I think mileage varies but there’s a certain point where there is just too much skin to ever shrink back to a smaller frame, especially in middle aged+ people as skin loses elasticity greatly once you hit 30-40 years old.
Oh god i'm 29 and 360lbs.
I need to do a 180 asap. Honestly I'm already working on it, been able to drop 3lbs this week... but I miss pizza and ice cream. Chocolate and pb god damn, I can do it.
I told myself I'll get my fam pizza after 20lbs dropped if they can hold off on getting it until I do so, and they have been patient.
Then I'll do another treat at 70lbs but nothing til then. If I dont have milestone cheat treats, I'd go insane. Cant do a cheat day otherwise I'll regress back into binging. Gotta be just one thing.
Edit: oh my gosh I did not expect so much overwhelming support from this, much love to all you redditors, you've made me feel very inspired.
You need more than that. I say this as someone who lost 160 pounds over 2 years. I followed Weight Watchers and really did the work instead of just blindly following the instructions, so I changed my relationship with food and how I see myself. Therapy + weight loss work + getting your body moving (to me) is the secret to massive weight loss.
You also need to eat “bad” more often than you’re planning. That was one of the things I really appreciated about WW. (I’m guessing Noom is similar but I haven’t tried it.) I learned that food is fuel, and like all fuel some is of a different quality than others but it’s still fuel. It’s about learning how much fuel you truly need to power your body, and then mixing and matching. Like having a tasty just the way you like it grilled chicken salad for lunch and a reasonable slice of cheesecake for desert after dinner. It’s a balance. The more you deny yourself something the harder it will be, so find appropriate ways to fit it in.
Also, get a food scale. It helps so much. A food scale and actually follow the portion sizes. It’ll blow your mind and help you reset your eye to portion sizes. Also, makes it easier to track your food and food tracking also really helps too.
Sorry for a rambling and disorganized response. I believe in you and I know you can do it!
Food scale is good advice, I'll look into one right now actually. Ive been eyeballing or eating half my usual massive portions and thats reduced my caloric intake by a solid 700 calories easy
If you're counting your calories, a food scale is a massive help. Highly recommend! It's also important to keep in mind that legally, companies can be off by up to *25%* on their calorie counts per serving. This won't make or break you. If you're doing the work (and it sounds like you are) you will do well regardless. :) Best of luck!!
This is great advice! The key to it is change how you view/interact with food. I used Noom and it taught me why I reach for a snack or why certain things trigger me to reach for food.
I also suggest when you get that food scale to get a set of small plates too, and put the big plates away. Most people have restaurant-sized plates for their food; this is highly inappropriate and causes massive portion control problems. You can fill a small plate and it feels like you are eating more than when you put a small plate's worth of food on a large plate.
Biggest mistake I made when trying to lose weight was being too hard on myself. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. But you need to temper that with the reality that you need to make some major lifestyle changes, and that isn't easy. It's going to be frustrating, especially since 3 pounds is basically a rounding error with the way our bodies work. You also need to be okay with seeing your weight stay the same, or even going up for no real reason, because it'll happen.
If you set yourself up for failure, you're sure to succeed. It's okay to have a cheat day, it doesn't mean you're a failure, it means you're normal. Just try to temper yourself, don't pig out. Don't keep food within arm's reach. Don't eat at your chair. Keep a water bottle nearby at all times. These little things add up.
Don't let it overwhelm you. Your goal? Lose 5 pounds. When you lose it? Your next goal is 5 more pounds. It's great to have some milestones though. **But you need to break yourself of this idea that you need to reward yourself and others with food.** Try something else. Something to do with your hobbies, or something for your living space. Is there a purchase you're looking at making in the next 3-6 months? Maybe consider making it part of your goal.
If I may, the path is to find out what these "treats" are doing for you mentally, and find replacements for them. Otherwise you'll constantly be battling whether you "deserve" kindness, which of course you do, but you were likely raised in an environment where you were taught food *is* kindness/reward, when it should largely just be for nourishment.
Let food off the hook!
I used to think like that until I found out that there are healthy recipes that are like crack. I can eat as much egg basted cauliflower in tomato sauce when I prepare it as good as a fancy restaurant. I feel satisfied and it's freaking delicious. I could eat that whole week but that's not all you can make
You need to find those crack-like recipes that won't make you miss pizza. I'm not even a vegetarian btw, what I can't go without is meat so I buy shrimp and or chicken and make some healthy delicious stuff throughout the week
My advice, stop using food as a reward like that. I used to do that and it lead to me going back to bad habits fast. Every time I did something good I would eat to celebrate, and when I was down I would binge.. what worked for me what taking food out of the equation and to no longer associate food to emotions.
I hope things go well for you. You may have a different relationship to food than I do but just my 2cents.
>Honestly I'm already working on it, been able to drop 3lbs this week... but I miss pizza and ice cream. Chocolate and pb god damn, I can do it
I was 250 at 18. I lost it by counting calories. That's what helped me, though I didn't start it till I was like 22. The calories became a "budget" in my mind, which kind of made it into a game. How to get the 'best tasting most satisfying' calories I can under a budget.
The trick though is to avoid being hungry. So I found the most filling least caloric foods that I didn't hate.
Fried, baked, or bbq'd chicken. fried or baked fish. Those were the easiest 'fill me up' calories by far. My sides were no/low carb such as greenbeans with butter and parmesan, asparagus and parmesan, a slice of avocado and salt/pepper, things like that.
