Is Hollywood Selling Us Inaccurate Results?
Hi RXMuscle Girls,
Trainerlisa here and this is probably one of the hardest yet most interesting articles that I've written to date. If you're a fitness professional with clients perhaps you can relate.
Has someone you know (or even yourself) lost a large amount of weight (over 50 lbs. plus), whether through proper diet, exercise and a lot of hard work, or through one of the many surgical procedures, along with nutritional modifications and now she/he is experiencing what many before them and many, many after will experience… excessive and loose skin.
Now before I go further, I have to take a moment and give a thumbs down to these weight loss shows and commercials that show people losing weight and making positive nutrition and lifestyle changes. Now, as a personal trainer and nutritionist I’m behind all of that 100%, but what they don't tell you – the public – is what happens when one loses weight too rapidly or loses a very large amount of weight!
Why Skin Gets Loose After Weight Loss
Your skin stretches as you move, grow, and – as in the case of weight gain (growth) or weight loss – shrinks and expand. Keep in mind that your skin is an incredibly elastic living organ. Your skin is not just one big piece of rubber that covers the entire body, but is instead an organ, and just like all the other organs in your body it is comprised of cells.
Who Gets Loose Skin?
There are a few factors that may affect whether you'll have excess skin as well as how much loose skin you may encounter. Slow, steady weight loss can help prevent loose skin because it gives the skin more time to regain elasticity and recover. Age is another factor. Older people (generally 50 years and over) are at higher risk for getting loose skin after weight loss surgery because their skin is less elastic and less able to recover from the change in size.
What Happens to Your Skin When You Lose Weight?
When you lose weight, and especially when you lose weight
very quickly, the elastic components of your skin not only lose the layers of fat that keep them stretched out over your body, but they also don’t have much time for their elasticity to adapt to your new shape.
In addition to weight loss, age, poor nutrition, dehydration, excessive sun exposure, and smoking can all affect the elasticity of your skin and give you that elephant-like appearance you probably don’t want.
Tip #1: Don’t Lose Weight Too Quickly
Although generally you will lose the largest amount of weight during the first week or two of making positive changes in your nutrition and workout programs, it's true that you should never try to lose more than two pounds per week maximum. Slow and steady will always win this race and keep in mind, the faster you lose weight, the faster you can gain it back!
Tip #2: Stay Hydrated
Make sure that you satisfy your hydration needs. Water is a crucial component of maintaining skin elasticity. From both food and drink, you should be taking in at least one gallon of water each day.
Tip #3: Eat Properly
Two necessary ingredients that keep skin plump and elastic are collagen and elastin. Protein-rich foods such as cheese, milk, legumes, tofu, beans, seeds, nuts, and fish all contain collagen and elastin-forming components, as well as oils to help maintain healthy skin.
Quick and dirty protein tip: For optimum absorption, squeeze 100-200 calories of those protein sources just mentioned in immediately after your workout!
Tip #4: Take Care of Your Skin
Nourish and care for your skin. Daily exfoliation can help to remove dead skin cells and increase skin circulation. A hot bath with sea salts and minerals can improve skin tone. Skin tightening creams with herbal formulas and ingredients such as aloe vera, hyaluronic acid, yeast extract, soy protein, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A can help to hydrate and increase collagen and elastin formation in skin. Stay away from harsh detergents, such a sulfates in soaps, shampoos and dishwashing liquids, limit your sun exposure and stay away from tanning booths, and limit your exposure to hot and chlorinated water. All of those things will decrease your skin’s elasticity.
When to Consider Surgery for Loose Skin
Skin can only be stretched so far before it loses some of its ability to snap back. If you’ve had a 9-month pregnancy, then you’ll be able to tighten your loose skin. But if you’ve carried a hundred or more extra pounds for many years, you may be a candidate for plastic surgery to tighten and lift loose skin. This fix should only be used in extreme cases and, of course, there is no guarantee that you'll be happier with the results. Scarring from surgery (especially if you're prone to keloids) has – in some cases – been more stressful than the loose skin.
Even the Winners of the TV show The Biggest Loser all confront a final challenge that is not televised: excess skin. Whenever a person loses over 100 pounds, whether for money or personal satisfaction, the skin can’t adjust quickly, if at all. It has been stretched beyond repair.
While a great fitness program and a healthy diet can tone your muscles and improve your overall health and wellness, these changes often do very little to shrink your skin after your weight loss. As a result, people are often left with excess skin that drops way from the muscle. Sites where this may appear included the abs, legs, back and arms.
After these shows are over, there is still much work to be done. Several contestants have opted for plastic surgery such as brachiolasty (arm lifts), abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and full body lifts. Some of the female contestants have also had breast lift with augmentation to boost their confidence in their new bodies.
As mentioned earlier, elasticity of your skin will naturally decrease with age. Though you can address issues such as not losing weight too quickly, staying properly hydrated, eating the right foods, and caring for your skin, you simply have no control over your age! Rather than letting age stress you out, you should focus on the things over which you have control – like exercising and eating right – and you’ll find that you always look good.
Loose or saggy skin can be a common problem after losing a large amount of weight (more than about 50-100 lbs.) in a short period of time. In time, you may see improvements in your skin's elasticity, but some people may require surgery to remove excess skin. According to the Plastic Surgery Guide, the main factors involved in your skin's elasticity include:
• Age: As you get older, your skin becomes less elastic.
• Genetics: Genes influence how much firmness your skin retains as you get older.
• How much weight you lose: When you lose a large of amount of weight in a short time, such as with weight loss surgery, your skin doesn't have time to shrink along with your body and may be permanently stretched if you're overweight for a long period of time.
• Sun exposure: Your past, present and future exposure to the sun can damage your skin.
• Nutrition and water intake: Your skin may not be as healthy or firm if you aren't getting balanced nutrition, vitamins and minerals (especially Vitamins C & E) and staying hydrated.
• Smoking: Smoking can speed up the normal aging process of your skin.
What You Can Do About It
Because we're all different, each person will have a different response after losing weight. Some people may bounce back quickly while others may need to consider some type of surgery to get rid of extra skin, but you should not jump into this quickly. Studies have shown that people should wait at least a year after weight loss before considering plastic surgery to allow your weight to stabilize.
Remember that any type of su
rgery is an expensive and very serious undertaking requiring a long recovery time. You may be able to make a difference with other options, such as exercise and a healthy diet. A basic cardio and strength training program can help you reduce body fat while building muscle. When you add muscle, you can improve how the skin looks and may be able to reduce some sagging.
In some cases, excess skin can be prevented or minimized, and exercise is one of the best ways to deal with it. It's not absolutely guaranteed, but it can help to tighten the muscle and your skin.
Starting an exercise program when you are overweight or when you don't like the way you look can be difficult, but it's worth the effort. A workout that emphasizes both cardiovascular activity and strength training will help to shape your body and build muscle. If you're short on time, try combining both activities into a circuit style workout to make your sessions more efficient.
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