Q: hi mike

I have recently lost a lot of weight with weight watchers - 1 was 16 st 6.5 lbs and i'm now 12st 7.5 lbs and still going with weight watchers, trying to get down to at least 10st 7lb. My weight loss sems to have plateaued over time and it has got much harder. I have taken up exercise as well, but have only really been doing that recently. I have found that as a result i have very saggy skin, particualrly on my stomach, where i have a 'pouch'. My legs are very wobbly and i have bingo wings. What can you suggest to get rid of this? At the moment i do half crunches, brisk walking and use weights in what i'm told are the correct manner, but this doesn't seem to be working, especially for my stomach. I feel very unnattractive as i'm only 21. What is your advice?

A: Congrats on your recent weight loss -- you should be very proud! As you found out, losing weight gets harder and harder as you approach your goal weight. This is normal and happens with any program, no matter how good it is. Unfortunately without a lot more detail about your everyday diet and exercise program I can't give you specific suggestions beyond my fat loss article.

In general Weight Watchers is not the best dietary approach because it does not emphasize good calories over bad calories. A couple cookies may have the same number of points as a bowl of oatmeal but the latter is much much healthier and conducive to weight loss. While simple overall calorie restriction as provided by Weight Watchers may be good enough to lose weight when you are very overweight (such as was the case with you), the better shape you are in, the more you have to work to optimize your diet to keep making progress. If you haven't already, read my Nutrition article to see what foods you should be eating.

As far as your training, again, I would need more detail about exactly what exercises you do. To get maximum benefit out of weight training you need to lift relatively heavy weights and you need to prioritize large exercises such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, rows, pulldowns, and bench press.

Finally, there is unfortunately not a whole lot you can do for your lose skin, beyond being patient. Vitamin E lotion may possily help a little bit, but don't expect too much. Good news is that with time your skin will shrink and not be so loose. Hope that helps!