Answers to Everyday Questions : What can I do to help with excess skin when losing weight?

What can I do to help with excess skin when losing weight?

6 Responses to “What can I do to help with excess skin when losing weight?”

1. princess.peach82 said :
   May 28th, 2010 at 5:18 pm

   How much weight are you trying to lose? That should really only happen in extreme cases where you are morbidly obese and then lose weight. It happens because there is decreased bloodflow to the skin because it is so stretched out.

   That said, in order to stay tight while losing weight you should do a combination of weight training and cardio. Lots of women are scared of lifting weights because they don’t want to become “bulky” but if you lift and also do cardio you will build lean muscle instead of bulky muscle.

   I do 3 days of lifting per week (focusing on upper body one session, then lower the next) and do cardio 6-7 days per week. I’ve lost 62 pounds and don’t have any saggy skin yet!
2. the cats' mother said :
   May 28th, 2010 at 6:14 pm

   exercise. If you have to lose a lot of weight ie like over 100 lbs you may have to have surgery to remove it but if it is only
   20 or 30 lbs if you exercise while watching your calorie intake your skin will tighten up. It doesn’t happen overnight but it
   does happen. I know!
3. Drummerchick said :
   May 28th, 2010 at 6:53 pm

   From what I have learned by reading different diet books, in order to prevent excess skin while losing weight, you need to lose weight slowly. You should not be losing weight so rapidly that you have tons of excess skin. You should only be losing 1-2 lbs per week. The more slowly you lose weight, the more permanent that weight loss is. Also, if you are sedentary and you are ONLY dieting without exercise to lose weight, this will give you a lot of excess skin. If you lose weight by diet and exercise (like strength training), you will have less skin because light weight lifting can cause toning of the muscles and tightening of the skin. Also remember that the more weight you have to lose, the more your skin has stretched to make room for that excess fat. Honestly, (i speak from experience) weight training can really help with your skin.
4. MARY C said :
   May 28th, 2010 at 7:42 pm

   slow,slow,diet..if not,,my sister getting surgery,free,from the nhs..she lives in the west midlands..mary.c.
5. AKM said :
   May 28th, 2010 at 7:49 pm

   Other than surgery to tuck the sagging skin away or cut it off, there is nothing natural you can do to remove the loose skin. However, this only happens when you lose a large amount of weight, such as 50 pounds or more, so I don’t think you will have to worry about that. When you lose less than that amount, the areas that lose weight will naturally shrink in size and as such, you will not have too much loose skin, especially not enough to notice it.

   If you are referring to pregnancy weight loss, around the tummy, then yes, you might have loose skin and this is very normal. I have seen women that have lost their pregnancy weight, but even if their tummy is flat, they still do have some looseness around the belly area, but that is very normal. I would recommend ab work and seeing a personal trainer for that, once the doctor gives you the go-ahead for weight loss.

   Good luck and hope this helps!
6. JimmyQ said :
   May 28th, 2010 at 8:32 pm

   You have to come up with some type of a reward system, this will help keep you motivated. One of the best things to do is make a contingency contract. Stating what you want to do, who will help you do it, and what do you get for doing it.

   Then also try to find a well balance diet program. My friend did this one diet program where the average weight lose is 7 pounds in 9 days. It might be the thing you are looking for, I know it’s well balanced. If you want e-mail me and I can tell you more about either of these.