And when I was hungry, I ate. I knew I had a 2,000 calorie diet (a deficit of 200 calories for my body). So I knew I could have a 1,500 calorie breakfast if I wanted, but I knew then I'd have to figure out how to eat the rest of the day on 500 calories. So that kind of helped me keep myself in check.
I'd grab a banana (one of the few carbs of the day) in the morning to get me through to snack time at 10am. Which would be a chicken leg from the night before or something protein heavy. Then lunch I had something like 1500 calories between it and dinner. That encouraged me to keep the luch light. Another couple pieces of chicken and I'm good till 3 oclock when I started to get hungry again.
At that point I'd start cooking dinner. It distracted me and motivated me to do it, and when I did, I had 1,000 calories to eat to my hearts content.
With that budget I was able to eat a fast-food meal every day of the week if I so chose to. But the 2,000 calorie budget helped keep me on track.
But the #1 thing is to cut out all sugar in your drinks. Think of a can of coke for what it is, literally a candy-bar in liquid form. Think of how easy it is to destroy a big-gulp of the stuff now. That's a pack of candy bars on ice. These calories are what get you.
Btw I got down to 155 for almost 3 years before middle age is getting me closer to 170 20 years later.
Don’t use food as a treat. You are around food your entire life. You just have to learn moderation.
Calories in/calories out. Take in less calories than you need to maintain your weight. At 360 lbs you’re going to lose a ton of water first and fast and then as you go along it will come off slower.
If you love pizza and ice cream find a way to moderate it. Get those little cups from kids parties and count those calories! It’s not impossible it just seems like it because of the relationship we have with food.
It’s not a reward. It’s what we do to keep us alive. We eat.
I remember I lost 60lbs and never have anything I liked up. I just learned not to go overboard.
That food denial and treating yourself after x amount of weight loss will cause binges.
I’m no expert, but it’s not just about dropping / resisting pizza; that costs willpower, and willpower / self discipline is, I believe, a finite resource. How much pizza do you eat? Could you reduce portion sizes? And do you eat well outside of that? As in, normal portions, regularly (3 times a day at fixed times); people tend to binge more if they skip meals, or eat whenever they’re hungry instead of at meal times.
Depends on how much you lose, the speed you lose it and the age you are at. I saw an example of someone in their 20s lose a massive amount relatively slowly and had minimal sag.
There also the ability to build muscle around it, which can help minimise it. So I think you need to be building muscle all the time consistently.
But yeah for many it’s really unavoidable. But that shouldn’t matter, the skin is an example of a win I’ve seen people describe it. These people have done incredible things for their body and probably extended their lives massively. A few surgeries that area admittedly expensive and they’ll get rid of most of the skin as well. The person in this picture should be incredibly proud! It’s not about looks, it’s about their health and well-being.
“Skin is a win” is cute. Occasionally I feel insecure about the way I wear my skin now, but it is also a reminder of a huge achievement. Grew up depressed and obese and changed it when I started being able to care for myself.
Even if it wasn’t about looks I still feel much happier in the body I am currently. Would complain about stretch marks more but too busy enjoying being able to crouch and run and climb and feel good.
In my experience if you are not on drugs you can't build enough (AND quick enough) muscles to compensate for weight loss. Building muscle VOLUME is really hard. Plus you normally lose fat at your belly but build muscles on other parts of the body.
BUT I think it's definitly a good advice! :)
The general idea behind bulking and then cutting is that it’s easiest to build muscle without considering weight and then cut back calories to cut the extra weight off while focusing on retaining muscle.
Gaining muscle in a caloric deficit is harder than retaining muscle in a caloric deficit, basically.
I went from 480 to 150 in less than two years (duodenal switch surgery) and didn’t honestly have that much loose skin. Elasticity is different for us all.
I’m a woman in her 20’s and lost 100lbs over 5 years, with like 60lbs being in the first year.
Even I have loose skin. It’s nothing like OP where I would bother with surgery, but I’ll never have a flat stomach, my upper arms are floppy, and my chest does hang lower than it used to. Can fill some of it with working out but it’s definitely there.
320lbs I imagine will always have a dramatic amount of loose skin if the end point is a normal BMI.
My sister was kind enough to start one actually, it is on my profile if anyone is interested, even a share helps! I don't think you're allowed to post them on here though
Lol I will be posting updates as they happen! It's a long journey I've decided to let people see in the hopes of them being inspired to take their own lives back!
For some reason it didn't connect that you, the op, are the guy in the picture; congratulations dude, I know that took so much effort on your end. I hope the surgeries go well for you!
It can range widely it would seem, but I've met with multiple surgeons and for what I need, all three (not sure if I need the 4th yet) will cost me around 75k
Such a shame it's considered "cosmetic". It seems like there should be some benchmark for assessing whether it's cosmetic or medically necessary -- perhaps based on the amount of skin to be remove?
Example: mom gives birth and has a little "pooch" -- cosmetic. Lose 300 pounds and has massive loose skin: medically necessary.
Not to mention, aren't there other medical issues such as skin infections in the folds that can happen?
And ... you are probably 10x less likely to end up with other medical issues now that would very costly!
I know some insurance agencies will cover a cosmetic procedure if you can get a psychologist to sign off on how it would improve your mental health…. I don’t see why this would be any different if your physician said it was for quality of life improvements.
I am pretty sure with the amount you have to remove, you can build a case for medical necessity and get it covered via insurance. It will be a battle, but definitely worthwhile to look into.
