Loose skin or fat?!

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Vertigo1987

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Hi everyone! I'm new around here, and just looking for some input.
I was overweight for 10 years or so and when I turned 19 I decided it was time to get fit. I lost 40-50 lbs in 6 months or maybe less not sure, most of it was by crash dieting,never went to the gym(I know this was stupid). I hit my goal weight 3 months ago So, I decided to join the gym then and have been doing weight training and cardio 5x a week.
My problem is I have some type of belly, I'm not really sure if its fat or loose skin. It hangs when I lean over. I dont see how it could be fat since I'm 5'8 and 135-140 lbs(19 year old). I cant help but constantly stand in front of a mirror and look at it, its totally killed whatever self-esteem I had left.
I uploaded some pictures, if it is loose skin I have a few questions
Is it really bad? Will it go away with time or am I stuck with it forever?
I'm eating right, I'm lifting, doing cardio, heck I'm even using skin firming lotions!
Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
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It looks like loose skin to me, but with you being so young it may bounce back. If you crash dieted and lost the weight quickly your skin may not have been able to keep up. It may take a while to bounce back so keep with eating right and exercising. I know it's hard after all your effort not to have the flat belly you anticipated, I'm worried about it as well but I would rather deal with some extra skin or scars from a tummy tuck than be stuck in an unhealthy body.
 
Drink lots of water, exercise and eat right for awhile and most of it will probably tighten up.
 
It looks like it has some fat attached. skin is so thin... it appears to be weighed down by a little extra fat. When you crash diet you tend to lose some lean muscle. I have known people who were able to lose that. They can still pinch the skin and stretch it out but it doesn't hang loosly like that.
 
It definetly looks like loose skin.

I cant help but constantly stand in front of a mirror and look at it, its totally killed whatever self-esteem I had left.
I uploaded some pictures, if it is loose skin I have a few questions
Is it really bad? Will it go away with time or am I stuck with it forever?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

If you really are so concerned about it and it is affecting your self esteem there are procedures which can help. A tummy tuck in your case will help you get rid of this and give you a flatter stomach. Plastic surgery may sound like extreme to someone but if your self esteem is affected and you lost all that weight and still dont feel good about yourself you can definetly think of this as an option. You dont have to be stuck with this forever.
 
Pinch it...

Pinch the area. If you feel fat between the fingers, then you have some weight to lose in that area, which will tone it. If you pinch and your fingers touch -- skin is extremely thin -- then you have loose skin.
 
Its just loose skin. Unfortunately its part of loosing dramatic amounts of weight. Most of the time when someone is overweight for a considerable amoubt of time it doesn't make much difference how fast or slow the weight comes off. You loose 100lbs you will have some extra skin. Its just part of it.

The fact that you are still so young is a bonus. Given some time(12-24months) with continued training and exercise and some of it will pull back. How much is completely a guess. Anyone saying differently is lying to you or has no personal expeirence.

A tummy tuck would be one way to go. I had one myself and im just 3 1/2 months out. My body is still changing even now and from what I hear will continue to do so for awhile. If it will help give you some idea of what a real TT before and after looks like i'll gladly post my before's and afters.

I also had a thigh lift as well. I was 445lbs at my heaviest now im 195lbs.
 
Okay even though you haven't posted that you would like to view a before TT and after I had a overwelming responce through pm's asking for them after the above post. So i'll post a few for you.

First thing you must know is that major surgery like this takes time to fully heal and the swelling to go down. Not only that coming from a huge weightloss like I was mixed with my high intense training my body is still changing and my skin is still tightning even now. They say you still see major changes about once a month until the 6 month mark. I am currently 3 1/2 months out myself so im prolly about half way there.

Which would explain a few things. For one my fitness level is rediculously high now. For someone to carry my BF%(7.4) they have full defenition in their delts/abs/lower region. The only reason I don't is due to my skin. For the first month post op I really didn't have any ab defenition but, now slowly overtime as the swelling go's down I get more and more. My surgeon says this trend will continue and with my workouts being what they are she says in another 6-8 months I'll prolly look even different than I do today. That being said I really can't complain. I mean afterall a year ago I was 400lbs ya know?

