Category Archives: loose skin

Football Saturday and loose skin.

Happy Saturday!  So cold here today.  Sunny and beautiful, but only about 20 degrees.  There are times I am glad for the treadmill, and today was one of them.  I’m all ready to hit the gym as soon as they open here!

For those that ask (or wonder), this photo shows an example of loose skin on my upper arm.  One of my battle scars 100+ pounds later.  I’m still somewhat self-conscious about it, but not enough to keep it covered up anymore.  Drinking lots of water, strength training, and losing slow did not prevent the loose skin (although my upper arms have a nice shape to them from strength training).  You’ll either have it or you wont.  That’s probably the #2 question by email that I get.

It was just a quiet 5-mile run on the treadmill.  No speed work or anything, since it’s my last workout day of the week, which usually means legs are a wee bit tired.  The first 2 miles went fast, but then the batteries died in my player!  That left me to listening to the music station that was on, which happened to be country (double and triple ick!!!).  So, the last 3 miles I couldn’t wait to get through.  Plus, I was thinking about these:

Banana multi grain cereal (sent from Country Organics) and topped with some of the pecan butter I made yesterday and these teeny tiny chips!  Nestle makes these minis, and 1 tablespoon looks like so many more than the 16 regular size chips you get.  Hooray for extra surface area!  And these were absolutely as good as they look 😀

John and I daydreamed over breakfast about New Orleans and where we are planning to eat.  In a city that is all about food, you have to plan your meals as carefully as the activities!

A package arrived for me this morning from Melissa at A better bag of groceries .  I won a giveaway of these items – yay!:

I decided to incorporate the Josephs Pita into lunch.  I mixed together 1/4 cup of cottage cheese with 1/2 scoop (17 g) of vanilla protein powder and some cinnamon, topped the pita and wafer-thin apple slices.  Slid that into the toaster oven.

It was quite good!  Packed full of protein, too 😀   With some brussels on the side.

Then it was off to do some window shopping, which didn’t last long because it’s so freaking cold out!  We decided to hit up Fortunate Cup and have a warm drink.

Plus I brought along a chewy granola bar.

We then looked for some shorts for John.  He needs some for our cruise, since his from summer are too big after losing weight!  It’s hard to find them right now, though.  We struck out there.

Home for dinner, where I had me a hankerin’ for some BBQ chicken salad with the salty feta.  It’s those sweat sessions that make me crave this stuff.  I snacked on some pistachios before dinner, too.

It’s time for football!  2 days in a row, too.  Yay!

Question:  Rooting for any NFL teams this weekend?

Great Escape

So today the weather was nice and we decided it would be the day we went to Great Escape (6 Flags). I was a little nervous, because this is the first time I have appeared in public in a swimsuit in at least 2 years. I know it’s silly, but that doesn’t stop the self conscious feelings.

The loose skin on my thighs was bothering me today. Funny – I go out in tight bike shorts and a tight dryweave top when I bike or jog without too many issues now – but the swimsuit felt really different. I think it was because I wasn’t being athletic today, just being relaxed. Of course, no one said anything to me, no comments or anything like that. Probably I didn’t even garner a second thought to anyone except myself.

We bumped into my sister and 4 year old niece at the park today, which was quite a surprise! Heard someone call my name and thought “Who the heck could that be?”. And there was my sis! And the first thing out of my niece’s mouth was “I like your swimsuit Aunt Lori”. 🙂

Small vent here. We have been trying to stay away from corporate meat. We do eat local farm meat that is locally processed, but try to avoid mass meat products. So, trying to find a vegetarian meal at Great Escape was really, really difficult. One place had a greek salad, but it was full of onions and olives – so that was out. The other options were just side items like a bowl of coleslaw or a fruit cup. Finally, we found a place in Wiggles World that served grilled cheese sandwiches, complete with smiley fries. Made for little kids, but it worked for us. Not having children, I can tell you that eating in Wiggles World was very surreal. So, I am thinking I might write a letter to them about the food options.

Needless to say, grilled cheese and fries were not the best for my plan, so I’ll have to be diligent for the next few days. At least we got in a lot of walking! We did manage to avoid the fried dough, cinnamon roasted nuts, and ice cream stands, so some victory there!

Thoughts on loose skin

I get asked a lot of questions about whether I have loose skin after losing almost 100 pounds.
Yes, I do have some. And I will probably have more, but I don’t know what is going to tighten up or not. It is most obvious on my upper arms, and my upper thighs. You don’t notice it unless I am in a bathing suit, or wear a sleeveless shirt (which I normally don’t anyway because I am very fair skinned).
I wasn’t born with the genetics to have nice tight skin. And nothing you do will change that. No creams, no workouts, not guzzling water til the cows come home. Nothing can change your genetics. Strength training will help the skin ‘drape’ better over the muscles and have a better appearance – but won’t actually do anything to the skin itself.

Does it bother me? Sometimes. There are days where I am just thrilled with the changes in my body. Other days, the skin is a bit depressing – because I know my biceps are buff, but the extra skin doesn’t let them shine, so to speak.

So many people panic about the loose skin before they even begin a weight loss journey. I don’t understand that. First, you might have the good genetics and a little luck on your side. And second, do you honestly want to be fat?? I mean, really – would the thought of some loose skin be the reason you want to stay obese? Hardly anyone can see the loose skin. Everyone and their neighbor sees the fat.

Today’s stats:
Calorie goal: 1,400 • Consumed: 1,318 • Burned: 213
Net calories: 1,105
C/P/F ratio: 53/24/23