Hello everyone.. I'm new to the messge board.. and I have some questions about strength training. I currently weigh 229lb and I've lost 14lbs since Feb. 14th doing weight watchers. My goal weight is 120 considering i'm only 5'0. My biggest concern about losing a lot of weight is having the excess skin left over. I currently workout at least 5 days a week with an hour of cardio a day. Ali's body looks great and is now very toned.. granted she worked out for hours on end each day but does anybody have any realistic workout schedules that will help tighten this extra skin so I could be toned.

Thanks

I think a lot of how your skin responds to rapid weight loss is age--the younger you are, the more likely it will snap back. Older people will have more of the sagging skin left behind, and it's either deal with it or get it removed.

Slower weight loss gives the skin more time, but I'm thinking age will still be a factor...I'm 46 and I'm sure I'd have more problems than someone 25-30.

It's a risk I'd be willing to take...a little floppy skin for shedding 70 pounds of ugly fat.

thanks for your response! I also heard that the faster you lose the weight, the more flabby skin you'll have..and that if you lose 1-2lbs a week, it gives your body the chance to reform itself. It's amazing how Ali's body got so toned knowing the fact that she lost weight so quick..and i know she's worked for hours on end to get to that point..but i want my muscles to be "defined" like hers!

Alli still has extra skin. I'm sure she'd be the first person to tell you that.

Anyone who loses that much weight, that fast, has loose skin. there is another post on here about people and loose skin.

I have watched a few seasons, and it seems that the loss of weight does not seem to create a loose flap of skin in the final episodes. Especially Ali last year.

I have just received a new knee and have lost 25 lbs over the last month and a half. But I am developing a flap of skin around my waist. Are restrictive clothing used or are there other methods - short of surgery? I really want to loose the extra skin along with the weight, which I will continue to work on loosing. But how do they do it?

The good news is that you get a new skin lining every 6 months and it does shrink some depending on how much skin there is and how elastic your skin is. Vitamins and good nutrition can't hurt.
xo

You will most likely have a lot of loose skin when you lose a good deal of weight. Especially if you're older.

Lots of exercising , lifting weight and walking uphill or adding difficultys such as lunges to your walk 30 minutes to an hour at least a day along with proper eating takes care of most if not all depending on your genetics. Also dont forget to properly hydrate but dont drink too much too fast...that can be deadly.

One of the biggest problems people have when they lose weight fast is loose skin. Yet, I looked at the contestants all dressed & pressed and all about 70 pounds (the ladies) lost and none of them had loose skin. And I look at last season's winner and she has no loose skin. How is that done?

I believe I read on one of the blogs that the contestants almost always have some kind of plastic surgery to reduce the skin and "tighten" it up.

So that's how the contestants deal with it, since they must look pretty for the final.

As for us mere mortals that don't have companies willing to pay $20,000 for a tuck job.. well, our skin will tighten up in time.
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I don't think the contestants are allowed to get plastic surgery before the final.

One thing to remember, it takes time for skin to shrink. When I lost 80 pounds in my early thirties, I did have some extra skin. I've always been very vigilant about moisturizing and taking care of my skin (thin or fat). After about a year and a half most of that extra skin was gone. I have a little in my lower abdomen now, but no one seems to notice it but me...lol

I hit the genetic gene pool when it comes to my skin, it's very elastic. Taking proper care of it hasn't hurt either (I still get carded and I'm 37!). Also how long you have been overweight is a huge factor. I lost the weight in my early 20's, kept it off for about 10 years, then started gaining it back again in my early 30's. When I saw I was almost to my "before" weight I got serious and took it off again in about 11 months, so I wasn't heavy for years and years.

Either way, skin or no skin, is it better to have skin filled with fat, or some extra skin that isn't filled with that deadly fat that causes so many health issues?

Yeah, the contestants all look great, but I'd bet they are bound up in some really supportive undergarments at the finale. Why do you think towards the end of the season they all start wearing their shirts at weigh ins? Because they don't want to show all that skin.

Except Heba.

Well, considering that they are on t.v. (at the finale) in bright lights, sleeveless dresses, waving their arms, etc... their skin, considering the amount lost so quickly, really does look great. Some of the older women (Challee, Amy, Renee) didn't even look like they had that much saggy skin. Amazing! I'm sure maybe they do, but I think it depends on the individual. I read Ali say that she didn't have any sagging skin, and she really has no idea why not. That's just how it was for her.

