Loose skin

[comeonnowdafty]

I’ve been fat most of my life but after losing 3 stone on MJ (and with another 2 to go), I’m starting to get loose skin. It’s mostly crepe-like skin at the top of my arms and legs but I suspect that once I lose my belly flab, there will be more there too.

It’s quite superficial but as I’m not currently in a relationship, I wonder how I’ll feel about this when it becomes time to be with a new partner. I love the fact that I’m getting healthier but I also dislike the fact that my undressed body is not looking great. I’m hoping there’s some great men out there who don’t care about this kind of thing!

I’m 50 so I doubt there’s much I can do at this point! I’m eating lots of protein, taking collagen supplements and I’ve just started properly exercising but I imagine these aren’t going to do that much. Anyone else struggling with this? What are you doing to try and combat it?

I never even thought about this when I started a year ago. I didn't consider myself that fat, (I thought only massively overweight people got loose skin when losing weight). I wanted to lose about 3 st and ended up losing over 5,the loose skin is horrendous and I actually don't think there's anything other than surgery and time that'll change it. I started noticing it early on and it just got worse, exercising helped a little bit, but not much, neither did supplements, it's really aging and I'm dreading the summer I think I might have to massively up my moisturising regime. I'm fifties BTW, I think that is also a factor, the hormones help younger folk spring back into shape.

Same here, I've lost almost 4st, two to go, same age as you, been fat since I was a kid, lost and gained over the years but this loose crinkly skin is a new one! I have it the same places you you do, also under my chin which is awful and I will eventually get Botox for that as it's really aged me.

what I've been doing is weight training, it really does help but you have to start off light if you've not done it before. Start now, it takes months but I'm slowly starting to see the results. Book a PT session, lots of moisturiser but at the end of the day once we reach this age it's part & parcel of getting older. Congratulations on your weight loss, I'm married and my husband says to me he never noticed it, just the amount of weight I've lost and how good I now look. Do it for you though and if any man makes you feel uncomfortable in your own body then you're better off without them!

It does improve, at least it has for me. I am a similar age to you and have been at target for about 8 months now and I am still seeing improvement in the loose skin. I am exercising and I still focus on getting nutrient dense foods so maybe that helps but I have heard other people say it improves too.

That's good to know @OddBoots maybe I'll hold off the Botox until my 50th!

I lost 9 stone (not on WLI before the usual people comment) but I like to help with issues like this that we can all relate to. I just want to reassure you that no man has minded and I’ve been with quite a few. My stomach is a mess after 3 operations and weight loss, my upper thighs are crepey but you know what, I feel amazing naked with my makeup on, hair done and the right underwear and sexy stuff. Men don’t care about this stuff as much as we think. They want to have sex with an enthusiastic woman who is enjoying herself and in the moment! Also working out and weights have helped a LOT 😊 My muscles fill the loose skin. Please don’t let it ruin your weight loss, keep going!

Wow @Disturbia81 amazing 9st! I am on WLI but planning to come off them soon and continue to calorie count & weight train, hopefully my loose skin will fill out a bit too, I also saw you on another thread about HRT so relied on that one too 😊

I've lost 7 and a half stone, my body looks like a melted candle. My boobs look empty and saggy to the point that when I hoist them into a bra the skin looks scaley.

I'm trying to focus on the fact that I am healthier than I have been my whole adult life but it does get me down a bit.

I’ve got this too. I’m hoping time and exercise will see some improvement. DH lost weight suddenly after stoping a medication and had loose skin on his stomach. It’s really improved but it took a couple of years.

Have a research on autophagy. There's a lot of research about fasting helping.

It takes up to two years to improve, but it does, however you need to work at it op,

so I had some crepey skin on my arms tummy and under my backside when I hit goal, I lost 6 and a half stone. However I worked out throughout, both cardio and weights, and ate my protein, 1g per kg of body weight, I also moisturised all over every day,

when I hit goal I reverse dieted, so upping cals by a hundred or so a week till I hit maintenance, but I upped them mainly with protein, now about 1.6g per kg of body weight, and kept up with the exercise and moisturising, it took about 6 months and it has all disappeared and tightened up, I think it sort of shrinks back.

muscle, and supple skin is key here. Good luck.

Well done you! I’m 45 and have yo yo dieted all of my life but for the last 8 - 10 years or so I have been about 2 stone heavier than I was in my 20s and even back then I was only happy with my weight very occasionally. I could never have imagined losing 3 and a half stone when I started this MJ journey. It has truly been transformational. I also think it seemed to take forever to feel truly thin by calorie restriction alone and then I started on Elvanse (ADHD medication) and Pilates about at the same time and then I seemed to drop a lot of weight really quickly and now I genuinely love how I look (when I’m dressed!) I wasn’t expecting the loose skin as I’d always pinged back before and not had children so not even had that to content with. The loose skin is really getting me down, even on my arms. When I am in a plank my legs look like elephant skin and my tummy looks like an upside crumpled table cloth! I do think though that it is improving and I have also read 2 years. I am following your method too. Interested what moisturisers you are using?

