Loose skin...

[PaulWall1986]

I have been reading through this forum for the past few days. I know everybody posts about loose skin and how most of the time nothing can really be done about it. But I would like to post a couple of pictures of myself and get some professional opinions and maybe something that I can do in order to slightly alleviate this problem. I will post them on my profile page. Please take a look and let me know what is going on.

FYI… In July 2010 I started to lose weight by exercising and dieting. By the time Christmas of 2010 rolled around, I had gone from weighing 275 pounds down to my lowest weight of 158 pounds. Now I have worked my way back up to 168 pounds or so. I am 5'10" tall. I went from a size 44 waist down to between 30 and 32 waist. Too bad I have stretch marks everywhere, because that tells me that I might be too late.

[boarder2k9]

I have been reading through this forum for the past few days. I know everybody posts about loose skin and how most of the time nothing can really be done about it. But I would like to post a couple of pictures of myself and get some professional opinions and maybe something that I can do in order to slightly alleviate this problem. I will post them on my profile page. Please take a look and let me know what is going on.

FYI… In July 2010 I started to lose weight by exercising and dieting. By the time Christmas of 2010 rolled around, I had gone from weighing 275 pounds down to my lowest weight of 158 pounds. Now I have worked my way back up to 168 pounds or so. I am 5'10" tall. I went from a size 44 waist down to between 30 and 32 waist. Too bad I have stretch marks everywhere, because that tells me that I might be too late.

Awesome progress mate. That's some serious weight loss, really motivational!

[PaulWall1986]

Awesome progress mate. That's some serious weight loss, really motivational!

Thanks, bud

[NABlakley]

I would say that the root of problem is that you dropped all that weight wayyy too fast. Eat above maintenance and lift, lift, lift. Get some mass behind that loose skin and it should help tighten some of it up. Other than that an insane amount of time and patience needs to be in your mindset.

[truushot]

I have been reading through this forum for the past few days. I know everybody posts about loose skin and how most of the time nothing can really be done about it. But I would like to post a couple of pictures of myself and get some professional opinions and maybe something that I can do in order to slightly alleviate this problem. I will post them on my profile page. Please take a look and let me know what is going on.

FYI… In July 2010 I started to lose weight by exercising and dieting. By the time Christmas of 2010 rolled around, I had gone from weighing 275 pounds down to my lowest weight of 158 pounds. Now I have worked my way back up to 168 pounds or so. I am 5'10" tall. I went from a size 44 waist down to between 30 and 32 waist. Too bad I have stretch marks everywhere, because that tells me that I might be too late.

Like the man said, you need to lift, a lot and often. You look like you have almost no muscle. I still have a bit to go, and have stretch marks and loose skin issues. Hate to say it, but the only way you'll ever fix your issues in probably surgery. You could add 20 pounds of muscle and make everything look a lot better but it won't solve some of your issues. Same deal with me.

[Serpentarius]

You lost .64 of a pound per day on average, so there will be loose skin from that, that was extremely fast, or 2240 calorie deficit per day, 10 pounds of that was probably water however. I can say with confidence that you will need surgery, it would take a LOT of muscle to fill it out, years of training and maybe even then not enough. Looks like you still have a few pounds left additionally, but you should be lifting hard. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but thats what happens when you become obese, and then lose it way too fast, stretch marks are just from the skin becoming damaged when it is not elastic enough to contain the growing adipose tissue underneath.

[PaulWall1986]

You lost .64 of a pound per day on average, so there will be loose skin from that, that was extremely fast, or 2240 calorie deficit per day, 10 pounds of that was probably water however. I can say with confidence that you will need surgery, it would take a LOT of muscle to fill it out, years of training and maybe even then not enough. Looks like you still have a few pounds left additionally, but you should be lifting hard. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but thats what happens when you become obese, and then lose it way too fast, stretch marks are just from the skin becoming damaged when it is not elastic enough to contain the growing adipose tissue underneath.

So maybe I should quit running for now? I've become a runner and do around 20-25 miles a week. Should I cut out some of that? I hear that it kills muscle. At my current height and weight, what is my maintanence and how much over that should I be eating? And how many days should I be lifting?

