What are my chance of getting loose skin?

[Glacies]

I'm 17, around 5"7 and since starting college have put on a lot of weight - I usually hover around 9 1/2 ever since I was 13 but have shot up to about 12 (bad scales) so I think it's about time I did something about it.

I intend to go on the slimming world diet as its had some success with family members but I'm really worried about loose skin. I want to lose 3 or 4 stone, preferably by September (Or maybe even July) but I was wondering what my chances are of developing loose skin and if so, how much? I know my muscle:fat ratio is really bad because I've basically never exercised up to this point.

I have a some red marks on one of my hips (no idea what it is, they've been there a while but might have gotten bigger). Vain as it is, I'm also worried about my bust - I've stayed at around a size F since I was 12 (it was a horror story for me then, haha) and gone up to a size or two since gaining the weight - will I end up getting really saggy after? :/

I do about half an hours worth of high intensity zumba a day, if that affects anything?

Thanks, I'm completely new to this. :|

 

[toofatkat]

You are 17 so your skin should shrink back no priblem at all especially if you lose weight slowly and properly. The faster you try and lose weight the worse it's likely to be as your body needs to 'remember' its previous shape.
However trying to lose 3-4 stone when you're 5 ft 7 is ridiculous. That's below the lowest weight for your height.
I'm 5ft 7 and I know that if I tried to get down to 9-10 stone I would look skeletal and sick.
You probably only need to lose about 2 Stone and will look very healthy and sexy.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to be size zero. We weren't meant to be that size.

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[Blueway]

You are 17 so your skin should shrink back no priblem at all especially if you lose weight slowly and properly. The faster you try and lose weight the worse it's likely to be as your body needs to 'remember' its previous shape.
However trying to lose 3-4 stone when you're 5 ft 7 is ridiculous. That's below the lowest weight for your height.
I'm 5ft 7 and I know that if I tried to get down to 9-10 stone I would look skeletal and sick.
You probably only need to lose about 2 Stone and will look very healthy and sexy.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to be size zero. We weren't meant to be that size.

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I agree with th above post about loose skin, you're only 17 and not very big anyway.
Have to say I totally disagree about looking skeletal at 5'7 and 9 - 10 stone, it's a perfectly healthy weight!

 

[TracyGWill]

I agree about the loose skin - you need to lose weight fairly slowly then you should be fine at your age (I'm 50 and have lost 8 stone over 18 months, and my skin's not too bad at all). As for what's a healthy weight, you say you're about 12 stone and would like to lose 3 or 4 stone - if you lost 4 stone you would definitely be underweight, which really isn't good. At 9 stone you'd be towards the low end of the healthy BMI range for someone of 5'7". A good weight to aim for would be around 9.5 stone, so a loss of around 2.5 stone. xx

 

[toofatkat]

Actually having been that weight for Many years I do look skeletal at 9.7

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[TracyGWill]

Actually having been that weight for Many years I do look skeletal at 9.7

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I agree, Kat - I'm only an inch taller and I'd look like I'd been dug up if I ever got down to 9.5 stone again! xx

 

[toofatkat]

Maybe it's down to frame size? I'm a large frame and the tables never actually account for that

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[TracyGWill]

Maybe it's down to frame size? I'm a large frame and the tables never actually account for that

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Yeah, me too - can never quite get my head round the one size fits all approach of the BMI charts. I thought I needed to get down to around 11.5 stone, but now I'm thinking that may be a bit too low for me at this stage in my life - I think age plays a part in it, skinny doesn't look as good on the middle aged, don't want to get too wrinkly, which I'm not at the moment, lol. But that won't be a worry for someone as young as this poster. xx

 

[toofatkat]

I agree. I was aiming for 11.0 but I appear to be stuck around 13.7. I'm a size 14 (16 jeans) and actually I look ok. But I'm 44 and I think I'd look too thin at 11. To be honest I'm not entirely site where it would go from either. I'm going to keep trying to get to 12 to see how I look but of I can't get there then I can't. I'm ok with how I look now

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[Afsana]

Anybody on the cambridge diet??

 

[TracyGWill]

Anybody on the cambridge diet??

Nope, not for me at all!

 

[Want2BeSlim]

I would say it is likely your age is going to help you in this, you're still very young.

The main things that come into loose skin are (although everyone is different so it really can vary):
age
how overweight you are
how long you have been overweight
how quickly you gained the weight
how quickly you lose the weight
your skin elasticity

Everyones skin elasticity is different. That's why some people in their 40's can lose 4 stone and have hardly any loose skin and others a lot younger can lose the same but end up with loose skin. Also when some people lose 6 stone and have hardly any but another person only loses 3 stone and gets loose skin... everyone is different. No one will truly know whether they will have loose skin, how much and where until they lose the weight and can see what they're left with.

At the age of 21 I was 13 stone at my heaviest (I'm 5'2"), I got down to 9 stone 11 lb in about 8 months and I didn't have any loose skin apart from a small amount on my boobs that was only visible to me (not my boyfriend he didn't notice) when I laid down. I lost the weight with a ridiculous diet of less than 500 calories a day (don't ask) and working out 3+ times per week at the gym.

Last year in March I started dieting again having got myself up to a massive 15 stone 9 lb (I was 26 at the time). Since then I have lost 3 stone (I did have 2 months off so some I gained back but have lost it again - in total from 15 stone 9 lb to 12 stone 10 lb it's almost 3 stone different in my weight) and I have quite a bit of loose skin on my boobs, it's very noticeable when I lay down but also when I am sitting or standing... and I still have at least another 2 and a half stone to lose so it will probably get worse. So far I have no loose skin elsewhere but that's not to say I wont because everywhere is still filled out with fat. Once the fat decreases I could very well have loose skin on my stomach, thighs and upper arms. I know I'm not going to be as lucky as I was the first time round because I got to nearly 16 stone and think I just stretched myself too far.

The red marks on your hips sound like stretch marks. Don't worry though they will fade from pink/red to white/silver in time. I have them too from weight gain but they are now all silver/white and not as noticeable.