at what point can you predict if you are going to have loose skin?

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    delgrand wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    I believe that by the time you hit the healthy weight range for your height you'll have a good idea of whether or not you'll have loose skin.

    Considering how much you will end up losing, you will likely have some permanently loose skin. That doesn't mean I think you'll have huge draping swaths of it but you'll likely be able to pull/stretch it out in some areas.

    Post #12 in this thread is what I'm talking about.

    I would be heartbroken If I ended up looking like the picture on the left in post 12 . I hope you are wrong :smile:

    Read through that thread and pay attention to what it's telling you. Lift while you lose but expect to have some loose skin. If you put in as much work as he has you might someday look as good as him but you have to be realistic about what it takes to build a nice physique and what the ramifications of being obese are. He started out with pretty much the same amount of weight to lose as you and he was about the same age so he's a good example to study.
  • delgrand
    delgrand Posts: 108 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    delgrand wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    I believe that by the time you hit the healthy weight range for your height you'll have a good idea of whether or not you'll have loose skin.

    Considering how much you will end up losing, you will likely have some permanently loose skin. That doesn't mean I think you'll have huge draping swaths of it but you'll likely be able to pull/stretch it out in some areas.

    Post #12 in this thread is what I'm talking about.

    I would be heartbroken If I ended up looking like the picture on the left in post 12 . I hope you are wrong :smile:

    Read through that thread and pay attention to what it's telling you. Lift while you lose but expect to have some loose skin. If you put in as much work as he has you might someday look as good as him but you have to be realistic about what it takes to build a nice physique and what the ramifications of being obese are. He started out with pretty much the same amount of weight to lose as you and he was about the same age so he's a good example to study.

    I was specifically talking about the picture on the LEFT and not the person in general.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,608 Member
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    My experience with really overweight people is that if they have more than 80+lbs to lose, the chances of loose skin is high.

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  • delgrand
    delgrand Posts: 108 Member
    edited December 2017
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    My experience with really overweight people is that if they have more than 80+lbs to lose, the chances of loose skin is high.

    :neutral:
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Congrats on the 40 lb loss. Keep it going even if you do see a little loose skin!
  • batorkin
    batorkin Posts: 281 Member
    edited December 2017
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    Going through the same process as you are (260 to 180), currently 227. No lose skin at all yet.

    You probably won't know until normal BMI range, the reason being is fat layers work the same as a toilet paper roll. For someone who needs to lose ~90 pounds, the first 30 pounds will do almost nothing, the next 30 will make a difference, and the last 30 will make a HUGE difference. The less fat you have, the more inches you lose off the same amount of fat loss.

    To help prevent lose skin, make sure you are using a hydrating oil every day after a shower and drinking LOTS of water. Hydrated skin will shrink better. Keep in mind, even after weight loss your skin will further tighten over the next few years. You most likely will have some at first.

    Also keep in mind height plays a role, a short person with 80 pounds to lose is more likely to get lose skin than a tall person with 80 pounds to lose because the fat is spread out much more. Genetics play an even bigger role though.
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    My experience with really overweight people is that if they have more than 80+lbs to lose, the chances of loose skin is high.

    That's true, but keep in mind 80 pounds will probably only be minor lose skin so don't get too scared OP. It should be nothing like you see on those videos where people lost 150+ pounds. Bulking up and gain some muscle after the loss will probably hide most or all of it.

    With that said, if you aren't lifting HEAVY 1-2 times a week... start yesterday because it is way harder to regain loss muscle than it is to keep muscle during weight loss. Muscle and genetics are probably the biggest factors when it comes to lose skin or not.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    delgrand wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    delgrand wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    I believe that by the time you hit the healthy weight range for your height you'll have a good idea of whether or not you'll have loose skin.

    Considering how much you will end up losing, you will likely have some permanently loose skin. That doesn't mean I think you'll have huge draping swaths of it but you'll likely be able to pull/stretch it out in some areas.

    Post #12 in this thread is what I'm talking about.

    I would be heartbroken If I ended up looking like the picture on the left in post 12 . I hope you are wrong :smile:

    Read through that thread and pay attention to what it's telling you. Lift while you lose but expect to have some loose skin. If you put in as much work as he has you might someday look as good as him but you have to be realistic about what it takes to build a nice physique and what the ramifications of being obese are. He started out with pretty much the same amount of weight to lose as you and he was about the same age so he's a good example to study.

    I was specifically talking about the picture on the LEFT and not the person in general.

    I understand that. I'm trying to explain that, considering the fact that his age and total weight loss were somewhat similar to what yours will be, it would be a good idea to read through his thread to see what he did wrong (not lift weights) and how he had to correct that. Are you understanding that?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,481 Member
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    I'm in the camp of "you'll know fairly well by 2 years after you reach goal weight".

    I also disagree with that "fat loss like unrolling toilet paper" idea, at least as a universal. Mine (50+ pounds in just less than a year, age 59-60) was more like a water balloon with a slow leak - fat masses started somewhat firm, gradually got squishier as they depleted. Loose skin definitely kept shrinking into 2nd year of maintenance.

    This is what I said on a similar past thread, still believe, but am too lazy to retype:
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Until you've reached goal weight, or close to it, it's hard to assess. Most of us don't lose the outermost fat cells first, then the next layer. Instead, fat cells deplete anywhere in the fat mass.

