I don't really think excess skin is a myth at all. There are people who do everything the "right" way and still wind up with excess skin while others don't.

I have a little bit. I think it might go down with time but I did everything "right"—lost at a little less than two pounds per week, weight training and drinking lots of water—and I STILL wound up with some.

I'm sure those with a lot of weight to lose (say 150+ pounds) probably wind up with extra skin regardless unless they're super lucky and won the genetic lottery.

Honestly though I wouldn't go back and change my mind. I'm happy with my body. Even with the stretch marks and extra skin. They're battle scars to me...not everyone can say they lost 65 pounds.

eek. i have another 122lbs to lose i dont have loose skin yet and i know i wont for another 30 odd lbs cause ive been that low before with no issues, im just worried that the last 85-90lbs will give me lose skin , this thread scares me. ive had no kids though and im only 24 and i exercise every day, so im hoping i wont get any, if i do and it doesn't leave on its own after a couple years, ill be getting surgury

I read that a couple of months back, and I do believe loose skin is a myth.. Most of the time when i see people complaining about it, is because they still have a high fat percentaje in their body. But of course, i will have to see that in my own skin when that happens. As of now, i have to say, as i lift hard (cause is not lift light weights and that's it) i don't see lose skin yet, but i have lost just 35 pounds, i will have to wait.

My stomach looks a LOT better after losing weight, but I do still have excess skin on my tummy. It's not from being overweight, it's from 3 pregnancies. I have friends who are tiny, have never been overweight, only gained 25 lbs when pg, and still have the mommy tummy. I am very tight everywhere else, even though I was once 100 lbs.+ more than I weigh now. It's right below my belly button and it bugs me (my abs are toned above that, with the visible muscle line and everything), but there is nothing I can do about it, short of surgery. I will say, it looks 100x better now than it did 60 lbs ago. It also improves over time- it looks like your baby is still little, it's been 7 years since my last. My stretch marks have faded a lot. The saggy breasts are a gift from pregnancy as well. Mine actually looked better when I was overweight, because they were filled with fat, and they are deflated now. I'm 35 though, not 24, and I've had 3 kids, so I bet you will bounce back better than me!

Oh, and I spent $130 on Strivectin and that didn't do anything for me. I am getting a boob job and tummy tuck one of these days.

Interesting read.

Mark Sisson of the primal movement makes the same argument. I don't feel I can pick a side until I see what my body does after 250 pound weight loss.

I do believe you should strength train and take care of your skin anyway, even if only to make the healing process after surgery easier.

In my experience, most of the people who consider loose skin a myth, are young, male, body builders who have not ever lost more than 50 lbs, who have only worked with people exactly like themselves.

They have a lot of opinions about something which they've never experiences, and have never truly seen others experience. Because they've seen young, male body builder bodies "snap back" with diet and exercise, they assume that if a body doesn't snap back the owner is doing something wrong.

Also men can "bulk up" to an incredible degree, to the point that they can often fill whatever loose "bag of skin" they have with muscle, except that in the hip area (and men almost never have a great deal of excess weight or skin in that area).

Loose skin also often feels soft, much like fat so it's easy for a person to assume that the connective tissue must be fat and could be lost with further diet and exercise.

I've seen some of the most extreme cases of loose skin (almost always in postmenopausal women) in which it literally looks like the person is wearing a skin "suit" ten sizes too big. I've also seen the surgeries performed, and it actually looks like a tailoring job. The surgeon doesn't suck any fat out of the person, they just cut and tailor the "suit" to fit properly.


Personally, I don't feel that I (or anyone else in the same circumstances) should pick a side even after seeing the bodily effects of 250 pounds of weight loss, because what one body does (or even 500 or 5,000,000), doesn't have anything to do with the spectrum of possibility. Just because one person or even a million people escape the experience of permanent loose skin, doesn't mean that everyone will.

I think this is where the word "myth" gets carelessly thrown around. Some 25 year old guy loses 250 lbs and goes through some temporary bagginess, but is able to tighten it up with exercise and time, so he decided that because he didn't experience long-term loose-skin problems, then loose skin "must be a myth." And if he only sees other 25 year old guys, who are also able to avoid incorrectable skin baggage, then that's even further proof that "anyone" can do so as well.


I'm so incredibly tired of hearing otherwise intelligent people say essentially, "Well, it's never happened to me, or anyone else I know, therefore it must not exist."


All that being said, I do think that people worry excessively over loose skin. When you have 250 lbs to lose, loose skin is the least of your worries. Lose the weight, tone up as best you can, and then determine whether or not you need to do anything more than that. Some people are going to have loose skin to deal with, and some people aren't. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot you can do about it, beyond that. Even if you do have loose skin when all is said and done, you find that a solution is as simple as compression undergarments (e.g. spanx - they even make them for men - I believe spanx is coming out with a line called manx, the last time I heard the owner of the company on a talk show) or you may decide that surgery is your best option.

But whether or not you experience loose skin doesn't mean that someone else won't have the exact opposite experience.

Very well said!

I had 3 children and then lost over 90 lbs from my highest non-pregnancy weight. I just had a lower body lift done over a month ago so I am sure you can read between the lines on what I have to say about loose skin.

Loose skin is NOT A MYTH. Full term pregnancy and gaining and losing weight over and over did not do my body any favors. The only way I can get rid of that loose drape of skin is by surgery , no amount of dieting or exercise will ever remove it.

When I first started my weight loss effort, I was very worried about loose skin. I'm 49 years old and I've been overweight/obese my whole life. Now that I'm close to half way of where I need to be, I'm less concerned. Yes, I'm starting to see saggy, baggy skin on my legs, my belly and my upper arms. The reality is that weight loss has been so positive for me in so many ways that the loose skin just doesn't bother me much. Of course, that may change when I'm at goal weight when I have more of it to deal with.

Hi GeekMom,

You are on the right track!! You did what most people just dream of losing all that weight and keeping it off. Sounds like your boyfriend is loving and supportive, just keep doing what you have been doing to lose the weight and you'll be fine