While working in the fitness industry for over 20 years, THE ONE QUESTION I am still asked today by clients is, “How do I get rid of THIS?”. . . followed by grabbing their tummy, neck, back, hips, buttocks or under their arms! My answer has become quite simple, but not easy: Overall weight loss. . . and then some!
We are born with a certain number of fat cells, period. The total number does NOT increase as we age, but the SIZE of those cells increases. Imagine a bag of small marshmallows. This bag represents a layer of fat directly underneath your skin. As we gain weight, the marshmallows get bigger (our fat cells get larger), the bag gets tighter around the marshmallows (like our skin) . . . and often times our self-esteem gets smaller.
Now, the plastic bag (your skin) remains stretched over time and the skin fibers become less “tight.” There are certain factors that will affect this new appearance of sagging skin and whether or not it will “snap back” to the way it was:
Skin Elasticity
Our skin has elastic fibers, like fishnet tights, that allow it to stretch and contract like a rubber band. This is what we refer to as “elasticity of the skin.” Over time, these elastic fibers become disrupted, preventing the skin from “recoiling” completely. Thus, we see loose skin.
Disruption of Elasticity
So, what disrupts the ability of our skin to recoil completely? Smoking, sun damage, poor diet and heredity cause your skin to age more quickly. Keep in mind the age of our skin varies from person to person, too. What we see most often that affects recoiling is weight gain; the MORE SKIN that becomes stretched (think of surface area) and the more TIME it remains stretched will surely result in sagging skin over time. Back to our fishnet tights: a new pair right out of the package will snap back versus when we have worn them over and over again and become less “tight,” or less “elastic.”
Reversal and Intervention
Will this sagging skin go away? Most often not, but there are some actions we can take to improve it.
- Try lotions that have the following ingredients: peptides, hyaluronic acid, alpha hydroxide acid and emollients or humectants that will help exfoliate and tighten the skin.
- Wear compression clothing that has latex in the fabric. By compressing the skin fibers, we can protect over stretching of the fibers and help the keep those fibers close together.
- Lose weight SLOWLY! Allow the skin time to slowly recoil while you are shrinking the fat underneath the skin.
- Surgery is another option. Excess skin may be removed by body contouring procedures, thus you can reshape your body this way.
- Muscles lie UNDER the fat layer! Building muscle with resistance training can change the size and shape of your muscles. You can “fill in” the space with muscle where your skin is sagging.
Love yourself! Be careful what you put in your body, how you take care of it, how you look at it and what you say about it! Keep it positive, keep it gracious and keep it sexy!
Gayl Anderson, B.S., M.S., Exercise Physiologist
University of Louisville ~ Master of Science
Exercise Physiology Major
University of Iowa ~ Bachelor of Science
Physical Education Major
Fitness & Wellness Specialization
