Experiences of losing four to five stone and loose skin

[Breadbutterandjam]

Hi.

Ive not long started to lose weight, I have around 4 - 5 stone to lose. This will be done through changing my diet and exercise &resistance training.

Im 55 and I reckon it will take me at least a year to lose it. Im just wondering if anyone can tell me their experiences of losing weight this way and what their body looked like afterwards with regards to loose skin.

im quite worried im still going to look a mess after I’ve lost my weight.

I lost four stone on Mounjaro, I was 58-59 when I lost it over a 7 month period. I do have a bit of crepey skin around my stomach as a result and my legs felt loose although they didn’t look it, they did look a different shape though mainly due to lost muscle tone. I’ve worked really hard to build my legs back up through many many hours of daily long walks.

my upper arms also lost some firmness but I have been fat since before menopause so would have probably had age related looser arms anyway.

my neck is probably the worse, the fat kept the age wrinkles away.

on the whole though, zero regrets, I would rather have a few wrinkles and a bit of lose skin at 60 than be the fat lump I was. I love buying 10-12 clothes anywhere and looking good in them.

Good luck 🤞

I’m 57, lost 6 and a half stone. BMI 32 down to 20, dress size 18 to an 8. Been maintaining for about 18 months.

when I first hit goal I looked like I’d lost weight, I had some loose skin on my tummy when I twisted, my arms were the worst, wrinkled when I moved, and some loose skin under my backside,

I was worried about it, and about swimwear.

I worked out throughout the weight loss phase, ate my protein, moisturised all over, was fully hydrated,

when I hit goal I went straight into body recomp. Upped my cals obvs to maintenance levels, but increased my protein significantly, and kept working out.

within about 6 months I’d say I saw a noticeable difference, now 18 months later I’ve none, and I’d say haven’t for about 6 months, everything tightens up. But you need muscle.

i now don’t look like I lost weight, if that makes sense, my daughter even commented, I just look like I’ve always been this weight.

i was always healthy weight, but peri and some other issues saw me gain and not be able to get myself out of it . So I was not fat for long, maybe about 3 or 4 years.

obvs much depends on genetics, how fat you are, how long you were fat, the condition of your skin, but muscle tone is key as is hydration and supple skin,

so if you want to avoid or minimise loose skin, I’d recommend eating your protein, min 1g for every kg of body weight, working out, drinking 3 litres of water a day and moisturising all over daily and strength training.

You need to really focus on protecting your muscle and losing fat. It’s not a simple journey focused solely on the scales. It’s about so much more than that.

but if you want to like what you see when you hit goal, you need to do the work to achieve it,

Thank you both. I do weights 3x per week and I reach between 10 -15k steps a day. I’m really hoping my legs, hips, back and arms don’t have any or very noticeable loose skin. I know my tummy will as it’s my tummy that’s the worse area, but if I can hide it with underwear, and it doesn’t look too bad I will be fine

I’ve lost eight stone in my 40s with minimal lose skin. I think a lot is genetics- I had two 10lb babies and no stretch marks.
You can also be a consistent normal weight your whole life and get crepey, loose skin as you age.

I lost four stone, but I weight trained the whole way through (was doing it before weight loss and still doing it now - have been at my target weight for 15 months).
I have some very slight crepey skin on my stomach and a tiny bit above each knee. My arms were, initially, quite “flappy” but this really improved as I continued to work on my upper body. They look really good now and I have noticeable muscle definition.
My bum looked a bit sad, initially, but this has also firmed up.

I think weight training throughout is really beneficial.

The worst area was my neck! It looked really deflated and “caved in” across my throat and under my chin. I’ve had polynucleotides injected into it (two sessions so far) and have noticed a big improvement. One/two more sessions left and then a top up every six months. I tried microneedling first, which didn’t help. I also lost some volume to my cheeks, so had a bit of filler.

Great post and thanks for sharing. I'm getting close to my target weight and do have some loose skin. Is there any particular moisturiser you use?

Thanks

I’m at 3.5 down (plenty still to go) and I can tell mine is going to be awful, but I had a bit of an apron to begin with. Conversely, my sister has lost 3st and she is now super slim with just a tiny bit of loose tummy skin (because she had a baby) so it’s a tough one.

whilst losing the weight, why not try saving the money that you aren’t spending on takeaway and alcohol so that you have a little pot to put towards surgery if you feel like you want it at the end? Then if you don’t need it, you will be able to spend it on a nice treat to yourself for doing a great job.

Personally for me I have just pencilled into my brain that I’ll take 30k of the equity in my house and increase my monthly mortgage payments when it comes time to do it. Then if I need a full 360 I already mentally prepared, if I don’t need as much then it’ll feel like I’ve saved rather than spent.

Good luck on your journey ❤️

I’m early 40’s and lost 7 stone taking my bmi from 35 to 20. I’ve strength trained (along with other exercise) throughout. The only place I have noticeable wrinkly skin is my stomach but it’s pretty much flat when clothed - it’s only visible to anyone who sees me naked!
very slight bit of crepiness on my very inner thighs right at the top but again only I notice that, when I’m in swimwear it’s really not visible.
My stomach was always going to be a disaster zone, unlike a pp I had a very large baby with my middle one and my stomach resembled the markings of a watermelon with stretch marks, covered! I lost the baby weight after they were born and eventually got back my flat stomach but my skin was always destroyed 😂 put weight on after my last and just couldn’t shift it so over a decade later I was on MJ and it’s all gone but the wrinkled paper bag stomach remains. And I’m totally fine with it tbh.

Thanks everyone, I do have an apron. I absolutely hate my stomach. I know I’m going to have loose skin and probably still a bit of an apron. I would consider surgery in a couple of years if I can maintain my weight.