Lets hear some stories from people who have (loose skin thread)

[InspectorRick]

Hi, I don't post often but I've done plenty of lurking and soaking in the great advice given here. I would like to hear from people who have HAD loose skin and LOST it. I'm aware there's many many many threads dedicated to this topic, however, most of those threads seem to follow a typical theme of "Hey man, just hang in there and it will disappear in time".

Bollocks! It's fantastic to be positive but comparatively it feels like telling Stephen Hawking "If you want it hard enough and really focus, you can be on Dancing With The Stars". Crazier things have happened.. it just ain't likely.

Sorry to everyone for being such pessimist. It's just super aggravating working insanely hard in the gym while eating super clean and being left with what looks like a human flesh fanny pack around your waste.

Cheers!

[Alcibiades1212]

Hi, I don't post often but I've done plenty of lurking and soaking in the great advice given here. I would like to hear from people who have HAD loose skin and LOST it. I'm aware there's many many many threads dedicated to this topic, however, most of those threads seem to follow a typical theme of "Hey man, just hang in there and it will disappear in time".

Bollocks! It's fantastic to be positive but comparatively it feels like telling Stephen Hawking "If you want it hard enough and really focus, you can be on Dancing With The Stars". Crazier things have happened.. it just ain't likely.

Sorry to everyone for being such pessimist. It's just super aggravating working insanely hard in the gym while eating super clean and being left with what looks like a human flesh fanny pack around your waste.

Cheers!

I understand your frustration. Its an issue I'm beginning to deal with now.

But really the options do seem to be limited unfortunately. I've read literally 50+ articles and posts about this subject.

Its all pretty much standard:

1.) Give it a year after reaching goal weight and getting close to 10% BF

2.) If it hasn't improved by then it's probably not going to and then all that's left is to see a plastic surgeon. The results from the surgeries sometimes look worse than the loose skin. I've seen some monster scars.

Those seem to be the only options, sad but true.

The older you are the more likely the loose skin is going to stay loose.

[nlite2000]

I have some, I'm lucky in that doesn't look all saggy, all it really does is hide muscle definition. I'm thinking all I need to do to get rid of it is fill out with about 10-15lbs of moosle.

[InspectorRick]

Hmm. OK. Appreciate the responses fellas. The idea of putting cardio aside for a while and bulking up seems the most logical. I've also read of people wrapping their stomachs up and sweating it out. Finding out my BMI is a must as well. Thanks.

[opal314]

How much weight did you loose and in how long? What was your high point and how long were u fat for?

[Vaalboy]

I have been very concerned about this specific topic. As a result (and quite frustratingly I must add) I have tried to cut as slow as possible in order to allow my skin to adjust as best as possible.

[Hummina]

loose skin is most definitely a concern of mine. however, some of what i thought was loose skin, is still deposits of fat under the skin. as im cutting and dropping the fat, the skin is starting to tighten up to some degree. this is giving me hope like you have no idea.

now, with that being said, im just going to get as lean as possible in a reasonable amount of time and see where it gets me. obviously, i'd rather not go the surgery route, but if it means living my life with some scars instead of a baggy suit of skin, ill take the scars.

[opal314]

Guys post your stats that I mentioned a few posts ago in here

[InspectorRick]

How much weight did you loose and in how long? What was your high point and how long were u fat for?

I've always been chubby but there was a two year period were I ballooned up to 245. Sadly, I did drop a lot weight pretty quickly. I attribute that to the Master Cleanse (a friend challenged me). Whats funny is, at the time I had no ambition of dropping any weight, but with such an extreme diet change such as that... your gunna! And I was prolly down 10lbs in a week. This is all back in 2006.

From losing that much weight that fast I became motivated to lose more and embarked on a real life style change. Tons of exercise and eating healthy. Since then my weight lose has been at a steady (well, a few plateau's here and there) rate, gradually hitting my marks.

Seven months ago I reached 185 and sat there comfortably gaining nice lean muscle while my body targeted fat storage deposits (it's crazy how much fat we have tucked away).

Thing is, early August I broke my hand, no gym, no nothing, for a month! So I ate SUPER clean and went of brief walks hoping I don't gain too much fat with my down time and now I'm 166!!!! I'm sure a lot of that weight is muscle mass, but my clothes are definitely fitting a lot looser.

So yah. Here we are...

2006 - 245 lb
2011 - 166 lb

And I STILL have this pooch crashing the party.

[cyco85]

Work your back like a 5 dollar hooker and bulk son

[Electricheadd]

From everything I have read there is no point worrying about it. You will either have it or you wont. The skin is a living organ so it has the potential to grow and shrink with you. (See pregnant women) How much is more a matter of Genetics/Age/How fat you were.

