For those of you who have lost any sort of large amount of weight with out doing any weight training/ exercise program, have you noticed any loose skin... I am just sort of afraid that if i start losing weight and not weight training that my belly skin will hang as i have stretch marks on it already... That and for all you women out there as i lose more weight in my boobs will they begin to sag more or perhaps look a little perkier since they'll be smaller (however stetch marks on them too)...

anyone willing to share about their physical weight loss experience it would be greatly appreciated.

current stats:
ht 5'3
cw 142 lbs
gw 120 lbs or less

and for privacy if you like .. you can email me at rosie2381@hotmail.com

Thx

rosie

Your Stats is close to mine and I haven't noticed any loose skin- flab yes *LOL* I am 5'4 started at 155 and down to 141 so we are pretty close. I can't excercise much either, I try but unforutantly my body doesn't want to comply. I do ride my excercise bike as much as I can and I walk but that is about as much as I can do. I am shooting for another 10 pounds anyway ...........

Hey Rosie...how much have you lost?? I have loose skin around my lower abdomen (won't go away without an abdominoplasty) and upper thighs, but I lost over 100# way back when. Our skin is an amazingly resilient organ, and responds well to lots of hydration...so keep drinking your water. I love the new skin firming lotions available at the local supermarkets. I'm using Jergens brand and really notice a difference after a few days.

Looks like this is your first post. In that case, welcome to a helpful and friendly group of people.

Why don't you go for the weight loss first, and meet each challenge as it comes along? Every body is different. You won't know what yours will do until you get involved in your chosen plan.

I've totally embraced the low-carb lifestyle, and never look back. Are you ready to try it?

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Rosie,

You have received some good advice here, but honestly, I don't think you are enough overweight for it to be much of an issue.
TV shows us these people who end up having to get tons of loose skin removed, but usually those people have lost a LOT of weight (think more than 100 pounds) in a relatively short amount of time.
You are not far from your goal weight and if you stay well-hydrated and exercise for toning, you should do just fine.
HTH,

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Summer

hello rosie, and welcome.

i have to second barb's notion here and say, "why create problems you don't have?" personally, i'm happy to deal with only those issues that actually come up and not invent more.

i do understand concerns, though, as i had some similar ones myself. but i had over 100 pounds to lose. i guess, to me, 22pounds isn't exactly a "large amount of weight." i've never even heard of someone having skin problems after losing 20 pounds.

it's true that losing weight doesn't make you automatically thrilled with every aspect of your body. even if you had a perfect body, that doesn't necessarily mean you'd realize it emotionally. but i can pretty much bet that if you're in a position where you need to lose more than 20 pounds, the health benefits and usually cosmetic benefits of the loss will FAR outweight any other concerns. and if you eat well during that time, drink plenty of water, use good quality lotions, take supplements and do some weight-training kind of exercise, you can minimize skin issues along the way. although frankly, it seems highly unlikely to me that you'll actually have the probelm.

are you sure maybe some of the worries aren't more about starting something new than skin issues? it's not uncommon for our unconcious to come up with objections to changes once we've threatened it with something that might actually make a difference in our lives. funny how that ol' unconscious always favors the status quo!

relax, follow the process, and the results work themselves out. and if you have issues that do come up along the way, deal with them then.

good luck to you!

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Rosie:

If my math is correct, you have a total of 22 pounds to lose. My first inclination, after reading your post, was to say that 22 pounds is not a large amount of weight to lose, so don?t sweat the flapping skin, because you won?t have any.

Then, I switched paradigms and tried to think of this from your point of view. Twenty-two pounds is a significant amount of weight to you, and it?s wrong for me to say that it isn?t. I applaud your attempt to get healthier and lose the excess weight.

It is my humble opinion that you will not have loose skin when you reach your goal, even without exercise. I will state that the more slowly you lose the weight, however, the more resilient your skin will be.

My two cents.........

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April

The face of a child can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face.

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I am 5'0. At my heaviest I was 174. I am now down to 135, with 130 being my goal weight. I have pretty much lost this without doing much, if any, exercise. I do have stretch marks but those appear to be lessening somewhat. Not really much extra skin, except right at my Csection scar, which I believe is fairly normal and I am hoping after being at my goal weight for a bit, will diminish also. I wouldn't worry about it overly, as stated quite eloquently by above posters. I do use moisturizers on my skin whenever I step out of the shower. I think that has been helpful with scars and skin elasticity. JMHO. And Welcome to you!

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Started Atkins-1/2/04
174 lbs at heaviest



5'0 154/136.5/130

Hey Rosie - I've lost about 100lbs or so - its been over a period of a couple of years. After the first 6 months or so I found I automatically wanted to exercise (at my heaviest I had a stairclimber installed because a flight of 14steps had me pausing for breath 3 times) Looking back - I don't know whether I could have gotten away with not exercising without the saggies being drastic but I'm 63 and like crystalrp, sport a Csection. I wouldn't have thought 20lbs or so would be too dramatic. I have minimal saggies at 150 but a few wrinkles on the face and neck and the tata flaps are not as firm as I'd like - but not so much that I bother about - I just put it down to laughter lines and worldly experience! Good luck!

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The fox is wild!



5'3" Maintaining 121-125
Original weight 198 +

Hello Ladies~!

Thank you so much for your replies they are greatly appreciated. My highest weight was 180lbs and about 2 years ago i dropped from 170 - 150 lbs (in a very unhealthy way) so yes i do have a lot of excess fat on my lower abdominal area and i can see over hang in my mirror profile at 142/145 lbs so I guess I'm just worried that if i get to 120 or 110 that the over hang will eventually just turn into hanging skin once the fat goes away... anyway that was my concern .. and yes I do agree with you all that I should just take things as they come and that I will. Moistruizers are also a great idea!

Much thanks for your words as well as your encouragement!

Rosie

rosie- thank you for putting it into context, as it makes more sense that way. for what it's worth and what i've read, the vitamins and the exercises with weight resistence seem to be the most significant of the reccomendations for dealing with that.

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Thank you once again for the reply goddess... I just noticed your tremendous weight loss CONGRADULATIONS on that!!!! Are you doing Atkins or South Beach?

rosie

thank you, rosie. i am quite happy with those losses!

i started with atkins for induction, and then more or less just ate "low carb" afterwards, although my eating is probably most like atkins maintenece. i am just not a big tracking/rules oriented kind of person.

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Wow, well whatever you are doing keep it up.. !! So anyway I finally bought the atkins book but havent quite been able to read to the induction phase yet but as soon as i do and can put together some creative / somewhat cheap induction recipes Im sure ill be on my way.. its just a little slow cause im keeping it a secret from my boyfriend... pls dont ask why .. i have my reasons. anyway as soon as i have some free time from him ill get through the atleast up to the induction phase then that gives me 2 weeks to finish the book lol