Extra skin, Even while overweight

  • So here goes, I've always been over weight, ALWAYS...Well..When I was young, about 15, I was put on a medication that made me gain about 35 pounds in one month. I had awful stretch marks up and down my tummy. I still do, just years later they've faded. With that being said 2 years ago I was weighing in at about 260, my highest ever. SO I started working out and watching what I ate, and dropped to 190 in a little over 6 months. I promise I didn't mean to lose it that fast it just happened. And slow but surely here I gained most all of it back and am now starting to lose it again. My problem is, I have loose skin in all kinds of places, especially my tummy. OH my poor tummy, I can't even see my belly button, haven't been able to for years now, it's just a sad little frown. I'm not even 25 yet and feel as if even though I have 80 more pounds to lose my body already resembles an old ladys! And the thought of how bad it will be when I reach my goal is scary. Anyone else ever had that feeling?
  • i have that probelm too but my thing is after i had my son my skin of couse strached so i look fatten then i should. but i have learned as u excersie u not only need to excersie to burn claories but to TONE


    my sister had the same problem as me but she gain almost 60 lbs with her pregnecy SHE LOST ALL THE WEIGHT the scale is back to 140 but all the skin is in the tummy

    try excersie that help to tone u be ok
  • Oh I can sympathize with you. I already have an "overhang" stomach, and I can tell it's going to be a lot of extra skin when I am done losing weight and I do not look forward to it. I just pray that when all is said and done, I have the money to get a tummy tuck because I know that no amount of exercise or sit ups is going to get rid of my extra stomach skin. I don't know if I will have extra skin other places, so far it looks ok, but that could change.
  • Do you moisturize? Exfoliate?

    I just read an article that said that you should be sure to increase blood flow to the area where there's lose skin as that will help it tighten up.

    When I first began this journey I lost a good amount of weight very quickly and had some loose skin to contend with. I make sure my diet is rich with nutrients that are good for my skin, stay very hydrated, and now I am sure to exfoliate every inch of my body. The lose skin that I had before has tightened up, but I know it'll be a battle as I continue to lose weight.

    Keep working hard and be sure to read what you can about taking care of your skin, there may be some good articles although not directly related to lose skin that have some excellent tips about how to deal with it and combat it from the get go.
  • I've said it once, and I'll say it again, the loose skin isn't that bad. I'll take the loose skin and my new weight over my old body and old weight. I can't afford a tummy tuck, so I embraced my body. At the end, I'm the only one whose opinion matters on what I look like. And I love it!
    I'm attaching my before. 250 is A LOT OF SKIN TO HOLD! So you can imagine what my body looks like underneath my clothes, but like I said, I'm happier, healthier, funner, and more confident that what I was with my old body. Chin up young people!


  • I gained all of my weight within a 6 month period. Jumping from around 155 to my highest of 234. I wasn't overweight for a long period of time, but the sudden increase in weight gain gave me stretch marks all over. I have them on my hips, my butt, my thighs, the backs of my knees, my arms (from my armpits down to my elbows). There is probably a 1/2 inch gap between where my stretch marks on my boobs end and the ones on my stomach begin. This has left me with some loose skin all over, but it's getting better. I have been at a "normal" weight for the last 2 1/2 years. I'm still struggling to get the last 20 lbs off, but regardless, my skin has shrunk A LOT. It's amazing the difference between then and now. I'm sure that once I reach goal I'll always be left with some loose skin but I can still feel sexy and beautiful. I can still wear cute clothes and drive my husband crazy (we met after I lost weight, so he found my body sexy even with loose and saggy skin).

    Girl, life is way too short to worry on something as small as loose skin. Lose weight to feel beautiful. Lose weight to be healthy and fit so that you can live your life to it's fullest. You deserve to feel like you can climb a mountain if you wanted to. You deserve to feel comfortable in a pair of shorts and a tank top. You deserve to be able to go to the beach and rock that swimsuit (who CARES if it's a teeny weeny string bikini? There are some pretty banging 1 pieces out there!).

    Anyways, my point is, it's not awful to have loose skin. It's not the end of the world. And I promise you, the loose skin may bother you a bit but you'll be 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 x happier without the extra weight.
  • See, right now you can imagine how bad the loose skin will be but you really can't imagine how awesome the skinny clothes will be. When you get into those skinny clothes, the awesomeness of it will cancel out 95% of you sadness over the loose skin.

    And it's amazing what decent underwear (and, in certain circumstances, decent lighting, if you know what I mean) can fix.
  • Thanks all for the support. It means a lot to me, especially knowing we're all in this together. I know those of us losing weight need to take good care of our skin for all the damage we've done to it. But I think in the end this is also a journey of acceptance because losing weight won't automatically make us all love our bodies. So maybe part of my goals or mini goal rewards will include a smoking hot corset! Loose skin be gone haha
  • I have stretch marks from my pregnancies and also lose skin and over hang. at my age it really doesn't matter to me, I just have the desire to be comfortable and feel good and if that means extra skin and stretch marks so be it