Could you tighten hanging skin successfully through exercise

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Verity1111
Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
in Success Stories
I am pregnant and I have some skin that hangs a little from our last baby that I am scared won't tighten if I exercise. :[ It is not extremely dramatic, but it is dramatic enough to make me worry. Sorry if this picture is disturbing at all, but my shirt is where my tummy should be up at and you can see the little bit of loose skin/fat(?) that is out of it. :/ You think there is hope for me yet? 22133818.jpg
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Replies

  • miss_shell89
    miss_shell89 Posts: 10
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    Unfortunately i have this and ive never had kids lol. It seems id lose about 5 dress sizes if i just got rid. I heard Zumba is really good for that area x
  • Twinsmama75
    Twinsmama75 Posts: 76 Member
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    Do you have a lot of stretch marks? From my friends experiences who did NOT have stretch marks (so their skin never stretched to an extreme degree), were able to get their skin back to looking normal.

    I however, have a circle of stretch marks and quite a bit of loose skin, from my twin pregnancy. When I lost all the weight through diet only, the skin just hung there and even though there was not much fat behind it, the extra skin remained. Now, 2 more kids later, I need to lose the weight again and I'm exercising and eating healthier, I hope exercising will help, but I really doubt it will make it "normal" by any stretch of the imagination :grumble: Goodluck!!
  • aimesuk
    aimesuk Posts: 51 Member
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    Twinsmama (hi there I have twins too!) is right.

    If you have stretch marks you will definitely not get it back to how it was. If not, then the possibility is there. You have a pretty neat bump so you should be able to get it back, but once the elasticity is gone in the skin it won't go back.
  • waterhaunted
    waterhaunted Posts: 21 Member
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    I had 3 children. First was c-section, last was in my mid 30's and until the age of 42 I had a tight tummy. It did take exercise and desire to get back in shape.
    I will Say I did carry that thicker skin feel from having kids.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    Unfortunately i have this and ive never had kids lol. It seems id lose about 5 dress sizes if i just got rid. I heard Zumba is really good for that area x
    Wow well none for me I went up a lot of weight real fast with our first kid..not a lot with this one. I gained about 50+ lbs the first time though and went up to 215 :/ I will try Zumba thank you for the idea by the way!
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    Do you have a lot of stretch marks? From my friends experiences who did NOT have stretch marks (so their skin never stretched to an extreme degree), were able to get their skin back to looking normal.

    I however, have a circle of stretch marks and quite a bit of loose skin, from my twin pregnancy. When I lost all the weight through diet only, the skin just hung there and even though there was not much fat behind it, the extra skin remained. Now, 2 more kids later, I need to lose the weight again and I'm exercising and eating healthier, I hope exercising will help, but I really doubt it will make it "normal" by any stretch of the imagination :grumble: Goodluck!!
    I have the worst stretch marks I have ever seen so that scares me :/ I could never be happy with it that way, but I don't think I could live with myself if I had plastic surgery so I don't know what I will do except try! I'm 21, so I am hoping my skin elasticity is still in tact. I have no muscle damage so maybe that will help too..
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    Twinsmama (hi there I have twins too!) is right.

    If you have stretch marks you will definitely not get it back to how it was. If not, then the possibility is there. You have a pretty neat bump so you should be able to get it back, but once the elasticity is gone in the skin it won't go back.
    I have stretch marks, but I have seen people tighten them before so I am not sure.. I will try my best and I guess that is all I can do! I have a lot of stretch marks, but really just loose skin at the bottom, which showed up while I was still pregnant the first time?! Like I had a neat bump with hanging skin so I partially wonder if it is some weird water build up too..not sure if that is possible.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    I had 3 children. First was c-section, last was in my mid 30's and until the age of 42 I had a tight tummy. It did take exercise and desire to get back in shape.
    I will Say I did carry that thicker skin feel from having kids.
    I definitely don't mind and I don't expect perfection! I just expect perfect enough for me to look in the mirror and feel good about myself.. I can't stand that my tummy hangs so low! I don't even mind if it is a little loose at the bottom like wrinkly because of my stretch marks as long as my abdominal muscles can tighten despite the skin. Thank you for the hope at least. You're all wonderful for letting me know your experiences. xoxo
  • pspetralia
    pspetralia Posts: 963 Member
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    I have read that if you strength train while you lose weight you won't end up with as much sagging skin. I hope it is true!!!
  • lilcupcake213
    lilcupcake213 Posts: 545 Member
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    I've had three kids within 5 years..my first pregnancy i gained 50 lbs and my body was never the same after that. i just had little girl 9 months ago and with a 1200 cal diet and doing turbo fire and some ab routines it has gone down a signifigant amount. i also use palmers tummy butter to help with the fading of my stretch marks. it works a little bit but nothing drastic. but i do notice the thinner i get under my boobs, the more the little pouch sticks out. once you have loose skin i dont think it really ever fully goes away, but if you keep working at it, you can shrink it down quite a bit. just hang in there !
  • ahavoc
    ahavoc Posts: 464 Member
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    Listen, your skin will go back to normal, but it takes it longer to get there then the rest of your body. Keep exercising, moisturize, and give your body time. The rule of thumb is that if it took you 3 years to get to your top weight, it will take 3 years for your skin to go back to normal. You slowly stretched your skin over that time, and it will take your skin that long to shrink back.