[NABlakley]

So maybe I should quit running for now? I've become a runner and do around 20-25 miles a week. Should I cut out some of that? I hear that it kills muscle. At my current height and weight, what is my maintanence and how much over that should I be eating? And how many days should I be lifting?

If you want to gain muscle mass as quickly as possible, yes, stop running. Lift heavy, and then lift heavier than that. Read the stickies and figure out your maintanence, then add 100 calories a week until you are steadily gaining around a 1/2 lb a week and go from there. Goodluck

[Serpentarius]

I wont say anything about the running except....i had to stop it because it killed my recovery despite eating enough, my lifts stalled until i cut out the longer runs, like 8-10 miles. If you want to be a runner, then do that, but it will "probably" interfere with recovery. If your dont plan on squatting 405 lbs down the line, then dont drop the running.

You need to figure out how much you need on your own, its your body. Plan on gaining half a pound a week, all bets are off until the first month because you have glycogen loading, salt and food in your body that will add weight, adjust until you get stronger, are gaining weight after that.

[idz21]

You lost .64 of a pound per day on average, so there will be loose skin from that, that was extremely fast, or 2240 calorie deficit per day, 10 pounds of that was probably water however. I can say with confidence that you will need surgery, it would take a LOT of muscle to fill it out, years of training and maybe even then not enough. Looks like you still have a few pounds left additionally, but you should be lifting hard. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but thats what happens when you become obese, and then lose it way too fast, stretch marks are just from the skin becoming damaged when it is not elastic enough to contain the growing adipose tissue underneath.

I'm not saying you're wrong because I have no idea, but it seems that might be a bit premature considering he still has a bunch of fat on his lower stomach... If he bulks, adds some solid muscle, cuts to 8% or whatever... Is it not possible he'll be in the clear?

[Serpentarius]

I'm not saying you're wrong because I have no idea, but it seems that might be a bit premature considering he still has a bunch of fat on his lower stomach... If he bulks, adds some solid muscle, cuts to 8% or whatever... Is it not possible he'll be in the clear?

Loose skin sucks, he was morbidly obese, but he lost over 100 lbs, there is consequences to those actions. I have a small amount of loose skin that will still take a few more years to fill out and hopefully tighten, and its nowhere near OP's amount.
He would have to roid to hell and back to fill it out, i dont think people understand how long it takes to put on muscle, and how much to fill out a tiny amount.

Point is: dont get fat, most of us made that mistake and well, now we have stretch marks and loose skin.

[idz21]

Loose skin sucks, he was morbidly obese, but he lost over 100 lbs, there is consequences to those actions. I have a small amount of loose skin that will still take a few more years to fill out and hopefully tighten, and its nowhere near OP's amount.
He would have to roid to hell and back to fill it out, i dont think people understand how long it takes to put on muscle, and how much to fill out a tiny amount.

Point is: dont get fat, most of us made that mistake and well, now we have stretch marks and loose skin.

Too late... lol. Hopefully I don't get the loose skin though. God I wish I found this site when I was young. Would be a whole different ball game. Hopefully they can cure those SM within the next 5-10 years. Would be nice. Sweet transformation btw. Huge motivation.

[truushot]

Too late... lol. Hopefully I don't get the loose skin though. God I wish I found this site when I was young. Would be a whole different ball game. Hopefully they can cure those SM within the next 5-10 years. Would be nice. Sweet transformation btw. Huge motivation.

Not much is effective other then surgery. Looking online, one site said about 4-8k for a tummy tuck. Might be far cheaper to check around the country or other countries for that matter.

[RRJ]

There's definitely still fat to lose, I would probably guess at least 15-20 lbs in your case. And since muscle won't expand you that much, it probably wouldn't fill out the skin even halfway. You can definitely alleviate the problem. Losing body fat helps a lot, but can lead to wrinkly skin. It's hard to recommend which to do, cut more fat or put on more muscle, but the long term picture is to keep rotating between both. You're never going to have that tight skin over a ripped six pack, but I would bet every cent I have that if I grabbed your stomach, I would feel loose fat in literally every location. I'm also 166, an inch taller, and I would guess to be genuinely 5-6% body fat I would have to get down to 145-148. I don't plan to go below 160 on my current cut, but I'm not as bothered by loose skin. For every pound I've been losing lately, I've noticed my stomach shrinking. Since stretch marks are scar tissue, I would expect that that damaged skin won't go away, so there is some limit. But skin, even a lot of it, doesn't take up a terrible amount of space. I've gone from a size 60"ish waist to 32-33" so I think you could make some good progress beyond where you're at now.

