LOOSE SKIN

Good Morning Everyone!
I have a question to anyone who has had surgery and not worked out. I had my surgery on 11/21 and I don't have a work out routine. I currently just put on my IPOD and dance my ass off for about 4hours a week. I don't count my calorie intake but I make sure to get in my protein and run from Pasta, Bread and Rice! I don't get as much water as I would like but I dilute any drink I have with lots of water and ice. My question to anyone of you who have had surgery and not worked out or worked out is:
What workout do you do and were you able to get rid of your loose skin? I have lost over 40lbs and I see loose skin under my arms and in my inner thighs and I'm sooo disgusted about it. Is there anyone who has had surgery and not picked up weights and still manage just lose the fat without having loose skin?? I am wondering if I should set a jar with money for liposuction after I lose the 40lbs I have left to go. Any input is appreciated!!!

THANKS

First congrats on your loss and good luck going forward!

Working out helps build some muscle to replace fat volume lost, but it is not going to prevent loose skin.  Loose skin is  a factor of a variety of things age, genetics, sun exposure, how and where you carry your weight, how long you were heavy, how much yo-yo dieting you've done, etc.  There are things you can do for your skin goign forward like staying properly hydrated, taking vitamins, limiting sun exposure, keeping it moisturized, etc., but you can't fix past sins. 

Lose the weight, wait 6 months, then look in the mirror. That's what I'm doing as I transition into maintenance.  I'm not really going to loo****il Summer. If I'm really not happy at that point, I'll do a PS consult. 

 
Skin is not very forgiving.........

Age and genetics probably are the two biggest factors.....

The reality is that we should have thought about skin issues before we got to fat..... (harsh, I know)

I remember when I first started here on OH...... One woman explained it like this.....

"I was a size 22......my skin shrunk to a size 16 and I wear a size 8 now"

Working out does nothing for the skin.....in does help fill in bulk under the skin....but must always be maintained......

frisco

Being patient and waiting six months sounds awful hard to do!!! LOL  I know I didn't get to 224lb in Two Months but it is so hard to see myself loosing weight and not knowing how I will look in the end when I have lost all the weight I want to lose. 

I need to feel like I'm doing something to help with not having as much loose skin.  My husband is a person who gains weight and works out and looses all his weight while I have never been able to loose weight until I had surgery. 

I know I need to take it slow and do continue eating right and working out Now if someone could help me tell my BRAIN that!!!! :)

Thanks for Listening!!

Anyone who loses the weight rapidly is going to have loose skin.  Our skin just cannot keep up with the rapid weight-loss of WLS.  That said, eventually our skin will catch up to the best of it's capability and potential.  Meaning that some of your skin will tone up but probably not all of it.  Unfortunately, you will not know for some months after you are maintaining your weightloss.  I used to be religious about my gym workouts and was a crazy psycho gym rat.  I would do 3 hours of cardio a day and 2 hours of weight training and a weigh/aerobic training class.  I lost 120lbs in 6 months doing that and had zero loose skin at 30-31 years of age.  Now 12 years later and 2 pregnancies later I still have no stretch marks, but can tell I am getting loose skin.  I have lost 50lbs in 6 weeks and my skin just can't shrink that fast.  It is depressing sometimes to think about it, but I also know that I was not this weight for more than 2 years and hope that my skin will remember and that the elasticity will remain true.  Genetics is the big determiner as well as how large you were and how long you stayed large.
I think that in your case having 80 lbs. to lose will work to your advantage.  I do believe that you can workout with light weights and high repetitions and tone your muscles AND skin to some degree.  Even if it is only 5% I don't care that is 5% of skin that I won't have to worry about.  Anyway with building some muscle you will give your body more curves and contours that will only enhance your appearance.

Keep up the great work you have already accomplished.

Here is my experience with weight loss, exercise and loose skin:

Weight loss:

I lost 17 pounds a month for the first 2 months post op. After that I lost 3-9 pounds a month, with a few long stalls here and there. Although I lost slowly, I did see continuous reduction of all my measurements, even when I was stalled. I reached goal at 18 months post op.

Exercise;

Other than a couple months from months 4-6 post-op, I didn't really participate in organized workouts.(For those months I was working with a trainer and doing water aerobics pretty regularly.) Outside of that period, I did move more and more in my daily life, intermittently walked a 5K at the track, and was increasingly able to do things like walk and hike. I am now working out regularly with a semi-private trainer, doing resistance/strength training and high intensity interval training.

