Trimming Up After Weight Loss

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

No question/request too big or small 😎

❝How can I get rid of those batwings…I will be 65 years old in July. Mine are from loosing weight. I went from 200 pounds down to 170. Plus the crepe, or creepy skin as I call it…thank you for your time❞

First things first, we hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Now, as for your question, it may be quite a challenge, but it can be done!

With regard to the “bat wings”, popular wisdom is to do arm exercises, often focused on the triceps (such a push-ups with your elbows tucked in to your sides, or tricep dips), to tone up.

These will indeed improve muscle tone, but unless you’re building a considerable amount of mass (enough to replace the lost volume of subcutaneous fat), the effects on bat wings are not likely to be profound.

If you want to do that in any case (it’s highly recommendable for general health, even if the effects vs bat wings may be modest), then check out: How To Build Muscle (Healthily!)

With a similar logic of filling the space, another option would of course be to simply put the fat back on, but for the sake of giving a more comprehensive answer, we will assume your weight loss was intentional and so regaining is not on your to-do list. If perchance you do want to do that, though, then we also have just the thing for you in that regard, too: How To Gain Weight (Healthily!).

Those things pertain to what’s under the skin; now let’s consider this skin itself.

Bat wings and crêpey skin are both in large part a matter of reduced production of collagen and elastin, and this one’s more tied to age than to weight loss (though the weight loss renders it more visible).

Basically, your skin is re-making itself all the time, but as we get older, it does this less efficiently than it did once upon a time, and the body isn’t as good at synthesizing all the necessary ingredients. Often we eat less too, which can lead to nutritional shortfalls if we’re not attentive to such.

We wrote quite a bit about this, here: We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of

Collagen can also be supplemented, but it’s really only useful taken orally; collagen is really not something that can be usefully taken transdermally (e.g. in a topical cream), see: Are Collagen Molecules Too Big To Be Absorbed?

If you are taking it orally, see: Biggest Collagen Study Yet Shows What It Does (& Doesn’t) Improve

And if you don’t want to take it directly, you can also help your body to simply make it itself! For more on that, see The Best Foods For Collagen Production and 16 Ways To Boost Collagen ← because not everything is about diet; there are some topical things that do help (e.g. retinoids), some non-consumable methods too (e.g. red light therapy), and of course protecting your skin from UV damage (e.g. wearing sunscreen)

Lastly, here are 6 ways to prevent further skin thinning, and 5 ways to reverse it: How To Reverse Skin Thinning

Want to do more?

At 10almonds, our aim is generally to make health science simple, and give people practical tools that will be accessible to most readers.

We also tend to consider surgery something most of our readers will want to avoid if reasonably possible, but it is worth noting that in this case, surgical options do exist and are considered highly beneficial by those who choose them (something of a selection bias there, because obviously the people who choose an elective surgery are more likely to be positively disposed towards it, but the main point here is that the science does back it consistently improving health-related quality of life (HRQoL) amongst those patients:

A systematic review of body contouring surgery in post-bariatric patients to determine its prevalence, effects on quality of life, desire, and barriers

Want to do less?

If you like the idea of minimal-effort solutions but surgery is a bit scary and/or simply a risk you’d rather not take if you don’t have to, then there’s also a non-invasive ultrasound therapy that shows merit:

A Review of the Use of Ultrasound for Skin Tightening, Body Contouring, and Cellulite Reduction in Dermatology

Take care!