Does this sound like fat or loose skin?
Verity1111
Posts: 3,309 Member
I definitely still have excess fat... but Im thinking I have a ton of loose skin. I have 3 kids and with my first I gained 70, yes, 70lbs. Not proud of it but I was a teenager and people kept saying it all falls off with the baby (liars) lol. Took me a long time to lose it before. But anyway Im around the 170s right now ant 5'4" and I kept thinking I sure do look and feel bigger than when I was this weight before my kids. My stomach in the front TMI a bit gross but hangs some and it's ...uneven? Like one side seems a tiny bit lower if I look close. I have a small curve upward now and it's strange and looks like skin. And if I put my hand on the top of my abdomen and pull up a little, I magically look a lot thinner, my stomach is lifted and looks natural that way. But then also when I try to grab skin I struggle with it or it feels too thick to be skin but it could just be me not knowing wth Im doing. lol. Does it sound like loose skin? Ive never heard of fat I can just gently tug up from 6 in away and it disappears. Also, it's not hanging past my pelvis or anything crazy but its definitely noticeable. Any hope for tightening it AT ALL over time if it is skin or will I likely need surgery? I have another 50lbs to go.
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Replies
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It seems to be very common for women who have had children to have some sagging in the lower stomach region. Like any loose skin, it might tighten up some over time or it might not - that's largely genetics, age, etc. If you poke around the forum, you'll see a LOT of posts from women worried about stomach fat/skin. There's at least one post in the stickies about how to tone your stomach area as well.6
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MegaMooseEsq wrote: »It seems to be very common for women who have had children to have some sagging in the lower stomach region. Like any loose skin, it might tighten up some over time or it might not - that's largely genetics, age, etc. If you poke around the forum, you'll see a LOT of posts from women worried about stomach fat/skin. There's at least one post in the stickies about how to tone your stomach area as well.
Thanks! Well Im more asking so I dont waste time staring at it waiting for results and working hard to be disappointed if I just need surgery. If I need surgery Ill get surgery. I will save up now if I need to for later because Im not working my *kitten* off to lose 100lbs or a bit more (total) just to be stuck feeling self conscious.1 -
If it feels thick it sounds like you still have a blanket of fat under the skin. Does your tummy float in the bath?2
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Loose skin is crepey. If there's thickness to it, there's still fat involved.7
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If it feels thick it sounds like you still have a blanket of fat under the skin. Does your tummy float in the bath?
To be honest I dont know??? Lol. I dont usually take a bath (more showers) should I check? lol.GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Loose skin is crepey. If there's thickness to it, there's still fat involved.
A bit of course! I do think there's fat there (I'm still overweight of course) but I think theres also a lot of excess skin.
I have this fear that when I lose the next 30lbs Im going to really see it... HOPEFULLY I am wrong and it tightens up slowly. 1 -
Loose skin looks wrinkly, think shar pei skin lol. I have fat still and a lot of loose skin and the bottom of my belly is all wrinkled.2
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SO you need to lose 25 lbs to get into the normal BMI range, 40 lbs total to get into the middle of the normal BMI range. Skin doesn't weigh THAT much. On 300 lb people who go down to 150 lbs, yeah, there's a lot of excess skin. I dropped 72 lbs at one point and i had lose skin. on the insides of all of my joints, when relaxed, I had wrinkles that looked like crumpled tissue paper. Skin is actually not that thick. Its thickness varies from 0.5mm on your eyelids to 4mm or more on the palms of your hands/the soles of your feet. Here's a picture of loose skin (ignore the tendon, just look at the crumpled looking lines:
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Fat cells don't politely deplete starting with the outermost layer near the skin, and preceding inward. The fat can deplete anywhere in the fatty area. First, the fat mass may get softer, squishier, even floppier, before being mostly gone.
There's a phase where the softened fat mass is enough to pull the surrounding skin downward under gravity's influence. That keeps the skin still stretched out.
Loose skin, and whether it will shrink back or not, is influenced by age, genetics, and more. But while it still has squishy fat poufing it out and pulling it down, it can't really shrink. It sounds like you may be at that stage now.
For me, the true loose skin - the thin wrinkles stuff - has shrunk fairly well, and continued to shrink even into my current 2nd year of maintenance . . . and I'm 61.