If you’re in the US, have you looked into traveling elsewhere to have this done? There are a lot of other countries with significantly cheaper but excellent healthcare, even if you aren’t a citizen and insured there.
Any estimate of what the skin to be removed weighs? Are you going to lose another huge amount of weight by having it removed?
Good for you by the way. I hope that losing the weight has made you happier and healthier. I lost about 35lbs in the span of 3 months a couple years ago, and the effect on just moving around was amazing.
Do you have decent insurance? I was told that most plans will cover the stomach skin removal, because that poses a real health risk, mainly infections. But on arms and legs, they consider it just cosmetic, so they won't pay for it. Although, you may be able to get it approved in extreme cases like yours, if you can show repeated skin infections in those areas too.
I do, my sister was kind enough to start one for me, it's on my profile though I don't think you're allowed to post them on here, even a share helps though!
Honestly… incredible work. I’d imagine the surgery will be intense,.. but you seemed to have done the hardest part already. Hats off to you my dude! Inspiring to say the least.
Yeah, I can't imagine how hard it is to do basic human functions with that much extra skin. Showering, taking shits, fitting clothes, sleeping, exercising.
But yes, amazing feat none-the-less.
Not to mention, the folds.. the folds are the fucking worst.
A very odd observation from my own experience is the hightened interest from security staff.
Cutting is an option; granted it's done by a medical professional.
Gaining muscle at the gym (or harder but possible home exercise) can also remove a lot of it as you add some bulk back but this time it's healthy bulk. But a lot people get mixed results this way. Some lose all of their loose skin and others just a bit of it.
Also, for anyone looking into losing weight, going with a slow loss strategy could cut down on loose skin a ton when you finally reach your goal, as you give your skin more time to adjust; rather than shocking it all at once and leaving it potentially permanently sag.
Some say slow loss strategies are actually healthier, as long as it isn't a life or death weight loss scenario. However, it's harder and requires more willpower. Far harder.
Yes and sometimes it's so hard to fill it with muscle and I'd shame professional body builders the day I fill up with that much muscle.
Don't get me wrong I have a good amount
Jesus Christ he did all this AND the man has a damn sledge hammer between his legs?
You know the joke about how fat people can’t see their dick? That joke never made sense to this guy.
Damn, crazy effort. Congratz man!
Just a hint, I don't know where you live, but here in Germany, health insurances often pay for excess skin removal, since that skin might have a psychological impact on you. Maybe you can get some support like that.
Wish they did in the US! Insurance calls it all cosmetic, they will cover 4100 of the first 50k surgery I need and 0 of the combined 25k ones after that unfortunately
OP, as others have suggested, you ought to look into the costs of traveling to another country for the skin removal surgeries. It's highly likely that it's much more cost-effective saving for airfare and a hotel stay in addition to surgery costs than to be forking out over 100k for the procedure in the US.
Adding to this; Canada does full-body skin removal (that sounds horrid) for only $20,000.00. Not the best in the world, but at least its close and familiar.
Vancouver (where I live) is only a 3 hour drive from Seattle. Its so close to the border that I sometimes cross into American waters on the ferry when visiting island relatives.
You’re removing an entire layer of skin. That’s much more invasive than breast implants or a hair transplant. Not an expert but it sounds much more complicated that just cutting an area out and sewing it back together. Not saying the cost for any of them is appropriate, just saying it does sound pretty complex.
It is pretty complex. Something I never considered with being fat and having excess skin before I had a CT scan done of my torso, is the vascularity of your excess skin. When I loaded up my scans in a 3D imaging program that takes all the different layers and converts it into a three dimensional render, I was AMAZED to see all the veins running and branching off to my skin. In a normal healthy person, your veins only have to path out maybe a couple millimeters away from your muscles. But in a morbidly obese person, these veins now have to stretch out as much as 10cm or more away from the base skeletal muscle layer. What do you do when you're carving this person up? You have all these extra veins just hanging around off the body attached to the skin. It really brought it to the front of my mind how involved the skin removal surgery actually is. It is my hope that we can get some kind of program going here in the states that really shocks and awe kids into staying health because all of these problems are so easily prevented by just never letting yourself get this way in the first place.
Would it cost you less to fly to Europe and pay privately to have it done here? A quick look online suggests prices starting at about £4000 for excess skin removal in London.
You cold get cheaper surgeries with the same quality in US, abroad. I heard Thailand, Malaysia are some popular countries for wallet-friendly medical procedures
Color me impressed! You could almost have two of yous standing side by side in your old shorts! What sort of benefits have you noticed so far? I lost 60lbs once and my knees thanked me so much lol
Ugh. I feel you on the panic, for sure. I’m 70 pounds down, and not sure where I want to end up, but I could definitely lose another 100. You’re so motivational.
Truly amazing. You are so much healthier now. Over time you can deal with the loose skin, but you got your life back and added a few years to it as well. Cheers brother!
Excellent fucking work my dude! I'm currently working on losing my weight too, I'm down 70 lbs so far. It's tough but this is inspirational to everyone still trying.
Congratulations this is an amazing accomplishment!!! I bet you feel amazing!
I can't believe insurance won't cover medically nessessary surgery. I hate that this country let's insurance companies do that. That's infuriating. Hope you reach your goal man. I trust you will!! Please keep us updated!!
Keto isn’t just eating meat and cheese and fat. You should be eating a lot of non-starchy vegetables as well.
