Bodybuilding Forums

As briefly as possible. I am a 35 year old female who has been overweight literally from toddlerhood until 2005 when I finally had a gastric bypass surgery because nothing else worked. I currently weigh 145 pounds or so on a 5'2 inch frame. I have led a very sedentary life style most of my life, partly due to the fact that I became so used to feeling unable to do anything due to my girth that I just accepted it and lived life laying around like a slug. I also have a seated occupation which did not help matters.

In the past year I have finally decided that enough is enough. I now ride motorcycles Its great. More recently, a little over a month ago I have started a cardio regimen every other day and have added in the last two weeks a weight training program 45 minutes every other day.

I feel like I am doing awesome and maybe I am just having the so called honey moon phase where my body responds fairly quickly but I have increased my weights (as far as bench pressing) by 5 pounds the second week..and all my dumbell work by 5 pounds the second week as well.

My question, and sorry for the novel, is as expected with gastric bypass I lost a lot of weight in about a year to 2 years time and of course being so sedentary I have developed A lot of loose and hanging skin. Is there hope for me. Can you build enough muscle to give the skin something to wrap around so to speak?

I appreciate any help I can get.

On a side note, totally enjoyed Mark's blog about the Atkins diet. I personally follow a lower fat restricted form of the atkins diet and I am really assured to learn through Mark's blog that your body will grab the extra calories it needs to build muscle during the recovery phase from your stored fat. yeah.

Thanks again

Pretty sure at your age it will all tighten up over time.
Worry more about keeping the weight off and gaining muscle.
This is my opinion.
There is a guy here at the gym that lost 140 lbs and he has the same problem, is the same age as you.

Congratulations on your new lifestyle.

Thank you so much for responding. I have actually with a lot of work and diet kept the weight off for six years now. I have exercised off and on, always giving up but only cardio and a little bit of very light girlie weights with girlie videos. This is the first time I have taken a serious interest in heavy weight lifting and I am really excited about it. I lift with my guy, not alone. I just really wonder how much I can accomplish with the skin thing. Regardless I feel great. I feel very full of energy and I am actually starting to like "feeling the burn"

Thank you again for your response.