Loose Skin And Weight Loss

I receive a lot of e-mail from people with loose skin
or from overweight people who are concerned about having loose skin
after they lose the weight. In fact, this is one of the biggest
concerns and most frequently asked questions I receive from men and
women who have a lot of weight to lose.

Just recently, I received this email from a reader of my syndicated "Ask Tom" fat loss column:

"Tom, I began a fat
loss program using your Burn The Fat system and it worked so well I got
down to 15 1/2 stones (from 19). However, this has caused me a problem:
Excess abdominal skin. I didn't crash lose this weight, it came off at
the rate of about 2 lbs. per week just like you recommended. Now I'm
unsure of whether to carry on, as my abdomen has quite a lot of excess
skin - I feel like I've turned into a bloody Shar-Pei! Does everyone go
through this? Will the skin tighten up? I was overweight for more than
12 years. Am I going to end up needing surgical skin removal? Can you
offer me any advice? I'm a medical student in the UK and my colleagues
seem determined to proffer surgery as the only option."

There are 14 things you should know about loose skin after very large weight losses:

1. Skin is incredibly elastic.
Your skin can stretch and expand or tighten and retract to a great
degree. Look at what women go through during pregnancy. Some women do
experience stretch marks after pregnancy, but obviously skin is
remarkably elastic.

2. Elasticity of skin depends on both genetics and environment/lifestyle.
Wrinkling and loss of elasticity is partly the consequence of aging
(genetic factors) and also a result of environmental factors such as
oxidative stress, excessive sun exposure, and nutritional deficiency.
The environmental parts you can fix, the genetics and age part, you
cannot. Advice: Get moving and change the things you have control
over... Be realistic and don't worry about those things you don't have
control over.

3. How much your skin returns to its former tautness depends partly on age. The older you get, the more an extremely large weight loss can leave loose skin that will not return to normal.

4. How long you carry extra weight may influence how much the skin will become taut after the weight loss: For example, compare a 9 month pregnancy with 9 years carrying 100 excess pounds.

5. How much weight was carried has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance.
Your skin can only be stretched so much and be expected to "snap back"
one hundred percent. With extreme obesity, the probability of there
still being loose skin after weight loss is higher.

6. How fast the weight was gained also has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so quickly and be expected to "snap back."

7. How fast weight is lost also has a lot to do with how much the skin will tighten up.
Rapid weight loss doesn't allow the skin time to slowly resume to
normal. (This is yet another reason to lose fat slowly; 1-2 pounds per
week, 3 pounds at the most if you have a lot of weight to lose, and
even then, only if you are measuring body fat and you're certain it's
fat you're losing, not lean tissue).

8. There are exceptions to all of the above;
For example, people who gained and then lost incredible amounts of
weight quickly at age 50 or 60, and their skin returned 100% to normal.

9. Creams probably don't work. There
are many creams advertised as having the ability to restore the
tightness of your skin. the late bodybuilding guru Dan duchaine used to
recommend topical creams made with pycnogenol, which contain the
antioxidant bioflavanoids called proanthocyanidins. But to the best of
my knowledge, none of the topical creams are scientifically validated.
I haven't even heard much anecdotal evidence that they work -- at least
not permanently and measurably -- and especially if you have a lot of
loose skin. There are definitely some topicals that will pull water
from under your skin, but remeber, that is temporary. Buyer should
beware with topical products. (as an aside, Ive also heard anectodal
reports that skin brushing was helpful, but again, I am not aware of
any scientific evidence proving this is effective).

10. Nutrition has a lot to do with the health of your skin.
Essential fatty acids in particular are very valuable for many reasons,
and one of them is for the health of your skin. It would be worth
taking an EFA supplement such as fish oil, flax oil or an oil blend
like Udo's choice. Antioxidants are also very important, so be sure to
consume copious amounts of a variety of vegetables and fruits. Also pay
very close attention to hydration. Drink approximately a gallon of
water a day or a minimum of half your body weight in ounces. (By the
way, whey protein is high in a powerful antioxidant called glutathione).

11. Exercise has a lot to do with how your skin appears after you lose body fat.
If you use very low calorie diets, you are likely to lose lean body
mass, and this is going to exacerbate the loose, hanging skin
appearance. On the other hand, if you are exercising regularly and
increasing lean body mass with weight training, you will be more likely
to minimize the appearance of loose skin.

12. Get second opinions if you are considering surgery.If
you're considering surgical skin removal, consult a physician for
advice because this is not a minor operation, but keep in mind that
your plastic surgeon may be making his BMW payments with your
abdominoplasty money. (Surgery might be recommended in situations where
it's not 100% necessary). Surgery should be left as the absolute final
option in extreme cases.

13. Give your skin time.
Your skin will definitely get tighter as your body fat gets lower. I've
seen and heard of many cases where the skin gradually tightened up, at
least partially, after a one or two year period where the weight loss
was maintained and exercise continued.

14. Know your body fat percentage before even thinking about surgery.
Loose skin is one thing, but still having a lot of body fat is another.
Be honest with yourself and do that by taking your body fat
measurement. This can be done with skinfold calipers or a variety of
other devices (calipers might not be the best method if you have large
folds of loose skin. Look into impedance analysis, underwater weighing,
DEXA or Bod Pod).

Suppose
for example, a man drops from 35% body fat all the way down to 20%. He
should be congratulated, but I would tell him, "Don't complain about
loose skin yet, your body fat is still high. Press onward and keep
getting leaner and be sure to focus on strength training to increase
lean body mass as well."

Average
body fat for men is in the mid teens (16% or so). Average body fat for
women is in the 20-25% range. Good body fat for men is 10-12%, and
single digits is extremely lean. Men shouldn't expect to look "ripped"
with 100% tight skin on the abs unless they have single digit body fat.
Women shouldn't expect to have tight abdominal skin unless they are in
the low to mid teens in body fat.

Except
in extreme cases, you are actually unlikely to see someone with loose
skin who has very low body fat and especially someone who has not just
"lost weight" but has altered body composition by adding lean muscle as
well. It's quite remarkable how much your skin can tighten up once your
body fat goes from "average" to "excellent" and even more so when lean
body mass increase. Someone with legitimate single digit body fat and a
ton of loose skin is a rare sight.

So
the key to getting tighter skin is to improve your body composition
(muscle to fat ratio), and lose more body fat, slowly and sensibly, up
to the point where your body composition rating is BETTER than average
(in the "good" to "great" category, not just "okay"). Only AFTER you
reach your long term body fat percentage goal should you give thought
to "excess skin removal." At that point, admittedly, there are bound to
be a few isolated cases where surgery is necessary if you can't live
with the amount of loose skin remaining.

However,
unless you are really, really lean, it's difficult to get a clear
picture of what is loose skin, what is just remaining body fat and how
much further the skin will tighten up when the rest of the fat is lost.

Need
help getting rid of that last bit of body body fat? Click here to find
out how to do it the natural way: www.burnthefat.com www.BurnTheFat.com

Your friend and coach,

Tom Venuto

www.BurnTheFat.com

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified
personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning
specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle"
Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print
magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding,
Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as
on hundreds of websites worldwide.

For information on Tom's Fat Loss
program, visit: www.BurnTheFat.com