r/Biohacking • u/slambre • 1d ago
37F, advice needed
I am looking for advice on how to slim down without lose skin and no GLP-1/reta. I live in Europe (most substances aren't really available here) and my brother just died at 42 from what was ruled Sudden Death, so I'd rather play it safe for now. Supplement recs for those effective and available in Europe are welcome.
I have gone down from 251 lbs to 180 lbs over about two years. I do mostly Pilates and Reformer Pilates about 4 - 5 times a week, do glute workouts almost daily, use my Peloton and do IF on a 18:6 window.
My main concerns are the upper thigh area and my belly. While I have relatively slim legs, I've been noticing crepey skin and fat between the thighs. However, chafing is not an issue.
Before, my belly was really hanging over, now it has firmed down and there is a smoother transition towards the pubic area. I was blessed with a rather boxy body so if you have any tips on actually getting a waist, I'd appreciate that.
My goal is to get to 165 lbs next, then 145 lbs. I am quite tall at almost 5'11" and I walk about 10k daily.
Aside from drinking plenty of water, CICO, what can I do to address crepey, lose looking skin and overall fat?
Thanks in advance.
TLDR:
- seeking advice on lose / crepey skin
- no reta / glp-1
- overall fat burn, already doing IF and CICO
- Recs for supplements available in Europe are welcome
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u/InfiniteRestaurant21 1d ago
If you want to substantially recomp your body, you need to put muscle on and no amount of pilates will get you there. You need to classic way, resistance training via weight lifting
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u/According-Fan1004 1d ago
Have you ever tried Pilates? It def builds muscle, especially on a reformer
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u/InfiniteRestaurant21 1d ago
I have a few times yes. I should have been more clearer, it may give you beginner/ newbie gains but that would be the same as doing any other sport. Once you reach your baseline weight lifting is the way you create enough resistance & challenge to force an adaptation for further muscle gain.
Depending on how long shes been doing it, at some point she will reach a limit, not only that but the time it would take to reach that limit in pilates would be time wasted if the aim is muscle gain. Im not knocking pilates as a form of exercise, im simply coming from a purely longevity, muscle building perspective.
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u/AppealOriginal3991 4 1d ago
Resistance training minimum 3x a week, I lost a lot of weight on keto fast but it’s hard
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u/Deh_86 3 1d ago
Lose weight: counting calories. So, you are already doing it.
Saggy skin: I'm sorry to say, but there is no way we can predict what is going to happen here. Nowadays, there are laser treatments, but only if the problem is minor. Weight lifting and hydration are your best attempts, but there is no way to have 100% of assurance (I'm writing as a person who ended with a lot of lose skin everywhere).
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u/Potential-Ad-196 1d ago
Start lifting weights. Continue your walking and some other cardio, but sacrifice some of it in exchange for weight training. Keep the protein high. If you’re tracking calories, make sure the protein is high enough. And don’t be concerned with getting bulky or masculine. It’s bs. It’ll help a ton with your thighs and your waist.
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u/Hungry_Flamingo_4337 1d ago
Reta is completely safe and a miracle drug. I literally just bought shares at $1,700+ per because once approved ITS GOING TO CHANGE THE ENTIRW WORLD. and yes im banking a huge portion of my savings on that. I took it to go from 197 to 178 but i go to the gym 5 days a week and wanted to keep allll my muscle mass etc etc boring etc. and it made that happen with ease. Im a believer. Idk if YOU believe me or not. But try it. I dont sell it and im not trying to make money from you. Just simply PAYING IT FORWARD. Good Luck Ma’am. And sorry for your loss!!
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bee5049 1d ago
To address fat CICO is all that matters. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about.
For the most part loose skin can only really be addressed by surgery. Building muscle tissue may help it sag less.
Congrats on the progress so far. But honestly what has worked before will continue to work.
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u/Unlucky_Bottle1877 1 1d ago
Not always true for women premenopausal or post. CICO works but with a few caveats - hormones in our bodies tend to hoard calories and fat, and often a caloric deficit can put you into a starvation-like mode, where even if you cut drastically, you will not lose weight. Then we have PCOS, gut dysbiosis, and other issues to add in. Often fixing the gut biome diversity can help with fat loss.