I think it really depends on a lot of factors- age, how much weight you need to lose, the condition of the skin (some people have thicker, more elastic skin than others-- like that woman, Ruby... I think she's going to do a reality show and she's like 400 or something pounds... but she's got gorgeous, very healthy looking skin). But I also think that lifting weights does wonders. I would not want to lose weight without lifting weights. The BL contestants were constantly doing weight-lifting, and I think that makes a big difference. Plus eating right- your skin will do better if it is getting nutrients, minerals, vitamins, water.

I think the biggest factor is how long you were overweight. I read on a message board that Ali put on weight to be on the show. Not all of it, but a good chunk. I don't know how true that is, or how much she would have put on (now that's a big gamble, thinking you would get on the show, so I really don't know how much "weight" I'd put into that one). She also was an athlete for a lot of her life and gradually gained weight as she got older. She was not overweight her whole life.

There are many factors that influence whether your skin will draw back after you have lost weight. When I was younger and lost weight, I had few issues with extra skin. This time, well, there's lots of it. But there are things you can do to minimize the appearance of that extra skin even with sleevless tops. I just looked through some photos from a video shoot of some of the losers from seasons 4, 5 and 6 that Bill Germankos posted on his Facebook page (they were taken after the BL6 finale). In the clothes that they were wearing, the extra skin/flab is quite obvious on those who have it. I can tell you that Ali is very toned, but both Heba and Michelle have loose skin/flab issues.

Personally, I consider the extra skin a fair trade for the 144 lbs I've lost. At some point I may consider surgery since I'd still like to lose another 20 lbs, but most likely, I'll just live with it and hide it the best I can.

Marilyn

I am a 40yr old mother of two; that has been 60-70 pounds over weight for the last 4yrs. I have lost 42 pounds doing P90X , and counting calories in the last 4 months. How can I tone up my skin to reflect my new stronger- thinner body?

Vitamin E may helps, but marginally. Your best best is to use a sauna regularly. It helps the skin's elasticity.

I typically use it 3 times a week and I find that stretch marks start to vanish. Being only 60-70 pounds over weight at one time I would say that you should be able to tighten that up nicely.

There is really nothing you can do other than surgery. Unfortunately, there are so many factors that contribute to skin elasticity, but it all comes down to the health of the skin. Sun damage plays the biggest role, and the effect the sun has had on the skin depends on the type of skin. Olive skin is thicker and can withstand more sun damage. Fair skin is thinner and ages faster. Age plays a big role of course. If you are 40 with fair/sun damaged skin...you will have problems more than someone same age and fair with no sun damage. Or the person your age with thicker skin and sun damage or no. Many factors! Diet over the years plays a huge part too.

Skin really does not tighten up after all is said and done. If it did, then no one would have loose skin, which happens as we age, whether or not we were overweight or not (but if we had covered up, our skin would stay beautiful, as one can prove by looking at their tushy compared to their arms or chest.)

Anyway, I've kept my weight stable my whole life, other than pregnancies many years ago. However, now at age 44, my skin is quite loose. It is all coming down to: sun and years of bad nutrition.

Baggy knees...baggy elbows...loose skin on arms. Weight lifting helps, but to fill in my skin I'd need Arnold arms.

Then my 48 year old husband who's skin is quite tight. He has thicker skin that has never really burned, and he's eating pretty good all those years. It all comes down the the skin on the individual. If both of us lost large amounts of weight, he would do much better than me. His skin would bounce back. Still, at his age, he wouldn't be perfect no matter what.


Anyway, much as I'd like to agree that saunas or body brushing or vitamin C would solve anything, they won't. (vitamins can help future damage to a point of course, but if the damage is done...it is done. But you can slow down future damage by eating well)

Age 40 is so different from age 25-30. Age takes a toll. Our bodies have been through a lot.

I can tell you my boobs were saggy by age 22, from a decade of eating really bad. Lots of sun damage too, but not there and it hadn't taken affect yet. I had them lifted. There was no other option. Much as I tried everything.

So many factors!

If it were easy to solve this problem, no one would be saggy.

