One of my major concerns is after I lose all this weight.....what about excess skin??? Have any of you faced this??

Is there anything we can do to help tighten it as we lose? I think exercise is supposed to help...but what about lotions or skin treatments?? Salt scrubs etc??

I just want to make sure I do the right things as I go! Not wake up one day and realize...If I had only done ??....

Happy low carbing!
GettinThin

I am not an expert, but I think one of the advantages of LCing is that we eat lots of fat, which keeps our skin (and other body parts) well-lubricated, which in turn, helps with our skin's elasticity. I would guess that if you lose at a good, even pace (max 2 lbs/week average), that your skin will have a chance to bounce back into place.

My dad lost over 80 lbs two years and he has very little flab. I would say most of it is just due to his age (54, not that he is OLD, just these things start to happen).

Finally, if my choices are being fat or having excess skin, I think I will take the latter!

Amy

I have lost 80 pounds and don't have any loose skin yet. I think Amy is right -- losing the weight slowly and eating lots of fat and protein helps keep skin tight. Also, I think that exercise helps.

If it came down to a choice, I'd rather have loose skin than all this fat. The loose skin won't kill me; the fat could.

Thanks! I am hoping that this way of eating will help as well! I of course would much rather have loose skin than to keep this fat!! After all...I COULD have the skin surgically removed. Liposuction won't fix all this fat!

I just want to make sure as I go I take care of me wholly....skin and all!
GettinThin

If you are worried about it, I'm personally worried about stretch marks. Coconut oil is supposed to help.
Use it like a cream (but lightly or you'll feel like a grease monkey).

A scrubbing brush works great too, actually helps with stretch marks and those veins on your legs. It really helps the circulation!
Also losing not so fast helps your body to keep up. My mother lost over 100 in one year and she looked like she was melting. I've lost over 65 and my skin doesn't sag at all. My red stretch marks are faded but my silver stretch marks are still there. I was told that vitamin E helps this.

Hi there! Here's a link (with more links inbedded in it) about loose skin. I know there are other threads about this topic around the forum too...

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=86057

Donald

I've lost 70 odd pounds and no loose skin for me either, I still have 100lbs + to lose but I'm doing skin brushing, moisturising my skin more and taking L-Lysene which is good for the collegen/ elasticity in the skin (also good for nails and hair)

Like Amy said, I'd choose excess skin (which can always be removed via plastic surgery afterwards if you arn't happy) over weight in a heartbeat!

I also have the advantage of being in my 20's therefore my skin is more flexible which I am hoping will work in my advantage

Fiona

This will probably be a problem for me when I am at goal. I already notice things on my bod that looks like empty wallets. I just hope that I didnt abuse my body past the point of being able to repair itself now that I am finally taking care of it.


I have wings............and other things,

Nanci

When I was 26 I lost 100 pounds over 8 months and i didnt excersize...I had no hanging skin.My stretch marks shrunk away to the point where they were not hardly noticeble.
Now I am 43 and have only lost a bit so far and am already noticing loose-hanging skin.Which scares me because I have over 100 pounds to lose.
I have been told by doctors that stretch marks will only shrink.There is no way to make them go away completely.They will look like tiny white lines that only show in certain light.
Excersize helps you firm as you lose.
Excess skin is excess skin.
The older you you get the less colegen your skin has so the less elastic it is ,so if you stretch it a lot it wont spring back to where it used to be.Creams are topical and cant replace what your skin has lost through age.This is just life.
You can always get surgery...
The skin wont kill you.The fat that used to fill it up will.
2much...

Not too much you can do about excess skin except visit a plastic surgeon. My doctor said to give it 1 year after you have lost all your weight and go from there. The excess skin is better than being fat!