Biggest Fear : Losing all the weight & having loose skin!

I lost 20kg and felt awful in my skin and have since put it all back on. I might be big but at least i fit my skin right lol. This time i am determined to do it slowly and work it. If i notice it getting a bit slack i am going to give it a bit to re-adjust. Also doing cardio and weights so i have the strength underneath to hold it and pull it in until it sits naturally in place. Thats my hope anyway. It didn't stretch over night and it also wont shrink over night

That is my question too. I used to watch the Biggest Loser, and at the finale show, it seemed as if none of those people really had any loose skin. Is it because they exercised continuously? Are cardio and weight training the trick to prevent that? I hope someone will let us know. I have 80lbs to lose. I am afraid of the excess skin. Surgery is not an option for me due to finances. Anyone have any ideas?

A bit of loose skin is inevitable with that kind of loss (im down 54lbs with another 50 to go!) im never going to have the body of someone who has not been overweight, but i'm not looking too bad. If you lose the weight slowly with plenty of exercise (especially weights), that should give the skin chance to catch up :-)

OP, you're only 30; your skin will shrink back before you know it. Back in my mid-30's I went from 210 lb to 127 lbs, losing 1 - 2 pounds a week, and by the time I was at 127 I didn't have any lose skin. There were some lose skin stages in between but not like the way they make it look on TV & nothing that was hanging out over the top of my jeans, if you know what I mean. On the TV shows, plastic surgeons donate their time for those lose skin surgeries. The people on the shows don't need the surgery but it's being done cause it's free and the plastic surgeons want the publicity. Using moisturizer, avoiding tanning and getting some massages if necessary will take care of it. They also have FDA approved laser skin tightening now, too, done at a lot of doctor's offices.

I lost 100 lbs about 3 years ago. I did have some loose skin... breasts, stomach, inner thigh... but none of it very bad, better than staying obese, and it's possible that losing it slower and having a realistic/average weight goal could lessen it. I lost the weight in less than a year.

I'm no expert and havent lost a significant amount of weight to give a clear answer. But I plan on losing my weight very slowly and strength training the whole way through. I'm hoping that will help with the dreaded loose skin.

What she said... I'm making sure I include pushups and ab work to help with this. Slow and steady is the key.

i read an article about this not too long ago (can't find it now). exercise will help a bit, but more important is that you keep hydrated (inside and out), and get plenty of protein in your diet -- at least 1/3 of your calories (which is more than what mfp default settings say. you'd have to go in and manually change them). also healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, etc...). massage and/or light brushing (w/ a natural bristle brush) also help stimulate the skin to improve elasticity.

hope that helps!

Yep. I've lost 175 lbs and have loose skin for days. Strangely, not in my abdomen so much (though there's some there, in my tummy, where my butt once was, where my "back boobs" once were) but where I carried huge amounts of weight - my arms and legs. I'm the only person I know who has lots of loose skin even on my lower arms and calves. Let's not even talk about my upper arms and thighs.

How much loose skin you'll have depends on amount of excess weight, how long you've had it (the longer the skin has been stretched, the less it regains elasticity), genetics and age (older folks have less resilient skin regardless of how long they've been obese).

There's a myth that losing slower will allow your skin to bounce back (not true). There's another that exercise will tighten the skin (not true - it does improve the appearance by putting muscle under there to fill it out so it's a good thing, but it doesn't affect the skin itself at all). There are lots of other things folks suggest but not one has any evidence to support it. The only thing that absolutely works is plastic surgery.

That said, when I weighed 319 lbs my body didn't look good either in clothes or out. Now I look great in clothes and frankly the skin is no worse now than the fat was then.

Here's the kicker: I'm healthy. And fit. And energetic. So I don't look any better naked than I did - it was well worth the trade.

I'm no expert and havent lost a significant amount of weight to give a clear answer. But I plan on losing my weight very slowly and strength training the whole way through. I'm hoping that will help with the dreaded loose skin.

This is the best strategy IMO to minimize the risk of loose skin. The MFP group I'm a part of, Eat More 2 Weigh Less, uses this strategy. Healthy food, strength training, and slow loss for a winning combo. Good luck on your journey!

Your skin is a bodily organ. It requires proper care and nutrition, too. If you're hydrating properly, your skin will benefit. It will also benefit from good nutrition. Vitamin C, E, iron, zinc, potassium, and fatty acids from fish and nuts are all linked to healthier skin. You can also hydrate from the outside by applying a quality lotion (nothing fancy). The healthier your skin is, the easier it will be for it to adapt to changes like lost fat.