Q for those that have lost 100 lbs or more..
 

When this journey is all over I will have lost 100 lbs. I would like to workout and tone what I have as I go with the hopes that I won't have a ton of excess belly skin.

Q: After you lost the weight did you have tons of extra skin?

Q: If you didn't, what exercises did you do to prevent having excess skin?

My main concern is having extra skin that I will have to have surgically removed. My other concern is that I just want to tone but not build tons of muscle. Any ideas for me??

I consider myself lucky not to have excess skin after my 100 pound lose except for under my chin area which I'm having fixed at the end of March. The excess belly skin I don't have either but I'm noticing it's looking a little soft in that area as I lose more weight. Presently I'm not toning yet. I'm concentrating more on sweating and burning calories. The toning will come later. I could be wrong but I think the longer you are very overweight, the chances of excess skin are higher. I haven't been this overweight for that long and am concluding that is the reason why I don't have as much excess skin. Also age has a lot to do with it too. They younger you are, the more flexible you skin is. If I was younger I probably wouldn't need to have the lose skin under my chin taken care of. Good luck with your challenge but in all honestly, you won't know until you get there. But even if you do have some, it's a small price compared to how much better you will feel after losing that much weight.

nellabella, thank you for your honesty. Like Melanie, I've been wondering the same thing. It will be interesting to watch my body go through it's changes.

Melanie, regarding your toning question, I've read women don't need to worry about "bulking up". I wonder if a trainer could help you out with your specific concerns?

Sue :)

Thank you. A trainer was my next step. : )

I've lost just about 200 lbs, but it was very slow because of my age (post-menopausal), and losing slowly helps the skin adjust.

Don't worry about it now--just focus on losing the weight--because how a person's skin responds is unique to the person. There's no way to tell for sure how you will look.

It would help if you did strength work for toning as you lose. You don't have to worry about 'bulking up' because you need excess calories for that. If you're losing weight, you will only be developing the muscles you already have as you lose the fat, so it may seem as though you're adding muscle, but you're not.

I have excess skin, but it is not a problem, and unless I'm naked, it's not at all noticeable--and I have absolutely no plans to have it removed.

Most doctors advise waiting at least two years AFTER reaching your weight goal to consider surgery because the skin continues to adjust.

Again, I'd wait to worry about the skin issue and just focus on losing the weight.

Happy,

I have just hit the 100 pounds off mark. I agree with Leo that everyone is different considering age, rate of weight loss etc. It is also true that you never know how long it will take to see adjustments in the extra skin. I can tell you from my experience between 50 and 80 pounds off my extra skin hurt so bad it felt like I was sitting on knives, sharp side up. It was so painful I thought about having it removed. I am glad I held out.

Today it does not hurt. I still have an "apron" but just like Leo said no one sees me naked so it is not noticeable when at work.

Your body sloughs off skin every second, let nature take its course, hold out from surgery if you can.

And most of all I wish you success.

I have alot of extra skin. But I'm in my 50's and was fat all but about the first 4 years of my life. At least 20 of those I was around 300 lbs. So my old skin doesn't have much elasticity in it. It isn't physically painful (I keep clean and use a lot of powder!). Skin reduction surgery (from chin to ankles!) would be fantastic, especially after I lose another 50 lbs., but that's not in my budget.

What I DID make room for in my budget was a trainer every other week. I was down a good 80 lbs. before joining a gym and finding a trainer, but working out makes me feel amazing. Cardio intervals along with strength training a few times a week makes me stronger, yet there's no bulking up.

We don't have to work out to lose a lot of weight (although it has helped me), but to touch and see real muscles under your skin, to strengthen your heart and lungs, to know that you have as much right to even be in a gym as anybody else, these and more can help you enjoy whatever size you are.

So far I've lost 170lbs. I'm 27. I have a butt load of extra skin. On my arms, stomach, thighs. I've been working out for about 8 months (although just recently got very serious), and it's tightened up a bit, but no where near where I'm comfortable with.

I will need, and will get surgery on my arms and stomach and def. get a boob job. I'll need to have lost probably at least 230 lbs (that would put me at 170), before I consider a goal. I've never been under 215 as an adult or teen, so I really don't know what I want my goal to be.

Someone told me for every 100lbs you lose, you have 10 pounds of extra skin, so by the time I reach any kind of goal, I'll have about 25lbs of extra pure skin on my body. No amount of exercise can make it go away.

I've lost 90 pounds so far, and I do have excess skin on my belly and thighs (and a little in the neck area). It's not enough to be painful or get in my way, but it's not particularly attractive. I don't aspire to a bikini, so only the wrinkly elephant skin on my thighs will be visible to folks other than me and I'm OK with that and have no desire for surgery. Since I've been at this for less than a year, my body/skin hasn't yet had time to catch up with my weight loss, and I'm hopeful that I'll have some improvement, although I fully expect to always have some excess skin. FWIW, I do think age plays a role. I'm over 50 this time. I lost a similar amount of weight in my early 40's, and my skin shrunk right back down. It varies by person, of course, but at your young age, I would think you've got a decent chance of not ending up with a lot of excess skin.