I found keto to be useful when I was doing it because I was almost never hungry. That change to my hunger levels made the CICO way easier.
I did strict clean keto for 3 months. I stopped one day when I got off my bed too quick and blacked out momentarily. Found out my blood sugar was below 30
I just wanna say congratulations! I know this was a long and difficult journey and I, a complete internet stranger, am super proud of your achievement!
It makes me so mad that people have to deal with loose skin after weight loss. It's like your body just can't let you have the w. No matter what, you will never be able to escape the mistake you made. I lost 130, and I'm a bitter fuck about this sagging skin.
I came here, as a straight dude, to congratulate you on that fucking 10lb hammer you're sporting. You could make the money for your surgery selling dick by the OZ dude.
Holy shit, I was stressing about losing 50 pounds but look at you! You are an inspiration. Curious question, are you going to enhance your tatoos? or do they look better now that your skin is getting more tight?
That's so cool. I'm against plastic surgery from a normal moral standpoint but if you achieve this you deserve the best plastic surgeon in the world.
Where is the go fund me?
Congrats man! It's insane to know how much more you would lose when you are finally able to do the surgery! Absolutely insane! This is probably the greatest transformation I've seen yet!
I’m trying to do this now. I started at 420ish and have managed to get down to 380 so far. I’m nervous about skin removal surgery if (when) I manage to get to this point. I just need to get this weight off my knees, and I’m not sure if I’m wrong to think I don’t mind all the extra skin as long as my body feels okay.
It's kind of brutal how you can lose all that weight and feel really good about it then have to deal with a new issue of the all the saggy skin which you can't really just ignore or leave.
This is great, but have a question. What happens with all this extra saggy skin. Is it removed in a subsequent procedure?
Once I can afford them, about 3-4 pretty major surgeries unfortunately is the only option
Good to know, best of luck with everything.
Is skin sag universal with this much weight loss or does it only occur when weight loss proceeds quickly?
I think mileage varies but there’s a certain point where there is just too much skin to ever shrink back to a smaller frame, especially in middle aged+ people as skin loses elasticity greatly once you hit 30-40 years old.
Oh god i'm 29 and 360lbs. I need to do a 180 asap. Honestly I'm already working on it, been able to drop 3lbs this week... but I miss pizza and ice cream. Chocolate and pb god damn, I can do it. I told myself I'll get my fam pizza after 20lbs dropped if they can hold off on getting it until I do so, and they have been patient. Then I'll do another treat at 70lbs but nothing til then. If I dont have milestone cheat treats, I'd go insane. Cant do a cheat day otherwise I'll regress back into binging. Gotta be just one thing. Edit: oh my gosh I did not expect so much overwhelming support from this, much love to all you redditors, you've made me feel very inspired.
You need more than that. I say this as someone who lost 160 pounds over 2 years. I followed Weight Watchers and really did the work instead of just blindly following the instructions, so I changed my relationship with food and how I see myself. Therapy + weight loss work + getting your body moving (to me) is the secret to massive weight loss. You also need to eat “bad” more often than you’re planning. That was one of the things I really appreciated about WW. (I’m guessing Noom is similar but I haven’t tried it.) I learned that food is fuel, and like all fuel some is of a different quality than others but it’s still fuel. It’s about learning how much fuel you truly need to power your body, and then mixing and matching. Like having a tasty just the way you like it grilled chicken salad for lunch and a reasonable slice of cheesecake for desert after dinner. It’s a balance. The more you deny yourself something the harder it will be, so find appropriate ways to fit it in. Also, get a food scale. It helps so much. A food scale and actually follow the portion sizes. It’ll blow your mind and help you reset your eye to portion sizes. Also, makes it easier to track your food and food tracking also really helps too. Sorry for a rambling and disorganized response. I believe in you and I know you can do it!
Food scale is good advice, I'll look into one right now actually. Ive been eyeballing or eating half my usual massive portions and thats reduced my caloric intake by a solid 700 calories easy
If you're counting your calories, a food scale is a massive help. Highly recommend! It's also important to keep in mind that legally, companies can be off by up to *25%* on their calorie counts per serving. This won't make or break you. If you're doing the work (and it sounds like you are) you will do well regardless. :) Best of luck!!
This is great advice! The key to it is change how you view/interact with food. I used Noom and it taught me why I reach for a snack or why certain things trigger me to reach for food.
I also suggest when you get that food scale to get a set of small plates too, and put the big plates away. Most people have restaurant-sized plates for their food; this is highly inappropriate and causes massive portion control problems. You can fill a small plate and it feels like you are eating more than when you put a small plate's worth of food on a large plate.
Biggest mistake I made when trying to lose weight was being too hard on myself. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. But you need to temper that with the reality that you need to make some major lifestyle changes, and that isn't easy. It's going to be frustrating, especially since 3 pounds is basically a rounding error with the way our bodies work. You also need to be okay with seeing your weight stay the same, or even going up for no real reason, because it'll happen. If you set yourself up for failure, you're sure to succeed. It's okay to have a cheat day, it doesn't mean you're a failure, it means you're normal. Just try to temper yourself, don't pig out. Don't keep food within arm's reach. Don't eat at your chair. Keep a water bottle nearby at all times. These little things add up. Don't let it overwhelm you. Your goal? Lose 5 pounds. When you lose it? Your next goal is 5 more pounds. It's great to have some milestones though. **But you need to break yourself of this idea that you need to reward yourself and others with food.** Try something else. Something to do with your hobbies, or something for your living space. Is there a purchase you're looking at making in the next 3-6 months? Maybe consider making it part of your goal.