[PaulWall1986]

Hopefully by still doing the cardio, I will be able to cut down on my body fat percentage a little bit. I would venture to guess that my body fat percentage is around 16% or so. My lower arms and my legs and upper chest are completely fine. It's just that midsection that is really causing problems. I just started a couple days ago high-intensity interval training. Running at around 9 mph for 60 seconds and then jogging at around 5 1/2 mph for 60 seconds for 15 reps each. I hear that this is an even quicker way of losing weight, and more effective. Any thoughts?

[SeverianB]

Congrats on the loss. I'm not sure what goes on with that, but you are better off, bottom line.

[PaulWall1986]

Congrats on the loss. I'm not sure what goes on with that, but you are better off, bottom line.

There are a lot of times that I curse the fact that I'm left with the flab. But I know I added an extra 20 years at least to my life. I'll gladly tell people why my gut sticks out and how I can fold the skin and hide my belly button lol

[Serpentarius]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5jyNui_IBA#t=0m51s

[roybatty6]

Should take Vitamin C and Zinc during your cut.

Helps reduce stretch marks.

Worked well for me.

[chris7738]

Congratulations of the weight loss! I too also have loose skin and it's not the nicest thing to look at; however its a hell of a lot better then being obese hehe!. I think the only way to alleviate the problem is to cut and bulk and "fill out" the loose skin with muscle (other than expensive surgery). There may be lotions/butters etc on the market that might help with skin health but I can't really comment on them. don't let them get to you, you've done great, treat them as your battle scars in your defeat against the fat!

[PaulWall1986]

I heard that this hiit training is amazing at burning fat. Trying that out and maybe can get over the plateau. So much better than straight running. I'll continue with hiit and do ab work until I see some difference.

[Serpentarius]

You need to just eat less, fat loss will come from calorie deficit, not exercise. You can eat do all the exercise in the world but if you are using less energy than you consume you will never lose weight/fat.

[PaulWall1986]

You need to just eat less, fat loss will come from calorie deficit, not exercise. You can eat do all the exercise in the world but if you are using less energy than you consume you will never lose weight/fat.

Trust me man. I know. I lost 100 lbs by not eating and tons of exercising. I eat like absolute crap sometimes and lose weight still because I have a crazy fast metabolism now because of all the cardio I do. Too bad I'm also losing some muscle.

[Serpentarius]

You should be fine muscle wise, if you arent trying to lose crazy weight per week, and getting around 150g protein, and ~65g fats per day. Just doing lifting, keeping your diet good, and cardio here and there will be plenty to get you where you need to be to start a very long slow bulk. If you are lifting at least 3 times a week and getting your recommended macros, losing muscle is just a non issue.

[PaulWall1986]

I don't even know where to start with lifting. I have always just used resistance machines. I'm seriously a true novice.

[Serpentarius]

Starting Strength, by Mark Rippetoe, you cannot go wrong.
You gotta learn sometime, and somehow. Just read and dont be an idiot like i was and try the exercises/movements without reading...

[MoldyGopher]

You've got a long road ahead of you, if you choose to go the no surgery route. I just want to make sure you realize that. Years with no guarantee of success.

I'm absolutely not trying to discourage you, but you really need to accept that before you start the path. It's easy to get discouraged.

[PaulWall1986]

You've got a long road ahead of you, if you choose to go the no surgery route. I just want to make sure you realize that. Years with no guarantee of success.

I'm absolutely not trying to discourage you, but you really need to accept that before you start the path. It's easy to get discouraged.

To be honest, even if I never get rid of it, I'm still a happier person now than I was when I was 275 pounds. If people can't accept me for what i am, screw them. I'm a pretty good looking guy, and I've been told I'm freaking hilarious, so extra skin should not be a dealbreaker.

That being said, I'm still going to work on it.

