Loose Skin after Weight Loss

[Alderney]

Hi Everyone, please can someone put my mind at rest? I have about 7 stone to lose and am worried about where all the extra skin goes when you lose the fat.

Does the body cope and it becomes tighter naturally? I am worried because I am 43 and have been large all my life so my skin has been stretched for a very long time! I wonder if it would ever look normal again and if I will be able to wear nice strappy tops in the summer or if it will be all baggy?

Please can someone put my mind at rest and let me know how your bodies have dealt with the issue? Thanks to everyone for any help.

 

[spangles]

it's a concern for lots of us, but frustratingly, there's no way of knowing. some people are very young and lose comparatively little weight but have loose skin - others are older and lose more and it all pings back. What i have gathered, is that your skin will look tighter a year after you get to goal.

then there are people who swear by various creams and oils, body brushing and toning exercises. but there's no way of knowing how effective they are - as you can't exactly do a double blind study and compare it to what their specific skin would have done anyway.

i think you can get a shade of an idea by thinking about your skin now: is it wrinkly, are you prone to stretch marks? - neither would be a good sign. BUT the point is - the skin is there now, it must be better to not have it stuffed with fat.

 

[Alderney]

Thanks for your reply Spangles, Yes my skin would definately look better not stuffed with fat!

I just notice under my arms for example that they are very wobbly at the moment and my tummy is floppy. Mind you having had 2 children that probably doesnt help!

Well, I won't let it put me off as I have to lose this weight for health reasons and I'm sure my new-found confidence from having lost the weight will more than make up for any little wobbly bits!

Just got to get started now .... roll on 11th October x

 

[gibs25]

I really worry about this too but hopefully my skin will shrink back. I, like you, have been big all my life and have a lot of weight to lose! So i'm just keeping my fingers crossed! I'm gonna start to do some toning exercises for my arms, stomach and thighs soon.

Good luck with Cambridge!!

 

[bigandbeautiful]

I worry about this too, especially after 3 children I don't look fantastic naked! But I habe been a lot lighter than I am now and a lot of the skin does ping back. I think it looks worse when it has fat in it, my stomach is not very pretty when I'm bigger but when the weight goes the skin sort of tightens, I think the weight of the fat pulls it down.
My friend lost 5-6 stone a few years ago with LL and her skin went back she wasn't left with loads of loose hanging skin, she said the water helps skin contract back so I'm hoping my 2-3 litres will have the same effect on me!
At the end of the day you will look fab and some looser skin can be covered more easily than lots of fat!!

 

[girlygirl1]

I lost ten stones and I must be honest - I do have loose skin on my tum and inner thighs and under-arms. Boobs a bit floppy too but not horribly so. It looks worse at first but after 6 months to a year there is usually a considerable improvement.

Depends on how much weight you had to lose, and on how naturally elastic your skin is. Age is also a factor.

But being horribly obese is worse than any floppy tum!

 

[Crumbs]

Nice reassuring posts. I've been worrying about that too as at 53 with about half of me to lose. Looking at people who have lost a lot of weight I think (unless they are young) people often retain a 'comfortably covered' look so rarely look skinny but just look healthy.
To be honest, after being fat so long I don't think I would ever feel comfortable showing much skin anyway. I've covered up for so many years!
But to be a normal shape and to be able to buy something because I liked it rather than the shop happening to have it in a very large size must be nice.
I do worry about the skin on my neck though, if that tends to snap back? I doubt it but you never know.
xx

 

[jembo]

I lost 9 stone 3 years back and the only loose skin on me was a bit on my tummy but nothing bad xx

 

[Illa]

I had a very very floppy stomach before starting dieting, which I mainly attributed to 3 past pregnancies and lose skin. But I was wrong, it was fat. As I'm losing the pounds my stomach is definitely getting better, not the stomach from my teens of course but there is a lot of improvement. I believe it will only get better. I think I have a pretty good skin though, never had one stretchmark but I definitely will try to tone this up to look even better. I'm sure exercice helps.

 

[This time its forever]

I worry about this too but there is no way we can know how we will be when he reach our goal, as said in the financial industry 'past performance is not an indication of future performance'.

When I lost 60kgs and I was 28 I was thin all over, even my wobbly arms had gone but my thighs and tummy were really wobbly and when I wore tight clothes even after losing 60kgs it didnt look too attractive, the tummy you can cover but not the thighs. I had even gone and booked plastic surgery as it wasnt anything that exercising would have gotten rid of (I did 1hr aerobic and 30 mins anaerobic exercise each day, creams, massages etc). The plastic surgeon warned me that as I dont have a family yet my tummy would stretch when pregant and its a shame to pay 4K for that!

Anyway I prefer to have wobbly bits rather than be obese, I dont have kids and I would like to so I wouldnt do my stomach, but I have already said that when I get to my goal that I might treat myself to operating on my thighs if they dont look better

 

[girlygirl1]

When I was a lot younger my skin seemed to snap back rather well. Alas, no more! But as I say six months into maintenance there was a noticeable improvement, and one year in, more still. I think the areas of the body where we have stretched the skin very badly - tummy thighs, bottom in particular - will be the worst affected. I don't know about the neck area but since it has been stretched comparatively less than other areas you might be pleasantly surprised!

 

[Alderney]

I think I will just have to keep my fingers crossed !!! And yes, I would definitely prefer being a healthy BMI with a few wobbly bits. It will be brilliant to walk into a shop and buy something because I actually like it and feel happy rather than buy it because it fits ..... I CAN'T WAIT!!!

 

[This time its forever]

I think I will just have to keep my fingers crossed !!! And yes, I would definitely prefer being a healthy BMI with a few wobbly bits. It will be brilliant to walk into a shop and buy something because I actually like it and feel happy rather than buy it because it fits ..... I CAN'T WAIT!!!

I absolutely hate that and not only is it the only thing that fits, its bloody expensive!