I don't mean to be harsh, but it's still early for you to be able to evaluate your situation. Keep going, lose the 50 pounds. Stay active and healthy - the best you can do to encourage your skin to stay supple - and evaluate when you're at goal weight, keeping in mind that the thin-wrinkles parts can keep shrinking for quite a while after.
If there are still squishy areas at goal, then consider strength training for recomposition (more muscle, less fat at the same weight), or - at the extreme - surgery.
But give it time. I predict it won't be as bad as you're thinking now.11 -
SO you need to lose 25 lbs to get into the normal BMI range, 40 lbs total to get into the middle of the normal BMI range. Skin doesn't weigh THAT much. On 300 lb people who go down to 150 lbs, yeah, there's a lot of excess skin. I dropped 72 lbs at one point and i had lose skin. on the insides of all of my joints, when relaxed, I had wrinkles that looked like crumpled tissue paper. Skin is actually not that thick. Its thickness varies from 0.5mm on your eyelids to 4mm or more on the palms of your hands/the soles of your feet. Here's a picture of loose skin (ignore the tendon, just look at the crumpled looking lines:
My stomach kind of has that already. Although, it is not as obvious. I've lost 50lbs so far... I have at LEAST 50 more before I *may* be happy.1 -
Fat cells don't politely deplete starting with the outermost layer near the skin, and preceding inward. The fat can deplete anywhere in the fatty area. First, the fat mass may get softer, squishier, even floppier, before being mostly gone.
There's a phase where the softened fat mass is enough to pull the surrounding skin downward under gravity's influence. That keeps the skin still stretched out.
Loose skin, and whether it will shrink back or not, is influenced by age, genetics, and more. But while it still has squishy fat poufing it out and pulling it down, it can't really shrink. It sounds like you may be at that stage now.
For me, the true loose skin - the thin wrinkles stuff - has shrunk fairly well, and continued to shrink even into my current 2nd year of maintenance . . . and I'm 61.
I don't mean to be harsh, but it's still early for you to be able to evaluate your situation. Keep going, lose the 50 pounds. Stay active and healthy - the best you can do to encourage your skin to stay supple - and evaluate when you're at goal weight, keeping in mind that the thin-wrinkles parts can keep shrinking for quite a while after.
If there are still squishy areas at goal, then consider strength training for recomposition (more muscle, less fat at the same weight), or - at the extreme - surgery.
But give it time. I predict it won't be as bad as you're thinking now.
Thank you! I def will be strength training. Im just super busy right now with school 2 kids with disabilities and another kid and I am always physically ill.... I am hoping losing some more weight maybe around the 150s I might have more energy...1 -
Strength training is awesome but won't do anything for your loose skin.
As about wrinkles fading... 3 years of maintenance now and they haven't changed one bit. I'm 39 and I lost 80 lbs (ok I regained 10, but still, shar pei belly).2 -
To be clear: I'm not saying weight training is directly good for one's skin.
I'm saying that if one reaches goal weight (doesn't want to lose more weight), but still has areas with squishy fat dragging down loose skin, recomposition via weight training (adding muscle) is one way to reduce that fat (potentially allowing more skin to shrink) while staying at the same weight.
That's all.5 -
I have a 9 month old baby and there's still excess fat in this picture but there's a lot of extra skin. Mine hangs exactly like you described its uneven and just hangs there and if I pull up by my ribs or hips I look a lot thinner. I have lost 30 pounds so far and it's still there. I'm 5'4 as welll I started off at 158 now I'm 128.3 -
rickiimarieee wrote: »
I have a 9 month old baby and there's still excess fat in this picture but there's a lot of extra skin. Mine hangs exactly like you described its uneven and just hangs there and if I pull up by my ribs or hips I look a lot thinner. I have lost 30 pounds so far and it's still there. I'm 5'4 as welll I started off at 158 now I'm 128.
Ok that sounds a lot like me and looks similar. You're obviously way thinner but yes mine looks similar to yours! Thanks for sharing. So no change at all? Does it at least hang a little less low now?2 -
Hmm I'm not entirely sure if I see a difference in it. My fiancé does, but I feel like I don't and I feel as if it will never go away.Verity1111 wrote: »rickiimarieee wrote: »
I have a 9 month old baby and there's still excess fat in this picture but there's a lot of extra skin. Mine hangs exactly like you described its uneven and just hangs there and if I pull up by my ribs or hips I look a lot thinner. I have lost 30 pounds so far and it's still there. I'm 5'4 as welll I started off at 158 now I'm 128.
