This will probably be long and rant-ish and make no sense. Just warnin' ya. As far back as I can remember, I've been on the chubby side, always bigger than my peers. Even as far back as four and five years old, I was a big kid. Not vertically, of course, but horizontally. I attribute this to the fact that I am a severe asthmatic, and that back when I was younger I was basically in love with McDonalds. This as always caused problems for me, but physically - not being able to do a lot of the things my friends could do - and mentally - as you can assume, I have a huge self-image problem. I think of myself as unattractive, as someone no one could ever fall in love with. If not for my big ego - yes, I know, it contradicts itself, but I'm a smart ass - I would probably be severely depressed. I've been involved in sports - football, hockey, soccer - but none of them have lasted very long because of my asthma. The longest was football, which I played from the seventh grade to last year, my freshman year, when my asthma became too much for the sport (and I was outed to the school. Thought it best to get the hell out of the locker room.) I put on weight - not much, because even before that I was huge. At my highest, which I think was last month, I weighed 225 lbs. at 5'8". Around last May I got fed up with being this way and started working out - my mother has an exercise bike and I would go for runs (it helps that I do this on my own instead of being pushed by coaches, I know my limits this way) - and lost around 15 lbs. But right at the end of May I was outed to both the school and my family. School was fine, but my family took it horribly. I stopped exercising and sank into a bit of a depression, gaining all my weight back again. Now, to the point of this post. About six months back I started getting stretch marks. I didn't think anything of them for a while - I had no idea what they were at the time - but now it's gotten to the point where I see them all over. I have them on my shoulder blades (the most obvious), my inner arms, my belly (lots and lots of them here, but they blend in with my skin tone), and my inner thighs. I don't know what caused them, most likely it was losing weight and gaining it back so fast. I'm also a snare drummer in my school band, and carrying the drum strapped to me is heavy and it stretches my skin. I really don't mind the stretch marks that much - like I said, most of them you can hardly see, and from all that I've read they'll fade with time. But a couple of weeks back I got fed up with being fat again and started back on my diet/exercising. I've actually found that I enjoy exercising, something I never thought I would be able to do, which really excites me. I've lost around 8 lbs already. Reason I'm making this post is that I'm afraid of getting more stretch marks as I lose the weight - which I am completely determined to do now. From everything I've read, they say to lose the weight slowly, no more than a pound or two per week, but I've lost 8 in two weeks. I can't control how much weight I lose, I can't just not push my hardest, it's either all or nothing for me. I also saw a post on here a few days ago about extra skin, and that thought frightens me as well. To make a very long story short (sorry. I warned you), I need advice on losing weight and not getting stretch marks/extra skin. I know that in the end its all about looking better and feeling better and being healthy, but I would really not have the other stuff that goes along with that. Do you guys have any advice? I've looked all over and heard so many different things, I just need concrete answers from a site I trust. Thanks. p.s. Sorry for the rambling. Again. -Kanen
I try to put Vitamin E lotion on scars or stretchmarks. I'm sure there are creams out there that minimize the appearance of stretch marks as well. As long as they're pink in colour, they can be minimized. I would also try to get back to exercising. Your number of fat cells in your body are determined at a certain age and can never be minimized in their quantity, only in their physical size through exercise. I wish you the best. You're not alone. It can become something to be self conscious about, but really, someone who is going to love you, will love you stretch marks or not. Do it for your own physical and emotional well being.
Most people don't get loose skin until after they've lost an obscene amount of weight, like 100+ pounds, so I don't think you really have to worry about that too much. Since you're young and stuff too, your skin is still firm. It will tighten up. If you were doing this at like 40+ maybe then you might have reasons to be concerned, but not right now. You should definitely start using a lotion with vitamin E in it too to start fading the stretchmarks while they're still fresh.