[MoldyGopher]

To be honest, even if I never get rid of it, I'm still a happier person now than I was when I was 275 pounds. If people can't accept me for what i am, screw them. I'm a pretty good looking guy, and I've been told I'm freaking hilarious, so extra skin should not be a dealbreaker.

That being said, I'm still going to work on it.

Attaboy, welcome to the club.

[bullrider_IL]

I was starting to worry about loose skin, but I found the following posts on here that I am going to give a shot...

Sorry for not giving credit, I didn't think to save the names of OP's

1. Drink water, water and nothing but water, i drank 4L a day no caffine, no tea, just water...
2. Eat healthy for your skin: I found it very very hard to sit down with a bowl of salad, so what i done is i mixed up alot of vegies in my meals, so alot of stirfrys packed full of vegtables, if i had a burrito i would have 1, on a wholewheat tortellia packed full on with a heap of veggies. Aim for minimum 2 servings of fruit and 3 servies of vegies a day, with a piece of protein no bigger or thicker then the palm of your hand
3. Take care of your skin: alot of you guys may find this part a little "gay" but its worth it, every night in the shower exfoliate your skin and your entire body. Every morning and night after a shower (1 shower twice a day) rub your whole body in Pure Vitamin E oil, the good stuff is thick with a glue tecture.. Also at the same time, rub your whole body with a good cocoa butter, these 2 steps will help you to also get rid of those dark stretch marks. I had alot of stretch marks and the vit oil turned them into a very white light unseeable unless upclose colour... I really need to point the out for poeple to see them.
4. Take your vitamins: Every day i would take with breaky 1x Multivitamin, 1 hour later a vitamin E tablet (dont take them together) and then at lunch take 2x Omega 3 fishoil tablets. Then at dinner time have 1 multivitamin tablet and an hour later another fishoil tablet. These are all very good for your skin, circulation and blood flow with is all good stuff..
5. Skin firming lotion and tan up: I was out tanning myself everyday using skin firming tanning lotion it does exactly what its called, firms the skin
6. Hit the weights: alot of use already proberly know, doing resistance training helps to keep the skin tight to the muscles therefore not having hanging skin.
7. Do it sooner rather then later: At age 25, skin starts to loose its elasticity, so you need to loose it soon as possible, if your in your 30's still dont stress, check out some of the guys on Biggest loser australia aged 50+ dropped 60+kgs and had no loose skin, so dont think that just cause your overweight your gonna have droppy grooseloose skin. Although if you loose 150 odd kgs, yes you will have loose skin, but hell it would be worth it after looseing that much

How to Tighten Loose Skin After Weight Loss

As you lose fat and your loose skin begins to appear, the first rule is: don’t panic! Because it is a living organ, your skin will slowly return to a shape that fits your new body. But since that process can take up to two years, here are steps you can take to make your skin tighten more quickly:


There are 12 things you should know about loose skin after very large weight losses:

1. Skin is incredibly elastic. Just look at what women go through during pregnancy. Skin has the ability to expand and contract to a remarkable degree.

2. Elasticity of skin tends to decrease with age. Wrinkling and loss of elasticity is partly the consequence of aging (genetic factors) and also a result of environmental factors such as oxidative stress, excessive sun exposure, and nutritional deficiency. The environmental parts you can fix, the genetics and age part, you cannot. Advice: Get moving and change the things you have control over... Be realistic and don't worry about those things you don't have control over.

3. How much your skin will return to its former tautness depends partly on age. The older you get, the more an extremely large weight loss can leave loose skin that will not return to normal

4. How long you carry extra weight has a lot to do with how much the skin will become taut after the weight loss: For example, compare a 9 month pregnancy with 9 years carrying 100 excess pounds.

5. How much weight was carried has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so much and be expected to "snap back" one hundred percent.

6. How fast the weight was gained also has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so quickly and be expected to "snap back."

7. How fast weight is lost also has a lot to do with how much the skin will tighten up. Rapid weight loss doesn't allow the skin time to slowly resume to normal. (yet another reason to lose fat slowly; 1-2 pounds per week, 3 pounds at the most if you have a lot of weight to lose, and even then, only if you are measuring body fat and you’re certain it's fat you’re losing, not lean tissue).

