Hi all. I'm hoping I can get some feedback here. I've been doing some research on-line about loose skin and body fat. I've found a lot of sites stating that if you have low body fat (low teens for women, single digits for men) that the loose skin from the weight loss will reduce dramatically. Obviously it is going to depend a lot on genetics, age, how long you were overweight, how much you were overweight etc. But I read on several sites that low body fat and a lot of lean muscle mass will take care of the loose skin. Anybody have this experience and/or any comments?

I'm dealing with it some right now. I didn't loose a really large amount of weight, but I lost 25 pounds and about 6 inches from butt, 6 from hips, 6 from waist etc. So I do have some flab hanging around my stomach and I hate it! I am trying to keep up with the cardio because from what I read that's what you need to do to get rid of the rest of the body fat and I keep up with weight training and have added in protein shakes and am trying to cut back on carbs to try and lose as much body fat and build as much muscle as possible to try and get rid of this flab. So I am following the same ideas as you mention.

Some other little things I have read to help with loose skin are to drink tons of water, exfoliate daily, use lotion daily on those areas as well, actually this was a site that gave a good bit of ideas.
http://allwomenstalk.com/how-to-tigh...weight-loss/3/

There is no reason that lowering your body fat would reduce your loose skin. The thing that helps most with loose skin, that I have found, is time. Do weight lifting can help give you some shape but it won't reduce your loose skin.

I'm really concerned with this as well. I have a lot of weight to lose. I've already lost 40, and I lost it very, very slowly. I'm 50, so my skin's elasticity is not what I was hoping it would be. I'm pretty scared of having to have skin removed, but I think that's what I'm going to have to do, eventually.

In the meantime, I'm getting monthy massages and also whole body scrubs at a local day spa. Skin feels and looks much better. Drinking lots of water and eating healthy veggie-sourced fats like avocado, nuts and olive oil. Staying out of the sun. And saving money for the eventual surgery!

I had read somewhere that if you have really low body fat that your skin really starts to shrink, but then later learned that only happens after your body goes for your organs for protein. So, not going to rely on that, personally.

My friend who lost over 130 lbs this past year now has 5% body fat and is on his way to becoming quite an athlete. He is ripped at age 39.

The skin around his midsection (he had had an enormous and hanging belly) is fat-free. Just skin. Doctors told him 12 months to shrink the skin (doing nothing in particular) and after that, the skin will remain how it is.

For now, he wears compression shirt that completely conceal what's beneath while putting the focus on his muscularity. That may be a choice for you.

Another friend of mine just had his 2nd round of skin removal after weight loss (the first time was in a different body area). His scars are pretty bad and are concealed under his waistband.

There was a thread in the forum for weight loss surgery a few weeks ago. I wonder if anyone there posted something useful for you to read?

Here is a very long and informative thread in the Maintainers Forum which we started in 2004 and have been "growing" since. My story is one of the originals in there. I lost and have maintained a loss of 65 pounds for 10 years. Yes, I did have skin removed. I carried ALL my fat around my belly. I was 45 years old when I started my weight loss and while my skin was in pretty good shape, the skin on my stomach had been "shredded" from 2 huge pregnancies. I'm absolutely positive that most of my skin issues were from the pregnancy damage rather than the weight loss. I can tell you that time has helped. I exercise like a maniac and have good musculature- but lowering my body fat further produces more loose skin, not less. Especially on my face. But at my age, everyone has some wrinkles unless they have been botoxed into rigidity.

Don't let fear of skin stop you- you can disguise it with clothes or have surgery if you can afford it and the idea doesn't bother you. I'm thrilled that I did, but I needed it whether I'd been heavy and lost or not.

Mel