I have done a lot of reading about the role of exercise in weight loss, and the evidence is scant in some respects. Most people who exercise, particularly a lot of cardio, increase caloric intake to compensate. For me, I didn't find that exercise, although good for me in other ways, seemed to increase my rate of loss in any significant way. Again, I can only speak for myself, but diet seemed to account for 80-90% of my weight loss.

HOWEVER - regular exercise is really important for reasons other than losing weight. And now that I am in maintenance, I find that it is a critical part of my overall program of getting into and staying in good health.

It helps me maintain health blood sugars and cholesterol levels.
It helps me maintain bone mass.
I am working on increasing strength, flexibility and balance - all important for good health in old age.
It helps me maintain healthy heart and lung function.
It helps me maintain a steady mood

Finally - I am increasing my lean body mass and decreasing my body fat percentage. This has a few benefits. First, the more lean body mass, the more calories I burn just by existing - this helps a lot in maintenance. Second - the issue of loose skin:

Loose Skin:

I am seeing huge improvement in the appearance of the skin on my thighs, my back, and under my arms. My lower belly still looks like a war zone, but after childbirth, a lifetime of morbid obesity, and rapid weight loss, I didn't really expect anything different.

I think the improvements are a result of time - I am almost 2 years post op now -and also a benefit of working out (particularly the weight work). Having an underlying structure or framework of muscle really does make a difference. For me bicep and tricep work has really helped the appearance of my arms, chest exercises have somewhat lifted my boobs, and I think time and fat loss have helped with my thighs and back. I also do a lot of step ups, squats, kicking etc, which all help sculpt leg muscles, and my calves are looking awesome! Core exercises help my posture, which helps me look longer and leaner in general. (I think I may actually have a six pack, but there is still enough fat and skin on top to obscure it!)

FYI - liposuction won't help for loose skin after weight loss - the fat will be mostly gone, and extracting what is left just leaves you with more loose skin - most people who proceed with plastics are looking at tummy tuck or lower body lift, brachioplasty (for arms), breast augmentation / lift, among other possible procedures.

You are only looking at a total loss of 80  pounds, so are much LESS likely to need such procedures. I have read, and it has been my experience, that it takes a year or two after finishing weight loss for the skin to settle. SKin that has been stretched and damaged is less likely to return to an attractive shape, and age, genetics etc. play a big role too. So if you are young and your parents and grandparents have good looking skin, you may be lucky in that respect. My family ages well, and I think that genetic legacy is definitely helping.

Good luck!

One more thing - many people who have this surgery have to deal with the concerns you mention. It was a little heartbreaking for me to realize that even if I got to the weight I should have been when I was 25, I was NEVER going to look the way I would have looked at 25 if I had never been obese.

For one thing, I am not 25, I am 46 and that is that.

For the second, the reality is my skin was damaged because of obesity and I can't dial back the clock there either.

Third, even if I had the tummy tuck, I would then have a scar and STILL wouldn't have the body of a never-obese 25 year old.

Chasing that dream is pointless, and accepting this and moving on is really important to one's mental health. (I am not AT ALL against plastics, and consider them from time to time, and may even go that route eventually - but I am realistic about what they can and can not achieve in terms of external appearance and internal self-image.)

I DO LOVE how I look now - even with the saggy butt, wavy thighs, droopy boobs, turkey neck etc.  I really do feel beautiful 90% of the time, even though I can also see that I am extremely imperfect!

I DO LOVE the way I feel now. I am in the best health of my adult life, I look fantastic in clothing and I love that this body, which has been through so much, is strong and healthy and can do so many things that it could not do since my teen years.

AMEN Sister! I couldnt have said it any better and I agree 100% . 

Great reads, I love your posts Margo! 

 Some people will swear that they don't have loose skin because they worked out.  They are just lucky and don't know it.  If you have a lot of loose skin, working out is not going to change the elasticity of the skin and make it bounce back.  If your arms are great after weightloss, then you are genetically gifted in that area- period.  I have seen bigger people than me have smaller arms.  It doesn't matter what I do, I will have to have surgery on my arms and thighs.  I don't stress over. I don't like it. But whatever- I was almost 400 pounds.  I'll deal with it when it is time.  At least I have arms and am losing weight.