Come Out of Hiding
Don’t you want to congratulate yourself with an updated wardrobe? Have fun with form-fitting layers, suggests DeSola. “A slightly fitted tee with a sweater on top and a thick belt is a great way to cinch your waist,” says DeSola. Mid-rise jeans are another great option—ones that hit right below the belly button are the sweet spot for a perfect fit. Looking for something a bit more fun? Try a wrap dress in a bold color like red. It should hit at (or just below) the knee, and pairing it with heels will make your legs look longer and leaner.

Ditch the Negativity

(Photo: Getty Images)

Fact: Losing a ton of weight won’t automatically reserve you a spot on the Victoria’s Secret runway (and let’s be real—would you want to perpetuate that skinny ideal anyway?). “When we lose weight, we’re not headed toward a different body; we’re headed toward a smaller body,” Coffey says. Instead of hating on that extra skin, wear it as a badge of honor—you made a commitment to living a healthier, more active life, and loose skin is just proof that you did what so many other people have trouble doing. “Excess skin isn’t the terrible tragedy that so many of us think it will be; it’s just another one of the details about your body that makes you you,” says Coffey. It’s a symbol of your journey—and that’s something to be proud of.

Make Like a Snake
When it comes to excess skin after weight loss, the hard, cold truth is that going under the knife is the only surefire way to totally get rid of it. And if you’ve tried everything else and still aren’t even remotely satisfied with your appearance (or if your extra skin is getting irritated), it’s probably time to talk with a plastic surgeon about your options. Extra stuff around the midsection can be removed through an abdominoplasty—also known as a tummy tuck—according to Raul Rosenthal, MD, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. “Because the skin has stretched over so many years, it’s very difficult for that skin to go back to where it was before; it will not return to its natural consistency or elasticity,” says Rosenthal. According to him, patients who undergo plastic surgery following extreme weight loss not only experience a better quality of life, but they’re also more likely to keep the weight off. One last note: Before you choose to shed your skin for good, make sure you talk to your insurance provider, as most don’t cover such procedures.

Originally Posted HERE

PERSONAL NOTE: Like many things there are very different school of thoughts in regards to weight loss & excess skin. Some believe that the rate of weight loss maybe the culprit to excess skin (HERE). Others believe that perhaps the ‘excess skin’ is not excess skin at all but body fat because they lost more muscle than fat during weight loss phase (HERE). Yet, there are those who believe that the human skin elasticity has a definitive limit and the rate of weight loss has very little bearing (HERE). Regardless which camp one may believe in, I think there is some truth to all the schools of thought and we just have to decide which makes more sense to us individually based on how overweight we were, age, and method of weight loss (ie. crash diet, heavy cardio, surgery etc).

For me personally, I lost a total of 39 lbs over 18 months give or take. When I reached my first goal weight within 8 months doing strictly long stretches of cardio, I had a fair amount of ‘excess skin’ in the abdomen area. I reached my second goal within the following year and started to dial down the cardio and incorporated strength training. My weight have relatively remained with 1-2 lbs for the last 2 yrs but my ‘excess skin’ has dissipated significantly and overall I look ‘thinner.’ After reading the various school of thought (above) I do see some validity to perhaps that some of the 39 lbs I lost included a fair amount of muscle. Since I really didn’t get serious about strength training to tone & define until within the last 18 mths or so, the theory that building muscle helps ‘fill in’ to make the skin look more taut is very plausible in my case. Again, this is just my own personal thought based on my own experience and it can be very different for someone else.

“A big part of tightening loose skin is building muscle. The reason for this is simple.

There are two layers of tissue underneath your skin: fat and muscle, both of which press up against your skin and keep it from sagging loosely.

When you gain a large amount of weight, your skin must expand quite a bit to accommodate the increase in body size. When you lose the fat, however, and especially when you lose it quickly, your skin doesn’t necessarily shrink at the same rate as your fat cells. This imbalance can lead to loose skin.

Furthermore, many people use various forms of starvation dieting as well as large amounts of cardio to lose fat, which also causes significant muscle loss, further expanding the void between the skin and the underlying tissue.

The end result is a reduced body fat percentage but a small, soft physique with sagging skin. The “skinny fat” look, as it’s called.

Building muscle is the solution to all these woes because it literally fills in the looseness in the skin, creating a visibly tighter, healthier look.”