After being overweight, my skin stretched, I have the stretch marks to prove it! But since losing 40 pounds, I am curious if my skin will "shrink" back to its normal size. I feel that my skin is somewhat stretched out right now, and I'm wondering if it will shrink from continuing a weight training routine with cardio and a good diet.

It depends. How old are you and how long has it been since you lost your weight? Most of the time, if skin gets stretched out that much and even develops stretch marks (which means that the underying tissues have been damaged beyond repair), it does not shrink back. The loose skin usually remains that way and no amount of exercise, cardio or weight training will do anything to improve it. If it hasn't been too long (less than a year) since you lost your weight and if you are pretty young (skin has more resiliency) than it may shrink back a bit but it never will go back to the way it was before. The only permanent solution for this is plastic surgery which will remove all the loose skin (and the stretch marks with it).

Well that's bad news...I'm 28 and I was overweight for about 5 years, gradually getting worse. So last August I decided to start losing. I have made a huge change in my appearance, but I was hoping that the skin would shrink without plastic surgery. Will this skin not shrinking affect my goal of a six pack? My top 2 abs are showing now and I was hoping that losing the remaining fat around my stomach would eventually lead to the six pack. Will the skin get in the way?

Ahhhhhhhhh that makes me really scared. I didn't account for extra skin not even thinking I am 22 and just on the start of my road to losing at least 120 pounds. I don't wanna have plastic surgery to fix extra skin! That's expensive!!!!

Someone please tell me that this is not something everyone who ever lost weight experiences.......what about those people u see on TV they don't seem to be like that???

SCAREd

Most people that lose that much weight will have loose skin. After all, the skin had to stretch to acommodate the extra weight and sometimes when you stretch it too much it snaps (stretch marks) or simply loses its ability to snap back (think of a rubber band that's been used too many times and then fails to go back to its original size). That said, it should NOT discourage you from losing all that excess weight you are carrying. That weight is killing you! Lose the weight for your health then deal with the cosmetic issues. They can be dealt with and there is no need to be scared. This type of cosmetic surgery is VERY common and it may even be covered by your insurance. So lose the weight, you won't be sorry, no matter what the skin looks like. And who knows? Maybe, since you are so young, most of your skin may shrink back. It's been known to happen.

[This message has been edited by rita (edited 05-02-2003).]

mattingly,
I am not certain how much loose skin you have. If it is just a bit loose (an it's not hanging down like a pouch) than it may shrink back given more time. You are also young and that helps since your skin still has much resilience. Have you noticed if there has been any positive changes in your skin after losing all that weight? Has the skin shrunk back even a little bit? If so, then there is a good chance that it may continue to do so. If you can already see your upper ab muscles then it's a good sign but the rest is probably still covered with a bit of fat and once that is gone you should see a definite improvement. Keep up the good job you are doing and don't let yourself slide back. It's a tremendous achievement and you should be proud of your transformation. A bit of loose skin is nothing compared to being very overweight.