Ok that sounds a lot like me and looks similar. You're obviously way thinner but yes mine looks similar to yours! Thanks for sharing. So no change at all? Does it at least hang a little less low now?
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You have to remember as well that childbirth loosens the abdominal wall so even if you lose all fat you gained and then some, the lower belly can look "saggy" simply because the muscle tone has loosened and changed. It's not something that is typically changed by exercise or anything like that either, it is simply a result of the expansion of the female body to accommodate a child growing. Extreme cases result in a tummy tuck... Mild cases are generally just accepted as the result of childbearing.
This can happen to people who are exceptionally overweight as well, where the abdominal muscles loosen and spread and they do not go back to the original position after weight loss, so there can be loose spots and gaps apparent. This could be separation in the middle of the stomach, the creation of a "pooch" at the bottom of the belly, or a number of other things. Just how it is.3 -
Fat cells don't politely deplete starting with the outermost layer near the skin, and preceding inward. The fat can deplete anywhere in the fatty area. First, the fat mass may get softer, squishier, even floppier, before being mostly gone.
There's a phase where the softened fat mass is enough to pull the surrounding skin downward under gravity's influence. That keeps the skin still stretched out.
Loose skin, and whether it will shrink back or not, is influenced by age, genetics, and more. But while it still has squishy fat poufing it out and pulling it down, it can't really shrink. It sounds like you may be at that stage now.
For me, the true loose skin - the thin wrinkles stuff - has shrunk fairly well, and continued to shrink even into my current 2nd year of maintenance . . . and I'm 61.
I don't mean to be harsh, but it's still early for you to be able to evaluate your situation. Keep going, lose the 50 pounds. Stay active and healthy - the best you can do to encourage your skin to stay supple - and evaluate when you're at goal weight, keeping in mind that the thin-wrinkles parts can keep shrinking for quite a while after.
If there are still squishy areas at goal, then consider strength training for recomposition (more muscle, less fat at the same weight), or - at the extreme - surgery.
But give it time. I predict it won't be as bad as you're thinking now.
@AnnPT77 - I just wanted to tell you your comments & explanation about this on an earlier thread were really helpful and influenced my outlook about the whole thing. I thought I was doomed to these skin issues, but I can clearly see that the fat that remains (and there's still plenty) makes it appear a lot worse than it really is. (I'd lost about 70 lbs & still have about 40 to go.) I've also noticed when I slack & put a few lbs back on, that's the first place I notice it! I do wonder if I will ever be able to reduce the amount of fat to the extent that the skin can do it's tightening thing, but at least I know it's not totally out of my control.
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There is this thread out there as well:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10453193/honest-loose-skin-thoughts-pics/p11 -
There is this thread out there as well:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10453193/honest-loose-skin-thoughts-pics/p1
Oh no... I would not be ok with that 0 -
Verity1111 wrote: »I definitely still have excess fat... but Im thinking I have a ton of loose skin. I have 3 kids and with my first I gained 70, yes, 70lbs. Not proud of it but I was a teenager and people kept saying it all falls off with the baby (liars) lol. Took me a long time to lose it before. But anyway Im around the 170s right now ant 5'4" and I kept thinking I sure do look and feel bigger than when I was this weight before my kids. My stomach in the front TMI a bit gross but hangs some and it's ...uneven? Like one side seems a tiny bit lower if I look close. I have a small curve upward now and it's strange and looks like skin. And if I put my hand on the top of my abdomen and pull up a little, I magically look a lot thinner, my stomach is lifted and looks natural that way. But then also when I try to grab skin I struggle with it or it feels too thick to be skin but it could just be me not knowing wth Im doing. lol. Does it sound like loose skin? Ive never heard of fat I can just gently tug up from 6 in away and it disappears. Also, it's not hanging past my pelvis or anything crazy but its definitely noticeable. Any hope for tightening it AT ALL over time if it is skin or will I likely need surgery? I have another 50lbs to go.
do it now!! The person in the photo with me is my 27 year old son and I just lost weight now i'm 5'4" 117.. and I still have fat that is more than loose skin. i'm about to start a weight routine in a couple of months.. all i can say is, yes it is still fat, yes, it might tighten up, yes it will be uneven (hopefully even out) but do it now!!!0 -
don't wait until you're 44.1
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Strength training is awesome but won't do anything for your loose skin.