Following this with interest. In my 50s and 22kg down. I have also been advised that skin should gradually improve, somewhat at least. I’m doing the protein and exercise thing, mercifully my face is actually okay although I definitely have crepey upper arms, legs and stomach. It does cross my mind that by a certain age one tends to have less tight looking skin anyway, but I’m still hoping this will continue to look better. I’m certainly not allowing it to make me regret losing weight especially as I look fine with clothes on. And that’s my suggestion to @Iamnewaroundhere - don’t do planks naked 😉

It depends on your skin I think. Stretch marked skin may improve but will never totally shrink. I train a lot, and have been a healthy, stable weight for a couple of years now and that is what I found.

I had an arm lift. I’m not bothered about the rest of it but that really affected me.

Weight training will help. I’ve lost four stone and have weight trained throughout, so very minimal loose skin. But, this will help at any stage. I really hated my “bingo wings” and was considering an arm lift/lipo, but I have noticed they are slowly looking much better (I’ve been maintaining my weight for around nine months now, but I’ve continued weight training). I’ve also found moisturising every day, after the shower, helps to keep the skin supple and looking better.

I use bio oil on my upper arms and tummy twice a day, I’m in my fifties,I just do it before my skin care regime on face, takes a couple of mins. Then when I get dressed I use a proper moisturiser, I use rituals or Laura mercier, in the morning only,

I think the massage motion has something do with it, but there is no doubt my skin is now tight again. But you do need to do the work. Here is my upper arm, in the worst possible pose as I’m leaning forward, where you’d normally see the crepeyness and you can see it’s just a little tiny amount left when I bend it.

I honestly thought nothing would improve my bingo wings as it’s just skin but can’t believe how much weights have changed them!

Your arm looks fantastic 💪🏼

Thank you, I guess compared to when I first hit goal, it was like wrinkly ball sack skin if I’m honest, at the top when I leant forward, I know that’s a horrible analogy, I wish I’d taken a photo. It just kind of re absorbs or shrinks back.

Taking some comfort from people saying it gets better with time, fingers crossed for the next six months and it might look better for the summer.

There is hope - I am 63 and my breasts and arms are starting to look more ‘normal’. My stomach remains a work in progress but that’s where I carried most of my weight so it makes sense that there is where I will have the most loose skin. I started weight training when I started MJ and I think that has helped a lot. I also focus on protein and take collagen daily (although I remain unconvinced that the collagen is doing much but am sticking with it ‘just in case’!). I find I really need to keep on top of moisturising to keep the crepey skin under control, especially at this time of year. In the evening, I slather my body with Palmers cocoa butter followed by Palmers cocoa oil. I find Palmers has a distinctive long-lasting smell, so in the morning I spritz with a neutral body oil and re-slather with L’Occitane almond moisturising body cream. Top tip for crepey skin, though, is to keep up with drinking water to moisturise from the inside.

I lost A LOT on my own and am taking Wegovy pills to get the last three or four stone off, it just wouldn’t budge ‘naturally’. I’m planning on at least an arm lift and probably a tummy tuck. I’m not that arsed about it but it would be a dream to wear sleeveless tops without my upper arms looking like wind socks.

I have lost nearly 30kg and I'm 50. I do weights, and various Pilates classes (athletic and reformer).

I also lost weight slowly. I am a year in now, and have been about the same weight for 3 months.

I moisturiser my whole body after showering, but nothing fancy. Indeed it's just sensitive skin/allergy stuff

I don't think my loose skin is too bad. It's not crepey at all, though I do have bulges around my tummy and over my bra strap, and it's skin, not just rolls of fat... But it looks like rolls of fat. It pulls away from my body though.

When I bend right forward I get a bit of loose skin that falls forward on my upper arms. I also wouldn't pass the naked planking test 🤦‍♀️🤣 My lower belly looks enormous compared to the rest of me because I have a little apron belly. You can tell in walking trousers or skirts/dresses, but you can in leggings. It makes me look fatter than I am because my waist is actually small.

I think that if it's like this now, it can only get better, and my weight has only been stable for 3 months. I'd really like it to improve, as at present my arms aren't suitable for wearing sleeveless garments. Nor can I wear tight fitting t shirts due to bra/belly rolls when sitting.

I still need to lose around 4kg, so in reality it's loose skin with a bit of fat still. Hoping everything tightens up, but on the whole, I am really pleased with how I look. I just won't be able to wear sleeveless tops in the summer, nor right fitting tops and bottoms at the same time