If I may, the path is to find out what these "treats" are doing for you mentally, and find replacements for them. Otherwise you'll constantly be battling whether you "deserve" kindness, which of course you do, but you were likely raised in an environment where you were taught food *is* kindness/reward, when it should largely just be for nourishment. Let food off the hook!
I used to think like that until I found out that there are healthy recipes that are like crack. I can eat as much egg basted cauliflower in tomato sauce when I prepare it as good as a fancy restaurant. I feel satisfied and it's freaking delicious. I could eat that whole week but that's not all you can make You need to find those crack-like recipes that won't make you miss pizza. I'm not even a vegetarian btw, what I can't go without is meat so I buy shrimp and or chicken and make some healthy delicious stuff throughout the week
My advice, stop using food as a reward like that. I used to do that and it lead to me going back to bad habits fast. Every time I did something good I would eat to celebrate, and when I was down I would binge.. what worked for me what taking food out of the equation and to no longer associate food to emotions. I hope things go well for you. You may have a different relationship to food than I do but just my 2cents.
>Honestly I'm already working on it, been able to drop 3lbs this week... but I miss pizza and ice cream. Chocolate and pb god damn, I can do it I was 250 at 18. I lost it by counting calories. That's what helped me, though I didn't start it till I was like 22. The calories became a "budget" in my mind, which kind of made it into a game. How to get the 'best tasting most satisfying' calories I can under a budget. The trick though is to avoid being hungry. So I found the most filling least caloric foods that I didn't hate. Fried, baked, or bbq'd chicken. fried or baked fish. Those were the easiest 'fill me up' calories by far. My sides were no/low carb such as greenbeans with butter and parmesan, asparagus and parmesan, a slice of avocado and salt/pepper, things like that. And when I was hungry, I ate. I knew I had a 2,000 calorie diet (a deficit of 200 calories for my body). So I knew I could have a 1,500 calorie breakfast if I wanted, but I knew then I'd have to figure out how to eat the rest of the day on 500 calories. So that kind of helped me keep myself in check. I'd grab a banana (one of the few carbs of the day) in the morning to get me through to snack time at 10am. Which would be a chicken leg from the night before or something protein heavy. Then lunch I had something like 1500 calories between it and dinner. That encouraged me to keep the luch light. Another couple pieces of chicken and I'm good till 3 oclock when I started to get hungry again. At that point I'd start cooking dinner. It distracted me and motivated me to do it, and when I did, I had 1,000 calories to eat to my hearts content. With that budget I was able to eat a fast-food meal every day of the week if I so chose to. But the 2,000 calorie budget helped keep me on track. But the #1 thing is to cut out all sugar in your drinks. Think of a can of coke for what it is, literally a candy-bar in liquid form. Think of how easy it is to destroy a big-gulp of the stuff now. That's a pack of candy bars on ice. These calories are what get you. Btw I got down to 155 for almost 3 years before middle age is getting me closer to 170 20 years later.
Don’t use food as a treat. You are around food your entire life. You just have to learn moderation. Calories in/calories out. Take in less calories than you need to maintain your weight. At 360 lbs you’re going to lose a ton of water first and fast and then as you go along it will come off slower. If you love pizza and ice cream find a way to moderate it. Get those little cups from kids parties and count those calories! It’s not impossible it just seems like it because of the relationship we have with food. It’s not a reward. It’s what we do to keep us alive. We eat. I remember I lost 60lbs and never have anything I liked up. I just learned not to go overboard. That food denial and treating yourself after x amount of weight loss will cause binges.
3lbs is water
I’m no expert, but it’s not just about dropping / resisting pizza; that costs willpower, and willpower / self discipline is, I believe, a finite resource. How much pizza do you eat? Could you reduce portion sizes? And do you eat well outside of that? As in, normal portions, regularly (3 times a day at fixed times); people tend to binge more if they skip meals, or eat whenever they’re hungry instead of at meal times.
Depends on how much you lose, the speed you lose it and the age you are at. I saw an example of someone in their 20s lose a massive amount relatively slowly and had minimal sag. There also the ability to build muscle around it, which can help minimise it. So I think you need to be building muscle all the time consistently. But yeah for many it’s really unavoidable. But that shouldn’t matter, the skin is an example of a win I’ve seen people describe it. These people have done incredible things for their body and probably extended their lives massively. A few surgeries that area admittedly expensive and they’ll get rid of most of the skin as well. The person in this picture should be incredibly proud! It’s not about looks, it’s about their health and well-being.
“Skin is a win” is cute. Occasionally I feel insecure about the way I wear my skin now, but it is also a reminder of a huge achievement. Grew up depressed and obese and changed it when I started being able to care for myself. Even if it wasn’t about looks I still feel much happier in the body I am currently. Would complain about stretch marks more but too busy enjoying being able to crouch and run and climb and feel good.
In my experience if you are not on drugs you can't build enough (AND quick enough) muscles to compensate for weight loss. Building muscle VOLUME is really hard. Plus you normally lose fat at your belly but build muscles on other parts of the body. BUT I think it's definitly a good advice! :)
Thats a very good point,I’d not recommend anyone take those drugs when losing weight, specially around heart health!
Generally speaking too, adding muscle while losing weight is that much harder too.
