What do you think? "Myth of Lose Skin" article

I found this article & was intrigued by the idea, though I disagree with most of his points.  I think it's true to an extent only.  It's an article written by a fitness trainer who believes that the *ONLY* reason people have loose skin following WLS is due to the very low calorie diet the body lives on & it's result in significantly decreased muscle mass that (insert typically, in my opinion)  occurs with rapid weight loss.  He reasons that the decreased muscle mass masks higher body fat % at a given healthy weight according to BMI standards & that the apparent loose skin is really only due to the dimpling effect of the skin laying across cellulite vs smooth muscle.  He suggests that if post-WLS patients simply work on increasing their muscle mass, that over time, as their body fat decreases as muscle mass increases, the skin will naturally shrink & that plastics will not be necessary - at all.

I think you guys are the PERFECT group to ask!  I would LOVE to think that my saggy lower ab section will someday be taut without plastics, but I actually think there's only so much that skin can shrink back . . . I agree with all of his reasoning, just not with the amount of change he believes is possible . ..  What do you think??

P.S.  I hurt my foot in class Sat, but hope to be back to exercising by the end of the week!

http://www.bodyfatguide.com/LooseSkin.htm

I have been banded for a year and a half and have lost 81 pounds. That is less than 2 lbs per week, which would not be considered rapid weight loss. I still will need a tummy tuck to get rid of the overhang at the bottom of my stomach. No exercising will take care of that for sure. I'm with you, if I could get rid of that nastiness any other way, that would be fabulous. I love to cook but that overhang of skin is one apron I can live without! LOL!!

Hope your foot heels quickly.

Jet

That guys has no idea what he is talking about! It's real easy:

I had a huge house on a small lot, it went from corner to corner to corner to corner of our property line...

I decided to cut the size of my house in half... Did the size of my property shrink too? NOPE!!!

You CANNOT lose 200 pounds and not have skin issues. I have 10% body fat, am 34 years old and have 15 +/- pounds of loose, hanging skin. Theory proved incorrect...

BOGUS ALERT!!!!!!

The guy is an idiot.

what Dan and Scott said...  How and why would I get muscle mass to match what my gut looked like when I was 360 pounds?  I mean, those would be impressive Abs, but I would kind of look like an alien. To a point I think its true, and was my logic on bulking up my arms early on, and so far it seems to have worked, but I don't think that's where most of us wls types worry about excess skin... 

"How and why would I get muscle mass to match what my gut looked like when I was 360 pounds?  I mean, those would be impressive Abs, but I would kind of look like an alien."

                                                                        


I agree with you all also . . . it's just not possible!  I started lifting weights when I was about half-way through losing 70 pounds via diet & exercise several years back b/c I could see the loose skin "forming" already.  My thought was that if I had a larger muscle, it would help take up some of the slack skin simply by filling up space . . . but realistically speaking, you can't fill up that much space on certain areas like your abs.  I got a damn good chuckle over how you phrased that one!!!

I agree with you all.  It stands to reason that if you gain muscle mass and fill out what was once fat with muscle, then you will not have AS MUCH sking hanging.  But the reality is that nobody is going to put on 200 lbs of muscle!  Unless you weren't as big and your skin was not as stretched,  or you're young and have super elastic skin...the reality is excess skin. 

I agree with the other posters. I think muscle mass will certainly HELP, but there is no way I'm going to fill all the extra skin on my thighs. That's where I carried most of my weight 150 lbs. ago, and though it looks BETTER since I've been exercising, there is still plenty there. It's better than the alternative, though!!

Jenny

There is a point where the skin is stretched beyond it's elasticity.  I had 5.5 lbs of skin removed last year.  Personally I thought it was going to be more than that -- there was NO way that was going to shrink back.  
I only read part of his article -- just not true
 

i absolutely agree with other posters, i have kept strength training as an important part of my regimin from the moment my surgeon cleared me @ 6 weeks.  now at a year and a quarter post-op, my muscle mass is increasing again and has HELPED with loose skin, but i am going to have live with it or have it cut off.