and I lost ~70 pounds. I have some loose skin but not enough to consider surgery. I am also 49 and have had 2 kids. Age , genetics and amount of weight lost all play a factor. For me it has not been a serious issue. I hope it will tighten up some after a year or two, but if it doesn't I can live with it.

5'5", started at 183, lost to 120, and didn't have a huge amount . . . and I'm 61 years old. There's some visible on my stomach in plank position if lower torso is bare, but everything looks fine with clothes. Arms are OK (see profile pic) but I'm active and have some muscle there. Had some on my rear at first, but it's mostly tightened up over the year and a bit since I hit goal. Your skin will likely keep shrinking for a long time after you hit goal: Mine sure has, and I'm old.

I'm 5-7 started at 220, now 147. Yes, I have loose skins on my arms, stomach and right above my knees. Do I love it? No. Would I rather be 73# heavier. Hell no.

even though its mostly genetics, exercises n weight training will help significantly. 5.7 went from 210 to 165 with no loose skin but ive been lifting all along

Hi Dogslove,

I think it differs from one person to another. went from 176 lbs to 122 and am 45 years old. I've had three children and even if skin is a bit more loose, it has contracted well back

One additional comment: When we talk about loose skin, we need be clear that we're talking about the same thing.

True loose skin is quite thin: Think about how the skin looks if you pull up a tiny pinch of it somewhere that has minimal fat, like the back of your hand. Post-weight-loss loose skin will fall in quite small wrinkles, about the thickness of a medium-weight fabric, such as a finer corduroy or a lightweight denim.

Thicker folds, like 1/2 inch or more, are skin with a remaining layer of sub-cutaneous fat dragging them down.

Sadly, we don't neatly lose fat starting with the outer layer, and successively proceeding to inward layers. We can lose fat pretty much anywhere within our fat mass. The fat mass becomes squishier, and may be a little likelier to sag downward under gravity's influence.

Think of how a water balloon behaves with only a little water in it (but no air) vs. a water balloon that's pretty full with water. The latter stays plump and rounded, resisting gravity. The former gets pliable and kind of floppy. If you held a slightly-filled water balloon at the edge of a table, some of it would droop over the edge, whereas a plumply full balloon would just sit there being rounded, no drooping.

One of the reasons I adjusted my goal weight down a little when I got close was that I saw I had subcutaneous fat dragging on skin in some spots to the point where the skin could never shrink.

I'm not encouraging unhealthy thinness to avoid droopy areas! Another option at reasonable body fat percent but some droopy areas is recomposition - eating near maintenance to build more muscle but stay at the same weight, which means additional fat loss. Bulk & cut cycles are also an option.