[Caledon]

I've lost 59.4 pounds so far and I'm starting to look good. I've been going to the gym since July and do about an hour of cardio (ellipitical & treadmill), and sometimes a few weights. I do pilates,with and with weights on the days I do not go to the gym for my upper body (most times).

I looked at myself in the mirror (bra & undies) and did not like what I see. I'm flabby. I have about 20 more pounds to lose before I reach my goal weight, but it looks like I need a lot more. With clothes I think I could be happy where I am.

I'm wondering if I will ever tone myself up. I'm begining to think that this flab will not disappear and a big part of it is excess skin.

What have others done to lose the flab?

[stef]

Hi Caledon,

You just need to keep on with what you are doing. It probabvly took a few years to agin it, and it is going to take some time to lose it.

It sounds as though your exercise is OK, a good mix of stuff that targets everything you want it to. You just might have lost a lot of body fat quite quickly and now your body needs time to adjust.

In the long term if the flabby bits stay you could think about ways to get rid of them - but that boils down to plastic surgery or well tailored clothing (and suck it in knckers!?!?!).

But I woldn't worry about that just yet. Let your body have a nother few months to settle AFTER you reach your goal weight. You never know, your skin might have a bit more elasticity than you think. You could always help it along with a truly healthy and balanced diet, and a little massage and oil!

And if the surgery sounds promising you ned to remember that you wouldn't get any surgery until you had proved you could maintain your weight for quite some time. So patience is required whatever happens!

I just read that back, sorry I have obviously still got my work head on

[Sean]

Originally posted by Caledon
I'm wondering if I will ever tone myself up. I'm begining to think that this flab will not disappear and a big part of it is excess skin.

I have the exact same problem. I changed my eating habits and started working out at the gym (cardio, elliptical, weights) just over two months ago and have lost around 30 pounds. I fit into clothes I haven't been able to wear for years and am much healthier but, when I look at myself in the mirror, I feel fatter than I was before because of the odd proportions. The only way to describe it is that the skin is just kind of hanging now where it was supported by fat before. Let me tell you...running upstairs is an experience!

Anyway, give it time. I've talked to quite a few people who have personal experience with this and they've all said that it could take a couple months for skin to stop sagging and up to six months or a year after you reach your goal weight for the skin to fully tighten up. The best advice I've received is pretend that you were pregnant! Look into massage therapy and ointments for treatment of stretched skin after giving birth.

[MrsJim]

Check this thread out regarding loose skin...

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...threadid=24374

Check out what Meg said:

I lost 122 pounds and am recovering from plastic surgery on 1/17 to remove a lot of excess skin. (I'm sitting here on my pillow.)

I lost the weight over an eleven month period by eating very healthily and exercising a lot -- doing it the right way, I think. Much of my skin tightened up as I was losing, especially under my arms and in my upper body. But I was left with a great deal of excess skin around my lower abdomen, butt, and thighs. And that is where I had carried the majority of my excess weight. It only looked worse as I continued to lose weight becasue it was not attached to anything -- the fat was gone, so my thighs were muscle and loose skin. Yuck. It floated in the bathtub!

I saw a plastic surgeon last September, who told me that what I thought was stubborn celluite was really just "an enormous amount" of skin that would not go away on its own, regardless of how long I waited. The consensus seems to be that the degree to which skin will tighten up after massive weight loss (that's what they call us) depends on 1. your age, 2. your genes 3. how much you have lost, and 4. how long you were overweight (recent obesity vs. lifelong). It is an individual thing and time will tell for you.

That being said, no one should be deterred from losing weight because of the prospect of excess skin! It can be hidden by clothing and it can be dealt with surgically. Actually, I discovered that there is a hugely expanding field of plastic surgery dealing with precisely these problems because of the dramatic increase in weight loss surgery and the attendant skin problems that those folks have.

So keep on going until you reach your goal, keep exercising, and if you have a problem with excess skin after you have maintained your goal wieght for a while (a year is often mentioned), you can check into surgical options if you chose.

Most interesting...Meg posts down in our Ladies Who Lift forum here at 3FC. If you read the thread above, you'll note that I have just had lipo 2 months ago and am making plans for a TT.

[wcolleen]

Caledon - The same thing happened with me when I first started losing. At about 50 pounds down (started at 263), I realized that I really didn't like what I saw - the flabbiness, etc. I started lifting weights shortly thereafer, and my body has *dramatically* improved. Though I still have a ways to go, I finally feel like I'm moving in the right direction. Just a thought :-)