Bat wings / Bingo wings - what you can & can't do

Every time I change my profile picture to show my "guns" off, I get bombarded with private messages asking how I avoided bat wings/bingo wings/guns with an empty holster after shedding a crap-ton of weight.

Just for comparison sake, here's what they looked like before and what they look like now:

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Here's my secret:

There IS no secret.


Here's what you CAN do to improve your chances of coming out unscathed:

1) Eat well. Healthy foods make healthy bodies - inside and out.

2) Hydrate. Drink plenty of water.

3) Exercise. I cannot stress enough how important it is to do strength training as well as cardio. You won't get bulky, I promise. You will, however, be glad you did it.

4) Moisturize. Some people swear by Vitamin E, others swear by cocoa butter. Honestly, I don't really care as long as it's an effective moisturizer.

5) Be patient. Your skin can take a while to "bounce back" fully after weight loss. That doesn't mean it will entirely disappear if you do get bat wings, but it may tighten up some over time.


Now, there are a couple of things that are completely outside of your control:

1) Age. The older you are, the lest elasticity your skin retains.

2) Genetics. Some people are genetically blessed to have great skin and others are not - it is, unfortunately, just the way things are. Most people, though, fall somewhere in the middle.


Final thought on this matter:
Even if you DO end up with bat wings/bingo wings/guns with an empty holster, it's worth it because having loose skin and being healthy and strong is a million times better than having that skin filled back up with unhealthy fat.