How to tighten up loose skin after weight loss

Loose skin following a large weight loss can get even the proudest dieter down!

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By Karen Cotton
eHow Community Member

Article Rating: (88 Ratings)

While losing weight can transform your body and health for the better, for those who have managed a large weight reduction it can create new problems. If weight loss has been achieved rapidly, the successful dieter can be left with loose skin, particularly around the abdomen. There are many products which claim to tighten skin, however their results are minimal. Surgery is an option in extreme cases, but before considering such a choice, it's worth following these steps.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Time
Will power
Perserverance

Step 1

Think of how long it took your body to reach your highest weight. It didn't happen overnight, so you can't really expect your skin to become taut in such a short space of time.

Many surgeons recommend waiting two years from the day you reach your weight loss target before even considering surgery. This allows you to exhaust all options available naturally before entering into a costly and potential dangerous operation.
Step 2

Nourish your skin and encourage it's elasticity. Exfoliate your skin daily to encourage removal of dead skin cells. Doing this each day will stimulate your skin's circulation which should help in tightening skin up.
Step 3

Treat yourself to a hot hour-long bath once or twice a week. While the bath is being drawn, add 1/2lb of pure sea salt to the water and allow it to dissolve. Besides relaxing your body and muscles, it will draw toxins out of your skin and will improve your overall skin tone.
Step 4

Determine what your body fat percentage is. It's impossible to differentiate loose skin from body fat without this figure. Many gyms are able to assess your body for this.
Step 5

While you may have reached your goal weight, it's possible that your body fat percentage is still high. In order to reduce this, you should strive to change your body's composition by reducing fat and replacing it with muscle. If you haven't done so already, speak to a gym or a personal trainer to work on an exercise plan which will help you achieve this.
Step 6

Aloe vera extract, soy protein and yeast extract can improve your skin's elasticity by increasing your body's production of elastin and collagen. It not only tightens your skin but your skin's natural defenses as well.
Step 7

Coconuts can help tighten your skin up!

Eating raw food such as cucumber, tomato, olives and coconut can mark an improvement in your skin's elasticity.
Step 8

Hyaluronic Acid is naturally found in our body's tissues. It depletes over time, so it's worth supplementing your diet with some. It is critical for muscle growth, so if you're replacing pounds of fat with muscle, it's definitely worth taking. Smokers tend to be lacking this nutrient. It needs magnesium to synthesize, so ensure you're taking magnesium daily to reap its benefits.

Comments

johnjaxs said

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on 6/23/2009 Also I like to note that experts say that 2 lbs a week is normal, considering that your 30 lbs loss over a 3 month period that would pretty much fit normal weight loss.

on 6/23/2009 "I lost around 30 lbs when I was 12 or 13 years old or so, within a period of about 3 months through crash dieting and exercise"

Okay 30lbs in 3 months is not crash dieting, yes it is higher then advised but 30lbs in a month would be crash dieting, but considering your age and the fact that you where still growing you can't really call it crash dieting. Also your age as in the fact that you where young and your muscles, skin and bone still growing is most likely the reason why you suffer no loose skin.