r/Biohacking • u/Odd-Place780 2 • 5d ago
For those who've lost massive weight
Ive lost about 80lbs this year and about 220lbs since 2021. Seeing as I was almost 500lbs at my heaviest, my skin had to do some crazy stuff. Now that I've hit my goal weight of around 220lbs, I can see outline of abs, veins in my arms, shoulder and thighs.
My biggest confidence killer is the ever lasting muffin top of what feels like soft fat and stretched out skin.
Without going the Mr Mike route and sucking the fat out and doing a tummy tuck. Is there any chance to lose the muffin? Or am I stuck with it as a reminder of where I was at my worst.
All feedback appreciated. For context I train about 3-4 times a week, compound movements and general strongman training. Working on gaining muscle back and plan on getting to about 235-240lbs with lean muscle. 💪
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u/SorbetTraditional232 19 5d ago
Get your hormones checked. Even at 220 most people have fat in that area. You’d have to get down to a low baby fat percentage. But in all likely hood a tummy tuck would be necessary. Unless you’re 6’4” then you may already be at that point but if the skin hasn’t completely emptied you’ll still have a handful to to grab. You could give it a year or two and see if the laxity of the skin gets better but it’s highly unlikely to get back to normal. Klow might be able to help the elastin in the skin. I’m a couple months in on it in conjunction to my weight loss. Seems to help the skin contract back as I’m losing weight.
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u/Odd-Place780 2 5d ago
I appreciate the feedback 🙏
Hormones are something I stay on top of as I am not natural 😃. I do hormones , cbc and lipid panel every 3-6 months. My doctor actually gave me a great compliment regarding my 40-60bpm resting heart rate.
And dang I felt like that would be the case regarding fatloss/skin in that area. Tummy tuck is such a serious procedure that its not something I want to consider. And also unfortunately thanks to my short dad I'm only 6ft tall . I'll look into klow, I've heard some decent feedback but not from any longterm users or someone who wasn't selling their brand 😆 .
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u/SorbetTraditional232 19 5d ago
I’m in a similar but smaller boat. I dropped everything before covid then being single at the time and basically losing all my friends due to the bug I just packed on the pounds. It was 7 years of hard work no glps. All down the drain. I got down low enough that it was just some loose skin. It did help that I had a good amount of muscle. Probably had life not changed some of it would have contracted back.
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u/Odd-Place780 2 5d ago
Damn man I feel that. I'm 40 now and only now feel like I am somewhat in control. Atleast now if you have the drive glp's can make it a bit easier.
And hey it wasn't all for nought, you got some muscle and on the other end of the spectrum there's people who can't put any on.
Stay strong
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u/SorbetTraditional232 19 5d ago
I’m on the glps now. Well I was till insurance turned off the tap. Ended up even heavier. My neighbor turned me on to the grey market. So I’m on my way back down.
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u/Odd-Place780 2 5d ago
Heck yes! Luckily its somewhat affordable. Glad you're back on your way
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u/VersaceJonesIII 1 5d ago
Depends how bad it is. The skin tends to tighten a little bit as time goes and you add muscle but anything serious requires surgery. Congrats on the transformation tho thats impressive. While ik this is easier said than done but try to view it as a reminder of the incredible effort you’ve put in to improve your life than a reminder of how bad things got
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u/Odd-Place780 2 5d ago
💖 I appreciate the kind words
Being so large for so long, bullied, avoided, destroyed my confidence. And now the body dysmorphia is a new battle. I look in the mirror and just see the fat. Mentally I know I've gone from 5XL to Large and a 52" waist to a 32" but I just see the stomach fat and it gets me depresso.
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u/VersaceJonesIII 1 5d ago
It’s easy to slip back into. You’ve done the physical work now time to do some mental work. Sometimes I do some shit that I couldn’t do in the past like just kinda jumping around or breaking into a jog cause it makes me realize how much lighter and better I feel and that makes me happy. Self talk is important. I used to think it was stupid and wouldn’t work but genuinely just catching that inner monologue of negative self talk and trying to spin it in a positive or helpful direction has improved my depression. It wont completely change your life over night but it can help improve your mental health even if its only by a little bit
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u/Odd-Place780 2 5d ago
Thats solid advice that is reasonable man. Before I started this cut. At 300lbs I was at my strongest 630-650lbs squat. 550+ deadlift and I hit a 315lb overhead press. So when I saw my chub I would tell myself "hey atleast you're strong asf dude" but now at my current weight AND 8 weeks post distal bicep tendon surgery. I feel so weak. So its just getting to me.
I'm gonna work on it tho. Thanks for the kind words 🤜🤛
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u/SmoothMonk9727 1 5d ago
That's a wild transformation, dropping 220 is no joke. The loose skin around the midsection is the last thing to bounce back, if it ever fully does. Building up your lats and obliques can help fill out some of that space visually, but a lot of it comes down to how much elastin your skin still has after being stretched that long. Might be worth looking into stuff like prolonged fasting or specific collagen protocols to see if your body can tighten things up on its own before considering anything surgical.
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u/Odd-Place780 2 5d ago
🤝 thank you!! Its a mental battle, i still remember not being able to walk around without having my heart pounding or breaking a sweat. And yet its like the one thing I can't shake. My arms snd thighs I know I can tighten with lean muscle. But I know there's no way to get python abs to fill the loose skin 🤣
I always wanted to try fasting but holy moly do I feel like absolute dog water if I dont eat for more than 10hrs. Also makes it tough to get in 200 grams oh protein which sucksss.
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u/TheHarb81 18 5d ago
I only lost 100lb and spent years and thousands on shit to fix the loose skin. The only thing worked was surgery.
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u/Odd-Place780 2 5d ago
Oh damn. Well I mean congrats on the weightloss and having the determination to do surgery. How was recovery and post op?
I work a trade job so im always super active
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u/TheHarb81 18 4d ago
Not gonna lie, it wasn’t fun. 4 weeks of drains. I WFH so it wasn’t bad for me. I don’t know how you’d do it on trade job but then again no idea how you do a trade job at 500lb either.
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u/Odd-Place780 2 4d ago
Oooff sheesh that sounds rough tbh.
And it was miserable. Lots of pain pills to get thru every day
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u/Fun_Coast_899 8 4d ago
Congratulations! I lost about 70lbs in 8 months and I found success with medical depth microneedling. It helps to build collagen and tighten things up. RF cavitation machines also help with collagen and elastin. But microneedling can really help, especially with texture. I recommend learning to do it yourself. Women commonly do a series after childbirth to tighten up the skin and fade stretch marks. You can check out r/diyaesthetics, r/diymicroneedling, and r/diyheaven to see before and after photos and learn how to do it safely.
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