Loose skin help

[DeadLifted301]

Hey guys, so I’ve recently dropped from 220 to 171lbs I was obese most of my early life for one reason or another. I’m 22 now and living much better, I follow the vertical diet and do intermittent fasting I lost about 46 lbs since February and my weight has been the same since June. Now that I’ve lost the weight I’m stuck with loose skin on my lower abdomen and sides and I’m losing sleep and really stressing about it.. it’s not a whole lot but it is something (pics in my gallery) I’m seeking advice. I’ve heard it can take up to a year to tighten but I’m looking for advice on what I can do to help, I’m drinking a gallon of water a day taking collagen lots of vitamins, I’ve even been using aloe Vera and coco butter and plenty of potassium. In terms of exercise I squat bench and deadlift quite often and do a lot of lifts that support them I train around 4-5 times a week. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated!

[WizzyL]

Hey guys, so I’ve recently dropped from 220 to 171lbs I was obese most of my early life for one reason or another. I’m 22 now and living much better, I follow the vertical diet and do intermittent fasting I lost about 46 lbs since February and my weight has been the same since June. Now that I’ve lost the weight I’m stuck with loose skin on my lower abdomen and sides and I’m losing sleep and really stressing about it.. it’s not a whole lot but it is something (pics in my gallery) I’m seeking advice. I’ve heard it can take up to a year to tighten but I’m looking for advice on what I can do to help, I’m drinking a gallon of water a day taking collagen lots of vitamins, I’ve even been using aloe Vera and coco butter and plenty of potassium. In terms of exercise I squat bench and deadlift quite often and do a lot of lifts that support them I train around 4-5 times a week. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated!

There' still quite a bit of fat left making it appear worse than it probably is.

[DeadLifted301]

I hope your right I talked to my doctor and she said i had loose skin but I deff believe there’s fat...that’s the easy part getting rid of that I just hope I don’t have friggin skin flaps for the rest of my life

[WizzyL]

I hope your right I talked to my doctor and she said i had loose skin but I deff believe there’s fat...that’s the easy part getting rid of that I just hope I don’t have friggin skin flaps for the rest of my life

Doctor always say it's skin although some of it is, but losing more fat will make the appearance of it better. Loose skin should feel like the skin on your knuckles when you pinch it and pull it (like paper thin). Its a mix of loose skin and fat (I've got that stretched skin and fat going on atm looks aight when around 12% bf)

[DeadLifted301]

yeah...there is definitely more fat to lose then, would you recommend adding a lot more core exercises to my routine as well I know you can’t spot target fat but I assume adding size to the area would help proportion it better? Hey and thanks for your advice man this stuff messes with my head sometime

[WizzyL]

yeah...there is definitely more fat to lose then, would you recommend adding a lot more core exercises to my routine as well I know you can’t spot target fat but I assume adding size to the area would help proportion it better? Hey and thanks for your advice man this stuff messes with my head sometime

No worries man, you have similar stats to me as well, due to my age I have seemed have gotten away from the loose skin (fingers crossed its not there with this cut gained loads of weight this time aha). Personally I wouldn't add core exercises yet, I would lean down to 8-12% and evaluate from there (thats what I am doing) there's always a chance that its not as bad as you think and you could have a solid V-taper why sacrifice the chance amirite?

[jcreed77]

Congrats on the weight loss, man.

[DeadLifted301]

Yeah man you make a good point. I’ve only been working out since February so I’m still fairly new to all of this...just trying not to get ahead of myself and enjoy the process. I ate at maintenance for about a month and stopped fasting to kinda let my body adjust somewhat but I started cutting again two weeks ago so I’m just going to stay at it threw the winter and see what happens

[DeadLifted301]

Congrats on the weight loss, man.

Thanks bro!

[xsquid99]

Awesome job thus far, but you have a lot more to lose still, at least 15-20 more lbs should help out quite a bit.

[BS57]

OP, ditto on the congrats on the weight loss. Remember, you're only 6 months in, which isn't very long. Be patient, you're only 22 which is a huge advantage in your favor.

[CommitmentRulz]

Yeah, that looks more like some "loose" fat than skin. Continue to lose, slowly, and continue to lift. CONGRATS on the strong progress. You're rolling.

[Junsuiakai]

I think because surgery for loose skin is cosmetic, the doctors don't know jack crap about what is loose skin or not, or they don't care about anything other than making extra money.

[InfiniteGaijin]

If it is loose skin just deal with it and stop being such a huge bitch OP. If it really bothers you that much save up for the surgery. I know it's BS though, I have a fair amount after losing over 100lbs but you just have to live with it and smack it up in life

[charlotte32]

I congratulate you on losing weight first and secondly if you have a problem with your skin, you can actually think about the surgery

[ApolloChange]

OP, I’m going through the same journey myself. I was 252 a year ago and now I am down to 184. My goal is to be at 10% body fat and I will have to be at ~168 lbs for that.

I have a small pouch in my lower ab and it feels more and more like a deflated balloon each day. What I’ve learned from taking weekly progress photos and measurements is that because the skin in that area has been stretched out already, any amount of fat will pull it down. Basically.. we just have to lose even more body fat to get to where we want to be and not worry about loose skin until we get there.

[Junsuiakai]

OP, I’m going through the same journey myself. I was 252 a year ago and now I am down to 184. My goal is to be at 10% body fat and I will have to be at ~168 lbs for that.

I have a small pouch in my lower ab and it feels more and more like a deflated balloon each day. What I’ve learned from taking weekly progress photos and measurements is that because the skin in that area has been stretched out already, any amount of fat will pull it down. Basically.. we just have to lose even more body fat to get to where we want to be and not worry about loose skin until we get there.

exactly 100%

I just recently came to the conclusion that my "love handles" are just an accumulation of all of my back fat drooping down thanks to gravity.

[Luclin999]

Based on the picture and the stretch marks, you are going to have loose skin once you get rid of the last of the fat. Probably not a huge amount but likely noticeable with your shirt off.

Bad news, the skin is permanently damaged and no amount of "water" or "collagen" is going to fix that. However, if you work on adding muscle mass to your abs and obliques then over time it will likely help fill the area out more and make the damage less noticeable.

[StangII]

I think you look great--it adds character

[Junsuiakai]

I think you look great--it adds character

Be gone with you, demon. Back to the misc.