Avoid Loose Skin During Weight Loss

Loose skin is one of the fears people face when shedding a lot of weight. The greater the weight the more skin sags when that weight goes away. But is it a certain fact of life one should accept if he or she wants to get in shape? Why some people don’t face this problem while others find themselves with all the loose skin throuought the body? Well, here are some answers and recommendations for people who are obese and overweight and planning to adopt a weight loss program.

How To Avoid Loose Skin During Weight Loss

Loose skin, weight loss

Before going on a diet try to come up with a plan and a reasonable time frame within which you want to get into shape. Usually it takes from one to two years for really overweight people to transform but it could take less depending on your level of fitness, endurance, and your body’s response to exercise, its ability to build muscle. While it’s good to have goals, I wouldn’t advice to putting strict time goals on your weight loss as you don’t want to lose weight too fast or fail and fall back into your bad old habits.

Diet

When it comes to preserving tight skin the first rule would be – no crash diets. You don’t want to start losing too much weight too fast because your skin won’t be able to catch up with that and start sagging. You also don’t want to lose muscle mass as it will help you retain tight and even smooth skin. Cut back 300 calories and lose weight steadily while consuming enough protein to help build more muscle.

Exercise

To avoid loose skin you again have to make sure you are retaining what muscle you have and purposefully building more through weight lifting. During first months it will be fairly easy for you to build muscle even in calorie deficit so use that time to work on that relief instead of sweating all over treadmill. While cardio is important for hear health try to limit it during first month of training to warm ups and warm downs to eliminate pressure on your joints and to promote muscle building. Then you can add more cardio and explosive exercises like plyometrics to shed more fat.

Care

Skin care is generally beneficial but it is even more  important during major weight loss. You want to stay hydrated through drinking enough water and eating fruit and veggies that are full of water to help nourish your skin. Applying oils and tools like brushes and massage that promote blood circulation will also help prevent dull-looking skin.

Aftermath

How to deal with it after it already happened? Well, there are still a few things you could do, especially if you can’t afford cosmetic surgery.

Continue training

This is important. If you lost a lot of body weight through restrictive diet and cardio exercise know that you haven’t been losing only fat. You’ve also lost muscle and water so it’s time to tone and build mass through healthy eating and weight lifting. Experts also suggest that that sagging skin may not be just skin itself but subcontenous fat that you can lose to let the skin adapt and tighten up as you rid of that which prevents it from going back to normal (skin is a living organ).

Eat healthy

By training and eating healthy you can ensure that your weight doesn’t fluctuate, which can make the matters worse.

Skin care

Wraps, creams, oils, and massage can definitely improve the look of your skin. The more you nourish it the better it becomes. It also helps if you haven’t smoked or tanned extensively in the past and do not do it in the future as these things can damage skin even more.

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Mona Liz

Editor/Writer
Mona Liz is a fitness and healthy lifestyle enthusiast with a passion for writing, music, cats, and food.

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