Lose muscle?

I'm 19 and am about 15 lbs overweight...I'm worried that when (or if!) I lose it I'll have bags under my eyes or sagging skin...is 15 lbs enough to cause this? I think mentally it's making me scared of dieting as best as I could.

Thu. Nov 17, 10:32am

Even if you weren't 19, you have nothing to worry about. I'm a massage therapist and once worked on a 22yo who had lost 110 lbs. The only signs of previous obesity were the silvery remnants of stretch marks - no saggy skin, no under-eye bags.

Just so you know, I started getting stretchmarks at +30 lbs, so do yourself a huge favor and never let yourself get that much overweight without a darn good excuse, like pregnancy. If somebody had warned me that you could get stretchmarks from getting fat when I just had a "little" weight problem, I honestly think that would have been a huge motivator to keep things under control (I'm about 80 lbs overweight).

Thursday, November 17, 2005, 11:19 AM

You won't lose it all overnight. Start your regimen and then see what you look like after you lose a few pounds. Then a few pounds more. If you see that losing weight is having an adverse effect, you could always eat more....which is what I wish my problem was lol.

Thursday, November 17, 2005, 2:37 PM

Don't worry!

15 pounds should not cause sagging sking so don't worry about that.

Your best bet to keep yourself looking good is to exercise (lifting weights especially will make you look nice and firm) and to make sure you get enough fat in your diet, good fats that is. I have lost 80 pounds so far with just 5 more to go and I have noticed a marked improvement in my appearance and how I feel by bringing up my fat intake a bit, eating walnuts and salmon for instance which both have lots of good fat, as well as taking fish oil supplements. My face looks much better. My fat intake had gotten really low before because I was cutting back calories and eating a ton of fruits and veggies, which are great to have by the way but don't ignore other food groups. My energy was down and I had dark circles under my eyes. Now the difference is amazing. And yes protein is important too. Just don't go overboard in an one area, you need a little of everything - balance is key.

So just eat well, think of eating for your health more than weight loss in terms of what food you choose. Brocolli is a better choice and will fill you up more than say a rice cake will. Portion control is important too. And realize that you will lose weight if you lower your intake but you'll look your best if you are consuming healthy food.

And get moving. You don't have much to lose and you have youth on your side. Good luck.

Friday, November 18, 2005, 8:53 AM

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