Loose skin, pls help

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SorinT88
SorinT88 Posts: 5 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi guys, I'm a 32 year old male, I started working out last year when I was obede, I weighed 113kg (249lbs), now after exectly one year, I weigh 73kg (161lbs). In total I have lost 40kg (88 lbs). I do alot of weight training where I progressively overload each training session and sometimes I'll do some cardio after weights. I'm tracking my calories, I am on a caloric deficit and I eat at least 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight. I think I have loose skin because I see stretch marks over my belly and some wrinkled skin under my belly button. My plan is to reach 10-12% body fat, will this mess improve at that low of a level of bodyfat? Has it been done before? Thanks all and sorry for my bad English, I'm Romanian.

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  • SorinT88
    SorinT88 Posts: 5 Member
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    2wa73edijn6o.jpg
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,154 Member
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    In most cases you can see improvement up to a year later (or even more), it just takes time. To what degree it will improve, depends on your genetics etc, it's hard to predict.

    A lower fat percentage will make the skin thinner, so it will look different, but it won't help tighten things up.
  • SorinT88
    SorinT88 Posts: 5 Member
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    This was me a year ago
  • SorinT88
    SorinT88 Posts: 5 Member
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    And this is me now. I don't know what body fat percentage I am at here, maybe over 20%. I feel skinny fat
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,154 Member
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    That's great progress, and to me you don't look 'skinny fat' since you seem to have a fair amount of muscle (although I will leave judgments about your fat percentage to more knowlegdeable people).

    IAs I said, for the loose skin it's a matter of patience, it can take up to a year or more after weight loss, so there is hope it will get better.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,541 Member
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    OMG that cat face caught me by surprise. 🤣🤣🤣

    Skin will tighten up. It may take a year or two.

    Search the boards for “stomach vacuum”. That’s been very helpful to me. (It’s an abs tightening technique, not a bogus QVC vacuum.)

    I’m older, so you may have better and faster results than me, since my skin is presumably much less elastic than your youthful skin.

    And check into recomp. That’s helped me as well.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,562 Member
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    Dependent on genetics and age help to determine "snap back" of skin. But from my experience if it doesn't tighten up by abou t 2 years, it's likely not going to. And losing more weight may have you have more loose skin since you're loosing fat mass that pushes up against it.
    Skin is an organ and can't be reduced by exercise or special diet. You'll just have to see how it goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,359 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Dependent on genetics and age help to determine "snap back" of skin. But from my experience if it doesn't tighten up by abou t 2 years, it's likely not going to. And losing more weight may have you have more loose skin since you're loosing fat mass that pushes up against it.
    Skin is an organ and can't be reduced by exercise or special diet. You'll just have to see how it goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    A corollary of the bolded is that since skin is an organ, the same things that help keep other organs healthy will probably help keep skin healthy, and healthy skin is probably more likely to be elastic and able to shrink. That would be things like:

    * avoiding fast weight loss (because it's a physical stress to lose fast),
    * getting good well-rounded nutrition (macros and micros, especially but not exclusively protein),
    * getting regular exercise (both cardiovascular and strength),
    * managing all-source life stress,
    * hydrating adequately (not crazy much, but enough),
    * avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol,
    * specific to skin, also avoiding tanning.

    P.S. Your English is fine . . . really, better than some of the native speakers around here. 😉
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,541 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    But from my experience if it doesn't tighten up by about 2 years, it's likely not going to.

    Oh goody. I wore a crop top to yoga this morning and I was in particularly milk cow mode. And it wasn’t the boobs, either. *sigh*

    Hope springs ever eternal.
  • SorinT88
    SorinT88 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks guys for the support, I uploaded another picture. I don't know how much body fat I have, but I want to reach 10-12% bodyfat and I'll try to maintain that while building a little bit of muscle
  • rockymountaindawn
    rockymountaindawn Posts: 146 Member
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    I lost 60 pounds in 6 months when i was 40 yrs old, and had the same worry.. im not sure if this will help .. but i used coconut oil everywhere..religously.. and everything toned and tightened right up..

    Side note: i did that every day durring that weight loss as well.. not sure if it was the masaging oil in all the time or the actual coconut oil.. or maybe a combination of both.. or if it was like a previous post..just about genetics... but that was my experience anyway. :)
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,504 Member
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    rockymountaindawn wrote: »
    I lost 60 pounds in 6 months when i was 40 yrs old, and had the same worry.. im not sure if this will help .. but i used coconut oil everywhere..religously.. and everything toned and tightened right up..

    Side note: i did that every day durring that weight loss as well.. not sure if it was the masaging oil in all the time or the actual coconut oil.. or maybe a combination of both.. or if it was like a previous post..just about genetics... but that was my experience anyway. :)

    I’m using Advanced Clinicals unscented retinol cream. I found it on Amazon. It’s relatively inexpensive, and seems to be working well. Two 16 oz containers for $26.

    I have added a little extra vitamin A, by putting the retinol cream in a baby food jar, then letting a couple soft gel vitamin pills dissolve in the cream for 24 hours.

    Will it be a 100% guarantee of no saggy skin? Probably not. But it does seem to help.

  • rockymountaindawn
    rockymountaindawn Posts: 146 Member
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    That actually sounds like an excellent cream! I've read a lot of great articles on retinol and the vitamin A addition sounds perfect!!

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