120 lbs to lose- how to avoid excess skin??

I really worried about this too but then see some of the people who lose 100lb plus and look fantastic even with lose skin. Good luck.

I am down 80 pounds with no lose skin. Drink plenty of water and don't lose it too fast. Good luck!

A small portion of it can be helped with losing it in a reasonable time vs. very quickly, strength training, dry skin brushing, etc. BUT - the majority has to do with your genetics and skin elasticity.

Both my best friend and I have lost over 100 lbs each over the last 5 years. She did hers in two years (110lbs), mine took about 4 years (130 lbs). I did ALL of the above, extra strength training, plus avocado oil massages, exfoliation - everything.

My friend just did workouts & diet. Besides her stomach (she's had kids), the rest of her looks 100% normal. For me - I will need arm surgery, thigh lift, truck (backside) lift. I had a tummy tuck last October. My Dr. said unfortunately I have very poor skin elasticity. Even with skin removed, my stomach is tight (yay!) but you can tell it is stretched out skin. My skin is exactly like a deflated balloon.

I've learned to accept it but will be having procedures to have it removed. Tummy tuck cost me 8k but I only put $500 down and then they financed it, I pay $180 a month. Not too bad. I plan on saving for the other surgeries.

It sucks, but my life is so incredible being healthy I wouldn't trade it for the world. There is no point beating yourself up for what you can't change now (i.e. for allowing yourself to gain the weight in the first place). You are on the right path, that's all that matters.

Congrats on your 13 lbs - it is ONLY the beginning. Don't look back, never give up, slow and steady wins the race!

I don't know much about this at all, but it's probably worth investing in a good body moisturiser - it doesn't have to be expensive even something like Nivea Q10 skin firming moisturiser should help to keep the skin elasticity up. maybe look at good vitamin pills that also help boost skin elasticity.

These things might not be complete solutions but they should surely help :-)

Agree also skin brushing/exfoliating, not losing too quickly, exercising, moisturising, drinking lots of water etc. I think the worse of skin sagging is due to losing far too quickly throughout the diet. Plateauing on a diet for a few weeks can be a good thing, it allows the body to recalibrate and find a new normal, before more weight loss follows. If skin sagging is a big concern, maybe after every 28lbs lost, you up your calories to maintain for 2/3 weeks before reducing them again and going back to dieting.

The worst skin sagging you see is on people who have had weight loss surgery who then lose huge amounts in a matter of weeks. I don't think skin sagging is as bad as those on diets who after the initial quick weight loss go on to lose a steady 2-3 lbs a week.

But maybe others will think differently?

Good luck tho! :-)

The cellular structures which support your skin could care less what you put on the surface of your skin. If you spend a billion dollars on creams and exfoliate a lot you will have lovely, soft, stretched out loose skin, and less money.

Unfortunately the best advice I can give is to accept the fact that you will probably have some loose skin. Factors that you can't control, like age and genetics, play a huge role in how much you will have. I lost 100 pounds in my early 30s. I have some loose skin, but not a lot. I'm mostly okay with it. I would rather have a little loose skin than a lot of extra fat. I sort of see it as both a badge of honor of how far I've come, and a caution to myself not to go back to the way I used to be. As we go through life our bodies collect markers of the experiences we've had, whether they're tattoos or scars or piercings or muscle or loose skin.