I apologize for the hiatus from the Fitness Corner, but life has been just a bit crazy lately and hopefully will be settling down soon.
This month I’d like to address a hot thread topic in the Kimkins forums: Saggy Skin After Weight Loss. It’s a subject I have first hand experience with.
After a total of more than 100 pounds lost, my skin had plenty of sags and bags. I underwent the circumferential abdominoplasty in January 2010 to remove excess abdominal skin. I didn’t make the choice lightly. It was an out of pocket expense. I had no insurance coverage for “cosmetic” surgery. I was off work from both jobs for 24 days. I had ALOT of pain. There was a complication of a broken drain when the doctor tried to remove it, requiring the suture line to be reopened and an ensuing localized infection. I had to depend on others to help me during my recovery. I couldn’t exercise for 6 weeks.
I chose to have the surgery done because I couldn’t stand the jiggle on the front. My belly would be about 2 steps behind every time I tried to do any kind of running or jumping moves. It was uncomfortable.
I still have the flying bat wings under my arms and droopy dawgs between my thighs – but shirt sleeves and long pants serve me well. Maybe someday I’ll consider having them done – but they don’t interfere with my daily activities so they aren’t a priority right now. I’m more concerned with maintaining the musculature beneath.
There are a couple of factors that will determine how much loose excess skin you will have when you reach your fat loss goal.
How much excess body fat you have when you start your journey is probably the biggest factor in how much resulting loose skin you will have. The more body fat you have, the further your skin has had to stretch to fit over it. If someone has 50+ pounds of excess body fat, they are going to have more excess skin in the end than someone who has never dealt with more than 10 – 20 pounds of excess body fat.
Your age is another factor – the older you are, the less elasticity your skin has and it cannot “spring” back like it did in your youth. (Message to those Spring Chickens out there – lose the excess body fat NOW while you are young!!!)
The best analogy I’ve heard is that of the party balloon. When you blow up a balloon to almost bursting and immediately let the air out, the balloon “skin” is not very different from when it started out. But when you leave that balloon aired up for a couple of days and either let the air out or it gradually deflates on it’s own, what does it look like? Shriveled and wrinkled. It’s lost it’s elasticity by staying stretched out over a period of time.
The question comes up time and again: Will exercise get rid of the flabby skin? Sorry to say, sit-ups, crunches, squats, triceps kick backs, etc. will not get rid of the flabby skin on your abs, inner thighs and bat wings. Is the exercise a waste of your time then? OF COURSE NOT! What you will be doing is building the underlying musculature which is important to your functional ability, strength and metabolism.
If skin removal – tummy tuck, abdominoplasty, or brachioplasty-type surgery is something you are considering in the future, it will be to your benefit to exercise and build those muscles underneath. It will help with your recovery after surgery and you will already have some definition afterward.
An option for those who cannot have the surgery or choose not to are the body shaping undergarments. They hold everything in place and help to reduce the jiggle when you are active. I’ve seen some nice looking pieces from Spanx and Kymaro on some of the TV infomercials.
Fear of having saggy skin after reaching your fat loss goals is not a reason to not try to lose the excess starting today. The long-term health benefits of losing the excess fat far outweigh the risks of remaining over-fat.
Let’s take a look at the benefits of losing excess body fat versus the benefits of hanging onto the excess baggage we’re lugging around.
pulmonary disease
difficulty breathing – sleep apnea
nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
gall bladder disease
gynecologic abnormalities (abnormal menses, infertilility, polycystic ovarian syndrome)
osteoarthritis
skin issues
gout
idiopathic intracranial hypertension
stroke
cataracts
coronary heart disease
diabetes
high cholesterol
high blood pressure
severe pancreatitis
cancer (breast, uterus, cervix, colon, esophagus, pancreas, kidney, prostate)
phlebitis – venous stasis (poor circulation)
Disclaimer: will losing excess body fat totally eliminate all health risks? No, genetics and environmental issues are things that contribute to health risks that we may not be able to control, but our weight is something we DO have some control over.
Benefits of remaining over-fat:
Your skin will continue to “fit”.
You won’t have to buy smaller clothes
You will have plenty of excuses to not do the things in life others around you are enjoying.
The choice is yours and yours alone.
Debbie Corey, aka “mdsqueen”, RN, CPT
NOTE: Kimkins members can join in our forum discussion on weight loss and sagging skin by clicking here.
