1. #1

    How can I try to prevent "loose skin"?

    So, after dealing with some real-life issues in the past few weeks (including the loss of my dog), I've decided to get my weight down, once and for all.

    I feel pretty good about the diet I have planned, and the exercises I plan on doing (probably lot of bike-riding until I get down enough I'm comfortable working-out in public), but honestly, my Number 1, single greatest fear is having "loose skin".

    I'm 24 years-old, and I've been steadily putting on weight since I was about 15. I think I was about 20 when I hit the 250 mark, while I think I hit about 300 lbs last year, after my Grandfather passed away. From what I've been able to read online, it sounds as though your age and the length of time you've spent overweight has a lot to do with how quickly your skin will "snap-back". What worries me, though, is that 300 lbs is a LOT of weight, and I'm worried whether it even WILL snap-back.

    Moreso than that, I'm hoping to be able to enlist in the Navy once this is all said and done, but if there's excess skin, would I even be ABLE to get cosmetic-surgery to take care of it? I thought I'd heard surgery, no matter what the reason is, would prevent you from being able to enlist, although I could definitely be wrong. Either way, if there's a way I can handle it naturally, during the weight-loss, I would much rather go that route!

  2. #2
    300lbs makes you a big bloke, but nothing you can't get sorted. I had a mate in Uni who had legs that were the same size as my waste, he was a big guy and a heavy guy, well over 300lbs (maybe closer to 350). He started eating properly with good clean food and working out/excersize and got the point where he was in great shape, he cut away all his fat and toned his muscles, his face became a lot thinner too and he had no issues with his skin not shrinking down. He would have been around the same age as you at the time, about 2 years ago (making him 26-27 now). Looking at him you would never guess that he was really overweight just 2 years ago.
    Probably running on a Pentium 4

  3. #3
    Deleted
    Lose the weight slowly.

  4. #4
    It takes several years for your skin to adjust to the new shape of you're body so enjoy looking like a raisin.
    Though it it really does bother you I am sure their is some cosmetic surgery that can be done to remove the majority of excess skin.

  5. #5
    Herald of the Titans Beavis's Avatar
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    Yes, you can get cosmetic surgery. It's called body contouring. Depending on the extent of the loose skin it will run your between 5 and 20k if it isn't covered by your insurance. It's major surgery and will almost definitely leave a pretty nasty scar. There's plenty of suggestions on the web, but whether they work or not is anybody's guess. Mostly it seems to be genetic though. Some people lose 100 pounds with no loose skin, others loose 25 and have loose skin.
    When survival is the goal, it's into the spider hole!

  6. #6
    Warchief Letmesleep's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Harzaka View Post
    Lose the weight slowly.
    ^ As discouraging as it sounds, this. If you pull a "biggest loser" and are dropping 12 pounds a week, you're going to have a lot of extra skin flopping around at the end of your journey. Some extra skin is inevitable, but that doesn't mean you can't still look awesome. Also, stretch marks fade with time. In my experience they don't disappear completely but become very hard to see eventually. Keep it up, you'll feel incredible once it's all off

  7. #7
    If you are over 300 lbs, some loose skin should probably be at the bottom of your list of things to worry about. If you ever actually get to the point where loose skin is an issue, you should be happy, or atleast happier than you are right now.

  8. #8
    Dreadlord Fogkin's Avatar
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    How tall are you by chance? I'm 6'3" and 2 years ago weighed 326. At the beginning of this summer i was down to 190, dropped about 90-100 of it from June 2011 to June 2012. In my case my skin is some what loose, but it isn't flaps hanging off my body that I can stretch out to make elephant ears with. It definitely isn't tight like someone who has been thin most of their life and just lost 10-20 lbs. I was always bigger, probably weighed about 220 when I was 18, got up to 280-290 by the time I was 21 and dropped back down to 250-260 when I was 23-27 or so. I hit over 300 when I was 28/29. Now I do have stretch marks, and like i said my skin isn't tight like it should be. But then again it's only been 4 months now, plus I still have some extra pudge that I'm carrying around. Then again I've been bulking as i am lifting the last 4 months so cutting fat isn't important right now.

    point is, unless you are super short then you shouldn't worry too much. And like someone else said, don't lose it too fast.

