Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Skin Elasticity and Kate Hudson





Many women are concerned about loose skin remaining after they lose a lot of weight or have a baby. Kate Hudson has recently been featured as having a saggy belly in Star magazine's Best and Worst Beach Bodies, and has in the same week been featured in Us and In Touch as having a toned tummy.

People on the web have commented that the Star photo is fake, but I believe it is simply old; she felt a lot of pressure to lose her baby weight very fast (her kid is three or four). Stretched out skin can take up to two years to firm up. In the saggy photo Kate looks stressed out and scrawny, and her tummy has more fat and muscle in the newer photo.

I tried to find more scientific information on the topic of skin elasticity, but alas, all I came up with were articles on body contouring in plastic surgery journals. The best writing I came across is by Justin Leonard:

Weight Loss, Extra Skin

Question: I have recently lost a lot of weight and seem to have extra skin with some fat covering my lower abs. Is surgery the only solution?
Justin Leonard: Not necessarily . . . For some, the skin's elasticity will change over time back to its normal state. But admittedly, others' will never change. You may want to give it a couple months for improvement, just to make sure it isn't a temporary state for your skin.

He has a nice website on weight lifting and fitness issues.

One thing for sure is, kudos to Kate for baring her tummy and not getting impatient and having it tucked, and kudos to Star for publishing these pictures, even though they should have been in the "Stars, They're Just Like Us" section.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, her toned tummy is amazing! That kind of ab definition doesn't come easily.

sciencebird said...

Yes. Some fitness experts think exercise can help tone up loose skin, and some say it will not, but I think it can help. A lot of heavy people worry that they'll have too much excess skin if they lose their fat, and would rather remain fat, but I think if you lose your weight reasonably and exercise, you reduce your chances.
I don't think her stomach looks bad in the post-baby weight loss photo either, it's just a bad shot all around.

Gayathri said...

Wow, I wish I had those abs. But I am really lazy.