Extra skin after weight loss?

[MissyC]

I am hoping to pick the brains of some of the success stories posted in here. Having to lose a significant amount of weight to reach my goal ( over 100 lbs), I am concerned about the potential for extra skin hanging around after I am a svelt 145 lbs. have any of you who have had a LOT to lose, experienced this? I am 27, my skin is still pretty stretchy, but I have been heavy a long time

[Brook]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

Yep.

And I'll take the extra skin over being fat any day, thank you.

It will be what it will be. You can do your part to prevent it as much as you can by drinking lots of water & exercising (including resistance training), but after that, it's pretty much just up to genetics and anyone who says differently is likely trying to sell you something.

If I'm going to get rid of the extra skin I have after losing over 100lbs, it's going to have to be in a surgeon's office.

[EverLosing]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

Amen...to Brook's post.

That is the absolute truth!!

I have extra skin, but you know what? It slides right into my "wittle jeans" and the fat sure as heck didn't. There are thing you can do as Brook said. Hydration, weight training, dry brushing....but the only way it's going to be perfect was to have never gained in the first place. My doctor made me lift my shirt so he could see my belly. Ewwww. NOT something I wanted to do, but he's my doc and he was curious. Wasn't prepared for the next thing he said. "You know, there's a surgery to get rid of that..." blah blah blah. Yeah, well unless he and the surgeon agree to lie to my insurance company, it aint gonna be covered and $5,000-$10,000 buys a h*ll of a lot of steaks and spaghetti squash!!

I think the consensus from people who have lost A LOT of weight would be what Brook and I seem agree on....loose skin, who cares?! My highest weight the night before I had my son was 278, I'm now at 166. Loose skin? Yep!! Admittedly, sometimes naked still isn't pretty but the world sees me clothed and I'm lookin' pretty d@mn good.

[neutronnorman]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I am hoping to pick the brains of some of the success stories posted in here. Having to lose a significant amount of weight to reach my goal ( over 100 lbs), I am concerned about the potential for extra skin hanging around after I am a svelt 145 lbs. have any of you who have had a LOT to lose, experienced this? I am 27, my skin is still pretty stretchy, but I have been heavy a long time

From what I read, there are a few theories about loose skin. First, the skin has stretched but in time, it will shrink back somewhat since the skin is an organ and will atrophy.
Second, if you were to take skin fold measure of the hanging skin you would be shocked to discover that the skin rolls still contain pocket of fats that even further dieting will remove.

Many resort to cosmetic surgery but that can leave potentially horrible scars. Look up infra red lamp treatments for pockets of fat and even consider body wraps.

The last bit you can do is seriously body build. Those areas that tend to hang will get taut as muscle builds within the cavities. It will take time, consider many years after reaching your goal weight but it will happen.

I've lost about 70 lb, since April, but I immediately started a bodybuilding routine. I had the male boobage thing happening but know they have begun to disappear.

There are a few secrets that will help with fat loss / muscle gains without resorting to steroids or growth hormones. I am now experimenting with 3 mg. melatonin before intense cardio to release the growth hormone and it works like a charm. The results have been immediate and dramatic. I mean, over night. I also use melatonin before bed.

Also, and this might seem extreme but it was popular for many years before androgenic drugs became fashionable: 12 raw eggs mixed in half and Half or pure cream sipped through the day. Read about Rheo Blair and Vince Gironda. Google them.

[Brook]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

Women's bodies have fat stores, and require them to stay healthy.

All the wraps, infrared gizmos, shakes, brushing, and body building in the world will not repair or replace the damage stretch marks, age, genetics, and a loss of elasticity leave behind.

[IrishIrish]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I'll join the Amen chorus to Brook's posts. Yes, I'm a candidate for a procedure or two, but for now, I'm working out like a maniac so that I have optimal results if I pursue that path.

Friends I haven't seen in a while accuse me of having had plastic surgery on my face and neck ... but no ... haven't done that. I think working out 5 days a week has been forgiving on areas like my face, neck and back. Less forgiving on other areas.

If someone had told me five years ago that I would lose this weight but have excess skin, I'd still have said, "sign me up!!!". There are things worse than the excess skin.

