Thread: For those of you who have lost a lot of weight

Do you mind me asking if you are left with a lof of saggy skin?

I gave birth to a 10lb13 baby last yr and put on 4.5 stone whilst pregnant. although im back to my pre preg weight i look nothing like i used to due to to horrible "overhang" of skin

Ive lost almost 4.5stone, im 24 and Ive always been in the obese catagory for as long as I can remember, so I kind of expected to have loose skin, my tummy is wrinkley and my boobs are rapidly shrinking and looking like a pair of deflated baloons all wrinkley and squidgey, so I am going to be looking into surgery to have these corrected once im at target. My mum also lost alot of weight using slimming world when I was younger, her boobs shrank too.

I do think that everyone is different as my SWC has lost alot and he doesn't have any loose skin, same with quite a few of our members.

Some people's skin just pings back to where it should be but I knew I wouldn't be so lucky so its not a big deal to me.

Fingers crossed you are one of the lucky ones Xxx

Hi, I've lost nearly 8 stone and I've got the bingo wings to prove it!

The strange thing, though, is that with the last half stone I've lost, I've found that the skin has started to tighten up a bit. I'd read a theory once that getting rid of that final bit of fat helps with the skin issue, but I'd disgarded it as a horsecrap because I thought it was all about skin elasticity. But there's been a definite improvement over the last few pounds so I may have to eat my words there.

I didn't do any regular exercise at al, but I took the weight off relatively slowly so maybe that helped a bit. I've been very lucky regarding my tummy but I stored the weight more on my hips and thighs, though, so maybe that explains it. I have loose skin on my upper arms and some on my thighs, but not sure it's enough to justify putting my body through surgery.

See how you feel when you get to your target. There can be a real change over the last few pounds. Good luck!

I've lost nearly 7 stone in total now and to be honest my skin is horrendous! I do alot of resistance exercising to build the muscle to improve the look of the skin but I really do think my only real option is surgery.

It hasn't been an easy decision to make and I certainly haven't made it lightly. I have my first breast lift consultation tomorrow. It is with the NHS so I have to cross my fingers that they may fund it.

All in all I plan to get my breasts lifted but no implants, a brachioplasty (biingo wings), tummy tuck and thigh lift. I know how extreme this sounds, but I really am at the point that I would rather live with scars than the wrinkly hanging skin that I have at the moment.

It's going to take a while to get it all done due to financial restraints but I am SOOOOO determined to do it.

However, I must say that it is true, some people skin will tighten. You may be one of those so don't panic too much

K xx

anyone thought about that Boots firming cream? I was thinking of trying it on my post pregnancy tummy....!

No but I tried the breast firming cream....made no difference though. Although it would depend on the severity of the skin sagging.

Worth a go

K xx

I found this on a site, and he words it much better than I can:

1. Skin is incredibly elastic. Just look at what women go through during pregnancy. Skin has the ability to expand and contract to a remarkable degree.

2. Elasticity of skin tends to decrease with age. Wrinkling and loss of elasticity is partly the consequence of aging (genetic factors) and also a result of environmental factors such as oxidative stress, excessive sun exposure, and nutritional deficiency. The environmental parts you can fix, the genetics and age part, you cannot. Advice: Get moving and change the things you have control over... Be realistic and don't worry about those things you don't have control over.

3. How much your skin will return to its former tautness depends partly on age. The older you get, the more an extremely large weight loss can leave loose skin that will not return to normal.

4. How long you carry extra weight has a lot to do with how much the skin will become taut after the weight loss: For example, compare a 9 month pregnancy with 9 years carrying 100 excess pounds.

5. How much weight was carried has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so much and be expected to "snap back" one hundred percent.

6. How fast the weight was gained also has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so quickly and be expected to "snap back."

7. How fast weight is lost also has a lot to do with how much the skin will tighten up. Rapid weight loss doesn't allow the skin time to slowly resume to normal. (yet another reason to lose fat slowly; 1-2 pounds per week, 3 pounds at the most if you have a lot of weight to lose, and even then, only if you are measuring body fat and you’re certain it's fat you’re losing, not lean tissue).

8. There are exceptions to all of the above; i.e, people who gained and then lost incredible amounts of weight quickly at age 50 or 60, and their skin returned 100% to normal.

9. There are many creams advertised as having the ability to restore the tightness of your skin. None are likely to work – at least not permanently and measurably – and especially if you have a lot of loose skin. Don't waste your money.

10. If you’re considering surgical skin removal, consult a physician for advice because this is not a minor operation, but keep in mind that your plastic surgeon may be making his BMW payments with your abdominoplasty money. (Surgery may be recommended in situations where it's not 100% necessary). Surgery should be left as the ABSOLUTE FINAL option in extreme cases.

11. Give your skin time. Your skin will get tighter as your body fat gets lower. I've seen and heard of many cases where the skin gradually tightened up, at least partially, after a one or two year period where the weight loss was maintained and exercise continued.

