To those who have lost 70-90 pounds...

NedoCTB said:
I lost a majority of my weight within the first 6 months. I was losing roughly 4lbs a week.

160-165 LBS:

175-180 LBS(CURRENT):

Women can still recomp... you just have to lift HEAVY weights. If you aren't in the gym everyday of the week, eating enormous amounts of food, taking steroids and shit you will never gain the amount of muscle that female bodybuilders have. Trust me, women get scared so easily of losing their femininity but it just isn't possible without 100% dedication. Hell, there are guys that struggle to put on any amount of noticeable muscle.

If you're a female suffering from loose skin, halt your weight loss, start upping the calories and trying to fill the loose skin in with muscle. If you have the option of surgery, I guess you could go that route but you could save yourself a lot of pain, suffering and money by just recomping. If it doesn't work then by all means go for the surgery.

Also, don't just assume because you're 140 lbs that it is loose skin... if it looks like fat, it most likely is fat. Even if it sags down it is not necessarily loose skin. Fat can still cause your skin to hang down.

The benefits of losing the weight far outweigh the negatives that come with loose skin.
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Thanks for the illuminating reply!

I don't have access to a proper gym at the moment. I do have a couple of weights up to 15 pounds, a step bench, and lots of space. Could I lose significant weight quickly using my body as resistance? I have no idea how come up with a strength plan though.

I'm new to fitness in general, so I'll need all the help I can get, haha. What's recomping?
 
HeidiS said:
Two years ago I lost about 70 pounds and had no issues with loose skin, well, other than a little on my upper arms and boobs, but it wasn't too bad. I started around 228 and got down to 159 in about 6 months. Keep in mind I did close to no weight training which normally helps keep loose skin to a minimum, although I did drink a ton of water.

From what I've seen in before and after pictures, the people who had really long, deep, grooved stretch marks prior to losing weight had more issues in their after pictures with "hanging skin" than those who didn't have that bad of stretch marks to begin with . I had only a few squiggly looking short stretch marks around my belly button, hips, and legs, so that may be why I didn't have any concerning skin problems. The only place I had a lot of stretch marks before losing weight was on my upper arms, which I'm assuming is why the skin didn't snap back in place there quite as well as it did everywhere else.

Another thing to consider is your age. Last time I lost weight I was 21 so I had that going for me; the older you are the less collagen there is in your skin, thus the elasticity decreases. Also, how well your skin stretches and snaps back has a lot to due with your genes. My mom had 4 kids and never got a single stretch mark on her stomach, whereas some people have huge, deep ones with only one child, so maybe that had something to do with why my skin snapped back as well as it did.

Unfortunately I gained all the weight back and I don't think I'll be as fortunate this time around with my skin snapping back. I'm only a few years older, but losing and gaining all that weight probably did a number on my skin. I also have some new squiggly stretch marks on my stomach that are a bit deeper than before. But...I'm doing lots of weight training in addition to cardio this time around so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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Regardless of what MCR is saying, this is a great post!

I'm 20 years old, with a two deep stretch marks about two inches long on each upper thigh. I have old, silvery marks from growth spurts (both horizontally and vertically, haha), and that'd be about it. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and hoping this works out.

You lost the weight before, you can do it again! Good luck! :D
 
JuniperLee said:
Thanks for the illuminating reply!

I don't have access to a proper gym at the moment. I do have a couple of weights up to 15 pounds, a step bench, and lots of space. Could I lose significant weight quickly using my body as resistance? I have no idea how come up with a strength plan though.

I'm new to fitness in general, so I'll need all the help I can get, haha. What's recomping?
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As far as the strength training plan, check out youtube, there are a TON of fitness videos that can give you ideas on some of the exercises and training you can do at home. :)
 
I have lost between 90-100lbs and have no issues with lose skin. I run a lot and im more then sure that has helped tighten everything up, but that's just me.
 
Consume adequate protein and work out on a daily basis. I think the correlation amongst everyone that has the least about of loose skin is due to healthier food choices, adequate protein and moderate exercise.

Loose skin is apparently a myth and it is actually just fat.
 
Injesting MSM or organic sulphur is a good way to reduce loose skin and the appearance of stretch marks. MSM powder/pills can be found at healthfood sites and MSM soap, Born naturals is a good soap with topical MSM. Hope this helps
 
I read every post here and I'm taking notes! It seems that loose skin isn't really a big deal like people make it out to be, some people say "you will never get rid of it", but some people here kick that saying right in the butt.

I have two questions if you don't mind.

1. From what I've seen, cardio helps... I recently started to do 3 hours of walking almost everyday, I burn around 1,300 calories in that time period. (I do 1 1/2 earlier in the day, and I do the other 1 1/2 later in the day). Is this type of cardio OKAY? Is it too much, as in: will this not help me with the loose skin in the end?

2. Lifting: Now, I read a couple posts about lifting to fill up the loose skin, do you do that during your weight loss, or do you do that once you started to see loose skin? And from what I gather, it's heavy lifting...is this correct?

If anyone can help me with one of my questions, or both - that would be absolutely fantastic!

I'm glad to see the majority of you are doing a great job and teaching those negative people that say "it's impossible to get rid of loose skin" are phonies!
 