[InspectorRick]

How reliable are online BMI calculators? Cuz apparently my body fat % is 22.5.

[Edge101]

How reliable are online BMI calculators? Cuz apparently my body fat % is 22.5.

BMI and bodyfat percentages are not the same.

[InspectorRick]

BMI and bodyfat percentages are not the same.

Christ! Thats right. There is a correlation but nothing too exact (I think..) Anyway, my BMI is 22.5. Body fat percentage... no clue!

[Edge101]

Christ! Thats right. There is a correlation but nothing too exact (I think..) Anyway, my BMI is 22.5. Body fat percentage... no clue!

And BMI calculators are crap. They don't take into account how much muscle a person is carrying around either.

[alex2363]

I went from 240 to 178, i did it too fast and had loose skin, I now bulked to 185 - 195 and it went away. I will cut next week and let you know if the skin adjusted within a month.

[cyco85]

And BMI calculators are crap. They don't take into account how much muscle a person is carrying around either.

BMI calculators aren't crap. They're exact. The interpretation of the RESULT however, can sometimes be crap. But for at least 95% of the population (willing to bet my left nut on this) if BMI says you're obese, you probably are. There's a little wiggle room in the "overweight" category part.

[Edge101]

BMI calculators aren't crap. They're exact. The interpretation of the RESULT however, can sometimes be crap. But for at least 95% of the population (willing to bet my left nut on this) if BMI says you're obese, you probably are. There's a little wiggle room in the "overweight" category part.

Well it says I am still in the overweight category my BMI is 27.69. Probably right on the obese category but the overweight needs some tweaking. I remember they sent a letter home with my daughter about her BMI and she was listed overweight. This girl is stick thin and was no where near overweight it isn't any wonder why people develop eating disorders at a young age lol.

[TelusLob]

From everything I have read there is no point worrying about it. You will either have it or you wont. The skin is a living organ so it has the potential to grow and shrink with you. (See pregnant women) How much is more a matter of Genetics/Age/How fat you were.

Biggest thing to help fend off loose skin. Maintaining as much muscle mass/adding muscle mass.

This... But follow the bro advice... Can't hurt for sure!

Hydrate
Exfoliate
Multi
Moisturize

[opal314]

I was at 175-180 for 2-3 years, now down to 154, looking to get to 145, I've been weightlifting quite a bit while minimizing cardio, I'm 26 and 5'4-5'5, do you bros think I have a good chance of having minimal loose skin based on those stats alone. (Being only really like 35-40 lbs overweight and dropping it slowly)

[sharpieblet]

don't sweat it. i'm 5'5" and was 206 lbs at my heaviest. my loose skin will only be slight and probably close to nonexistent in the upcoming years as i add muscle mass. i'm not worried bout it. b*tches can't tell anyway unless i try to suck my gut in and lay in pushup position

[Turbo2]

I'm worried about loose skin, but I've decided there's really not much I can do so I'll just keep cutting.
Highest was 325, have dropped 60 lbs in the last 6 months (305 to 242) and I definitely have stretch marks. My skin feels floppy and loose, but there's still enough fat in there that it's hard to tell if it will stay that way when I've cut another 30-40 lbs.

The only advice that sounds funny to me coming in here is to bulk up muscle to fill the skin. How do I gain that much muscle in my stomach to fill the old 50" waistline?! :P

[opal314]

I was at 175-180 for 2-3 years, now down to 154, looking to get to 145, I've been weightlifting quite a bit while minimizing cardio, I'm 26 and 5'4-5'5, do you bros think I have a good chance of having minimal loose skin based on those stats alone. (Being only really like 35-40 lbs overweight and dropping it slowly)

don't sweat it. i'm 5'5" and was 206 lbs at my heaviest. my loose skin will only be slight and probably close to nonexistent in the upcoming years as i add muscle mass. i'm not worried bout it. b*tches can't tell anyway unless i try to suck my gut in and lay in pushup position

I'm not calling you a liar or anything but isn't 2-4 years just like way too much time for me to be that overweight and I've already done too much irreversible damage to my skin at my age?

[alex2363]

I'm not calling you a liar or anything but isn't 2-4 years just like way too much time for me to be that overweight and I've already done too much irreversible damage to my skin at my age?

I was overweight almost all my life..never too late

[opal314]

Nice dude, how old are ya? I guess then that It really comes down to not being morbidly obese, not loosing it too fast, lift weights plentyfull, stick to caloric/macros and enjoy the results!

[Superfat19]

And BMI calculators are crap. They don't take into account how much muscle a person is carrying around either.

I've actually heard that for the general population, that BMI is now crap because people have way more fat than they used to.