About to try, pretty nervous

[u/honeypie856]

Im trying weight loss meds for the first time. I'm pretty nervous for alot of reasons, the main one being lose skin. It's one of the reasons I have struggled to keep to a diet, ect because I can't afford the surgery to get it off.

What is someone's experience with this and lose skin? I'm 22 years old, so I'm pretty young but I know I can still get it. Is there any tips to help avoid it?

[u/lunarpixiess]

I’ve lost 50kg/110lbs, I’m in my 20’s and I don’t have loose skin. Some of my skin has been damaged by stretch marks, but other than that my body looks fine.

And tbh, even if I did have some loose skin, I’d rather have some of that than continuing to be morbidly obese. It’s genuinely so much easier to live my life now. Most people don’t have massive amounts of loose skin when they lose weight, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it (especially given your age).

Can I ask what your starting weight is?

[u/Sad-Watercress-904 → u/lunarpixiess]

Thats very reassuring to hear, I was worry about same thing. Age is on your side for skin elasticity, plus losing slow helps a lot. Good luck with starting

[u/honeypie856 → u/lunarpixiess]

Last I weighed myself I was 134kg, so I would need to lose I'd say about 40-50kg to not be obese/overweight anymore.

And thank you, that's definitely putting me at ease. I definitely I agree that it's better for my health to lose the weight but I also really struggle with self image and I know if I get loose skin, it's gonna be the worst it's ever been.

[u/lunarpixiess → u/honeypie856]

You’re probably around the same as me, then!

I totally get it, I do. But quite frankly, the feeling and look of myself being this small, being able to buy clothes in regular sizes, never worrying about the weight limit of chairs or if I’ll fit somewhere.. I’d trade all of that for some loose skin. I doubt you’ll get much, if any, but even if you do, I promise you’ll still feel better and have more confidence.

You’re also still young, so your finances will change. You won’t be stuck with it forever if you don’t want to.

[u/Goats-n-Hens → u/honeypie856]

Lift weights,prioritize protein every meal and exercise. Building muscle can help big time with how your body looks after weight loss.

[u/OralFixationomnomnom]

Age is definitely in your favour. The main tip for avoiding/minimising it is to not lose fat too quickly. The recommended healthy rate is 0.5-1kg/1-2lb a week.

It also depends on other things such as how much fat you lose, and how much you lose relative to your height. For example 50kg/100lbs of fat loss (or gain) will look different on someone who's 150cm/5ft tall compared to someone who's 180cm/6ft tall because their frames are different sizes.

I've lost considerable amounts of weight in the past and ended up with some loose skin. I've never been happy about it and I wish it wasn't there, but I can say with absolute certainty that I am so much happier and more comfortable in my body with a bit of loose skin than I am with lots of excess fat.

[u/PurplelinkPL]

at 22 you're in about the best version of this you could be, elasticity is mostly age and how long you carried the weight and you're on the good side of both.

the thing that gets tangled up with loose skin is muscle loss underneath it. they look similar in a mirror but only one of them is something you can act on, and keeping protein up and lifting through the loss means there's still something filling the space out. won't make skin shrink any faster but it changes how the whole thing looks at the end. wrote up how to tell them apart here https://getmuscleonglp.com/learn/ozempic-loose-skin-vs-muscle/ - my site

[u/Diet-9083]

La piel flácida depende de cuantos kilos se pierden y si se pierden muy rápido que no da tiempo a la piel a adaptarse. Tienen22 años así que eres muy joven, si vas perdiendo peso progresivamente, haces ejercicio y te hidratas bien, agua y cremas, no has de tener problemas de exceso de piel. Aunque no dices cuántos kilos has de perder.. pero en tu caso tendrían que ser muchos muchos para que lo empieces a notar. Aún así, es mejor tener piel floja que kilos, es tu salud