I don't have loose skin. I started my weightloss at age 49 -just so you know I did NOT have the collagen of a 20-something. Collagen, I hasten to add, is the skin's memory in that it greatly affects the skin's elasticity and ability to snap back.
I respectfully disagree that shedding a lot of weight dooms you to excess flabby skin. I am NOT an exception to the rule. I'm the data that says the loose skin hypothesis is flawed. (been like that my whole life! LOL)
I shed 30 pounds using diet pills (NOT recommended!! Nearly landed me in ER for emergency liver surgery ) and 57 pounds on the Fat Flush Plan. Here are the reasons I do not have excess skin:
1) genetics (thanks mom & dad!)
2) dry skin brushing. It stimulates the skin, turns it silky soft, and helps keep it shrinking along with the rest of you. Plus, it feels MAHVELOUS!
3) Pilates. Pilates helps build long lean muscle which gives the skin a lovely base to "drape"
4) rebounding (jumping on a mini-trampoline). Great cardio work out, is too much like fun to feel like exercise, keeps the lymphatic system stimulated. The lymph system is your body's garbage collecter. It removes waste from cells (including skin cells) but it has no central "pump" - your cardio system has the heart and your respiratory system has the lungs, but the lymphatic system cannot function if YOU sit around on your keister! Sitting around on your keister keeps your cells loaded with waste and sluggish. BLECH!
5) eat the Fat Flush way. It's rich in omega 3's which are ESSENTIAL for great skin/hair/nails. My skin glows, my hair is so lustrous I no longer use conditioners, my nails have stopped breaking off (DH threatens to register 'em as deadly weapons. heh heh).
6) I laugh outloud every day. releases endorphins, burns calories, what's not to like? Life is short - laugh often!
***NOTE***
My skin lagged behind the rest of me in the shrinkage. I mean, I WAS 49 years old and on the doorstep of menopause. If you want INSTANT skin shrinkage - by all means, have it cut off.
However, with patience, you just might find that your skin will catch up with the rest of the smaller you. Mine did.
Nope, I do NOT have the hard body of a 20-something. I'm 53 years old, have given birth to two children and gravity DOES have an effect over time. I got over it.
Wow, Charli, the change in you is amazing! I am SO inspired! I am 46 and know I'll have some loose skin just because I need to lose over 100 pounds...and because I'm 46. But YOU look so great that I see I can have a great shape, too.
I agree that exercising can help with the skin. I have omega-3 pills and will start taking them now instead of letting them sit on the shelf.
To the original poster, when I was 21, I lost 60 pounds. I lost it fast but had a job that kept me walking all day, so there was no flab. No real muscle, either, except in my legs, but no loose skin.
At your age, losing slowly and working out to keep (or get) muscle tone should keep you from getting loose skin.
Realize that it won't happen overnight. You'll see it coming, if it happens at all. If you do feel your skin isn't as taut as you want, slow down your rate of weight loss or just maintain your weight at that point for a while to let it catch up.
Mel and Charli, I'm thrilled to hear that skin can catch up a bit after the weight loss.
Wow, Charli, the change in you is amazing! I am SO inspired! I am 46 and know I'll have some loose skin just because I need to lose over 100 pounds...and because I'm 46. But YOU look so great that I see I can have a great shape, too.
you are my NEW best friend! You CAN have a great shape!
I'm 31 and the extra skin has had me terribly worried. I had a 100 pounds to lose have lost 32 so far. This skin thing has reaaaaaallly had me thinking of keeping my weight just to not have extra skin. But i did some research on the net and found another forum (cant remember what or where). On this forum there were some pics of this guy who must have been mid 40's. There was a pic of AFTER weight loss and then another pic of AFTER weight training after the weight loss. The before pic was gross his tummy looked like a wrinkly saggy mess. His skin around his belly button spiraled around in a swirl with at least a 3inch circumfrance of swirly mass <shivers>. Then the after pic with some sexy muscles i might add the skin was beautiful.
I decided that if i had alot of excess skin i would go ahead and try to bulk up with more muscles. In the beginning i said i'm not going to get to buff just nicely toned. BUT if my skin is really bad i would much rather have some big muscles then saggy skin. I also use a skin firming lotion and it seems to help a little. I use it 2 times a day and while i do it I visualize my skin receeding. I also do this in front of the mirror so it really helps as far as motivation goes.
Here is another little story. My mom while in her early 40's managed to perk up her boobs amazingly well. I meen this woman had some saggy boobies since the day i remember her. She was a D cup but they just hung grotesquely forever. When i came back to visit her last her boobies were WAY perkier then mine. I meen they look beautiful and I was sooo jealous. I know it wasn't surgery because my mother is a meth/heroine addict so she never had any money for anything but drugs. I asked her what she did and she told me that she massaged lotion on her breasts everyday after her shower (not just rubbed it on but massaged it in well) She also picked knitting back up and she would sit upright in her chair and rock and knit (not a rocking chair) So don't get my moral of the story wrong meth and heroine didn't do it : P it was the massage and using the muscles under it. So that is what i do. I massage the lotion in very well (almost OCD well) : P and i see a difference already
BTW Charli you look HOT : P I hope i look as good as you at your age. You are beautiful!