12. Know your body fat percentage before even THINKING about surgery. Loose skin is one thing, but still having body fat is another. Be honest with yourself and do that by taking your body fat measurement. This can be done with skinfold calipers or a variety of other devices (calipers might not be the best method if you have large folds of loose skin. Look into impedance analysis, underwater weighing, DEXA or Bod Pod).
Suppose for example, a man drops from 35% body fat all the way down to 20%. He should be congratulated, but I would tell him, "Don't complian about loose skin, your body fat is still high. Press onward and keep getting leaner.”
Average body fat for men is in the mid teens (16% or so) Good body fat for men is 10-12%, and single digits is extremely lean (men shouldn’t expect to look “ripped” with 100% tight skin on the abs unless they have single digit body fat, and women low teens).
Except in extreme cases, you are unlikely to see someone with loose skin who has very low body fat. It's quite remarkable how much your skin can tighten up and literally start to “cling” to your abdominal muscles once your body fat goes from “average” to "excellent." Someone with legitimate single digit body fat and a ton of loose skin is a rare sight.
So... the key to getting tighter skin is to lose more body fat, (and build more muscle), up to the point where your body composition rating is BETTER than average (in the “good” to “great” category, not just "okay"). Only AFTER you reach your long term body fat percentage goal should you give thought to "excess skin removal." At that point, admittedly, there are bound to be a few isolated cases where surgery is necessary if you can’t live with the amount of loose skin remaining.
However, unless you are really, really lean, it's difficult to get a clear picture of what is loose skin, what is just remaining body fat and how much further the skin will tighten up when the rest of the fat is lost.

Excellent post as usual Nat! I got quite hopeful about the 50-6o year
olds til I saw it was swift gain and loss!

Now ! 3 months ago I had a terrible overhang (I have a scar from my hysterectomy) and it really was quite depressing. I noticed getting out of the shower last night that it isn't half as bad, and with a bit of luck it'll be negligible once I'm at target. I'll probably have a stomach like a Klingons forehead when I suck it all in! But I have no intention of wearing a bikini so what the hell!
Now you Smoomoo have youth on your side! I'm sure if you get to target and exercise your abs you will be fine, just do it at a couple of pounds a week.

brilliant advice...i already have a terrible overhang and saggy skin due to having my 10lb13 baby via c-section. i hope one day i may be able to wear a bikini or a top and jeans without worrying that it will poke out of the bottom!

Hey Smoomoo,

I have just had a Tummy Tuck to get rid of my excess skin, i used to weigh just over 19 stones and at my smallest i weighed 10 stone 4 lbs but looked 'gaunt'.

As a result of my loss and maintaining for nearly 5 years, i had a TT on the NHS 3 weeks ago.

To be honest, my skin was worse 5 years ago compared to just before my TT. Lots of hard work and exercise did help firm up my upper abs but my lower tummy was just loose and excess skin with an overhang.

Its all gone now and im going through the healing process and by all me, if you want further details drop me a private message and we will discuss

Ive lost just over 6 stone...my Consultant that performed my gastric band told me that the skin takes a really long time to shrink, after being stretched for so long...but it will.
To help it along, I go swimming and go to the gym and I teach dancing. I have a bit of an overhanging tummy, as I put on 5 stone when pregnant and had a c-section.

Originally Posted by Anna*

Ive lost almost 4.5stone, im 24 and Ive always been in the obese catagory for as long as I can remember, so I kind of expected to have loose skin, my tummy is wrinkley and my boobs are rapidly shrinking and looking like a pair of deflated baloons all wrinkley and squidgey, so I am going to be looking into surgery to have these corrected once im at target. My mum also lost alot of weight using slimming world when I was younger, her boobs shrank too.

^ I cant really say more than that, cause thats me too..


My boobs make me feel like thatreally old wrinkley lady from benidorm who's really tan? (those of you whov seen it/watch it will know what i mean!)

Id love to have mine lifted, but my doctior told me in order to maintain the results id need implants, and im not feeling like i need implants, right now im a 34 FF , but i recon once the skin was gone, id proberly be a DD-E, but i dont want implants reli! .. im quite lucky with my belly, as i dont have loose skin just alot of stretch marks xxx

Ive never been blessed with mahoosive jugs so i was ok on the boob front after losing weight

I have contemplated a boob job but then i wouldnt be able to fit into nice delicate tops and dresses. As it stands im a 10/12 on top and i reckon a boob job would put me up to at least a 14 so i'll stay with what ive got i think

Brilliant post as usual Natt.

Good luck Indieflower, I hope you get all your surgery sorted on the NHS. X

Natt,

brilliant post. I agree with you 100%. I've read on a website called "the myth of loose skin" that in reality what we call "loose skin" is actually FAT which we wrongly mistake as skin. When people have got loose skin on their belly it's usually a "skin" with very thick composure. Your skin is at its thinnest on your eyelid and at its thickest at your talon. A good example of your skin thickness is on the back of your hand: pick it up and fold it... that's what your "loose skin should look like. Any thicker than that, and it's FAT.

I totally agree with you, Nat, about the body fat percentage. people who have lost a lot of weight most of the time have lost a lot of muscle mass and have retained a good percentage of fat. of course some fat has been lost, but compared to the loss of their muscle mass, the fat loss is never as much. This shows when we look at the loose skin, because the excess fat that hangs out of reduced and non toned muscles sticks out even more. The only way to get rid of "loose skin" is to change the composition of our body and lose FAT. This can be done while we lose weight although most of the time people get restless because they don't see great results on the scales.

It's VERY tough to lose fat and maintain your muscle mass, and you certainly cannot lose 4 or 5 lbs of fat in a week. Normally the max you could lose is 0.5 lb or 1 lb in a week. people get easily discouraged that way... without realising that they're instead being healthy and losing only what they ought to lose.

Hence, some people have to maintain their weight for a couple of years and keep on exercising, at which point the composition of their bodies will have changed (let's say at the beginning they weighted 8 stone and had 25% body fat, and after 2 years they weight still 8 stone and have 14% body fat... it means that their fat level has decreased and the muscles have increased, so the "loose skin" has gone.

I found this website really interesting: The Myth of Loose Skin have a look folks!