Body Fat Visual Estimation with Loose Skin

sgriska
sgriska Posts: 109 Member
edited November 2018 in Health and Weight Loss
Does anybody know if there are any sites out there that have photos of different body fat percentages where the models used have loose skin? Or any threads here on MFP where this is covered?

I have a Yunmai body composition scale that consistently says I am 25.2% (5'4"-143 lb/BMI 24.5), and the Navy calculator concurs:

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But I find myself deeply distrusting this because what I see in the mirror (after loosing 142 lbs -- right about at the halfway weight from starting) looks pretty much nothing like any of the visual estimation guides I have seen. My legs (except my inner thighs which have curtains of flab) are a lot leaner than all the 25% pictures I see, but the big flaps of skin hanging off my ribs and belly and all the wrinkles running down the middle of my gut obviously look nothing like the healthy models I see.

I don't have money for a Dexascan or anything like that. Trying just to get some ballpark sense of if I'm "there yet" in terms of being at a healthy weight. Twenty pounds ago my doctor had recommended a goal range of 140-150, and my scale and the Navy both are telling me now that I'm in that range that this is a healthy weight for me, but then I look at all the flab and think "how much further do I have to go to empty this out"? Cuz I could deal with actual loose, thin hanging skin, but really hate the way the flab is bunched up around my very short waist (thumb width space between top of hips and bottom of ribs) giving me a spare tire, after coming so far, but think I might have to go to a very low body fat percentage to actually "get rid" of that. Or maybe I actually am a lot fatter than 25% and could stand to loose a lot more without my legs getting emaciated looking or anything.

I most likely will be having skin surgery in the future, but really would like to do as much as I can to recomp and so forth before then, on my own.

I know per my doctor I should be starting on Maintenance pretty soon, but I've got anxiety about that, I guess. What do you guys think?

Replies

  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    edited November 2018
    Agreeing with @GottaBurnEmAll.
    Also if you are just hitting maintenance there is a good chance you will have further skin retraction over the next couple of years, not full retraction, but an improvement.

    I wouldn't keep going lower in the hope of emptying those last pouches of fat. You may just end up at an unsustainable weight and, if you aren't doing any kind of resistance work (lifting things that are heavy for you), a low muscle mass.

    Think of maintaining and doing a recomp for 6-12 months then make any decisions about what you want to do then.

    If I were you I would make sure I was wearing good supporting undergarment so the skin is supported and the weight of the remaining fat is not dragging my skin down and maybe not giving it the optimum chance of retraction. But that is me, no science to that thought.

    Cheers, h.
  • sgriska
    sgriska Posts: 109 Member
    Thank you, the maintenance then reassess sounds like a plan. I’ve had the same thought about shapewear and have started wearing one.
  • magnusthenerd
    magnusthenerd Posts: 1,207 Member
    I once tried looking into how a DEXA scan handles loose skin. The closest thing to any explanations I could find had the impression that the extra skin is treated as lean tissue by the scanners.
    I went ahead after that and played around with what my percentage would look like if I took 5 to 10 pounds off my total weight and lean weight to see how much higher my body fat percentage would be.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    sgriska wrote: »
    Thank you, the maintenance then reassess sounds like a plan. I’ve had the same thought about shapewear and have started wearing one.

    Did you continue wearing the shapewear, and if so, do you (subjectively) perceive that it helped in any way?

    I've wondered whether compression garments of some type would help with getting skin + subcutaneous fat areas to shrink better, since it seems like gravity would be potentially part of the problem. I've seen women say that they though it helped with skin post-pregnancy, but wondered about weight loss.

    Glad to hear your DEXA came out better than you seem to have been expecting. Your story overall is so positive and inspiring, as is your very practical and sensible attitude. Nice work!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    sgriska wrote: »
    Update:

    Finally got a Dexascan done today, and surprise surprise! At 144 lbs, Dexascan says I have 22.8% body fat. So, I'm actually in better shape than the Navy woulda guessed! LOL!

    So, yeah, just gotta come to terms with the fact that though I am at a really healthy weight, I don't look like folks that have never been obese, and short of major surgery that's just how it goes. Time to commit to maintenance and stop worrying about it.

    I feel ya. I really don't obsess over the loose skin but I fully admit to glancing with a bit of longing at friends' bellies...friends who are my weight/size have pretty nice bellies as a rule, even if they have some loose skin from childbirth or weight loss, it's not 130+ lb of weight loss like me. Mine's kind of a mess. Meh!
  • sgriska
    sgriska Posts: 109 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    sgriska wrote: »
    Thank you, the maintenance then reassess sounds like a plan. I’ve had the same thought about shapewear and have started wearing one.