I am extremely excited for this because as of monday I've officaly
lost 90lbs!!!!!
Anyways, im going to a plastic surgeon soon to figure out what I have left it really
fat or loose skin. I look skinny with clothes on but when i have tighter fitting clothes
i have a little pouch and a trainer said it looks like loose skin but I am 17 soo a lot of my
skin has tighten up. So I haven't had any huge problems, if you'd like pictures
of before and picture of my tummy now to maybe got an idea, or my arms ill defiantly wanna help out. i do have pretty rough stretch marks though.
 
If it's not super thin, it's most likely fat. When I was initially losing weight I thought I had loose skin but as the body fat dropped it started to vanish. Feel free to show pictures and I'll see if I can relate to it at all.
 
Honestly, if you look at most people claiming to have loose skin - they still look fat. Just cause your stomach droops down or hangs doesn't mean it is loose skin. There's so much fat and very little muscle to hold it up. If you were 10% body fat you wouldn't be able to have skin hang down. :O
 
Are stretch marks a good or a bad sign when it comes to loose skin ? I can't figure out if a stretched skin will shrink back or if it will stay streched (with marks)
 
Hi! I have recently lost 80lbs and I am having lots of issues with loose, saggy skin :( I have always had terrible skin elasticity though (stretch marks, etc.) so I'm assuming that could be why!

I have another 40lbs to lose before I reach my ultimate goal and I know for a fact that I will have to have surgery to fully get the body I am hoping for! It's a sad fact, but I'm still happier with my new 'saggy' body than I was with my old 'fluffy' one! :))
 
renau2e said:
Hi! I have recently lost 80lbs and I am having lots of issues with loose, saggy skin :( I have always had terrible skin elasticity though (stretch marks, etc.) so I'm assuming that could be why!

I have another 40lbs to lose before I reach my ultimate goal and I know for a fact that I will have to have surgery to fully get the body I am hoping for! It's a sad fact, but I'm still happier with my new 'saggy' body than I was with my old 'fluffy' one! :))
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Hi, Sarah! I have a question that I hope you can answer - How long did it take you to lose the 80 lbs? Just curious if a slow weight loss or a fast weight loss makes any difference. Also how old are you?
 
I have stretch marks and I have no problems with loose skin. Trust me... keep shedding the BODY FAT and your loose skin will vanish. Up the protein and start lifting weights.

Here:

^ You can tell she still has TONS of body fat. Doesn't even look like loose skin to me at all.

If you have the money, go ahead and get it lopped off but it definitely isn't necessary. I think it's only people that lose close to 150+ or more weight that are high risk for loose skin.
 
NedoCTB said:
I have stretch marks and I have no problems with loose skin. Trust me... keep shedding the BODY FAT and your loose skin will vanish. Up the protein and start lifting weights.

Here:

^ You can tell she still has TONS of body fat. Doesn't even look like loose skin to me at all.

If you have the money, go ahead and get it lopped off but it definitely isn't necessary. I think it's only people that lose close to 150+ or more weight that are high risk for loose skin.
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When all is said and done I have about 250 lbs to lose, so I can pretty much guarantee that I'll have loose skin. But you're probably right about the people with only 100 lbs to lose, most likely if they do the weight loss right and aren't very old then more than likely the skin will eventually tighten up. Where as someone like me, I don't think there is any way to avoid loose skin after losing 250 lbs.
 
Shy219 said:
I am extremely excited for this because as of monday I've officaly
lost 90lbs!!!!!
Anyways, im going to a plastic surgeon soon to figure out what I have left it really
fat or loose skin. I look skinny with clothes on but when i have tighter fitting clothes
i have a little pouch and a trainer said it looks like loose skin but I am 17 soo a lot of my
skin has tighten up. So I haven't had any huge problems, if you'd like pictures
of before and picture of my tummy now to maybe got an idea, or my arms ill defiantly wanna help out. i do have pretty rough stretch marks though.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the weight loss! You're my inspiration haha.

Pictures would be great, if it isn't a bother. Thank you so much :D I'm really worried about my stomach and thighs. My upper thighs are where I have the worst stretchmarks, so I wonder if that's where there would be loose skin.
 
Stacy said:
Hi, Sarah! I have a question that I hope you can answer - How long did it take you to lose the 80 lbs? Just curious if a slow weight loss or a fast weight loss makes any difference. Also how old are you?
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Hi Stacey,

I'm 28 (and have 3 young children ages 3,2 and 1) I lost the 80lbs in 8 months ... so 10lbs a month. I'm not sure if you consider that fast or slow ... average, maybe?! haha

I will absolutely need plastic surgery to fix my body ... no ifs, ands, or buts. If you saw me naked, you'd agree :)) ;)
 
NedoCTB said:
I have stretch marks and I have no problems with loose skin. Trust me... keep shedding the BODY FAT and your loose skin will vanish. Up the protein and start lifting weights.

Here:

^ You can tell she still has TONS of body fat. Doesn't even look like loose skin to me at all.

If you have the money, go ahead and get it lopped off but it definitely isn't necessary. I think it's only people that lose close to 150+ or more weight that are high risk for loose skin.
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Ummm ... If I had a body like that, I'd be SOO happy! haha That's not the kind of loose, hanging skin I'm talking about myself. I still have 40lbs more to lose, but you can already tell (and I have been told by many dr.'s) that my skin will never go back to 'flat' .... I truely believe each person is different, each person's skin is different, and also each person's history (ie, how long they've been over weight, how overweight they are, etc) make a HUGE difference.

Stacy, if you have 250 lbs to lose- it's pretty much a given that you'll need surgery to fix it.
 
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