I’ve talked about this before but I’m going to discuss it again since it seems to be a topic people love to hear about.
Yes…I have loose skin. There is no way you can be severely obese from the time you are nine years old until you are thirty years old and have it just snap back. You would need some powerful genetics for that. I have loose skin on my thighs, my butt, my stomach, and some under my arms. It hangs and depending on how I stand or bend over it looks like an 80 year old woman.
I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me because it does. Day after day I work out like a mad woman knowing the whole time that things are as tight as they will get. My latest scheme to fix the skin is to blow these muscles up. Heck, tight bulked up thighs surely would look better than my toned thighs under a loose skin coat. Even if it doesn’t make a lick of difference, weight lifting is fun so the journey will be a blast!
Do I ever let stop me? Hell no! I would take my body with loose skin and all over the morbidly obese condemned to an early death body I had three years ago. There isn’t so much skin that a great fitting pair of jeans wont’ fix. I may never look great naked or in a swim suit, but I certainly look great in my clothes and I take pride in the fact that I can out leg press my husband.
My loose skin is there for a reason. It reminds me daily of the way I “used” to live. It drives me to be healthier and work harder. Besides, SO WHAT! Should I sit around having pity parties over my loose skin or get out there and just work hard? Work hard is for me. I’ll never give up hope that I can undo this damage. Each day I look in the mirror for new muscles or less wrinkles. No one is perfect but it’s the pursuit of defining your physique that is fun.
So, I just do like I tell my clients. Buck up, see it for what it is, set a goal, and move on. No, I may never change it but I damn sure won’t give up hope that I can develop quads of steel that fill up the skin. A girl can dream…
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Workout: Back with trainer. We did a lot of wide grip lat pulldowns to the front and behind the neck. We then moved to one arms rows. Bill worked me hard. Cardio was 40 minutes of walking at moderate intensity.
Food:
Egg white and spinach omelet
Protein Shake
Grilled chicken with green beans, baked potato with cottage cheese
Watermelon
Protein Shake (PB, Choc PP, Nuts, CC)
Fage with PP (my meeting didn’t end until very late 10ish so I skipped my chic salad and just ate this with some grapes)
Congratulations on deciding to lose weight and keep it off! I can imagine how loose skin might be discouraging im actually just beginning to change my lifestyle now and dread loose skin as my skin genetics are not so great i get stretch marks like mad. I read somewhere that the more you build muscles the loose skin will cling to it reducing their appearance. Good luck on your journey im sure you will make it with the will power you have.
Comment by Jennifer — May 3, 2008 @ 5:25 pm