How to Deal With Excess Skin From Weight Loss

After a long, hard journey to reach your weight loss goal, you may be feeling disheartened to see that you are left with flabby, excess skin. This extra skin is especially common when people go through extreme dieting that results in a rapid weight loss or when they look to a surgical procedure to help accomplish their ideal weight. The result may be frustrating, but rest assured the extra skin puts less stress on your heart and metabolic system than fat. Try to deal with the extra skin by keeping it moisturized and healthy. There are also ways to minimize its appearance.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Low-fat, nutritional food
• Skin lotion
• Water
• Dumbbells or other strength-training gear
• Girdle or body-shaping product

1. Maintain a low-fat diet and eat lean proteins to help minimize extra skin.

2. Keep your skin healthy by moisturizing every day with lotion and drinking plenty of fluids. It is important to consume at least 8 cups of water each day. Proper hydration is always helpful for the appearance of skin.

3. Develop and stick to a strength-building fitness routine. Weight training will allow you to tone the muscles under your skin, which can improve the appearance of the skin by taking away some of the sagging effect. If you lost weight through dieting alone, you probably lost muscle as well as fat. Through proper use of dumbbells and resistance-training machines, you can help build back your muscle mass.

4. Add a cardio element to your fitness routine. Aerobic exercise benefits the skin by boosting circulation and encouraging blood flow.

5. Hide the skin under your clothes by using a girdle or other body-shaping products. Spanx is a common brand that can help reduce the appearance of skin and smooth away lines under your clothes (see Resources below).

6. Research the possibility of surgery, often called body contouring, to deal with the excess skin. Surgery is the only method for permanently removing the skin, but it is expensive and requires several weeks of recovery time. This should be your last option, and you should carefully review each of the different procedures available to you on the American Society of Plastic Surgeons website (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• If you plan to lose more weight, consider slowing the rate at which you shed the pounds. Losing weight over a long period of time may help the skin adjust better to the loss. A general rule of thumb is to lose about 1 to 2 lbs. a week.
• Keep an eye out for changes in your skin. Chafing can cause infections in people forced to deal with excess skin after weight loss. Contact your doctor immediately if you are concerned.

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Resources

• Spanx for body-shaping garments
• American Society of Plastic Surgeons for advice on surgical procedures to remove excess skin