    So, fat areas may start out with firm-ish fat, and get progressively squishier or floppier as we lose weight until the fat cells are depleted enough that they stop conspiring with gravity to keep skin stretched out. Once that happens, the skin can start really shrinking . . . but it's slow.

    Actual loose skin is thin wrinkles, like you can pinch up on a body part that's bony, like kneecap, elbow, or back of hand. Thicker wrinkles/folds/rolls still have some subcutaneous fat. Until you reach close to goal, you don't know how much remaining fat vs. loose skin you have.

    How fast our true loose skin will shrink, and how much, is a function of age, genetics, and maybe some other general health factors. Any magic techniques or products that are supposed to help are pretty much pure woo.

    For me, after I reached goal weight at age 60 (after losing about 1/3 of my bodyweight), my actual loose skin - the thin wrinkles - kept shrinking at least into my 2nd year of maintenance. The areas that were still a little flabby, or where I keep gaining and losing that last few pounds seasonally, extra skin is still hanging around.

    Net result isn't bad, and I know I could get better results now via weight training to add muscle and further reduce fat at goal weight (a.k.a. recomposition) . . . but I'm lazy. ;)

    I'd aso suggest looking at posts over in the Success Stories forum, where you can see a range of results, some of which include very honest photos/comments about loose skin. Especially check the "Most Helpful Posts" section.
  • delgrand
    delgrand Posts: 108 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    Congrats on the 40 lb loss. Keep it going even if you do see a little loose skin!

    Thank you for your kind words :smile:
  • delgrand
    delgrand Posts: 108 Member
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    I am not sure why did you guys assume that I am going to stop losing weight because of my fear of having loose skin.

    Of course I am going to be sad if I ended up having loose skin, I am pretty sure no one in the world loves his/her loose skin.

    I am not going to stop , but I hope that at the end of this process I won't end up with too much loose skin, that's it.

  • delgrand
    delgrand Posts: 108 Member
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    HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »
    I don't think you're going to stop.. my concern is.. youre going to hit goal and go from being unhappy over weight, to being unhappy at a healthy weight..

    I am a five foot 3 female.. I weighed just over 300 pounds at my heaviest. I had been morbidly obese my entire life.
    I lost 165 pounds and this is what i ended up with

    I did not end up with a flat belly like every weight loss commercial and magazine.


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    My thighs were huge when i was big, as a result the front and back of my legs ended up with loose skin.

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    Not pictured was my upper arms that had a lot of wrinkles where my bat wings were.

    I am going to share something with you that i wrote Sept 1 2016
    HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »
    The person standing in this mirror right now is having a really hard time accepting the person i have been left with. I am disgusting. The remains of my 300 pound fat self still clings to my body, it sickens me. Why did i end up looking like a melted grotesque monster?
    Being morbidly obese for 29 years has left me with loose skin that only surgery can remove, toning will not improve this mess i have been left with.
    People always tell me i look great.. but try seeing what i see every time i look in the mirror.. truth is, without clothes on to hide myself i look like a 90 year old woman.
    It's embarrassing, disheartening and no amount of effort I can put in will fix this train wreck i ended up with. The end result is not always a happy ending. Disney movies lie.

    That is deep raw hatred that i felt and thought and degraded myself with every single day after my weight loss..

    29 years of verbal, mental, emotional, physical and sexual abuse from family, kids growing up and even adults in my 20's all centered around the fact that i was fat and i just continued on with it after putting in 2 solid years of effort of finally taking it off.

    I spent every day insecure, unhappy and pissed off. I did not enjoy a single day, I did not appreciate a single day. I did not appreciate the effort i put in. I let it take over my mind to a point where I questioned why i even bothered to take the weight off if that was the result i got.

    I want you to see that you are right in the respect that loose skin, its not something people are over joyed about.. But.. when my Binge eating disorder started getting out of control around April this year.. I put on 50 pounds, I have been struggling to keep the gaining under control and struggling even more so to maintain another 8-9 months of deficit again to take it off. My clothes stopped fitting, I feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I am terrified of becoming 300 pounds again.

    It wasn't my first time losing weight but it was my first time hitting my goal weight and being a healthy weight.
    Losing some weight and regaining it is a defeating feeling but hitting goal weight and gaining has a different kind of feeling, it's almost deeper, at least to me.. with a 165 pound loss i am not even anywhere close to the size i used to be and yet this gain in weight, its left me looking back at the year i wasted hating myself as deep as i did.. You don't have to embrace it and love it.. but don't let the unhappiness of the loose skin being there take over, you probably spent enough time unhappy before, didn't you?

    It left me with a better appreciation for what i had. When i regained i realized that while the loose skin was not what i was hoping for.. I would rather that and I have gone from that person who didn't see the point in losing weight to look like that to someone who can't wait to get back to that.

    Once i fight with my eating disorder and regain a long term control of it again, i will get back to that and I will not waste a day with self deprecation like i did before.

    We can't always imagine how our feelings could change about something we feel/felt so strongly about.. skip my step of regaining, appreciate yourself regardless the outcome.



    Thank you for sharing your experience. Wish you the best.

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