how do i get rid of loose skin after significant weight loss?

[el_g]

hi- i just lost a bunch of weight in a relatively short time, and i have a lot of loose skin that collects at the base of my torso. im 6'6", and went from 250 to 205 in about 6 months, from drastic diet changes and lots of running & basketball.

its different from the fat i used to have, which was more solid, so thats why im calling it loose skin. im figuring that maybe it will just sort of go away on its own if i keep up what ive been doing, but i was wondering, does anybody know of anything i can do to accelerate the process?

right now i run 3-4 miles 4 or 5 times a week, and do about 10 minutes of ab work afterwards. and im planing to do some weightlifting. i figured the ab work wouldnt help the loose skin much, but just set me up nicely for when i do get rid of it. and i figured the cardio may be the thing that will make it go away, but just over a longer period of time.

any help will be much appreciated!

[cursor]

and im planing to do some weightlifting

Good plan.

Loose skin
Loose skin
Afraid of left over skin
Abdominoplasty

[el_g]

are you trying to tell me this forum has a search function?????

thanks boss, from reading that stuff, i think i will befine if i keep up what im doing. and man, this sure is inspiring.

[gymrat]

If it is indeed loose skin, it will probably not go away on it's own. Your age, elasticity of your skin, and how long you were overweight are factors that determine whether your loose skin will disappear. I also understand that rapid weight loss tends to exacerbate the issue of loose skin.

I lost a large amount of weight and required plastic surgery to deal with it. No amount of cardio, weight training or nutrition will change loose skin.

[.V.]

Then, some of us will just have to live with it. Beats being obese and unhealthy though.

Yeah, it does shrink for some people over time. Others of us, it doesn't. I'm 36 and didn't start losing weight until 34, I doubt mine will go away. Just leaves me looking still fat - even with visible abs. I can live with that until I build enough big abs to fill it up. If you look close at Andre's pic you can see that's what he did and the results are quite impressive.

[el_g]

ya mon thats what i noticed. luckily my loose skin is not nearly that pronounced. in fact it just kinda looks like i have a little bit of a gut, but it goes haywire while im running and such. i am hopeful with regard to it tightening up after continued healthy endeavors.

[Lady C]

You are young (~29) so I wouldn't worry about it, because you will still have elasticity. Your skin will probably go back to normal but give it about a year.