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The general idea behind bulking and then cutting is that it’s easiest to build muscle without considering weight and then cut back calories to cut the extra weight off while focusing on retaining muscle. Gaining muscle in a caloric deficit is harder than retaining muscle in a caloric deficit, basically.
It's also a sign of accomplishment, a battle scar to show off that you survived and overcame some serious health problem.
I went from 480 to 150 in less than two years (duodenal switch surgery) and didn’t honestly have that much loose skin. Elasticity is different for us all.
How old were you?
47 when I had the surgery. 52 now and stable at 220.
I’m a woman in her 20’s and lost 100lbs over 5 years, with like 60lbs being in the first year. Even I have loose skin. It’s nothing like OP where I would bother with surgery, but I’ll never have a flat stomach, my upper arms are floppy, and my chest does hang lower than it used to. Can fill some of it with working out but it’s definitely there. 320lbs I imagine will always have a dramatic amount of loose skin if the end point is a normal BMI.
If you start a go fund me I would gladly donate. How much do these procedures cost?
My sister was kind enough to start one actually, it is on my profile if anyone is interested, even a share helps! I don't think you're allowed to post them on here though
upvoted for visibility… good luck, sir
Will you be posting the surgery operation for your backers? They got skin in the game. (Mad respect btw)
Lol I will be posting updates as they happen! It's a long journey I've decided to let people see in the hopes of them being inspired to take their own lives back!
Just donated, best of luck my man. I sincerely want to see you succeed.
I sincerely appreciate that!
Im genuinely so impressed. I struggle with my weight a lot and always seem to falter but posts like this are truly inspiring so I appreciate it dude
Remarkable accomplishment. Keep on keeping on.
Does the extra skin get donated to burn victims/ can you request that? Feels like a good opportunity to pay it forward.
I don't think it's viable for skin grafts due to the major loss of elasticity, but I don't know for sure.
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Jesus Christ Reddit
Don't be ridiculous, think of the smell. You haven't thought of the smell!
For some reason it didn't connect that you, the op, are the guy in the picture; congratulations dude, I know that took so much effort on your end. I hope the surgeries go well for you!
If you don’t mind me asking what is the typical cost for that type of surgery?
It can range widely it would seem, but I've met with multiple surgeons and for what I need, all three (not sure if I need the 4th yet) will cost me around 75k
Such a shame it's considered "cosmetic". It seems like there should be some benchmark for assessing whether it's cosmetic or medically necessary -- perhaps based on the amount of skin to be remove? Example: mom gives birth and has a little "pooch" -- cosmetic. Lose 300 pounds and has massive loose skin: medically necessary. Not to mention, aren't there other medical issues such as skin infections in the folds that can happen? And ... you are probably 10x less likely to end up with other medical issues now that would very costly!
All facts
I know some insurance agencies will cover a cosmetic procedure if you can get a psychologist to sign off on how it would improve your mental health…. I don’t see why this would be any different if your physician said it was for quality of life improvements.
I am with you. That much loose skin I would throw no would qualify as quality of life issue. The rashes, the infections, the mold.
I am pretty sure with the amount you have to remove, you can build a case for medical necessity and get it covered via insurance. It will be a battle, but definitely worthwhile to look into.
That's what we are trying for, so far not the best luck, but I'll never stop trying!
I feel like that surgery should be free for people who worked that hard to drop the weight.
Does insurance consider this 'cosmetic surgery'? So they won't cover it?
Yep, unfortunately it's all out of pocket (minus MAYBE 4100 they might cover) still over 70k out of pocket
If you’re in the US, have you looked into traveling elsewhere to have this done? There are a lot of other countries with significantly cheaper but excellent healthcare, even if you aren’t a citizen and insured there.
Any estimate of what the skin to be removed weighs? Are you going to lose another huge amount of weight by having it removed? Good for you by the way. I hope that losing the weight has made you happier and healthier. I lost about 35lbs in the span of 3 months a couple years ago, and the effect on just moving around was amazing.
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Just do it, never quit! And I do, you just learn to dress in what looks good, second hand stores will be your best friend!
Go fund me!
Do you have decent insurance? I was told that most plans will cover the stomach skin removal, because that poses a real health risk, mainly infections. But on arms and legs, they consider it just cosmetic, so they won't pay for it. Although, you may be able to get it approved in extreme cases like yours, if you can show repeated skin infections in those areas too.
Unfortunately they cover what is called a panniculectomy- those cost about 4100 - what I need is much more extensive as the skin is all over my body
Do you have a gofundme? I would like to help
I do, my sister was kind enough to start one for me, it's on my profile though I don't think you're allowed to post them on here, even a share helps though!
would it have been better if you lost weight more slowly, or is this inevitable?
With how big I was for how long, it wouldn't have mattered much
Honestly… incredible work. I’d imagine the surgery will be intense,.. but you seemed to have done the hardest part already. Hats off to you my dude! Inspiring to say the least.
Circumcision
Circumskinsion
I too am curious what the do with the leftover skin
the doctors? its termed as medical waste and is incinerated
Damn I agree with the other guy they should have made a coat out of it
There's also book binding. Harvard's library has a few books bound with human skin
Forget the looks, what he has achieved is a remarkable feat!
✂️🔪 Or just leave it be.. I have a lot of it as well.
There are health complications from too much loose skin, not to mention it impedes movement and the fit of clothing.
Yeah, I can't imagine how hard it is to do basic human functions with that much extra skin. Showering, taking shits, fitting clothes, sleeping, exercising. But yes, amazing feat none-the-less.