[smiller]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I will tell you a little about myself, 12 years ago i lost 70 pounds in my late 40's. I had alot of loose skin. I had to tuck it in my jeans. I waited 3 years to be sure the weight was going to stay off and i had a tummy tuck. Here i am back over 200 pounds and i have a flat tummy, but i have a scar and bulge over that scar. Its not pretty to look at either. SO if i could do it over again, i would rather be tucking in the fat than have the scar and bulge that i have now. I will not know what this will look like till i get close to goal. That might have been 3000, down the drain. Sandy

[makmik]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

Also, and this might seem extreme but it was popular for many years before androgenic drugs became fashionable: 12 raw eggs mixed in half and Half or pure cream sipped through the day. Read about Rheo Blair and Vince Gironda. Google them.

Be careful with raw eggs, raw egg whites depletes any B6 in the body, which can cause hairloss and weak finger nails ... causing B6 deficiency.

[just4me]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I know here In Ontario it is covered to get the lower extra skin removed if it is causing constant problems like infections under it, red, itchy etc. My cousin went for a consulation for it an didn't get it done because she has an upper and lower roll and they only cover the lower one, so it wouldn't have done her any good. You also have to be your ideal weight to have it done.

[sham]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I have lost a total of 110lbs and dont have any loose skin other than the tummy area but Im fine with that.I have had 3 childres all by c section so after the pregnancies we tend to get loose skin.I actually get compliments from people saying that I lost so much but my face looks toned and fresh and I have no loose skin so lucky me.

[just4me]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I hear you on the csections, I never got my feeling back in the hang after that! lol

[niko772]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

Mine is all in my thighs...grrrrr. I'm working out like crazy and hoping the skin shrinks. As it stands right now, I can literally pinch and pull the loose skin out and make "butt wings" LOL

[Aways2Go]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

If it gives hope to anyone, I am in my 40s so I ain't no spring chicken with all that great "elasticity of skin" like I used to have, and have lost nearly 80 pounds so far. I would be hard pressed to find much loose skin at this point. Granted, I have lost slowly - have been averaging about 2 pounds a week for a while now, which actually isn't slow but very normal - and I also still have "aways2go" LOL...

The only place it might kind of exist right now is my double chin - which instead of shrinking from front chin area back towards my neck, has shrunk from side to side instead. This has left me currently with a thinner "turkey wattle" type of double chin that still goes from out near my chin back to my neck just like it always did - except now much, much thinner when looking face forward instead of covering from ear to ear like it used to. I don't think this is loose skin, though, I think it is just the way my extra chin is disappearing. It continues to slowly get progressively thinner/smaller, so hopefully it will disappear at some point on down the road.

Other than that, my only issues have been that sometimes I lose fat in such a way that I have slightly odd shaped pockets of fat here and there, but these have continued to shrink with more weight loss, too. I have lost a fair amount of fat off my waist, and for a while it lost in a way that left me with two little pockets of rounded fat on each side of my belly button, LOL! I made jokes and said it looked like I had swallowed two golf balls or something. Really, it wasn't nearly that dramatic, but you get the idea. But in time, these have started to disappear also with more weight loss.

Granted I still have quite a bit to lose, and in time I may in fact end up with loose skin. But I don't think it is going to be anything at all like what you see on tv documentaries, etc, where people have piles and piles and piles of excess skin that absolutely has to be surgically removed. Unless you have numerous hundreds of pounds to lose. And even if that is the case, handfuls of loose skin that can be surgically removed if necessary would still be much preferable to suffering under the load of carrying several hundreds of extra pounds on your frame.

Don't assume you will have a bunch of loose skin - you might have a little, or you might have some for a while that shrinks over more time. But in any case, I don't think you will meet anyone who says "man, I wish I hadn't lost all that weight and ended up with loose skin in a few spots...".

[EverLosing]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I've said it before and I'll say it again! 99.99999999999% of the world sees me with clothes on! Only the doctor and Mr. see me naked....thank God!!!

The night before giving birth, I weighed 279 lbs...all time highest. I still have loose skin but I know the tricks to minimize it and don't always make the time to do what I need to do. You've got to give it time. When I first noticed it was going to be an issue, I freaked out. Then, I reminded myself if it takes my body a year to shed the baggage, responsibly I should allow another year for my skin and muscle tone to catch up. Can't complain for another year!!

[neutronnorman]

Re: Extra skin after weight loss?

I'm 55 years old. I had visceral fat mostly, little subcutaneous.

It's genetics.