The jiggle effect?

[daniellecross]

So I have been mildly strict with my diet for a couple months (counting all calories during the week and not so much on the weekends).  I have also been doing more cardio and am starting to work in the strength training, which will be my main focus come July.  Basically, I haven't been serious enough to make any transformations but I have changed enough of my habits to drop a couple pounds.

 

My issue is that I have noticed that my stomach seems to be more jiggly than it was in the past and maybe looks like it's dropped a bit, if that makes sense?  I haven't gained any weight so I took to the interwebs to see what gives.  I found some info on people calling it the "jiggle effect".  Has anyone else heard of this or can you offer me any advice?  I am heading to the beach in August and would rather not have the jiggle going on. 

[Vintage]

First, good job on what you've done so far. Those little changes can be really effective and encouraging. Just keep adding to them.

 

I don't know about others, but...

 

After losing 50 lbs off my starting 205 I've got a few places where there's excess skin. For me it's most noticeable at the base of my arms and the very top inside of my thighs. It seems to be getting better veeery slowly. I know that this will depend on a lot of factors (age is a big one), and for some people it goes away completely and for some it won't.

 

But I also know that I just pay more attention to it now after so many months of focusing on my body.

 

Bodies can be strange, weight comes off in weird ways, and it rarely looks exactly like we want it to. 

[FalseAesop]

Loose skin can take way longer to shrink back down than getting rid of the fat deposits under it, as the poster above me said, if at all. Keep in mind the only way it ever will is if you keep those fat deposits from ever claiming their empty space again. I've heard some people recommend moisturizer to help speed up the process... and it makes sense, but I have no idea if it actually does or if people just perceive that it does. Lowering body fat % will of course help further.

[Jetikus]

Interesting... and it makes sense that there would possibly be more jiggle if you lost some weight because there is now only the excess skin and what remains of the fat.

 

My advice?

 

Do some research on skin care. Chances are there's an answer for your predicament and a method for getting the skin to tighten. If you're young, then I imagine that it shouldn't be impossible to tighten it up. However, as we age, the body doesn't recover quite as well as it used to, so stay on course with your weight loss and do some research on skin care.

[Alectau]

I have this same thing happening. It is not doing anything wonderful for my self-image, that is for sure! From what I have read it is just a confirmation of what the top two posters have said. If you continue to lose weight at a healthy rate, your skin will continue to shrink back as you go (very rapid weight loss of a large amount of weight can result in a large amount of hanging skin that may be unchangeable, but from what I have read this is usually a result of rapid weight loss of over 100 lbs.). Unfortunately I think that the jiggle is only going to go away for me once I approach the end of this initial stage of my fitness journey (weight loss). Taking care of your skin is also a good choice. Exfoliate before or in the shower and moisturize after every shower, and I am certain you will see a difference. Good luck with everything!

[KingZora]

This is kind of similar to the "woosh effect" as well.  In which you begin to lose fat, but as your fat cells empty they fill up with water instead as your bodies way of maintaining stasis in what it thinks is supposed to be its normal condition.  This can sometimes cause weight loss to appear to stall and then as if magic you wake up one morning and you've lost a bunch of weight and are noticeably slimmer.  In the mean time that water is more fluid and "jiggly" than fat is.  You could be experiencing something similar to this... just keep up a heatlhy diet and excercise routine.  Our bodies don't really like change, they prefer to find a stable condition and maintain that, and sometimes they are better at doing that than we'd wish.

 

It could be excess skin as well from what was mentioned above... but not knowing anything about your body I couldn't say for sure.  I just know that I have experienced the above before and it is an interesting phenomenon, that will eventually sort itself out as long as you are consistent and healthy about your routine.

[daniellecross]

I am not that drastically overweight just kinda not very in shape with thickness, most of my fat likes to hang out in the midsection area but I really don't think it's been enough to call it excess skin, at least not to the point of hanging off.  I have read up of the "woosh effect" and I think it may be more along the lines of this.  It's almost like the muscles are getting stonger underneath and the fat is detaching and jigging around on top just waiting to be burned away ha.  At least that's my observation and description of it.  Thanks for all the feedback guys!

[Waldo]

It is squishy fat, a sign that you are in a calorie defict.

Quit losing fat and it goes away pretty fast. Like a day or two will usually clear it up, a week or two at most.

The leaner you get the more and more noticable it becomes (until there is nearly no fat left).