Loose skin after weight loss can be as damaging to your self-esteem as being overweight. Exercise cannot tighten your loose skin, but you can minimize the amount of loose skin you have. If you have excess skin, you might need to wait for your skin to adjust to your new size.
Cause
Skin will often appear loose after losing a large amount of weight in a short period. This problem often occurs after weight-loss surgery or fad diets that quickly shed pounds before the skin is able to adjust to the new body frame. The amount of skin you have after weight loss will depend on your age and the amount of time you carried the body fat. Your skin is somewhat elastic, which allows it to be stretched beyond its normal state and then return to its prestretched state. However, as you age, your skin loses elasticity, so loose skin after weight loss might be inevitable.
Consideration
If you focus on losing weight in small amounts, you will give your skin a better chance at adjusting to your new frame, so focus on losing weight at 1 to 2 lb. per week through exercise and reducing your calorie intake. It is impossible to tighten your loose skin with exercise, but strength-building exercises that increase the size of your muscles can minimize the amount of loose skin you experience by making muscle replace fat, according to the website Critical Bench. Only spend 30 minutes per day, five times per week doing your cardiovascular routine, especially if you're cutting calories.
Calories and Exercise
Keep a food journal so you have a visual of the amount of calories you consume. Reduce your calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day in order to lose 1 to 2 lb. per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your cardio exercises can consist of anything that keeps you moving and increases your heart rate, so running, swimming, dancing, and jumping jacks are all examples. Strength-building exercises can be done with or without weight, but you will receive better results for minimizing the appearance of lose skin if you incorporate weights into your routine. Dumbbells can be used for exercises like squats, lunges, bicep curls, deadlifts and tricep extensions.
Treatment
Your skin will get tighter as your body fat decreases, but this can take up to two years, according to website The Facts About Fitness. Body contouring surgery is available if you lost massive amounts of weight and you've seen little to no change in your skin's condition after you've kept your weight stable for over a year. Surgery is not always a option. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, it can take a few years for your body contouring to be complete since the surgery is often performed in stages. No creams will tighten loose skin.
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