Loose skin after weight loss
 

I am terrified of this! I have about 200lbs to lose, and I am so terrified of having loose skin. I am going to follow through with the weight loss just because it is the healthy road to take, but I am terrified I will still be just as insecure as I am now. I can't afford a tummy tuck or any other type of cosmetic surgery.

Is there anyone out there that has lost such a large amount as 200lbs, and had minimal saggy skin? I expect to have saggy skin, I know that is inevitable but has anyone that has lost a large amount been able to tighten up with exercise?

I've heard a few things like if you're young, have little or no stretch marks, stay away from salty food, and exercise regularly it can reduce saggy skin. Well, I'm 22 have VERY little stretch marks, non on my arms, legs, or stomach. I am avoiding sodium, I'm trying to do all I can, but this is what gets me discouraged. It makes me really depressed to think about.

Anyone with experience please answer.

A few montgs ago in this forum there was a very similar question so you may want to search for that.
I think the best thing you have going for you is your age, your skin is still pretty elastic!! It really all hinges on genetics though. My brother needs to lose 200 pounds and what I say to him is that it is better to lose weight and have saggy skin that it is to have bloated and full skin full of fat (which will eventually sag anyway)

I understand your concern. There are several threads here on this topic with many thoughtful replies and even pics of successful results. Like Tiff said, use the search feature for "loose skin" to get lots of answers on this.

Repost (only because I put it in the wrong category!) Replies appreciated!
 

Note: Sorry about the re-post. By accident I posted in the UK weight loss part and wanted this question to be directed towards everyone.

Hi guys! I know that you've all discussed this on many different parts of the forum, but I can't help but ask personally for myself everyone's thoughts on a specific question I want to ask. I've been reading up a bit about saggy skin, and I know that if you have had weight on you for a good amount of time, it increases your chances of having saggy skin. If you've only been overweight for a "few" years, chances are higher that you won't be dealing with loose skin, or very little, if any. My question is...what are a "few" years? I've been fat for 5 years now, my highest weight being 228, but usually my weights been a solid 226 through that duration of time. Before that, I've pretty much been skinny all my life, but I did deal with getting chubby at 16 then losing 50 pounds in 3 months at 17 1/2. Unfortunately, it was because of medicine, and once I got off that medicine, I blew up way worse, and that's when the 5 years of fatness began. Because I gained the weight back so quickly, my stretch marks appeared. Anyways, would 5 years constitute as a few years? My boobs already (regardless of losing 15 pounds so far) have loose skin, and I know that's going to be affected, but man...I'm worried. I was feeling my fat under my arms and I can slightly stretch the skin away from my arms. Could that be just from it being fat? Or is it already the beginning of what we all fear? I'll post photos so you folks have a good idea of what I'm talking about. Also, my weight has been pretty evenly distributed over the years, but my stomach and breast have gotten the most of it, it seems. Has anyone ever had a big stomach but lose it with little to no loose skin? If so, could you share some photos? I need some inspiration! LAST question. I'm sure all of us have had our stretch mark problems, but I have a lot of stretch marks on my stomach. I already know they are there for life, and may look better as I lose weight, but do stretch marks on the stomach = loose skin? Does it affect the skin in such a way? Oh, btw, I'm 23, will be 24 in October~!

I am actually quite terrified of loose skin. I'm young, but until the past couple months, I had weighed well over 200lbs for at least 10 years. I'm just scared that no matter what exercise or dieting I do, I will look completely disgusting when I'm done and won't ever have a normal looking body. I'm not expecting to be perfect, but I don't want to have back wings and major back rolls and that line between my lower abdomen and upper abdomen...ugh. I'm terrified.

Me too. T^T I'm hoping the skin I'm pulling isn't loose skin but is just an indicator that I have a lot of fat to loose. Thankfully I've only been over 200lbs for about 3 years, and in the higher range of 185 for two, but gah.... Idk. I guess we should just be happy to be fat free and healthy! I know that I have crappy skin to begin with (I'm an obsessive picker) and I'd rather be skinny with shitty skin then fat, because unfortunately men are shallow and would rather have someone that is thinner. :(

I will have to look more into it.

This really concerns me. Of course I would rather be healthy than overweight, but I just can't describe my anxieties on this matter. I'm insecure as it is, I just can't imagine how much worse it can get to win a battle over obesity just to be just as insecure with loose, saggy skin. I wouldn't mind a little bit, but I am worried about having many pounds worth of sagging skin. I can't fix it with cosmetic surgery, I can not afford it. I hate thinking like this, I really do but this is my main concern after my health of course.

See, that's the thing that worries me the most. I've had enough trouble with guys finding me attractive while being overweight (didn't happen til recently after I'd lost a good bit of it), now I have to worry about them being attracted to me, and then STILL being attracted to me once they see my naked, not-fat-but-obviously-used-to-be body. And you ladies can say "BLAHBLAH IF HE'S A REAL MAN HE'LL LOVE YOU FOR YOU!" all you want to, but quite frankly, I am not married yet and am not ready to BE married yet, and I'd like to be attractive for a potential mate, whether its for a relationship, sex, whatever. I'm only 22; I have a life to live.

Mimsy, how is your skin looking so far? I feel I can relate to you because you are my age. Of course I am bigger, but the age plays a role.

The thing with me though, is I have unfortunately been overweight my entire life. That makes it even more stressful. I'm hoping that since great skin elasticity runs through my family, and I am so young with minimal stretchmarks that it won't be so bad.

I am aware I will have excess skin, but I'm worried of a puddle of flab around my entire body. This concerns me.

