Extra Skin (rant)

spyrosmom

Cathlete
What is the deal with extra skin?!?!?!? Its yucky, its nasty and it drives me crazy. Sometimes I just want to get extra fat again so my flippin' skin fits!!!!!!!!!!! My highest (non preg) wt was 270 :eek::eek:. I am now about 184, I would like to be around 170. I am 5'8" My arms have stretch marks, but my stomach is the worst. I have stretch marks from being fat, stretch marks from being preg and now just loose hangy crap from losing weight. It drives me crazy. When I look down, I just see wrinkly belly, and if I am doing pushups or anything on all fours, it just hangs there:mad:. I still have belly fat, too, but I can tell the difference, I can grab a handful of skin. EWWWW. DH says he doesn't notice unless I point it out (he's been with me thru thick and not so thick:p) and it doesn't bother him. It bothers me! I would like to be nekkid and rolling around in the light instead of the dark or semi dark.;) But it bothers me when I am dressed, too. It make my belly stick out more than it would, bc I have to shove all this extra stuff in my jeans. And it makes jeans dang near impossible to find, without getting the dreaded back gap. I have a deep back curve and then all this extra stuff in the front. Squishing it and having it hang out the top is not cute or comfy. Plus, I have a dark line around my belly from wearing too tight jeans as a teenager bc I wanted to wear the smaller size and didn't want to tell my mom that the jeans she bought me a month ago didn't fit anymore bc I had gained wt. I would have thought the line would go away in time, it has faded but not gone away. I know there is no way to get the extra skin/stretch marks off except to cut them off, and that is an option I am not willing to explore. OW!!! It just drives me crazy. Some of the stretch marks are more than a 1/4 inch wide, and goodness knows how long. Ugh!!! It drives me crazy. Some times I wonder why I do all this work to look like a deflated balloon in the belly. I mean, I know why, but it really, really grates on me sometimes.
I just had to get that out. Thanks for "listening"

Nan
 
I know how you feel!!!

I'm 5'2" and 183 (was down to 176 then had antibiotics:() And dagnabit, the skin thing!!! My dad said that I was cute enough to "get a fella" but geez who wants to explain about <motions toward belly> that????

I just don't look. I know its childish, but I just don't look. If I don't see it, its not there. :rolleyes:
 
i am 5' and my highest was about 180 i fluctuate between 130 and 140 lately. i have that just by the lower abs loose skin from pregnancy and multiple surgeries(they blew my tummy up twice the size of a pregger woman to cut me open). i usually don't sweat it anymore but when ppl are mean about it then i get uncomfortable with it. just the other day somebody told i looked horrible for somebody working out for 9years(it took that long to get here) and i had a "belly" and even went so low to say dh looks at better shaped women in the gym!

so i am like you i hate it i just want to cut it off myself b/c i was holding my head high until this witchy person at work kicked me down.she is like naturally super skinny,eats like crap,smokes etc etc so i know her opinion is crap when it comes to fitness but it still stung.

kassia
 
I am 5'4" 116 pounds, I have tons of extra skin and stretch marcks from head to toe from my preg weight of220+ with each pregnancy. It just stinks!
 
When I look down, I just see wrinkly belly, and if I am doing pushups or anything on all fours, it just hangs there.

Nan

Ugh, . . I hate this too. I can do all these push ups, run 20-25 miles a week and work out with Cathe 3 days a week STS and eat clean 80% of the time but dangling down there is this huge monstrosity of a flap of skin. I didn't gain a bunch of weight when I was preggers but I am small 5 feet tall and my belly stretched so badly. I think I'm just stuck with it and I would never get a tummy tuck, . . .although the thought has crossed my mind. Hey let me know if you find that miracle cure.
 
just the other day somebody told i looked horrible for somebody working out for 9years(it took that long to get here) and i had a "belly" and even went so low to say dh looks at better shaped women in the gym!
kassia
Kassia I am sending this nasty woman the evil stink eye in your defense. That is just down right mean and nasty.
 
Count me in as someone who hates all the extra skin. 4'11 here. When I was pregnant with my second child you could have sworn I was giving birth to a whatle. I topped 200 when pregnant. After her birth I was 190. Lost the weight 5 years ago (she is now nine years old) and I have skin all over my tummy. HATE IT! Not only that but the stretch marks. I told hubby that I'm tempted to go on and have a tummy tuck it gets to me so much. However after 2 c sections and 1 hernia repair, (plus the dr. talking about having to get rid of fibroids) I wonder how much more my tummy can take!

I feel your pain. Hang in there! I know I'm trying to.
 