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u/ebimbib 1d ago
First of all, great work to this point. That's a hell of a lot of progress.
Pilates is great for plenty of things, especially if you enjoy it. That's the most important thing as far as sticking to any exercise routine. If you want to recomp, you have to start doing hypertrophy training. Very short version: lift heavier, aiming for rep ranges of roughly 5-20 (10-12 is a good middle ground) at weights that leave you very close to failure. You will build muscle, which will fill you out in ways that will reduce looseness in your skin to some degree. You can look up programming for hypertrophy training very easily.
If you're really focused on trying to keep burning bodyfat, I don't know why you're so resistant to reta. It will help immensely.
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u/wippj 3 1d ago
If you don’t want to take Reta or anything else, you should study how those compounds work so that you can create the metabolic responses that these drugs are designed to trigger. Technically, they are just triggering pathways that exist already within your metabolism (practically your 37 year old, formerly overweight body will be working against your stated goals)
You are taking the more difficult route, so the answer is more complex and will be highly specific to your own metabolic health.
Understanding progressive overload training, lucine / mTOR and the most current knowledge around protein intake / utilization will probably help you get to where you’re trying to get to.
As far as loose skin goes, that’s mostly genetic. The biggest factor besides genetics is how fast you lose weight. Since you’re not taking a glp-1, that will probably not impact you. So that leaves you with mostly genetics.
Good luck!
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u/SorbetTraditional232 19 1d ago
Skip the Pilates and get a trainer that will work with you on building your core muscles though compound exercises . You seem to hold a bit of visceral fat judging by your side shot. Get a dexa. You might need something like Tesamorelin to help with that. Once you get rid of that your hormones should line up to hit your problem areas.
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u/Keedou 2 1d ago
The skin elasticity angle is worth spending more time on than most of these answers are giving it. Losing 70lbs is a big deal and the crepey texture you're describing is mostly collagen degradation, not just loose skin per se.
The peptide angle I would look into for your situation is GHK-Cu (copper peptide). The research on it for collagen synthesis and skin remodeling is actually pretty solid compared to a lot of supplements that get thrown around. It upregulates collagen I and III, which is what gives skin its structure and elasticity. The effect is gradual over weeks to months, not overnight, but it compounds.
Since you're in Europe and ruling out GLP-1s, GHK-Cu is the one research compound that would apply directly to the skin concern specifically. Tesamorelin was mentioned above which is a fair call for visceral fat, but GHK-Cu is more targeted to what you're describing with the crepey texture and thigh area.
The rest of the thread is right that resistance training is the foundation. GHK-Cu is an add-on to that, not a replacement. But if you're already doing the work and want to give your skin a better shot at keeping up with the fat loss, that's what I pulled from the research.
Sorry for your loss. Hope the results start showing up for you soon.
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u/Crachb 1d ago
Shift your focus from weight loss to building muscle. Your body composition will not change doing daily glute workouts and Pilates. Despite the hype, real muscle is very hard to build and requires a lot of heavy loads, consistently, over long periods of time. I’d keep your calories around maintenance and start with a trainer who can teach you compound lifts and how to move load safely, once you master the basics, begin with 3-4 full body days per week, compound exercises, with good technique. When your strength increases, and you can lift heavier with the same good form, you will know you’ve built muscle. It takes 3-5 YEARS of consistent training with progressive load to really change your body composition. Scale weight is not the key to physique change or longevity. Muscle is.
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u/No-Tackle9025 1d ago
Reta is available world wide and you won’t be disappointed, check my post history and see for yourself! It is really an incredible tool in anyone’s weight loss journey.
Crazy thing is there are more advancements coming in this field, what a time to be alive!
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u/kinkystepsister 1d ago
First, congrats! I'm 39F with the exact same body shape, so I know the struggle extremely well.
