Getting Lean - Losing the Skin

I am amazed at the number of women who ask me, if I have leftover skin, hanging skin.  It seems so many are worried about this skin more than about weighing 200, 300 or more pounds.  More than about high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, not being able to move about freely.  They go so far as to say, I'm afraid to lose the weight because I am afraid to have the loose skin.  What???  You can't be serious.  When I remind them of the health benefits of weight loss and ask if they are worried about their current state, it seems to snap them out of it, at least at that moment and they realize that it's a little crazy to decide to not lose weight to avoid excess skin.

I had this conversation with a friend just last weekend.  After giving her the "are you kidding me speech," I said to her, "you've seen me in shorts, you've seen me in short sleeves, what do you think?"  Her response, "I don't see any, you look lean."  I must admit, I too was concerned about excess skin but was determined to approach weight loss the healthy, slow steady way...with plenty of exercise to avoid the excess skin.  I get comments all the time about how healthy and lean I look!  I LOVE IT!

So today, I share my tips for losing some of the excess skin during your weight loss journey:

• Take it slow, shoot for losing no more than 2lbs per week
• Exercise regularly, aerobics and strength training.  I walked only, in the beginning and then added aerobic and interval training classes and then weight lifting.  Building muscle helps to burn fat and create a leaner build
• Get rid of some of your carbs!  You've got to add more lean protein and less high carbs to your diet.  I only allow myself 1 serving of whole grain bread, pasta, rice or potatoes 3-4x a week. For my body, more than that and I gain weight.  
• Eat lean, healthy protein at each meal.  It keeps you satiated. 
• Eat plenty of fruits and veggies, they are carbs too.

It's interesting to note that I see so many women at the club who work out as much as I do, or more than I do who have not lost a pound or who still look fatty, although they are not big...just not lean.  A number of them have asked about my diet, stating I look lean.  All have two things in common...one they eat enough to use up every minute of exercise and they LOVE carbs..cannot give up the bread, pastas etc.

It feels quite good to be told you look lean and even better when you have a conversation with a personal trainer, who tells you, you look lean and who shares his eating plan when he wants to lean up and build muscle:  protein at each meal, carbs only 1x per day and meat and veggies for dinner.  Hmmmm?  Sound familiar?  I feel so validated!

Have a happy, healthy day...and go lean.