Fitness

I'm having a problem with my body sagging after dropping 50 lbs. I have about 60 more lbs. to lose, give or take 10 lbs.  I'm 48 years old, 5'8" tall and I weigh 220 lbs.  When I raise my arms, they FLAP. Yes, I now FLAP. There is also loose skin on my upper thighs. Before the weight loss I had "solid fat". Now, I'm kind of loose and jiggly in places that I wasn't before. I know how to eat healthier now but I have a feeling the fitness part of my life isn't up to par. I realize there isn't really a whole lot that I can do about my skin's elasticity due to my age and all of those years of carrying around 270 lbs.  I work out at home, no gym membership. I use little 10 lb weights for bicep curls, triceps extensions, bent over rows, bench presses, over head extensions. I do squats, calf raises, and dead lifts. It took me forever to work up to that little 10 lb. weight.(I was SHOCKED to find out how weak my body had become. So very sad!)  Believe me, I realize I have to increase the weight that I use but there is no money in the budget to purchase any. I can make my own with the odds and ends that my husband has in the garage. Whatever it takes!

Sorry for rambling...my question is this: Is it conceivable to prevent further sagging via a weight lifting routine? I'm confused by what to do next. Thank you all for your valuable advice. Everyone on CC+ has helped me so much while on my way to being fit.

P.S. Is there a miraculous chance my body will absorb all of this extra flap?

I just wanted to tell you congratulations on all the hard work you have done to reach this point! You should be very proud.

As far as I know, there isn't any magic to getting the skin to tighten up. I know of a few people on the site that are waiting to get tummy tucks, etc. because of the excess skin.

But....I may be wrong. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will come along and be of better help!

Hi,

No, sorry to say there is no way to absorb the flap. I was 260 and I am now 190 and slowly my body is getting less skin flap. I do lift weights though and I am getting alot of definition - you can use your body weight though - do modified push ups, isometrics, plank, etc. You don't need to have a full gym to start.

I also use Vitamin E oil at night on the areas of my skin that seem the most slack - I don't know if it works but it feels good.

Tummy tuck is drastic - definitely do your research. Having said that I have small implants in my breasts as I lost everything there.

I suggest using Spanx...

Good Luck.

Thank you for your opinions and ideas. I appreciate you taking time to respond to my post. Deep down inside, I knew there isn't a lot that can be done for this strange and unfamiliar body I'm creating. However, the health benefits to me far outweigh the sagginess of things. I will simply accept the way things are. Besides, I've never felt as good as I do now, even when I was in my teens and twenties! Thanks again. Have a blessed day!

 One of the problems with getting older is that you lose collagen elasticity in your skin; this can be somewhat counteracted by getting a quality omega-3 supplement in the form of fish oil - or better yet, go straight to the source and include salmon or mackerel in your diet on a regular basis. Your cell walls are mostly long-chain lipid membranes and eating the right kinds of fats gives your body better quality building material to work with.

 Besides increased skin elasiticty from the quality fats, the lipid membranes in your brain are 50% DHA - the omega-3 fatty acid second most prevalent in fish fats. Your mom was right, fish is brain food - if they're the right kind of fish.

 So plan on having some good fish on your weekly menu - and yes, smoked salmon on your lunch plate counts.

 If you don't want to go the fish route you can try gound up flax seed - fresh for preference. The Alpha-lipoic acid in flax seed oil converts to EPA -the DHA precursor - in the body, though the process is not very efficient and you have to eat a lot of flax to equal what you get from one serving of mackerel ;)

 None of these are miracle foods by any means, but they help, and just a slight increase in skin elasticity will make itself felt over the long term ;)

I do love salmon and other kinds of fish.  Thank you Melkor. I will certainly make a concentrated effort to add the right types of fish to my diet whever I can. Enjoy your day!