I had a trainer before I put all this weight on. She helped me work on me legs for skiing and my chest muscles to lift my breasts. It worked. Plus she had me on the Zone diet. That might be part of the reason why I don't have much in the way of sagging skin. I would definetly go with a trainer again. It was money well spent.

I had a WW leader tell me that it takes 1 month for your body/skin to catch up to one pound lost.

I believe this is true, for while I was on WW I lost over 20lbs and while losing I didnt feel the difference in my weight loss.. I had to quit for financial reasons. I was able to maintain the weight I ended at for 2 years. During those two years of maintaining,after about a year I went down a size (3x to 2x for shirts) and I was able to buy a size smaller jeans. At the end of the two years my legs got firmer and my arms got firmer. Then I had a stressful time and put it all back on and even an extra 5... The firmness left quickly.

So I hope this is true - for surgery would not be an option for me... I guess your best bet is to talk to a professional...

Yep, I have an "Apron" that if I had my "drruthers" wouldn't be there.

But, the only thing that would solve it would be cosmetic surgery. Being the vain person I am, I've considered it. However, my "miserness" seems to outweigh my vanity, and at my age I can't seem to justify the expense.

To be absolutely serious, and being as honest as can be with you................the issue really doesn't bother me. The only people who see the unattractive evidence of my weightless is my wife and my doctor. And let's be honest, as someone closing in on 70 yrs old, I wouldn't look that good sans shirt anyway, even if I were showing off a flat belly!

I actually think of my "apron" as a blessing. It's a reminder of where I spent the greatest part of my life. It really, really isn't a problem.

So here I am a newbie. I need to lose over 100 pounds. Contemplating surgery, but really don't want to do that. I am here hoping for inspiration and what type of plan worked for others.

I have lost weight in the past on caloric diets, but regained it. I have a hard time losing it. I have a hypothyroidism and have to work really hard to lose it. If anyone can offer any insight, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you so much!

Curvalicious4

I am in my mid twenties and have always been heavy. It's just been the past 6 years that I have been over 300 lbs. I am hoping that all the skin that shows (neck, arm below the elbow, legs below the knee) do not have sag!! Anywhere else I can handle.

I've already promised myself ONE plastic surgery after 5 years of maintaining a certain weight. Still not sure what that weight is but prob around 200. It will be boob lift or removal of the tummy flab. Not sure which. Will get the hubby to chime in I guess lol.

I worry most about under my neck.... wonder if there are any exercises that will help! I can make a really strange face that seems to stretch it all out but let's just hope no one is looking at me right now because it is a very strange face indeed.

If you google face exercises, you will find some different things you can do to try and firm up the neck area. I've lost 70 lbs, have 60some left to go, and doing the exercises seems to firm up the neck a little. Its not an overnight miracle, but I can tell it helps some. I'll probably do face exercises the rest of my life! and yeah...they look ridiculous! I do them driving in my car sometimes and I bet some people have thought I was insane. LOL

dry body brushing for excess skin
 

I do not have this problem yet (hope I do one day)... but I hear that getting a "body brush" and brushing every day helps with this. Google "dry body brushing for excess skin" and you'll get lots of results!

For everyone who posted on this thread - congrats on the great weight loss! You are role models!!

i've heard of body brushing too. I need to try it. Every thing helps!

I doubt I'd ever go as far as surgery, but I'm one who never says NEVER!

After losing 220 lbs, I had a paniculectomy, for medical reason (skin lesions & cysts), the insurance paid for it. I wish I had the boobs done too but couldn't afford it. So I started saving for it. I have the money, but after the surgery, I experienced a creep of weight gain, until I had gained back 75 lbs of the 230 lbs. Since July 2010, I have lost 55 lbs, so I am nearly back where I want to be.

I joined Gold's gym about 2 months ago, $59 down, $10 month. They have trainers and they may be worth it, but I have been going and doing crunches on a machine, abdominal and core exercises, rowing eliptical and treadmill without a trainer. My DD taught me how I can walk at a slow pace on the treadmill and just increase the incline to get the increase in my heart rate. I don't have to walk fast. I am now walking over 10,000 steps a day and the weight loss nearly came to a standstill for a few weeks, but I dropped a pants size. I have now started losing again, averaging 1 lb a week.

My skin sags under chin, boobs, bat arms, and very wrinkled hanging skin on inner thighs. It will never recover by itself because I am nearly 65 yrs old. But I am firming up. I still may get the neck and boobs done. I have heard the arms are the most painful to do. As others have said, spouse and doctor are about the only ones who see it. It took about two years to start to see the new Mary when I looked in the mirror. Until then all I saw was the fat me in a thin body and didn't know who I was. It takes time, so even if you can afford the surgery, wait a couple years to get used to the new you and you will also know whether it is a life time change or just a diet that you have been on.

