You’re probably here for two reasons – you want to avoid a saggy skin or you already have one. If you’re reading this because of the second reason, this article is not for you. But if you’re interested in the real reason behind your saggy skin, you can find the answer here.

What went wrong?

People with saggy skin had a crash diet. They also lacked resistance training in their workout program. They followed shortcut diets, resulting in a drastic weight loss without exercise. If they do exercise, they only perform cardiovascular exercise.

As mentioned, a crash diet is one of the two main culprits of saggy skin. It’s sometimes called fad diet because it aims to lose weight in a short period of time. Most fad diets claim that they can help you lose at least 11 pounds a week. It contradicts the standard weight you need to lose within a week, which is one to two pounds.

When you lose weight too fast, you are losing the fat layer of your skin a.k.a. subcutaneous fat. You are also losing the underlying supportive muscles that make your skin taut. So, you’ll end up having a saggy or loose skin.

Why crash diets are effective?

Lauren McGuckin told the Huffington Post Australia that fad diets are effective. Yet she said that the diets do not promote balance. They cut out core food groups while putting the other types of food on a pedestal.

The Huffington Post Australia listed seven fad diets including Atkins, Dukan, intermittent fasting, Paleo, Alkaline diet, 1,200 calorie diet and no carbs after 5 p.m.

The 1,200 calorie diet and the calorie deficit are sometimes interchangeably used. Yet both have a different concept.

In the 1,200 calorie diet requires you to limit your calorie intake to 1,200 calories only every day — regardless of baseline metabolism, body size and composition, BMI and physical activity. But the calorie deficit requires you to eat less than the total amount of the total calories you burn each day. It’s healthier than limiting your diet to only 1,200 calories a day.

To compute the right amount of calories to intake every day, Straight Health’s calorie calculator is a good way to start. Then make sure to eat healthy foods that would fill your calorie count and not the other way around. Some people eat anything they want including empty calories just to fill the number.

Resistance training? Oh no!

The not-so-fun part of losing weight is the resistance training. It is lesser attractive than a cardio routine because it’s very hard for a beginner. But whether you like it or not, you need to do it if you don’t want a saggy skin after a weight loss.

Resistance training is also called strength training and weight training. It helps the abdominal and core muscle development so you can burn more fat. It has a conditioning effect giving your body firm and defined muscles. It increases metabolism responsible for burning more calories.

Bodybuilding.com quoted a study stating that in a two-month period, you can lose 3.5 pounds of fat. As you lose fat, you gain almost two pounds of muscle. To achieve it, you need to perform strength training twice or thrice a week.

Are you ready to take the longer route to achieve a toned body? Cut down your calories and include two days of resistance training every week. Patience and hard work are your best friends to keep the desire burning. Yes to weight loss! No to saggy skin!