I'm so glad theres other people out there who feel the same about it as me. I've been trying to prepare myself for it cause I know its gonna be inevitable seeing as I have 130 pounds to lose. I stress myself out about tothe point that I have anxiety. I guess ill just have to see what happens when I get there. I can save all the money I used to spend on fast food and put it towards getting out removed lmao

I've also been overweight, in fact obese my entire life. I started gaining weight when I was 5 and was at least 250 by the time I was 13. I have major bat wings that have only shrunk a little bit, and I really don't have a whole lot quite yet because I still have a lot of fat to lose. I have a lot on my boobs, and it's getting a little noticeable at the bottom of my stomach; something tells me I'm going to have a permanent flap there. I have a feeling the next 20lbs will give you a more accurate assessment.

Question for those that may know. Does stretch marks = loose skin? I have tons on my stomach, and I'm worried that that will be the cause of stretchy skin. Anyone know if that's the case?

Ladies, you simply cannot know how your body will look when you are finished without going there yourself.
Every single person will have a different experience depending on many, many factors. I'm sorry to say that, but you will just have to wait and see. Focus on your journey and making the best choices you can along the way, and cross that loose skin bridge when and if you come to it. If there's one thing that's definitely a hinderance to weight loss (and living a happy life in general) it's stress and anxiety.
Stressing about tomorrow won't change tomorrow, it will only rob today of its joy.

I can't say how stratchmarks affect everyone,but oddly for me, it did not equal loose skin. At least not the way I expected. My thighs, for example. I got stratchmarks from pregnancy weight gain, but it was as if my thighs split like casings on overstuffed sausages, I swear to you....I have vertical stratchmarks, saved no more than half a centimeter apart over every square inch of my thighs. Front, back, side, everywhere.

That being said, they have sprung back to a smaller size surprisingly well. You can see in my goal pictures. The downside, of course, is that they will never be able to completely go down to their former size, because of being stretched so. But they don't sag, or wrinkle like I thought they would.

Everyone is different, so don't assume! Just lose the weight, tone and worry about it later. :hug:

Stop worrying about this!!!

Whatever your body looks like when you lose the weight, will be a billion times better than how it looked with pounds of extra fat on it. Just stick to it, don't give up, and cross that bridge when you get to it.

Everyone is different.

I worry about that a lot too! I've got stretch marks everywhere and wonder if my skin will look so bad I may as well stay fat. I think that's part of why I haven't been able to be fully committed to losing weight ( I know stupid fear but I'm silly I guess) I heard that keeping skin moisturized can help the skin while losing weight i hope its true.

NEVER Ever ever everrrrr let the "I might as well stay fat" thought cross your mind again!!!

You are too important to self sabatoge. LOVE yourself! Love your body enough to let it be healthy.

Totally!!

I don't care about my loose skin because it's so much better than when I was fat. I can do so much more that it's worth any headache of having loose skin and stretchmarks.

Everyone needs to stop worrying, lose the weight, and see what happens

Thank you! I'm actually going to put that on a sticky note on my fridge. Its hard to not just give up but I'm working on doing my best and I'll try to start saying "I will lose weight" instead of "I hope I can"

The one POSITIVE thing you have on your side is youth. Your skin will recoop. Use oils and lotions religiously as you continue your weightloss and stay hydrated. Being 22 means you have not lost your elasticity yet. Read up on how skin cells reginerate. Your body is an amazing creature. For you - I would probably guess that weight training would help get rid of the extra skin. For us older ladies... its either surgery or deal with it.

Good Luck
JO

Let me tell you from someone who has been there. After losing 200 pounds, I had a HUGE amount of extra skin. I was lucky enough to be able to have the skin on my abdomen removed. But my thighs still have a tremendous amount of wrinkly loose skin.

Having the extra skin sucks. BUT it does not compare - even MARGINALLY - with being fat and unhealthy!! I would take back all that skin in a MINUTE rather then carry even 10 pounds of FAT. It can't even compare.

I was just simply asking if stretch marks was a contributing culprit to loose skin. Regardless if they are or not, I'm still loosing the weight. I just wanted to find out if that's a fact, and if not, how others look when they tone up their stretch marked stomachs. That's all. ^^

I'll take a picture of mine in the morning. It's seriously nothing to worry about.

lose skin sucks, stretch marks, suck. the scar from when you faceplanted off a swing in 2nd grade? sucks.

you know what those have in common? a story.

i've lost a large amount of weight- i have excess skin, and you know what? i absolutely love it. i am not thin by any means yet, but i wear a bikini to the beach, extra skin and all, stretch marks, and all, saggy boobs, AND ALL.

why? i am a tiger. i have bengal tiger strength. i put forth, a monumental effort to lose a LARGE amount of weight, and I am damn proud. I am a tiger, and I have earnt every single stripe I have.

Will you choose to be ashamed of your stripes, or proud?

If you have very little stretch marks then your skin has not been significantly damaged yet you are young and very lucky you haven't gotten a lot of stretch marks I will say this now and please listen.

LOOSE IT NOW!!

Because that will change if you lose it right now I say the odds of you having loose skin is very low if you wait because of your fear or whatever else that is stopping you, you will regret it. Don't wait don't be discouraged!

Also as you lose weight go by body fat percentage not weight or anything else to judge if you indeed have loose skin or not which is highly unlikely for you at this point judging by how you say your body is right now.

this is just what I believe I am no doctor but that's how I feel about it.

I'm 33 and have been overweight/obese all my life. Excess skin terrifies me. All I've ever wanted was to look good -once-.