Loose skin no muscle tone

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iamawesomereally
iamawesomereally Posts: 3 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hey all, I lost 86 pounds using MFP and have been in maintenance for a year. As you can imagine I have some loose skin, even though I lost my weight slowly.

Skin shrinks as you lose, but there was a lot of fat underneath. Anyway I walk 5 miles a day and am pretty active. My stomach could sure use some tightening. One obstacle....two surgeries that have affected stomach muscles. Any thoughts on how to firm up this otherwise amazing body?

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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    You mention walking which is good for cardio, but I don't see a mention of strength training. You can start with body weight exercises and progress to weights. Strength training shapes your body.

    On YouTube - look for Jessica Smith TV, Fitness Blender, HasFit. Lots out there.

    With surgeries I'm not sure what your limitations are. you might want to work with a physical therapist.
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
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    Seconding strength training! Or even starting with body weight exercises like yoga.
  • iamawesomereally
    iamawesomereally Posts: 3 Member
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    Thank you for your replies. I agree and have done and still do some strength training, just very loose skin in the stomach area (arms and thighs, too). The "surgeries" were a long time ago, bikini cut c-section and hysterectomy and they have really played havoc with muscles in the abdomen. Don't have limitations. Have tried planking, crunches, ab roller and other assorted exercises. Just wondering if others struggle with the loose skin and if they have had success in making it go away or at least less noticeable.
  • iamawesomereally
    iamawesomereally Posts: 3 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    You mention walking which is good for cardio, but I don't see a mention of strength training. You can start with body weight exercises and progress to weights. Strength training shapes your body.

    On YouTube - look for Jessica Smith TV, Fitness Blender, HasFit. Lots out there.

    With surgeries I'm not sure what your limitations are. you might want to work with a physical therapist.

    I will definitely look this up.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Loose skin takes awhile to "snap" back. It depends upon a number of factors: how far the skin was stretched, how long the skin was stretched, your age, and also genetics. Give it more time.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    iamawesomereally wrote: »
    Thank you for your replies. I agree and have done and still do some strength training, just very loose skin in the stomach area (arms and thighs, too). The "surgeries" were a long time ago, bikini cut c-section and hysterectomy and they have really played havoc with muscles in the abdomen. Don't have limitations. Have tried planking, crunches, ab roller and other assorted exercises. Just wondering if others struggle with the loose skin and if they have had success in making it go away or at least less noticeable.

    Remember there's two things you can't exercise (fat and skin) and one thing you can (muscle).

    There's realistically not much you can do about loose skin apart from give it a couple of years. Mine certainly improved in that timescale.

    But you can do a lot about changing your physique with strength training, but if you have loose skin over that physique you still have loose skin.

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