Recently I have been really concerned with sagging skin, so I thought doing weights in the gym after surgery would help with that. I have read some previous posts, and just wanted to ask if carbs before the weights, Protein after is the way to go? I don't want to bulk up, I am aiming for toned, and reducing skin sagging as much as possible. Also, does the resistance band workout work as well as weights? or stick to weights?

Thank you in advance!!! =)

I have not made a study of it, but I dance and walk, no weights,,,Over time my lose skin has gotten better for sure. Bulking up a little will fill in the loose skin... my two years of working out dancing before surgery finally showed up after I lost most of the fat! Good luck, Im sure those who are more athletic than I can help with your question... my contribution is mostly that the skin will shrink on its own to a point with time.

I thought I wasn't self concious about my body, but I have so much to lose and I keep picturing folds of sagging skin >.<

I have not made a study of it, but I dance and walk, no weights,,,Over time my lose skin has gotten better for sure. Bulking up a little will fill in the loose skin... my two years of working out dancing before surgery finally showed up after I lost most of the fat! Good luck, Im sure those who are more athletic than I can help with your question... my contribution is mostly that the skin will shrink on its own to a point with time.

I have to lose 95 lbs. i'm pre-surgery DOS 12/15/11 - I thought the "extra" weight wouldn't disappear without having plastic surgery? The weight especially that will hang around my stomach.

Lifting weights is going to be your best route to add muscle, which will help take the place vacated by the loss of fat. This is because you have a measurable metric to gage by. Resistance bands are great, but the amount of resistance can change by adjusting a few factors. How much stretch are you starting with? How far are you stretching them. It is easy to cheat with bands. Weights won't lie to you.

The extra skin will be there, though, so we can only offset it by a small amount. I will probably start looking at plastic surgery once I have my sleeve paid off, which will be sometime late next year.

As far as the nutrition goes, everyone is going to have an opinion on this. Here is mine.

Eating carbs before a workout is not going to help you at all during that workout. Those carbs need to be processed by your body and stored. Your body will use what has already been processed and stored. Yes, those need to be replaced, so your best bet is to maintain a carb intake level that is right for you. As long as you maintain your workout routine, you maintain that carb intake. Slack off on working out, cut back the carbs, increase workouts or intensity, increase carbs to maintain your energy stores. Protein should be taken within 30 minutes of completing your lifting routine so the muscles can be repaired and built. I try to finish my shake within 15 minutes, before I shower.

What I have suggested to many is to pay for a session with a personal trainer. Let's look at what we have done here and the amount of $$ we have paid. Let's look at how much $$ we are saving on food each month. If we're making an effort for fitness, don't we want to do it efficiently? I think $50 would be worth it. If you belong to a club, talk to whoever the head trainer is and tell them your story and what your goals are. They should be able to set you up with the trainer and program that is right for you.

@ PdxMan- thank you, what you are saying about carbs make sense to me.

I have to lose 95 lbs. i'm pre-surgery DOS 12/15/11 - I thought the "extra" weight wouldn't disappear without having plastic surgery? The weight especially that will hang around my stomach.

I am guessing that what you are calling "extra weight" you mean extra skin? Excess body weight/fat is the amount you need to lose to get to a "normal" Body Mass Index. After you lose that, there may be some extra skin left over that used to be filled up with fat. This will shrink up some over a year or two after you finish losing the weight. I don't have much, not enough to bother getting plastic surgery. How much excess skin you have left has to do with several factors... your genetics, how much you have had to lose, what your expectations are and perhaps how much exercise you do.... perhaps your age as well. I am 56, have lost 84 pounds so far, and my skin is already shrinking. I have a couple of body parts that bother me a bit, but really not bad at all. Each of us is different. You can lose a few last pounds if you have excess skin removed.

I have found that some complex carb (like a slice of whole grain bread, maybe 25-30g carb) a couple of hours before a workout gives me some added endurance in the pool, but it doesn't seem to do much for me on strength training workouts. Both are in the 60-90 minute range. I have an overall carb rate of around 100g per day on 1000-1200 calories.

Yes, I think and have been told that building some muscle will help with sagging skin. Also, the best time to take carbs are right after a workout, because your glycogen (spelling?) has been depleted during a workout, so taking in carbs, along with Protein helps your muscles to rebuild and must be done pretty soon after a workout. I've been back at the gym for a couple of weeks now lifting and it helps me to feel great! I would just caution you to maybe not weigh yourself constantly. I weigh about once every 10 days or so. If you hit a stall (which will be temporary), weighing everyday or every other day will just drive you nuts during the stall. Good luck!!

Everyone's body processes differently. A calorie is not just a calorie. My body HATES carbs - loves protein. My sister's body does well with carbs. I've run half marathons on nothing but green leafy carbs. No grains whatsoever - and I don't mean just in the immediate. I've gone months without any grains and continually run 5 miles a day, and even half marathons on weekends. However, many of the people I used to run with could not possibly run without carbing up.

Bottom line, find out what your body is asking you for. Good luck