Dieters: How to Avoid Loose Skin Problems
Posted: Sunday, November 20, 2005
by Janice Elizabeth Small
Simply Slimming
We lose weight to look great and feel good about our bodies. And yet even when we lose a lot of weight and look great in our clothes we can still feel unhappy at how our bodies look undressed.
The problem?
Unwanted loose sagging skin left as a reminder of our former shape. Here are the 5 keys to prevent loose sagging skin when you undergo a weight loss program.
Skin has remarkable powers of elasticity and yet it does not snap back instantly into shape if you lose a lot of weight quickly - anyone who has ever had a baby will tell you that one for free!
The more gradually you lose weight the easier it is for your skin to keep pace with your new shape. You certainly didn't put on all those pounds overnight - your skin had time to adapt so don't try to get rid of them all at once either if you want your skin to stay looking good.
Change your habits gradually so that you lose your weight bit by bit and you're far less likely to have problems than someone going on a crash diet and congratulating themselves on losing 100lbs in 6 months.
2. Eat nutrient rich foods
If your meals and snacks consist of junk food (even if you eat it in smaller quantities than before) then you're unlikely to nourish your skin properly and build up its strength.
Choose foods which are high in vitamins and minerals and low in sugar, saturated fat and additives. Include foods high in essential fatty acids such as avocados, olives, oily fish, nuts and seeds and oils made from these and also ensure that you have an adequate supply of lean protein.
3. Preserve your muscle tone
When you lose weight you may find that the skin becomes loose because you have lost some of the underlying muscle which supports it. If you lose more than a pound or two of weight a week then it is very likely you're losing muscle tissue as well as fat and without specific intense exercises to replace that muscle your skin will sag.
In any case, no matter how fast you lose weight (and even just to prevent age-related sagging) it is always helpful to do some toning exercises for all parts of your body including your face to keep skin firm if you care about looking good.
4. Keep skin hydrated
Drink plenty of water to keep skin healthy. If you drink wall to wall fizzy drinks, coffee and tea skin suffers because these drinks cause you to be more dehydrated than ever. And diet drinks full of additives do not help your skin no matter how few calories they contain. Only water and pure herbal teas will do the trick.
You can add lemon or orange slices to your water and you can have it at any temperature you like but drink enough - about 2 litres a day. That's about 8 glasses. If it helps try the rubber band trick and put 8 bands on your wrist or around a pot or bottle on your desk and remove one each drink of water you have.
5. Lose weight sooner rather than later
Don't keep putting off your weight loss program. The older you are and the longer you have been overweight the less elastic and resilient your skin becomes and the more you need to stick stringently to the other guidelines here to prevent skin becoming too loose.
Also don't get too complacent about being able to eat all you want and then lose weight later before you get hugely overweight The constant yo-yo dieting stretching and then loosening the skin will harm your skin's elasticity too.
Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small
Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan". Her system promotes permanent healthy and AUTOMATIC weight loss through making small changes to your everyday habits. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!
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More commentsgr8 article !but for all the readers lemme assure you that our skin is living thing too ! :) and will adjust to the body and take shape slowly over the period of time. I have had two C-sec s and have got back to my original shape within 6 months with minimal stretch marks. Now may be these were due to the one or many factors that I took care of in my pregnancy. I drank good amount of water. Applied Shea Butter cream regularly. Went to the gym after my 3rd month of pregnancy till I cud manage. Walked around and did everything as far as possible. After my surgery healed , I joined gym after 3 months ! Started with light and later heavy weights and did moslty lower body workout. Kept cardio to 10 min only. But walked 30 min briskly daily before or after dinner. Afew years later I had again put on weight but recently managed to lose 8 kg in 3 months time. Again I did everything but with more intensity and difficulty. Mebbe cuz now my age mattered wrt the metabolism. Yes this time I do have stretch marks I did not apply shea butter at all. I am now starting on daily body massage with shea butter :). Its working like a miracle. The skin is becoming taut and firmer. Ofcourse I am doing weight training and cardio too. I play badminton and football once a week. Water, food etc are as per my BMI and height.So moral of the story is ... you will reap the fruits of all the hardwork with patience .... loose skin will become taut and firm but provided you work towards it too.I am now working on face muscles and skin too. May be will write an article soon on that too.CIAOMadhuriesinghI am very interested in what kind of face exercises you are doing.I have always had saggy skin under my chin even when not overweight.but now I am losing weight,but very self conscious about my face and neck.I am 39 and people mistake me for older.It is disheartening to me to work so hard on the rest of my body and not know how to tone my face and neck.Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Get a book of face exercises and follow it religiously to see what you can do. You can definitely achieve some tightening like that. I think there's one called Facercize or something like that but check out the reviews on Amazon to see which of the face exercise books around at the moment are most effective before buying.
