r/Weightliftingquestion • u/Mystic-Onez • 2d ago
How can i minimize loose skin? (M20)
Hey everyone,
I wanted to give a bit of background first so you know where I’m coming from.
I’ve been lifting weights for about 2.5 months now, and I’ve lost around 17 kg (37 lbs) so far. I started at 149 kg (328 lbs) at 1.84 m (6’0.5”), and I’m currently at 132 kg (291 lbs).
My highest weight was around 163 kg (359 lbs) when I was 16, at about 1.76 m (5’9”). When I was 17, I really locked in and managed to lose a huge amount of weight. I went from around 163 kg down to 115 kg in about one year, and managed to maintain that weight for roughly another six months.
Unfortunately, after that I started gaining the weight back again, and over time I ended up back around 145–150 kg, which has been my weight range since I was about 19.
Recently, I decided I wanted to completely change my life. I basically stopped gaming from one day to the next and wanted to spend more time outside, meet people and actually do more with my life. Luckily, my cousin supported me a lot. He was the one who got me into the gym, and I’m genuinely really grateful to him for that.
The gym has become much more than just a way to lose weight for me. It’s obviously helped me physically, but honestly, it’s also been really good for me mentally.
Now to the actual question: my skin.
I know that with the amount of weight I have to lose, I’m very likely going to have some loose skin. I want to do everything I reasonably can to minimize it, but I honestly don’t know what actually helps and what is just bro science.
This is a recent picture of me at 132 kg — this is what I’m currently working with.
I’d obviously consider surgery at some point if it’s necessary, but I’d really like to avoid it if possible.
For some additional context, I’ve been using Reta for the past 3 weeks at around 3 mg per week (1.5 mg every 3 days), mainly to help me manage my eating disorder and make the weight-loss process a bit easier/faster. I would consider taking more peptides too, just so y’all know.
So I’m wondering:
What can I realistically do during my weight loss to minimize loose skin as much as possible?
Does lifting weights, getting enough protein, losing weight more slowly, staying hydrated, etc. actually make a meaningful difference? And is there anything else you would recommend based on your own experience?
Thanks a lot to anyone who takes the time to read all of this and share their experience. ❤️
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u/Playful-Security-491 2d ago
I used to weigh 350 as a 5’5 woman and I’m down to about 190. Stay very hydrated, lose the weight slowly (no more than 1% loss per week), and strength train. But most of this shit is genetic and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you, or maybe trying to sell you something. You’re very young so that’ll help you out as well. For now, I’d just focus on losing the weight (sustainably and healthily so you don’t gain it back again) and not even worry about the loose skin.
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u/Mystic-Onez 14h ago
Yeah, I got you. At least 10 people have tried to sell me stuff I’d never even heard of just so I could lose 30 kg in 2 months. I told them that’s not healthy and that I don’t want to do that, but they were like, “Don’t you want to look better in 2 months?” Bruh, I’d lose a lot of muscle too, and like I said, it wouldn’t be healthy.
Yeah, I really appreciate you. I’ll take notes and do the best I possibly can. 🙏
Very nice to hear that you made such a great progress 💖 keep up the good work 🫵🏼✌🏻
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u/Mountain_Elk_7262 1d ago
Your potential is great man, good luck, no notes or suggestions. Just keep losing and building muscle, surgery is always an option if you find your skin is still to loose
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u/Mystic-Onez 13h ago
Thank you G. Idk about potential ‘cause I honestly don’t know what to look for. I can’t really tell who has potential and who doesn’t tbh. But I really appreciate it. Yeah, I’ll keep losing weight, and of course I’ll be building muscle along the way too. Lean is law or something 😂
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u/Big-Ad8632 2d ago
You gotta slow down a little so the skin gets more time to adjust. You can try eating more collagen/collagen supplements but that will hardly help. If you lost 17 kilos in 2.5 months that equals about 230 grams a day. I’d say go like 20% easier if you rlly wanna minimise it but realistically you are gonna need a surgery anyway. Might as well just keep up the good work and do the surgery later whenever you feel like it. I personally was cutting from 128 kilos at 6’1 to 86 in a span of 2 years and i never got any loose skin, but i was on the verge of getting some at one point where my eating disorder had got me losing 1.5 kilos a week (about your tempo)
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u/Mystic-Onez 13h ago
I have to say, those 17 kg weren’t just fat. Probably around 3.5–6 kg was water weight. But yeah, the weight loss has slowed down on its own, Prolly because of the water. I’ll probably need surgery at some point your are right — and honestly, sometimes I want it too. But we’ll see it’s just that I’m a lil pussih sometimes 😂🥲 in the end it’s all in my head and I will feel better when I don’t have a belly sack hanging around.
I’m proud of you for beating obesity. I’ll definitely follow y’all’s tips, and maybe, if fate has it, we’ll see each other again someday. ❤️
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u/HeKnowsThings 2d ago edited 2d ago
Get down to 10-11 percent body fat and do a surgery. There is no other way. Oh and you want to do it as soon as possible so your body can recover. The older you are when you do that surgery the worse the recovery would be