Strange question about skin...

[CatLadyCrystal]

Okay...so I would have posted this is the 'Women' forum on the regular LCE website..but here goes:

Anyone have any methods of prevention for sagging skin? I mean...I have over 100 pounds to lose...and though I'd like to think that my 22 year old skin will spring back like a rubber band...I know what my diet has been like these past 22 years..and I'm gonna be realistic...and I know that I am too much of a chicken to ever get a tummy tuck or anything like that... so the body I have after this fat is gone is gonna be the body I'll have to live with...and I'll love it...because it'll be me...a healthy me... but.....*lol* If I can prevent a little sag, it'll be worth it.

So anyways..what I'm asking is: If any of you wonderful members have any tips to prevent loose skin...such as vitamins...lotions..strange chants invovling daily 'DaVinci Syrup' sacrifices at the alter of the Whoosh Fairy....please let me know!

Thanks
Crystal *who should be forgiven for the utter moronic quality of this post...it's almost 4am*

[RQP]

tee hee hee... Crystal, I loved the DaVinci syrup sacrifices at the altar... and don't worry about the time - some of us are in time zones that correspond quite nicely to a 4am post!

If you are 22 years old (which is what I gather from your post) you have a very, very good chance of reaching your goal with very little extra skin. If you are losing appropriately (after Induction about 1 pound a week is sufficient for health reasons) then your body will have the time necessary to adjust to the loss in weight. Especially because you are still quite young. The elasticity of 22 year old skins is SIGNIFICANTLY better than if you were 45-50.

Remember that skin is regrowing all the time - we only realize it when we get a sunburn and then peal, but in actuality, our skin (the outer surfaces) is just layers of dead cells sluffing off. So the skin is flaking off and being replaced at a tremendous rate. A greater eleasticity may mean that your 'new skin' will grow to cover a tighter, leaner body!

If you are concerned I would suggest two things: one is that you really need to keep that skin hydrated (our skin really needs the water) which will make it smoother and healthier, and I would make a moisturizing cream after the daily shower a must. Best to use one the dermatologists recommend (without perfumes and colorants) like Cetaphil. You can get the big bottles at Coastco. I just cover all 'them perts' after every shower.

And here is a big <<cheer>> for you having chosen this wonderful healthy future. Good luck!

Hugs,
Rachel
165/142/130
Haec trutina errat. (Latin for,"There is something wrong with this scale".)

[Chargeit2him]

Please don't say that my 49ish skin will make me look worse than my 300 lb body ! I have what I think they call "an apron" With my belly almost as low as my Boobs. lol ,I have been noticing that it is getting a "little" smaller.

[April]

Not a strange question at all. I've had five pregnancies and had over 150 pounds to lose and I have some sagging skin. I started this way of life in 1998 and lost the majority of my weight in a little less than 2 years, and I was 37 when I began. I have the sagging skin and dotors have told me that no amount of exercise will rid me of it. I'd have to have it surgically removed, but I'm not doing that. I'm never going to wear a bikini, so I don't care. I think I look okay. I feel better and that means a lot to me.

April
352 / 205 / 180
5'10", large frame, size 13 shoe
www.geocities.com/aprilreinhardt

[teelbee]

There was a similar thread on the old board. An OB/GYN nurse pointed out that skin sag is related to genetics - the luck of the draw. She'd seen 19-year old mothers with lots of excess skin and 37-year old mothers with no excess skin. So, you just don't know. But, even if you have excess skin, you'll feel better and look better at a healthy weight than if the skin was "filled up".

I've read that getting lots of vitamin E and essential fatty acids (EFA) in your diet may help with skin regeneration. EFAs are often referred to as Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Low carb foods high in vitamin E include asparagus, turnip greens, swiss chard, mustard greens, sunflower seeds, nuts, broccoli, tomato juice, clam juice, pumpkin.

Low carb foods high in EFAs include salmon and other cold, deep water fish, flaxseed, flaxseed oil, borage oil, nuts, evening primrose oil, black current oil, avocado oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, walnut oil.