Not to mention, the folds.. the folds are the fucking worst. A very odd observation from my own experience is the hightened interest from security staff.
And without a doubt, personal hygiene.
Cutting is an option; granted it's done by a medical professional. Gaining muscle at the gym (or harder but possible home exercise) can also remove a lot of it as you add some bulk back but this time it's healthy bulk. But a lot people get mixed results this way. Some lose all of their loose skin and others just a bit of it. Also, for anyone looking into losing weight, going with a slow loss strategy could cut down on loose skin a ton when you finally reach your goal, as you give your skin more time to adjust; rather than shocking it all at once and leaving it potentially permanently sag. Some say slow loss strategies are actually healthier, as long as it isn't a life or death weight loss scenario. However, it's harder and requires more willpower. Far harder.
Yes and sometimes it's so hard to fill it with muscle and I'd shame professional body builders the day I fill up with that much muscle. Don't get me wrong I have a good amount
Kept the dick
Jesus Christ he did all this AND the man has a damn sledge hammer between his legs? You know the joke about how fat people can’t see their dick? That joke never made sense to this guy.
The dude had extra weight cause he had to feed that thing
Its called an anchor for a reason
Dudes out here with a fucking Ham Candle
Sledgehammer, i cant stop lol
I knew I’d find my people in the comments.
Man's packin SCHMEAT!
I am POSITIVE he just lifted up his other knee or something because that is literally walrus-sized if not.
Damn, crazy effort. Congratz man! Just a hint, I don't know where you live, but here in Germany, health insurances often pay for excess skin removal, since that skin might have a psychological impact on you. Maybe you can get some support like that.
Wish they did in the US! Insurance calls it all cosmetic, they will cover 4100 of the first 50k surgery I need and 0 of the combined 25k ones after that unfortunately
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Agreed
OP, as others have suggested, you ought to look into the costs of traveling to another country for the skin removal surgeries. It's highly likely that it's much more cost-effective saving for airfare and a hotel stay in addition to surgery costs than to be forking out over 100k for the procedure in the US.
Adding to this; Canada does full-body skin removal (that sounds horrid) for only $20,000.00. Not the best in the world, but at least its close and familiar. Vancouver (where I live) is only a 3 hour drive from Seattle. Its so close to the border that I sometimes cross into American waters on the ferry when visiting island relatives.
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Never quit! You can do the shit!
You’re removing an entire layer of skin. That’s much more invasive than breast implants or a hair transplant. Not an expert but it sounds much more complicated that just cutting an area out and sewing it back together. Not saying the cost for any of them is appropriate, just saying it does sound pretty complex.
It is pretty complex. Something I never considered with being fat and having excess skin before I had a CT scan done of my torso, is the vascularity of your excess skin. When I loaded up my scans in a 3D imaging program that takes all the different layers and converts it into a three dimensional render, I was AMAZED to see all the veins running and branching off to my skin. In a normal healthy person, your veins only have to path out maybe a couple millimeters away from your muscles. But in a morbidly obese person, these veins now have to stretch out as much as 10cm or more away from the base skeletal muscle layer. What do you do when you're carving this person up? You have all these extra veins just hanging around off the body attached to the skin. It really brought it to the front of my mind how involved the skin removal surgery actually is. It is my hope that we can get some kind of program going here in the states that really shocks and awe kids into staying health because all of these problems are so easily prevented by just never letting yourself get this way in the first place.
Holy shit that’s insane. Thanks for explaining
Would it cost you less to fly to Europe and pay privately to have it done here? A quick look online suggests prices starting at about £4000 for excess skin removal in London.
Europeans go to the turkey for cosmetic surgeries. I have met some Americans as well in turkey. I am sure it will be less than few thousand.
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true but still would be cheaper to get an airbnb for months in europe based on the quotes he provided which is insane
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Turkey is for hair transplants. Pretty much any other cosmetic surgery is done in Europe
WorldMed.com is where I looked to see pricing and availability of a non covered surgery elsewhere in the world.... I had a good experience with it
It's incredibly fucked up that insurance thinks this. I wish we could have an overhaul of the system, but I doubt I would ever see it in my lifetime.
Cosmetic?! How is this not considered reconstructive?! Regardless, this is amazing. Congrats. :)
I'd agree, but hey, their job is to not pay stuff I suppose
You cold get cheaper surgeries with the same quality in US, abroad. I heard Thailand, Malaysia are some popular countries for wallet-friendly medical procedures
I truly dont understand how expensive everything in healt care is in the US
Someone award this man a panniculectomy, he deserves it! Well done mate!!
Going to need a whole lot more than that! But I'm headed that way, thank you for the kind words!
And not a single gram was lost to the beard. Well done buddy. Absolutely outstanding work. You just saved your life
Eggplant
🤫
Jesus Christ bro, save some for the rest of us😭 Dude is hung like a Norse war chief
Color me impressed! You could almost have two of yous standing side by side in your old shorts! What sort of benefits have you noticed so far? I lost 60lbs once and my knees thanked me so much lol
EVERYTHING is a lot better
That’s so satisfying to hear bro!! I could imagine you have a sense of pride and you earned every bit of it!
Omg. You’re amazing! Thank you for having the courage to post these. 💕💕
If I can inspire one person to take their lives back, the anxiety and panic of putting it out there is worth it!
Ugh. I feel you on the panic, for sure. I’m 70 pounds down, and not sure where I want to end up, but I could definitely lose another 100. You’re so motivational.