I know that being healthy is far and above the goal here, but I was hoping to be happy with my body for the first time in my life too. I am just going to loose and then deal with the skin if I have a problem at all.
I hope my age doesn't let me down!
I looked at before and after pictures a lot the other day, and people have lost a TON of weight and look awesome, I didn't notice that much loose skin, so it gives me hope!
Just for a bit of perspective of what clothes can hide, this photo and this photo were taken a week apart. At the end of the day, you can cover up loose skin, but you can't cover up 100lb of fat.
Incidentally, in the two months since those photos were taken I seem to have firmed up a little more, and I still consider myself to be a work in progress.
I'm certainly not going to avoid wearing certain clothes where they're more comfortable, even if they do show more jiggle than is strictly necessary (particularly crop tops for running and bikinis), but equally I'm learning to dress to my strengths rather than my weak points.
Im 26 years old and I've lost 71 pounds and have done it VERRRRRY slowly (I started loosing in 2003!). i've been obese since age 7 so my skin has been stretched mostly for its entire existance. The size pants I wear now I dont have a memory of ever wearing in my entire life because at the time I probably wore this size I was in elementary school. Anyway i have about 5 inches worth of loose skin hanging under my arms so it bothers me I can't wear any short sleeved outfits or cap sleeves, or those silly "women" sleeves. When I put my arms down the skin squishes into what looks like a gross tumor under my arm. I'm already saving money so that when I do get down to my goal weight I can have my arms operated on. My mother has the exact same problem as do all the females on her side of the family, skinny or fat so it's genetics for me. If it's a concern to you, just start saving the money so you can have the problems fixed when you get there. You might luck out and find when you do get to your goal weight you don't end up with a problem, etc and then you can use the money you saved for something else to celebrate your goal.
you are my NEW best friend! You CAN have a great shape!
lol, Charli! I was just telling myself I have to start working harder. The buff bod won't come with my gentle little stretches...
Helen, thanks for the pics. It would be great to know approximately how old you were when you lost the weight? I checked out your blog, and I have to say, in spite of the lose skin, how great you look after compared to before! I'm planning to go back and read your blog, as the few bits I read were very interesting.
By the way, ladies, if you want to have surgery to remove the excess skin, take before pictures of yourselves NOW (as close to nude as possible, like in a swimsuit or shorts and a tank top) and take after pics when you get there. Then have the surgeon submit a request to your health insurance. This is NOT mere cosmetic surgery; your insurance may cover much or all of the cost if the excess skin is a problem for you. I used to work in health insurance, and the company did approve the tummy tucks and boob lifts when it was justified. I imagine the same would be true for arm nips and whatnot. Each case had to be reviewed by the nursing staff to be pre-approved.
I'm a little confused about the "you have the same skin" discussion earlier. I know that loose skin after significant weight loss is a result of less "material" filling up the skin that you have as a result of weight gain. Think of a balloon - once inflated, then deflated, it is a different shape. BUT, like one other poster said, you are not doomed to loose skin. Loose skin as a result of weight loss depends on genetics, age (the older, the less elastic the skin), the amount of weight lost (200 lbs vs 20 lbs, for example) and the speed of weight loss. Rapid loss of lots of weight often results in loose skin - check out any bariatric before and after weight loss site, and you will see this OFTEN (but not ALWAYS). Also, you can see many women after a pregnancy left with a tummy pooch as a result of rapid "deflation" of their midriff after birth. Sometimes, this resolves itself, while other times it does not. Often, there is a plan for plastic surgery to remove excess skin after bariatric surgery, as there is with many pregnancies. It comes down to a personal decision. For those of you who are blessed with great genetics and elastic skin, surgery may not be required. For those of us who aren't, surgery may be an option. BUT, don't let the prospect of loose skin be an excuse to not get healthy!!! Loose skin, if any, can be removed if you want. Hopefully, you won't need it. But get fit and healthy!
Rapid loss of lots of weight often results in loose skin
Okay, I've always heard this, but it seems that even slow weight loss has the same effect? So maybe losing weight more slowly won't protect against loose skin?
Thanks, wyllenn! I think that for some, any weight loss results in loose skin, most likely as a result of genetics, skin elasticity, and age (BOO!). Perhaps the best approach is to lose the darn weight, and deal with the aftermath!
I can't even wear a short sleeved shirt without my upper arm flab hanging out now. It makes me very, very scared to leave the house. Even though it's 100 degrees I tend to wear a sweater. I am terrorfied someone will see it and think something nasty or worse SAY something. I wonder if it would be covered for me to get the under arm skin removed because it's turning me into a hermit... I guess I'm just a sick puppy. Gotta stop worrying.
Shed 80+ pounds in one year and....
I started my weightloss at age 49 -just so you know I did NOT have the collagen of a 20-something. Collagen, I hasten to add, is the skin's memory in that it greatly affects the skin's elasticity and ability to snap back.
(been like that my whole life! LOL)
) and 57 pounds on the Fat Flush Plan. Here are the reasons I do not have excess skin:
Sitting around on your keister keeps your cells loaded with waste and sluggish. BLECH!
Life is short - laugh often!
That was very cogent!