After losing 100 lb. I had a lot of excess skin. When I got to maintenance, I found out that I needed a hysterectomy and as I never had children the hysterectomy needed to be done abdominaly. I consulted a plastic surgeon and had my arms and tummy tuck done at the same time of the hysterectomy. I am so happy I did that. A few years later I had a breast lift and augmentation mostly do to sagging from menopause. My legs are still bad but I've decided that I can live with capris and have just resigned myself that I will never have the perfect body. I am a group fitness instructor so I exercise faithfully an no amount of exercise will take away the sagging skin.

I have an appt with a plastic surgeon Mar 14th to discuss options. I would like to get tge neck, arms and maybe boobs done all at one time. Sort of like an upper body lift. I am nervous but I figure this is my senior gift as I just turned 65 yrs old. The arms and neck bother me the most. The abdomin was done in 2006. Here's hoping!

Those of you interested might want to check out the Excess Skin Removal Surgery thread in the Weight Loss Surgery section of the boards. I just got done with my final plastic surgery for excess skin (I had a panniculectomy/tummy tuck, breast lift, arms, and thigh lift surgeries over the past 2 years or so). I am a very happy camper with my results, but I am still far from perfect! However, they did remove 17 pounds of skin (and maybe a bit of that was fat...) from my stomach alone, which totally changed my life (maybe even more than the overall weight loss - the difference was SO amazing for me). In any case, that thread has a bunch of very honest people telling it like it really is for anyone interested in looking into similar surgeries. Congrats to eveyone on their weight losses. Plastic surgery isn't for everyone and not everyone needs it. Sadly, I wan't one of those people. ;)

I haven't lost the weight I need to yet just getting started again (sigh) but I would suggest a mineral body wrapping. They dip ace bandages in minerals and wrap you up tight then have you jump on a trampoline. Sounds insane I know. I did it before my wedding a few years ago and even at 250 lbs everything got nice and tight I lost a ton of inches and my thighs, arms face, stomach stayed tight for several months. I should have gone back...I think that might be a surgery free solution. I only did it once but if you do it several times you could make a huge difference. Yes they wrap you tight like a mummy. After and perhaps during this weight loss I'm going to do the body wrapping. Hopefully they have it near your town.

For me I'm surprised that I don't have that much extra skin, I think it comes down to losing it slowly, over the course of 4yrs (25Lbs a yr, that's 2Lbs a month!) and also doing a lot of walking and using lots of lotion on my skin all over. I think most of the time extra skin comes from losing a lot real fast before the skin has a chance to adjust, like losing 100Lbs in 1 yr or less. My skin has like ripples or waves in it but not really loose and sagging like how some looks, it has just enough waves to not be completely smooth. You can tell by the skin some weight was lost but you wouldn't know 100 pounds was lost by looking at my skin by itself if you had not seen me before. I'm surprised at how smooth my belly is and even my breasts are smooth. At 25Lbs a year, 2Lbs a month, no wonder why my skin shrunk back down! LOL! I started in 2009, then found this board and LC in 2010. I think losing 2-5Lbs a month is the best pace to lose so you won't have too much loose skin. It takes more time but looks better in the end.

Only thing I can say is walk a lot, that tones all muscles, and keep your skin moisturized. :up:

I'm mostly concerned about my face drooping. I already feel that at age 48 my face is a bit more jowly and wrinkled than others my age. So I can only image what it will look like after another 90 or so pounds come off. Anyhow, I'm starting a face-lift fund. :)

You might like a lifestyle lift. No surgery required and amazing results. Google "lifestyle lift" I plan on doing that after I've lost my weight. :-)

Congratulations to all of you who have lost!!! and those of us who are trying to lose:)

I have read that you can use alfalfa tablets, for collagen/elasticity and dry brushing to help with loose skin.

Keep going, never give up!!!

Lifestyle Lift is surgery - are you thinking of another procedure? Lifestyle Lift - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is probably an extremely ignorant question, but does insurance not cover skin removal surgery when people have lost so much weight that the skin becomes a health and hygiene issue? If you have medical insurance, like through your employer or Blue Cross or whatever, wouldn't this qualify as a legitimate medical need? Especially for people who have had weight loss surgery.

I'm just curious! I'd just sort of ignorantly figured that's how it worked. Because medical insurance covers weight loss surgery for people who have a medical need for the surgery, and the skin situation seems similar to me. It's not a "vanity" operation to have dozens of pounds of excess skin removed from the body when it interferes with mobility and healthy topical hygiene.

I had the panniculectomy 6 years ago; it was covered because it was medically necessary. I was getting skin lesions, one cycst got infected. If it is not medically necessary, the answer is no. Some policies don't cover the medical procedure. There is a diagnostic code your doctor will use to describe it, make sure your insurance covers the code, otherwise it doesn't matter whether it is medically necessary. Lastly, if you have the bypass, a friend at work said she had to get the panniculectomy approved prior to the WLS, otherwise they wouldn't cover it after and in her case, they only covered half. On my upper body, they will cover nothing. Today I go for the evaluation. Say a prayer!

Good luck with your evaluation!