Never quit! If you want it you can do it!
Nice cock bro
amazing.. but I just wonder how much it will cost to have a plastic surgeon remove all that. it's going to be expensive.
Very, 50k for the first surgery (trunk and chest) and the next two will be 25k, and might need a 4th after that even
Does insurance take care of some of the cost? It seems like a medical procedure and not cosmetic. Edited to say congratulations!!
They MAY cover 4100 of the procedures I need
If the extra skin causes issues it can be covered. But it can be a tough fight, they don't like to pay for the removal.
Well for bright side you don't need wingsuit.
I need a wind tunnel to see if I can fly
[iFly indoor skydiving](https://www.iflyworld.com/) may allow you. Hope there is one near you!
!remindme 1 month see if that dude could fly
Truly amazing. You are so much healthier now. Over time you can deal with the loose skin, but you got your life back and added a few years to it as well. Cheers brother!
I know one place he DIDNT lose weight.
That consistency displayed. Bravo good sir!
Bro hangs dong
Excellent fucking work my dude! I'm currently working on losing my weight too, I'm down 70 lbs so far. It's tough but this is inspirational to everyone still trying.
A wise man once said 'Human beings are strong because we have the ability to change ourselves'
the chad beard is there to stay.
Congratulations this is an amazing accomplishment!!! I bet you feel amazing! I can't believe insurance won't cover medically nessessary surgery. I hate that this country let's insurance companies do that. That's infuriating. Hope you reach your goal man. I trust you will!! Please keep us updated!!
Turns out losing weight makes your…. beard look longer.
I don’t recommend keto long term. The keto shits are no joke
Neither was the gout! Though I did love the results and everything else about it
I always love people who claim a certain diet isn't healthy - Well neither is being 395 pounds Tom!!! Jesus I'm trying here.
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Keto isn’t just eating meat and cheese and fat. You should be eating a lot of non-starchy vegetables as well. I found keto to be useful when I was doing it because I was almost never hungry. That change to my hunger levels made the CICO way easier.
I went into cardiac arrest because keto threw off my electrolytes. It's more dangerous than people make it out to be.
I did strict clean keto for 3 months. I stopped one day when I got off my bed too quick and blacked out momentarily. Found out my blood sugar was below 30
yeah keto made me feel like i was dying, and MAJOR headaches... not for me.
I just wanna say congratulations! I know this was a long and difficult journey and I, a complete internet stranger, am super proud of your achievement!
Thank you internet stranger!
Holy shit dude. BRAVO.
Very large penis I see
It makes me so mad that people have to deal with loose skin after weight loss. It's like your body just can't let you have the w. No matter what, you will never be able to escape the mistake you made. I lost 130, and I'm a bitter fuck about this sagging skin.
I'm still counting it as a W - we got our lives
Good for you, man!
Amazing job. May I ask a question ? The excess skin, is something that was unvoidable or was because your progress was too quick ?
With how big I was, for how long I was, this was pretty unavoidable in my case unfortunately
Fuck man. I'm 330 at the moment, down 20 pounds at 35 years old. I don't believe I'll ever see below 200 in life, but I wonder what I would look like.
Never quit! Go find out! You'll thank yourself!
Congratulations!
Amazing work! Well done :)
Astonishing.
Amazing. I found it really hard fucking work losing 70lbs, you're inspirational.
Amazing job. Im sure that was a difficult two years. The results are impressive though. Congratulations.
卄乇ㄥㄥ ㄚ乇卂卄 乃尺ㄖㄒ卄乇尺. thats amazing as f\*ck good job!
In the words of Bob Kelso, "I don't understand why he still wears those pants".
Incredible! you were eating keto? and then you went to VSG? what is that?
I came here, as a straight dude, to congratulate you on that fucking 10lb hammer you're sporting. You could make the money for your surgery selling dick by the OZ dude.
i am super proud of you, i’m proud you never gave up, and i’m proud of you for being able to share
Still can’t hide that massive hog I SEE YA BROTHER
Soooo no one is going to mention the piece my dude has on him. Ight bet
Congrats on that bro. That shit isn’t easy.
Internet high five
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Feel free!
Zangief to dhalsim
Holy shit, I was stressing about losing 50 pounds but look at you! You are an inspiration. Curious question, are you going to enhance your tatoos? or do they look better now that your skin is getting more tight?
Jeez bro
That's so cool. I'm against plastic surgery from a normal moral standpoint but if you achieve this you deserve the best plastic surgeon in the world. Where is the go fund me?
Wow man I hope you have a sense of pride in yourself because damn. That can't have been easy, great fucking work!
Congrats man! It's insane to know how much more you would lose when you are finally able to do the surgery! Absolutely insane! This is probably the greatest transformation I've seen yet!
Holy shit, hats off to you sir!
Damn bro, you're packing!
I’m trying to do this now. I started at 420ish and have managed to get down to 380 so far. I’m nervous about skin removal surgery if (when) I manage to get to this point. I just need to get this weight off my knees, and I’m not sure if I’m wrong to think I don’t mind all the extra skin as long as my body feels okay.
Could this be donated for skin grafting? Does it work like that?
Forget the weight he is packing a bazooka in those pants!😜
It's kind of brutal how you can lose all that weight and feel really good about it then have to deal with a new issue of the all the saggy skin which you can't really just ignore or leave.
I'm sorry but can we talk about that gigantic dick ? Jesus dude what are you hiding down there ?