Janice
hi i found this usefull. i currently weigh 180 pounds and aim to get down to a healthy weight of 126 pounds. i was aiming at losing about 2 pounds a week which is four stone but the weight just seems to be falling off although i seem to be eating so much.. im 20 years old have have been this big for about 2 years.. im really worried that their will be a possiblity of having perminent, loose skin. do you think my body will naturaly put it back into place?well its not four stone, its just under, and i just noticed all the spelling mistakes i would edit it but i cant work out how to do it.
Hi I am 18, and about 290 pounds and 5'8. I am tall and solid. I have always had a weight problem. When I was young I wasnt eating much, and then when I started eating no one really watched me. And it never stop. So I would lose it, and gain it. I just wanted to know whats the best thing I can do to lose the weight. I know I am at a good age to lose the weight and avoid the sagging skin. But idk how to get started. Idk how much should I work out, or the calories I should eat a day. I am just very confused about everything. I just dont want to end up with medical problems.
google search a calorie calculator...you can find out exactly how much you should be eating for your height & weight loss goal. cardio at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes plus weight training. also, drink water, moisturize your skin, & taking omega-3 supplements will all help you out. good luck!
hi im 18 years old, and about 14stone and 9pounds, exactly 5foot 8, i have previousy been over weight before but lost my weight around 2years ago but was left with very loose skin on my stomach which left me very stressed out, so i regained my weight and have gone to the same weight once again (overweight), i really really need help on how too loose weight without being left with loose skin this time, how much excersize would i need to do and what should i eat please please give me help!!!
Hi Janice, I found the article you wrote to be very helpful. I am obese at 18 stones and have recently started my diet. I have lost weight before but i went back to my old eating habits, which i will not repeat. I have started to go jogging, 3 times a week at half an hour each day. Although I will start adding toning exercise for my arm and upper body areas, can you recommend me any type of toning exercise which will be helpful for my stomach?? as i would really like to avoid it being saggy. Also, do you think the exercise i am doing is appropriate for an obese person?Thank youMuch Appreciated
hi, i am eighteen years old and ive alway been pudgy, like 15 pounds over weight. When i was 15 i went on a vegetarian raw food diet, which cut out dairy, and worked out like a maniac (2 hours a day ,every day)..i became very obsessed with my body almost on the verge of anorexia. I lost 25 pounds very quickly, and loked good but lost my health, i no longer had a period and i was tired all the time. I started eating healthy again, 1200-1400 calories a day and now i workout 3-5 days a week for 45 min. at my lowest i was 142 pounds and 5'3" i am now 5'5" and 165 pounds, i am built VERY solid and since age fifteen have develooped a DD cup bust...if i lose weight..say 15 pounds to be 150 pounds...will i have sagging skin? and am i going about this the right way this time? ( i now eat lea meats, only red meat is all natural deer meat shot by my bro in law and eggs and veggies and fruit,, but absolutely no dairy, or i get sick!)
I have recently lost 30 lbs (mostly in the belly area) using this simple food diet and exercise plan (when nothing seemed to work or I simply just gain the weight back):
It really helped make fat loss easy for me. No cardio exercises, no crunches/sit ups, no pills, mostly just about eating the right food!
Im just about to begin to seriously try to loose weight, I plan to do it through a healthy but not too extreme diet but basically exercising ALOT!! Im 20 years of age and put on weight through university so its all come on pretty quickly .. but is alot of exercise going to make sure I dont get loose skin.. I really really want to find a way to avoid it!
Thanks x
i am 5ft 8 and i weigh 13stone 9 pounds im 20 and i need to go down to 9stone 7 but i'm very worried about excess skin as i'm going to be working so hard to get my confidence back i dont want to go through all this hard work just to still look stupid lol any tips at all would be appreciated xHi Nicki
the younger you are and the less weight you have to lose the fewer problems you are likely to have. It would be unusual for someone your weight and age to have problems with excess skin, especially if you follow the tips in this article. All the best with losing weight :)
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