    Weight loss, strengthening, skin recovery, non of this will happen overnight. It's all a process. Get on board with it and go for the ride from beginning to end. You can't speed it up, it is what it is, but you can be realistic and enjoy the journey.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    Sorry if this is TMI, but these are my stretch marks..I know it will be difficult to tighten at all because of them, but I am hoping with my muscles in tact it will work out okay. The marks don't bother me now yet the skin bothers me a lot. mymarks2.png
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    I have read that if you strength train while you lose weight you won't end up with as much sagging skin. I hope it is true!!!
    Thank you I'll try that too dear. :]
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    Options
    I've had three kids within 5 years..my first pregnancy i gained 50 lbs and my body was never the same after that. i just had little girl 9 months ago and with a 1200 cal diet and doing turbo fire and some ab routines it has gone down a signifigant amount. i also use palmers tummy butter to help with the fading of my stretch marks. it works a little bit but nothing drastic. but i do notice the thinner i get under my boobs, the more the little pouch sticks out. once you have loose skin i dont think it really ever fully goes away, but if you keep working at it, you can shrink it down quite a bit. just hang in there !
    I think the problem is too much hanging lmso. No need for more! I see your point though I am willing to take my time, I just want even slight results.. I don't mind the marks at all to be honest with you, just the skin bothers me for some reason.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    Listen, your skin will go back to normal, but it takes it longer to get there then the rest of your body. Keep exercising, moisturize, and give your body time. The rule of thumb is that if it took you 3 years to get to your top weight, it will take 3 years for your skin to go back to normal. You slowly stretched your skin over that time, and it will take your skin that long to shrink back.

    Weight loss, strengthening, skin recovery, non of this will happen overnight. It's all a process. Get on board with it and go for the ride from beginning to end. You can't speed it up, it is what it is, but you can be realistic and enjoy the journey.
    Thank you! Like I said even if I can just get thin and feel like I don't look like I have skin drooping all over me I will be okay with it. I would like to at least tone some on my own before deciding I need some sort of surgery for it and a lot of people I know seem to run for plastic surgery instantly which is not what I want for myself or not yet at least.
  • piebird79
    piebird79 Posts: 201 Member
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    I've had 3 children and gained about 50 pounds each time. After my third pregnancy the hanging skin and fat was really bad because I hadn't taken care of it after the first two pregnancies. I've lost all of my pregnancy weight plus an additional 7 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight over the past 5 months. I've significantly reduced the belly fat and hanging skin, primarily through weight lifting. My exercise consists of about 1/3 cardio and 2/3 lifting. After you have this child and are cleared to exercise again I'd start a lifting program if I were you. It's very effective!
  • f_bluhe
    f_bluhe Posts: 1 Member
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    Hi There,

    Probably no the place for a guy to hang around, I do remember seeing something on the Discovery channel a few years back about reversing the ageing process. There they were talking about something called Seymour systems. Effectively I think they were massaging the skin heavily to increase the collagen in the skin. They showed a woman who wanted to get rid of her tummies loose skin and did so after a few months (including exercise). I'm not sure how vigorous they were with the massages but I think it was at the point where it might have been a tad uncomfortable.

    I had a look at their website back then to see if they had any products to sell but it said the website wasn’t completed yet and looking at it tonight it hasn’t changed :)

    They also implied that all the creams and lotions used by beauty companies actually worked because people were actually massaging them into the skin, and that the action of massaging was creating the "age defying" results, not the creams.

    Not sure if this is of any use, or if it actually works. But I figure it can’t hurt?
  • ZurvitaLeader
    ZurvitaLeader Posts: 2
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    My hubby and I are BLESSED with 10 children. We have one set of twins in the mix! ;-)! I have a noticeable tummy FOLD of skin now after the twins! :-( Oh well! :-) I've heard of dry skin brushing helping with this issue. I am trying to be consistent w/ it myself.

    It feels good and I know that I taking better care of my skin in this way.

    You can "google" it or better yet, go to youtube. "dry skin brushing"

    Blessings,
    Cheri S.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,565 Member
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    Skin issues are generally fixed by what you eat.
    Look into eating foods higher in vitamins that help the skin!
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    I've had 3 children and gained about 50 pounds each time. After my third pregnancy the hanging skin and fat was really bad because I hadn't taken care of it after the first two pregnancies. I've lost all of my pregnancy weight plus an additional 7 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight over the past 5 months. I've significantly reduced the belly fat and hanging skin, primarily through weight lifting. My exercise consists of about 1/3 cardio and 2/3 lifting. After you have this child and are cleared to exercise again I'd start a lifting program if I were you. It's very effective!
    Wow! I would probably go nuts if I gained 50lbs again.. I have been so paranoid this time and I think it takes a lot of strength to relax about weight gain when pregnant. It is amazing to hear you reduced the skin a lot. I definitely will look into weight lifting because this isn't the first time someone suggested it to me. Thank you so much for the tips!

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