Your skin cells turn over every two months and work from the lowest level of the epidermus outward towards the surface. Once the cells reach the surface, they die and fall off. The skin is the largest organ in the body and similar to the liver it will shrink when the body shrinks and excess is not necessary.

I would also have to agree with Brooke whole-heartedly. I'm 32 years old and have 2 children. I've been pretty overweight since the birth of my first child 12 years ago. After the birth of my second child 2 years ago, I found myself over 300 lbs and had to make some big changes. I started out on my own and lost about 35lbs then joined WW and lost another 35lbs. I still have quite a bit to lose, but sometimes question whether I will actually look better if I lose more weight. I already look like my body is melting . I have tons of lose skin around my middle, my legs, and backs of my arms. But in the end, I feel better and an excited about losing more. I did tell my husband that if I ever do reach my goal weight and keep it off for a while, I'm being rewarded with surgery to remove all the lose skin.

One interesting thing I have noticed is that skin saging does not appear to be nearly as bad on Biggest Loser finalists vs people who have had bypass surgery. Even though they lost weight at almost the same pace.

I think a few things might be a factor into this:

They add a great amount of muscle to their body which helps greatly with with the visual affect.

They are not required to eat such a tiny amount which helps the body rebuild itself each night

They get a great deal of rest - again the body reparing itself each night.

If anyone is thinking of having surgery I would advise the following:
-wait at least 1 year - make sure you can keep the weight off before such a big investment
-while waiting a year change your goal to tone up and build more muscle, two reasons for this:
1. You might start looking pretty damn good to not even have the surgery
2. If/When you have the surgery - the results will be so much better. I have seen some before and afters and the fittest people had the more dramatic results
- research, research and research. This is a major surgery. Get references and lots of before/after shots
- while waiting a year - save some money to help pay for it. It cost $$$ and the last thing you need is to come out of in major debt which adds stress which triggers....

Just my two cents.

Hey guys, I've never had to deal with the excessive loose skin..but I can imagine it must be seriously disheartening. I can tell you that I've been using a few things for a couple years now with amazing results. I started working out and got skinny skinny- but still had cellulite and it burned me up. I began using, daily, a coffee ground and olive oil mixture along with the Nivea Age Defying moisturizer and the results are amazing. Coffee/caffeine is well known for tightening the skin and boosting circulation- and the olive oil has nutritional benefits as well. Maybe if you start this routine as you begin working out and dieting- it might really help as you shrink!

I love watching the Biggest Loser and although the show wasn't my initial inspiration to lose the weight, it has taught me lots of valuable information to help me maintain my health. Anyway, here's my question...I'm a 33 year old male. I'm 5ft 8.5in tall and I've gone from a weighing 284lbs to 162lbs. Although I've lost this weight, I still have excess skin around my midsection. I'm trying to lose the skin without undergoing plastic surgery because I consider it giving-in. So to combat the problem I'm trying to gain muscle around the midsection by performing various abdominal workouts, cardio and taking a whey protein drink after I'm done working out. How much protein would you recommend I consume daily and would you suggest any other options besides surgery to try?

Hey, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm also 5'8" and at last check was 165 lbs. Sorry to break the bad news to you but odds are, the only way you're going to get rid of that loose skin is by surgery. It will shrink a little but not much. Sorry but no bowflex body for you or me. The muscle is there but under all that loose skin.

Unfortunately, staypuff is right. The problem is the skin has lost its elasticity over time, and the only way to get rid of it is through surgery. You have to change your mindset. Having surgery to remove excess skin after dramatic weight loss is hardly "giving in". You did all the work yourself. And quite frankly, you should be proud of all the weight you lost, not still having body issues because of something you have no control over.

It's a common problem with no easy remedy. I assume it's the reason why on the show all the contestants were shirtless throughout weigh-ins for half the season when they were obese, and ironically they keep their shirts on now after having lost all the weight.

The elasticity of your skin is determined by your age and genetics.

You're really not old enough that I'd say you would have lost your skin's elasticity at this point in your life, but I can't make any assumptions about your genetics.

You should realize that it takes a lot more time for your skin to shrink back up, than it takes for you to lose the weight. If you've kept your weight down for 2 or more years, and the skin situation doesn't seem to have improved any at all, then maybe surgery is your only choice; however, if it hasn't been that long, hold off for a while to see if it will improve.

Look at the folds of your loose skin. If you have stretch marks on them, then its too late.