    Did you continue wearing the shapewear, and if so, do you (subjectively) perceive that it helped in any way?

    I've wondered whether compression garments of some type would help with getting skin + subcutaneous fat areas to shrink better, since it seems like gravity would be potentially part of the problem. I've seen women say that they though it helped with skin post-pregnancy, but wondered about weight loss.

    Glad to hear your DEXA came out better than you seem to have been expecting. Your story overall is so positive and inspiring, as is your very practical and sensible attitude. Nice work!

    I have continued wearing shape wear, I'd say probably 6 out of 7 days a week on average, though as it gets hotter down here in Georgia the last few weeks it's been more like 4-5 days a week. I really don't know if it's helped or not, but I will say overall that I would have expected to have a lot more loose skin and flab than I actually do. I have a bit of an apron, though not to the extent that the skin is truly redundant at the bottom, just a big sag around my bikini line and a weird "butt crease" down the middle of my abs, but these don't really bother me because they're hidden by clothes and I've never been one who ever wanted to wear a bikini anyway -- when I wear a swim suit it's because I want to swim! So, the love handles are the main thing that bothers me, but they are to the point where I can usually just tuck them into my waistband, so not really a huge problem. And if shape wear has helped me get to that point, great. If not, it certainly hasn't hurt any. But I have no way to really know for sure.
  • sgriska
    sgriska Posts: 109 Member
    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    sgriska wrote: »
    Update:

    Finally got a Dexascan done today, and surprise surprise! At 144 lbs, Dexascan says I have 22.8% body fat. So, I'm actually in better shape than the Navy woulda guessed! LOL!

    So, yeah, just gotta come to terms with the fact that though I am at a really healthy weight, I don't look like folks that have never been obese, and short of major surgery that's just how it goes. Time to commit to maintenance and stop worrying about it.

    I feel ya. I really don't obsess over the loose skin but I fully admit to glancing with a bit of longing at friends' bellies...friends who are my weight/size have pretty nice bellies as a rule, even if they have some loose skin from childbirth or weight loss, it's not 130+ lb of weight loss like me. Mine's kind of a mess. Meh!


    Yeah, I don't really obsess over it I don't think, but there's a big part of me that really hates that I've come this far and still have a muffin-top. But realistically, without getting down to a really, really low body fat percentage I wouldn't otherwise be comfortable with, and short of surgery, that isn't going anywhere. My waist is short enough that the extra skin from my rib area just kinda puddles up on top of my hip bones and is thick enough to obscure my waist and that's just how it goes. If I had more than a thumb's width of space between the bottom of my ribs and top of my pelvis it probably wouldn't be an issue, but what I can I do? I'm from a long line of hobbit-like stock! LOL!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    sgriska wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    sgriska wrote: »
    Thank you, the maintenance then reassess sounds like a plan. I’ve had the same thought about shapewear and have started wearing one.

    Did you continue wearing the shapewear, and if so, do you (subjectively) perceive that it helped in any way?

    I've wondered whether compression garments of some type would help with getting skin + subcutaneous fat areas to shrink better, since it seems like gravity would be potentially part of the problem. I've seen women say that they though it helped with skin post-pregnancy, but wondered about weight loss.

    Glad to hear your DEXA came out better than you seem to have been expecting. Your story overall is so positive and inspiring, as is your very practical and sensible attitude. Nice work!

    I have continued wearing shape wear, I'd say probably 6 out of 7 days a week on average, though as it gets hotter down here in Georgia the last few weeks it's been more like 4-5 days a week. I really don't know if it's helped or not, but I will say overall that I would have expected to have a lot more loose skin and flab than I actually do. I have a bit of an apron, though not to the extent that the skin is truly redundant at the bottom, just a big sag around my bikini line and a weird "butt crease" down the middle of my abs, but these don't really bother me because they're hidden by clothes and I've never been one who ever wanted to wear a bikini anyway -- when I wear a swim suit it's because I want to swim! So, the love handles are the main thing that bothers me, but they are to the point where I can usually just tuck them into my waistband, so not really a huge problem. And if shape wear has helped me get to that point, great. If not, it certainly hasn't hurt any. But I have no way to really know for sure.

    Thank you for replying, and for doing it so specifically. That's interesting and informative, though I understand it can't be definitive. Again, thanks.

    Wishing you health and happiness going forward! :flowerforyou:

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