Loose skin after losing so much weight!

I have lost 40 pounds and have basically "shrunk" my entire body. I have lost weight in my face, arms, legs stomach etc.. All by eating right and excercising. But now my upper arms are more flabby than before, my inner thighs are gross looking(flabby skin) and even though the inches are going I can't seem to lose my stomach!! I have heard to be patient, keep losing fat, keep working out to build muscle but my husband says another 10 pounds and I will have "old lady" empty skin that is not attractive!!!  It is very frustrating that 1st, I have worked so hard and now kind of look worse than before and 2nd that my own family and friends criticise me instead of supporting my plight to be healthy!! Any ideas, tips or comments would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, Cheryl

First, congrats on losing 40 pounds!  Keep up the good work!  Just keep in mind that your skin is elastic, and even though we lose some elasticity as we age, it'll shrink back eventually.  The best thing to do is to continue to work to tone areas you feel are a little softer looking than you'd like.  Do some regular weight lifting on your arms and as you continue to lose weight you'll start seeing more definition there.  For the tummy area, remember that we take weight off in the reverse order we put it on.  If you tend to gain weight in the tummy first, it'll be the last place you lose it unfortunately (remember spot reduction is a myth).  So, just keep up the good work and keep going in the right direction and you'll see your body respond accordingly!

Thanks for the advice, heading to the gym right now. I try to remember everyday that I didn't get out of shape in a few months, I'm not going to get back in shape in a few either.

AUGH me too! specifically, I gained a ton of weight in my lower stomach/abdomen, and now, even after losing only 10-15 lbs (this sounds SO gross) there are practically folds of loose skin. I've heard recommendations of using stretch mark creams, etc, to help your skin's elasticity. If you find any exercises and such that seem to be helping especially well, please let me know 

By the way, that was pretty rude of your husband. I hope he's still supportive of your weight loss anyway, and I hope you socked him for that one.  

The same thing happened to me except that the loose skin in my midsection was because of the weight that I gained and lost during pregnancy.  My son is now 2 years old and I am still noticing a difference in my stomach area the more I work out.  I understand your frustration though because you want your body to look a certain way and it only seems to look worse.  As your weight loss and weight gain will probably be more gradual than mine I don't think you will have problems regaining some of the elasticity in your skin, just remember to drink lots of water and continually hydrate and massage your skin.  It's too bad your family isn't being supportive, perhaps they have their own weight issues and chose to criticize you because of the success you've been having.  Keep up the good work and remember that the main goal of weight loss should be to achieve a healthier you.

I think you are right about the weight thing. My friends don't have the self-discipline and I think they are kind of jealous that I am sticking to it. As far as my husband, he likes my body heavier and doesn't want a "skinny" wife. I don't want to be "skinny" anyway, just healthy. If God would let me be 220 lbs. without high blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar etc. I wouldn't care about the weight, but anything over 170 and my body turns on itself!! Thanks for all your input caloriecount friends!!

       &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;     Cheryl