    Thanks to Scythen for the sig

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Letmesleep View Post
    ^ As discouraging as it sounds, this. If you pull a "biggest loser" and are dropping 12 pounds a week, you're going to have a lot of extra skin flopping around at the end of your journey. Some extra skin is inevitable, but that doesn't mean you can't still look awesome. Also, stretch marks fade with time. In my experience they don't disappear completely but become very hard to see eventually. Keep it up, you'll feel incredible once it's all off
    On top of which losing weight slowly makes it easier to keep the weight off.

  10. #10
    Ehh, not really what I wanted to hear, but if my skin does wind up "loose" or something, I guess I'll just cross my bridge when I come to it. I don't mind if I still have a little pudge or something, but I really want to look a lot more fit. Ironically, I'm actually in very good shape, according to my doctor; a lot of it's probably due to growing up with a lot of physical labor (that, and my family has always had extremely muscular frames). Hopefully, it won't be so bad that I need surgery, but it is what it is I suppose.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Claymore View Post
    Ehh, not really what I wanted to hear, but if my skin does wind up "loose" or something, I guess I'll just cross my bridge when I come to it. I don't mind if I still have a little pudge or something, but I really want to look a lot more fit. Ironically, I'm actually in very good shape, according to my doctor; a lot of it's probably due to growing up with a lot of physical labor (that, and my family has always had extremely muscular frames). Hopefully, it won't be so bad that I need surgery, but it is what it is I suppose.
    It's been found that you can be overweight and fit. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ll-health.html

    Your health basically has two factors, your weight and fitness. The two CAN effect each other but being overweight doesn't mean you can't be fit.

    I think you'll be fine and it shoudn't be too much of a problem at all.

  12. #12
    Warchief Letmesleep's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Claymore View Post
    if my skin does wind up "loose" or something, I guess I'll just cross my bridge when I come to it.
    Exactly. Don't get yourself too hyped up about something like that.

    I don't mind if I still have a little pudge or something, but I really want to look a lot more fit.
    You definitely still can; extra skin should be the least of your worries. Move all of the "what ifs" to the back of your mind and just focus on your goal. Don't give up before you start
    Last edited by Letmesleep; 2012-10-12 at 01:52 AM.

  13. #13
    I had a ton of loose skin left over from losing weight. After a year nothing changed. So I decided to put on a little bit and lose it slowly.

  14. #14
    Losing weight slowly is a good start (not to mention healthier aswell) but at that size it may be a problem. You will have stretch marks, no doubt, but because you're still young maybe your skin will 'bounce' back after a year or two.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Emenius View Post
    I had a ton of loose skin left over from losing weight. After a year nothing changed. So I decided to put on a little bit and lose it slowly.
    If by 'put on a little bit' you mean getting fatter, that sounds utterly moronic. Loose skin will take a long time to tighten up regardless of the rate in which you lost the weight.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Ravock View Post
    If by 'put on a little bit' you mean getting fatter, that sounds utterly moronic. Loose skin will take a long time to tighten up regardless of the rate in which you lost the weight.
    This.

    Rapid weight loss is bad for a few reasons. 1) when you lose a lot of weight, your metabolism is slowed for a prolonged period (5-10 years) below that of the general population at your weight/lean body mass OR your hormone level is such that you feel hungrier as compared to the general population (depending on your interpretation of the study) (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/he...inds.html?_r=0). 2) you do not gain much muscle on the way down because your calorie intake is so low and 3) you do not learn how to eat properly such that you can maintain your new low weight.

    Losing weight slowly WILL NOT reduce the amount of skin you have. It will simply give your skin time to adjust as you go down such that the amount of excess skin you experience will be lower. If it is going to take 10 years to lose the skin, it will take 10 years regardless if you lose the weight in 1 year or in 5.
    Last edited by jbhasban; 2012-10-13 at 04:08 AM.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Harzaka View Post
    Lose the weight slowly.
    This. This. This.

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