While many of these are available in gel capsules, there are recent studies that suggest the gel capsules interfer with the body's absorption of the EFAs and vitamins. So, as always, it's best to get your nutrients from real foods as much as possible.

~~~Teelbee

"remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic."

174 (Mar. 2002 highest weight)
164 (Jan. 2003, begin LC)
164/135.5/137-134

[Emelia]

The other thing that will help is exercise.

I'm a month away from 39, and I've lost about 85 pounds so far. Between good skin care and exercising 4-5 days per week, I've managed to keep the skin taut.

At age 22, your skin *should* rebound beautifully.

Emelia

"We can only learn to love by loving." - Iris Murdoch, Irish writer
294/208/174 since 25-Nov-01

[buffie]

Wonderful info. I had wondered the same thing although I'm almost 30.


Thanks,
Buffie
Have a Great Day!!

[JinniLynn33]

OMG this is one of my geatest nightmares. I am 33 I so wish I would have done this at 22. As long as you exercise, I think you should be fine. I have lost almost 85 lbs and my skin is going back. THANK YOU GOD!!!!! Just do it though, I let that be my excuse (or one of them) for not doing it for so long.

V

I can do this!!

[Calleva]

I read on an earlier thread about this (and it interests me as I have a significant amount to lose and am 49). Apparently, you can sometimes have to wait a year (on maintenance diet) for skin to 'snap' back.

This doesn't promise that there will be no sagging skin (I am sure that without a tummy tuck I will have loose skin there permanently), but explains why no reputable plastic surgeon will undertake 'tucks' until a year after weight loss.

Very fast weight loss can also mean the skin looks too big. I guess it catches up eventually, but slow losers can take heart.

[Doctor Insomnia]

I lost 112 pounds back when I was 21-22. I still had saggy skin, especially around my middle. I also had Popeye arms for a while -- like the cartoon strip character. Working out fixed that.

I'm 46 now. 've lost about 51 pounds this time. My skin is saggy in the same places. It's saggy around my thighs too, which is the only new item.

I remember feeling a little disappointed about the sagginess back when I was 22. I hadn't suspected that would happen. I thought it was just more fat that wouldn't go away, until somebody tried to tell me what I needed was a "tummy tuck."

(Which, fortunately, I didn't get; I would have just pooched my skin out again).

The good part is, with your clothes on, you look great and nobody knows.

[motherto6]

Yes it can take up to a year before your skin is done shrinking with you. The younger you are the better your chances. Of course your genes play a major role too.

I'm still fairly young at 30, but I know it's hopeless for me without surgery because I've had 6 children (one pregnancy was a set of twins) I have stretch marks on my stretch marks, LOL.

The good news for all of us in that no matter how much saggy skin we have, it still looks better then taut skin over fat!

Michelle
287/198, 6/2002 - 6/2003
231/229, 9/1/2003 - 9/2/2003

[JinniLynn33]

I had twins too, I don't think that is ever going back. LOL

V

I can do this!!

[Calleva]

I had twins at age 33 and shortly after crash dieted down from 182lbs to about 125 lbs which was really too low for my 5'6" frame. I didn't have much trouble with my middle - thought it looked fine, and it would have been MUCH more so had I exercised.

My sagging belly this time is probably more due to age and food abuse, I suspect. Again, genes are crucial, IMO.

[sunshinehid]

I will apologize for posting here in advance as I do not need to loose over 100, but recently I went to a plastic surgeon and inquired about a liposuction. After lipo you have to wear clothing like "spandex" over the area that you had done so that the skin adheres to the muscle layer where there is now no fat. I started this WOE instead of getting surgery. However I asked a nurse friend of mine if there was a way to keep the skin tight if I lost weight, she sugested the same thing as above and lots of hydration. (I am 30.) Thank for the inspiration, that you all have provided to me on my "down" days.
H.