Kassia I am sending this nasty woman the evil stink eye in your defense. That is just down right mean and nasty.

thanks janie, dh really thinks she is jealous. we are mostly a curvy bunch in our kitchen. girls of all wonderful body types and she is this rail thin and mostly the curvy girls have been getting the attention. and she is 20 years older then me talking like that :eek: she also only says something when i mention going to the gym so i don't discuss it anymore b/c she "knows" it all. one of those who says cardio and 1000 crunches will get rid of my "belly".


i too not one for tummy tuck. what i don't need is MORE surgery. its what got me here and i think if one ever does it its for reasons that are for them. it for the most part doesn't bother me anymore b/c i have accepted it as the way of things to be. but when i have those days i do think about it but i try to be very thankful of what god gave me. i am strong and healthy and have what i need to live so a little extra lower belly skin isn't going to define me as a human. but with today's world you know how it bombards you with "perfect" images.

kassia
 
i am 5' and my highest was about 180 i fluctuate between 130 and 140 lately. i have that just by the lower abs loose skin from pregnancy and multiple surgeries(they blew my tummy up twice the size of a pregger woman to cut me open). i usually don't sweat it anymore but when ppl are mean about it then i get uncomfortable with it. just the other day somebody told i looked horrible for somebody working out for 9years(it took that long to get here) and i had a "belly" and even went so low to say dh looks at better shaped women in the gym!

so i am like you i hate it i just want to cut it off myself b/c i was holding my head high until this witchy person at work kicked me down.she is like naturally super skinny,eats like crap,smokes etc etc so i know her opinion is crap when it comes to fitness but it still stung.

kassia

What an evil witch!! I have never anyone actually SAY anything about it to me.(except my grandma, but we haven't spoken in 10 yrs - called me fat my whole life) Isn't it funny though how people assume you don't exercise if you carry around what they consider to be a few extra pounds? I'm a size 12, and I had to work darn hard and bust my a$$ to get there. If you didn't know me before, you wouldn't know I weighed 270. So don't ASSUME I don't know how to eat, and DON'T assume I can't run five miles, don't ASSUME I can't bench press your sorry, skinny, smoking, crap-eating butt.

For the most part, I am happy in my skin (extra skin and all) but some times it irks me. I don't need outside criticism as well (I heard enough of that from my grandma growing up). We all have our own personal issues, and for someone from the outside to attack or prick at them is just not nice, and WRONG. They don't know our situtations and we don't know theirs.

Oof, I must be cranky this morning.

Stepping off soapbox-
Nan
 
Just chiming in with a bit ole "DITTO!". My belly has loose skin from pregnancy too. It kills me because I work so hard and have great muscle tone UNDER it. I'll just never be able to show it off again.
I gained 25lbs while pregnant, and it was all in my belly. It was huge and just stretched too far.
I know surgery is the only way to fix it. And it makes me crazy when I see all of these other new moms whose bellies go back and they can wear bikinis again.

So I'm right there with you madame!
 
Well, you've made me feel better.

If it helps, your post has made me feel a lot better. I'm 5'2" and was overweight my whole life, until my mid-twenties. I've had a sag ever since I lost weight--even before having kids. I got huge with each of my 3 pregnancies because, with such a short waist, there was no where else for the baby to go. I hate it that the skin hangs down when you are prone. DH says he doesn't mind, but it truly bothers and inhibits me. I hate that you can be in great shape with fabulous abs and all this loose skin hanging on top. And I can relate to the waist mark from too many years of too-tight jeans. I'm okay with the stretch marks, but would love to be rid of the extra skin. Surgery is also not an option for me, although a part of me wishes for it.

At least I know I'm not the only one. Thank you for your post. Skin Saggers Unite!

Elsie
 
Hey, ladies, these are just normal bodies, that's all. Somehow we should find a way to stop comparing the 90% with the 10% of people who don't have extra skin, wrinkles, unusual features, etc.!
 
well,im right there with ya girls;). Look at my weightlossticker...got loose skin everywhere:rolleyes:

I don't like it but i deal with it...i try not to let it get me down. I like to look at the loose skin and the stretch marks as a battle that I won. I get reminded of where ive been everytime i see them.:)
 
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Bear it proudly!

I am 5' even and weigh around 105-108, but my top non-pregnant weight was 305. Not only that, but this body has been through 4 pregnancies! Loose skin? Of course! But not as much as you would think -- time and regular exercise has gotten rid of much of it. Still, there is that stubborn handful at the bottom of my tummy! And those awful flaps on the back of my arms that no amount of triceps pushups, kickbacks and french presses will get rid of completely! Yuck -- it could sure depress me if I let it!

But then I think of the BAD OLD DAYS. That super-obese body -- panting from climbing a flight of stairs! Could hardly bend over to tie my shoes! Watching from the sidelines when other moms took my kids on scout outings and camping trips! No -- a little loose skin is NOTHING compared to the pain of that life!

I think of my loose skin as my battle scars! It's a battle I WON, and I wear my battle scars with pride. (Most of the time!)

I did Imax2 this morning, for heaven's sake! Good workout clothes kept me from jiggling around much, and I had a blast!

But, I feel your pain. Still -- to me -- loose skin is a blessing!

Judy
 
Wow, your ladies are amazing with all that

weight loss!

Depending on how long ago the weight loss was, how long you had been carrying the excess weight, your skin bounces back SLOWLY. If you take a picture today and then take one every year, you will notice improvement. It takes time and progress is slow, but the body can adjust to almost anything. Make sure you get the blood flow pumping into the excess skin through brushing or pinching every day and it will get better.

99.9% of the tummies we see in magazines had surgery and the pictures are airbrushed, on top of excellent genes. MAGAZINES PHOTOS ARE NOT REALITY and nobody should feel insecure because they do not like a make believe body.
 

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