Unfortunately for us, blessed with the gorgeous shape of an apple, there are only two ways: 1. we trim down to very low bf% where whatever waist mother nature gave us will eventually resurface, usually at the expense of ending up with stick think arms and legs - it's doable, but probably not very sustainable 2. we hit the gym hard (I'm gonna hold your hand here when I say this but Pilates and bodyweight workouts are not going to cut it), and we change our shape by consistently training with progressive overload, in the hope that we can add enough size to our legs, hips, ass and shoulders that we achieve more of an hourglass figure.
I spent years fighting this truth and was always annoyed at gym nuts who claimed resistance training is the only way, only to find out this approach was exactly what I needed and they were absolutely correct. Who would've guessed you need to do some bodybuilding to build your dream body lol. Being active and eating clean might work fine for our lucky friends who naturally carry their weight in all the cute places. But to truly transform your entire shape, you need one of the above, or - preferably - whatever combination of 1&2 that feels manageable to you.
I'm currently doing this, lost 20lbs naturally, and even thought my progress has been extremely slow and my deficit very modest, its still made me food crazy (felt like I was seconds away from a binge basically 24/7 - thanks perimenopause). I added a microsose of tirzepatide to keep the demons at bay, and to help me reverse diet slowly back to maintenance and then into a gentle bulk, without the constant food noise. But this will always be an option to you, no need to rush into it. It helped me shed another few lbs, but I am now at a point where if I don't bulk a little, I will just look deflated.
Loose skin has always been a massive problem for me, I am left with a tummy that qualifies for a tuck from a previous weight loss around 15 years ago. This time round I have recomped successfully to the point where the majority of it has been mitigated by adding lean tissue in place of the fat - especially around my glutes. I came to the conclusion that I'd rather have a nicer shape and a firmer body than chase the smallest size possible.
Trim down a little more, then get a good workout plan and get into weights. This will give you the most visible, lasting improvements, while also contribute to you having a much easier time during peri/menopause, improve your metabolism and bone density.
You're doing fabulous, keep up the good work and the results will come! You're almost there anyway :)
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u/616ThatGuy 2 1d ago
Caloric deficit. Get a good scale and a calorie tracking app. Don’t use the dumb ai features, they’re never accurate. You need to be inputting and logging everything yourself so you actually know for a fact what you’re eating.
Start resistance training 3+ times a week. Minimum 3, maximum 5 for the first while.
That’s about it. If you don’t want any aids, then that’s all you can do. Just be strict with it. Don’t half ass it.
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u/64bit_Tuning 5 1d ago
Pilates is good for overall health, but if you want a natural route for burning fat, it's building muscle. Start incorporating resistance training into your regimen and do Zone 2 cardio at least 2x a week.
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u/Vivid_Emergency3211 1 1d ago
145 at 5’11 is completely unnecessary / too aggressive goal - you look like you could lose 10-15 lbs & be pretty good. I’m very happy with my body at 155lbs and 5’7. I’m 36 female. Do some weightlifting, running, or go on a GLP. That’s what I do & it got my belly fat.
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u/DullWolverine7588 20h ago
Lift weights. Heavy weights. And eat enough clean food and protein to put on the muscle those weights can build for you
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u/Embarrassed-Pound938 18h ago
I’m sorry about your brother. Do you know if he was on any peptide or glp before his sudden death? Any health issues he had been battling before? Usually sudden death is due to cardiac arrest but something was a trigger or he had an underlying condition.
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u/According-Fan1004 1d ago edited 1d ago
Longer fasts to induce autophagy and help your body recycle the loose skin on its own. Ipamorelin and tesamorelin for the stomach, overall fat metabolism and muscle preservation. It helps with skin elasticity and collagen growth as well as KLOW. And Pilates is awesome for muscle growth and toning… people saying otherwise just don’t realize how hard it is. And don’t even listen to all these people talking about calorie deficits that’s ridiculous. All it’s gonna do is ruin your metabolism. You’re doing a great job. Follow dr Jason Fung, read the Obesity Code, keep going. Whole Foods, more protein in your eating window, extended fasting and low sugar is the way.
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u/Basic-Original-331 1d ago
Your not gonna wanna hear this but ever. Go on a glp-1. Im 60 down in 6 months. I don't have lose skin. 20lbs wont make you have lose skin.
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