As about wrinkles fading... 3 years of maintenance now and they haven't changed one bit. I'm 39 and I lost 80 lbs (ok I regained 10, but still, shar pei belly).
get micro needling to get rid of the stretch marks..helped my wrinkles on my face and about to get it on my stomach1 -
Fat cells don't politely deplete starting with the outermost layer near the skin, and preceding inward. The fat can deplete anywhere in the fatty area. First, the fat mass may get softer, squishier, even floppier, before being mostly gone.
There's a phase where the softened fat mass is enough to pull the surrounding skin downward under gravity's influence. That keeps the skin still stretched out.
Loose skin, and whether it will shrink back or not, is influenced by age, genetics, and more. But while it still has squishy fat poufing it out and pulling it down, it can't really shrink. It sounds like you may be at that stage now.
For me, the true loose skin - the thin wrinkles stuff - has shrunk fairly well, and continued to shrink even into my current 2nd year of maintenance . . . and I'm 61.
I don't mean to be harsh, but it's still early for you to be able to evaluate your situation. Keep going, lose the 50 pounds. Stay active and healthy - the best you can do to encourage your skin to stay supple - and evaluate when you're at goal weight, keeping in mind that the thin-wrinkles parts can keep shrinking for quite a while after.
If there are still squishy areas at goal, then consider strength training for recomposition (more muscle, less fat at the same weight), or - at the extreme - surgery.
But give it time. I predict it won't be as bad as you're thinking now.
@AnnPT77 - I just wanted to tell you your comments & explanation about this on an earlier thread were really helpful and influenced my outlook about the whole thing. I thought I was doomed to these skin issues, but I can clearly see that the fat that remains (and there's still plenty) makes it appear a lot worse than it really is. (I'd lost about 70 lbs & still have about 40 to go.) I've also noticed when I slack & put a few lbs back on, that's the first place I notice it! I do wonder if I will ever be able to reduce the amount of fat to the extent that the skin can do it's tightening thing, but at least I know it's not totally out of my control.
Thank you: So kind!
I just report according to my experience. Others differ. But there are others here who report similar experiences to mine, too. For sure, there's no point in worrying until (1) at goal weight, and (2) after having given it a few months at least. Many, many people report body changes in maintenance, without major changes in lifestyle. Not everyone, but lots.4 -
Verity1111 wrote: »There is this thread out there as well:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10453193/honest-loose-skin-thoughts-pics/p1
Oh no... I would not be ok with that
I'm not thrilled about the prospect, but at the same time know it would be unreasonable to expect that I could abuse my body for nearly 30 years by being overweight and not experience any unwanted effects.4 -
Verity1111 wrote: »There is this thread out there as well:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10453193/honest-loose-skin-thoughts-pics/p1
Oh no... I would not be ok with that
I'm not thrilled about the prospect, but at the same time know it would be unreasonable to expect that I could abuse my body for nearly 30 years by being overweight and not experience any unwanted effects.
I havent been overweight that long Id be pretty mad at my body for being mean to me lol plus I was in a wheelchair when I really went up in weight. I was overweight a lot for maybe a total of 5-6 years out of 27. Most of which the time was after three pregnancies and an injury. But its not up to me either 100% its somewhat genetic and thank goodness for skin surgery. Im not supportive of actual extreme plastic surgeries, but simple ones like skin removal, lipo or a lift Im all for. lol0 -
It sounds like a mix of fat (where a lot of women store it until well into healthy weight), and loose skin from pregnancy.1
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Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »It sounds like a mix of fat (where a lot of women store it until well into healthy weight), and loose skin from pregnancy.
Thanks for the honesty. If its not too bad and at least doesnt hang Ill be ok with it (like if its wrinkly thats fine if its not horrid lol) but otherwise Im pretty sure Ill need skin surgery to feel good. Thank you. 0
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