Getting Rid of Loose Skin

I’m back again for part 2 of my interview with Holly Rigsby from ClubFYM.com.  Holly is  not only a friend of mine, but she’s also an expert when it comes to fat loss with a specialization in helping moms get back their lean and sexy look.

We started the interview off with one of the most frequently asked questions from postpartum moms – “How to Get Flat Abs After Having A Baby“, and today we’re going to take it a step further and reveal how to shed your body of the dreaded loose skin.

Let’s get into it….

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Craig Ballantyne: Let’s move on to the next biggest question that women sent in. I know it’s going to be quite a bit of overlap from what we just talked about. But, they’re talking about the LOOSE SKIN now that’s around their abs.

That’s a number one problem, they’ve had a couple of children and they’ve got the loose skin issue now. That goes just beyond losing belly fat, because it’s simply the skin. It’s the elasticity of the tissue.

What kind of advice do you have for women, what should they expect, how long is it going to take for that skin elasticity problem to clear up?

Is it able to come back to relatively normal after having the children?

Holly Rigsby: I’ll tell you, this is another common question that I get too, Craig. It’s hard to give a blanket statement, because it really does VARY based on each woman’s individual experience.

A lot of women believe they have all this excess loose skin, but in reality it’s a lot of loose skin coupled with belly fat.

It can be a little misleading and it’s hard to assess too when you can’t see somebody in person and say, “Now I see what this is, let’s work on this.” So, it’s a matter of EXPERIMENTING with a couple of different approaches and seeing what exactly is going on.

When it comes to loose skin, of course with each pregnancy the collagen fibers in skin, and the collagen is what allows your skin to have that elasticity so it bounces back, those collagen fibers become stretched out. That’s a normal consequence.

The degree of stretching depends on so many variables from….

• a woman’s build
• whether she’s petite or not
• the weight she gains
• how quickly that weight is gained
• the size of the baby

That all determines how much damage is going on with those collagen fibers. Unfortunately, there are NO SPECIFIC EXERCISES  that correct loose skin.

Also, BE CAREFUL of being lured by the promises that creams and lotions promise to bring that elasticity back to your skin. Yes, there is some evidence that Retin-A compounds stimulate the skin to build more collagen, but be careful especially if you’re a new mom, because you’re not supposed to take that when you’re breast feeding. Any other time, of course it’s not going to hurt.

You also want to keep in mind that the health of your body is also determined by the degree of healthy foods that you are choosing to eat. Obviously, if you’re going to be eating more NUTRIENT RICH MEALS that is giving your body the vitamins and minerals it needs that allow your body to heal and allow that skin to bounce back.

Some women for prevention purposes know that if you go on any type of extreme weight loss program or you lose a lot of weight very quickly the guaranteed side effect and consequence is loose skin, because your body just cannot keep up with that rate of fat loss and your body cannot heal, and your skin cannot bounce back with that rate of fat loss that is taking place.

So, know that when professionals such as Craig and myself are telling you about how long it takes to get your body back and to reach your fat loss goals it takes time. The reason for this is because that’s how your body naturally adapts and also because of situations like this with the loose skin.

Now, if you have loose skin with belly fat, obviously it’s a matter of getting consistent with your workouts and your eating plan, avoiding those drastic measures by trying to lose a lot of weight very quickly. When you lose weight in that PROGRESSIVE FASHION it provides your body and your skin the opportunity to adjust and bounce back.

Because each person’s case is so individual and it just depends on what you’ve tried, how long you have stuck to something, how consistent you’ve been, there’s going to be cases where over time, yes, it bounces back. There are plenty of women who are out there who have had several children who look like they never have.

It’s a matter of taking care of their bodies, sticking to their fat loss plan, their interval training, their resistance training, their eating plan, and little by little they understand the process that it takes. Yes, it takes a lot of PATIENCE and PERSISTENCE, but it does happen.

Craig Ballantyne: Very cool. That’s excellent. It really will answer a lot of questions that we get so many times from people, like you said, who have just lost weight in general and not just moms, but also people who have lost a lot of weight.

Okay, so let’s find out what you can do about another common post pregnancy issue – stretch marks.

If you would like more expert advice on post pregnancy fat loss, then check out ClubFYM.com.