8. There are exceptions to all of the above; i.e, people who gained and then lost incredible amounts of weight quickly at age 50 or 60, and their skin returned 100% to normal.

9. There are many creams advertised as having the ability to restore the tightness of your skin. None work – at least not permanently and measurably – and especially if you have a lot of loose skin. Don't waste your money.

10. If you’re considering surgical skin removal, consult a physician for advice because this is not a minor operation, but keep in mind that your plastic surgeon may be making his BMW payments with your abdominoplasty money. (Surgery may be recommended in situations where it's not 100% necessary). Surgery should be left as the ABSOLUTE FINAL option in extreme cases.

11. Give your skin time. Your skin will get tighter as your body fat gets lower. I've seen and heard of many cases where the skin gradually tightened up, at least partially, after a one or two year period where the weight loss was maintained and exercise continued.

12. Know your body fat percentage before even THINKING about surgery. Loose skin is one thing, but still having body fat is another. Be honest with yourself and do that by taking your body fat measurement. This can be done with skinfold calipers or a variety of other devices (calipers might not be the best method if you have large folds of loose skin. Look into impedance analysis, underwater weighing, DEXA or Bod Pod).

Tip #1: Don’t Lose Weight Too Quickly

In addition to weight loss, age, poor nutrition, dehydration, excessive sun exposure, and smoking can all affect the elasticity of the skin.
Crash diets and excessive amounts of time spent exercising can rapidly shed both muscle and fat, resulting in a double-whammy on your skin--the supportive underlying muscular structure that holds skin against your body is lost, as is the fat that keeps the skin stretched out. Quick and dirty tip for not losing weight too quickly: Aim for 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week, and make sure your weight loss program includes weight lifting so that you do not lose lean muscle. Check out more weight lifting and strength training tips here.

Tip #2: Stay Hydrated

Attend to your hydration needs. Water is a crucial component of maintaining skin elasticity. From both food and drink, you should be taking in at least two liters of water each day. A wonderful resource for learning more about proper hydration is this article from Nutrition Diva: How Much Water Should I Drink?

Tip #3: Eat Properly

Two necessary ingredients that keep skin plump and elastic are collagen and elastin. Protein-rich foods such as cottage cheese, milk, legumes, tofu, beans, seeds, nuts, and fish all contain collagen and elastin forming components, as well as oils to help maintain healthy skin. Quick and dirty protein tip: For optimum absorption, squeeze 100-200 calories of these protein sources in immediately after your workout. For more on what to eat when working out, see my article on what to eat before and after exercising.

Tip #4: Take Care of Your Skin


Nourish and care for your skin. Daily exfoliation can help to remove dead skin cells and increase skin circulation. A hot bath with sea salts and minerals can improve skintone. Skin tightening creams with herbal formulas and ingredients such as aloe vera, hyaluronic acid, yeast extract, soy protein, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A can help to hydrate and increase collagen and elastin formation in skin.

Stay away from harsh detergents, such a sulfates in soaps, shampoos and dishwashing liquids, limit your sun exposure and stay away from tanning booths, and limit your exposure to hot and chlorinated water—all of these things will decrease skin elasticity. Quick and dirty tip: If you swim for fitness, use soap and shampoos that are specially designed to remove chlorine.

When to Consider Surgery for Loose Skin

Skin can only be stretched so far before it looses some of its ability to snap back. If you’ve had a 9-month pregnancy, then you’ll be able to tighten your loose skin. But if you’ve carried a hundred or more extra pounds for many years, you may be a candidate for plastic surgery to tighten and lift loose skin. This fix should only be used in extreme cases, and I should warn you: my clients who have undergone this operation have actually gained more fat afterwards while they were rehabilitating from surgery!

Bottom Line

As mentioned earlier, elasticity of your skin will naturally decrease with age. Though you can address issues such as not losing weight too quickly, staying properly hydrated, eating the right foods, and caring for your skin, you simply have no control over your age! Quick and dirty tip: Rather than letting age stress you out, you should focus on the things over which you have control—like exercising and eating right—and you’ll find that you always look good.

Whether you have a kangaroo pouch, an orangutan chin, or elephant legs, you can use the tips in this article to tighten loose skin or prevent loose skin in the first place.