The one thing it doesn't look like you need but, in retrospect I prolly did was a fully body lift. I got talked outta doing one by my surgeon(as well as the tightning they usually do on the ab muscle itself) because of my youth and my workout schedule. She claims it really wasn't nessesary and that even though my body looks werid now in a few years my pecks should come back up and everything should fill in nicely.

I personal don't agree but, we will see. I hate the way my pecks sag. Its my next project. Im gonna start benching pressing and increase the size of them to pull them out and therefore tightning the skin in that area helping pull them up.

Word of caution these pics are significantly graphic and not exactly something you wanna see at work and what not. I still have a ways to go in my mind but, I gotta be happy with where I am.

*warning view at your own risk*
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/before-after-between/13150-235lbs-10-months-6.html
 
fat sits in a layer beneath the skin, so yeah when you have excess skin bunched up you have excess fat also. I have the same thing, im waiting a year or so then doing the surgery :)
 
Ironman and Wishes, you are both positively inspirational! Thanks very much for the pics you have both posted on this forum; I review them when I need encouragement.
 
Great pics Ironman. You are gonna look great on the beach after a few more weeks of working out and as the scar begins to fade. Thanks for posting those, has helped me alot :)
 
I think your best bet is a tummy tuck to get rid of the excess skin. If you can afford it, plastic surgery really isn't that bad. My grandma had the procedure and she said it was a piece of cake. You'd be down for about two weeks. Make sure your doctor is board certified as a doc and plastic surgeon and has NO bad reports. Remember, if your going to do it, cheaper is never better!
 
this is a really old thread and the author probably isnt around the forum anymore. i would like to say that my opinion is any surgery should be a last resort. i know alot of people use it as a tool but i thoroughly believe you will look better, feel better, and be much healthier if you do it through exercise. there are limits though.
 
Old thread but replying because I am bored. I am 21 and I am planning a tummy tuck for when I lose all my weight. I know there will be alot of loose skin. I am going to be loosing 100 lbs and I already have an odd stomach from my pregnancy. Im just going to make sure that I can lose as much as I can 1st plus they are expensive so I will be saving up beforehand.
 
Your right surgery should be a last resort. This may or may not work on you but there is a strong chance it will.
Get a huge bottle or sorbolene and rub the whole thing into your belly/body. You may need to wipe / rinse / wash it off a few times too.
Often, the sorbolene simply rubs away things like this: thick, hard, non-elastic skin, big belly, areas that are hard to shave / dark hairs. Seems to be miraculous for some people.
May sound too good to be true but it really can work lilke that, often scaly fungal skin build up (dandruff) appears to look and feels like normal skin, however it is not and can be removed with sorbolene.
Love handles, fat hips, rubbing thighs, rashes, exma, pimples, inflamed angry skin, baldness.
Sorbolene is so cheap and available even from supermarkets. However it is recommended to choose a trusted brand if you are going to use a very large amount.
Even up your skin tone, remove excess folds, freshen your skin, rub off the 'age' that builds up over time.
To help the process or removal of this unsightly old skin and help create a new and more healthy floral balance you may also try using a product such as selenium or tee tree oil. Good luck!
 
i cant really 100% tell from the pictures but i think its a bit of both. maybe just a bit of fat and mostly skin.

after my pregnancy i had fat and skin hanging as well.. i did a lot of cocoa lotioning, and massaging.. drank plenty plenty plenty of water... and worked out a little bit.. just some crunches everyday... i can say that my tummy is not hanging anymore and all of this really helped like in within 3,4 months.. but you have to stick with it. lotion everyday and massage everyday... do everyday some exercise and if its just 5 minutes..

good luck :)
 
Heya, I lost somewhere around 100 pounds and i can say its probbaly loose skin, before making any choices of talking to my parents of the option of the surgery i waited for a few months, mine shrunk ALOT when im wearing panties or a swimming suit you cant even tell. Make sure to put lotion on it EVERY day, when you wake up and go to sleep, dont forget to do core exercises and remember, everyone is differant. If you cant deal with it then id see a plasti surgon but if your willing to wait awhile you may be pleasantly surprise, I dont think it ever fully goes away. but with gaining muslce it may help. Since you lost the weight with mostly crash diets you may have more fat then you think. Stay strong! you've done AMAZING if you need anything , even just a friend to talk to message me!
 
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