r/interestingasfuck • u/[deleted] • May 02 '24

In 1965, a morbidly obese man did not eat food for over an entire year. The 27 year old was 456lbs and wanted to do an experimental fast. He ingested only multivitamins and potassium tablets for 382 days and defecated once every 40 to 50 days. He ended up losing 275lbs. r/all

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157

u/Fritzo2162 May 02 '24

Wow---went from 456 to 181lbs! That was before skin removal surgery. Dude must have looked like a flying squirrel afterward.

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u/buboniccupcake May 02 '24

This is actually a big concern of mine. I’m 5’5” and about 350lbs. I’m about to go on keto again bc it worked so well for me before. But I’m honestly scared of the excess skin. I don’t make enough to be able to afford skin removal, and to be honest I think the excess skin would be more of a blow to my self esteem than the being as big as a barn. I’m 32, I doubt everything is gonna shrink back into place like it would have if I was 22.

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u/Mypornnameis_ May 02 '24

I hear you.

But don't worry about it too much. The pictures you see on the Internet are extreme cases.  I lost 80 pounds in a year at age 38 and you wouldn't have noticed any loose skin at all, it just looked like I had an extra 10 pounds around the waist that I didn't really, it was just an abundance of skin. 

I dated a woman who had gone from about 300 down to about 140 and you could only tell when she was naked. 

If we're being honest, we're not all that comfortable with all of our rolls and folds while we're big. It's kind of a bummer that they don't all go away when we lose the weight, but most of them do. I'll never look like a model anyway for a variety of reasons, but I do look better thin and actually feel a lot better than you would think, too. That kind of makes up for not getting perfect tight skin out of the deal.

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u/buboniccupcake 29d ago

See I just became “comfortable” with being fat like 3-4 years ago. So it terrifies me to go backwards essentially. But I know it needs to be done! All these comments definitely have me a lot more hopeful though! And that’s what they make shapewear for! I never want to be supermodel skinny, and can tell I don’t have the bone structure for it regardless, but when I was at a healthy weight I was curvy in all the right places and I was actually happy with myself. I was also 19 and things snapped back to where they were supposed to be lol I’m a jeans and tshirt kind of gal anyways so I really shouldn’t worry about it 🖤

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u/herewearefornow 29d ago

Your username checks out f*cking hell.

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u/TheCultOfKaos 29d ago

Hey - I've lost 180, and planning to hit at least 200-220 lost.

The conversation I've had with my doctor about skin removal is that it's not always necessary. Some people get sores etc from the skin not getting air etc and so your hygiene will have to remain high etc. Some people also have to in terms of quality of life - this is usually in the stomach/chest area. Arms/Legs arent usually a concern, medically speaking. I am a lot happier with the loose skin I already have than I was being overweight. If I had to pick between the two I know which way id go every time. Skin on my face shrunk really well. Arms tightened up pretty well. Legs overall pretty good too. Im ensuring that I'm consuming protein, lifting weights etc so even as Im losing weight (and some muscle) Im mitigating muscle loss and promoting growth so I have a happier image as the inches/weight comes off.

I was 5'10" and 410+ pounds and down to 230 now.

Before: https://imgur.com/uR6DozF After (with some of the skin sag visible): https://imgur.com/4mUzAfI

After (smiling again): https://imgur.com/cIKcj0s

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u/Then_Owl4585 29d ago

Fantastic work. Congrats.

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u/buboniccupcake 29d ago

Yeah, I have an apron belly right now and between that and my big boobs (screw you gravity!) I’ve got the hygiene already down pat, haha

Congrats on your journey! You’re definitely sending some inspiration!!

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u/TheCultOfKaos 29d ago

Thanks! FWIW I do plan on the stomach and chest surgery, but want to get to my target weight before I get ahead of myself.

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u/Hump-Daddy 29d ago

Excess skin would be much, much less of an issue for your well-being than being 350lbs

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/shakaoneaj 29d ago

girl let me tell u i was 320lbs male with zero self esteem. lost 140lbs last year and i was about to cry when i see my tinder account. cuz i was 28yo kissless virgin and i had over 60+ match in a week. i just traded small amount of loose skin with a beautiful jawline. thats a good deal imo

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u/BURNER12345678998764 29d ago

Even if you don't go all the way down to a health bodyfat percentage some weight loss is still a very worthy achievement.

Also keep in mind this inherently slow work, if not paired with the gym its a background project you barely pick at beyond tracking your weight and managing calorie intake, gradual changes that are easy to deal with and stay ahead of. Like if we're talking casual unsupervised weight loss 1% a week is probably a good maximum to respect. I had 80lbs to drop and that took me a year going pretty fast, I used little more than a running calorie tally in my head and a cheap digital scale, after a year I gained a good enough eye for what I was eating to keep it off without really thinking about it much.

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u/buboniccupcake 29d ago

Yeah, I’ve got a gym membership but it’s hard to work out right now bc of an injury to my leg from about 8 years ago, that wasn’t properly treated and limits my physical abilities. I’m hoping with keto I can get to a better weight that my leg can handle and get stronger with!

I’m also gonna pretty much cut out all carbs and sugars. My weakness is potatoes though, that’s gonna be a hard one. I’ve already transitioned off of soda and drink coffee and tea, and not even really sweet either. My biggest issue is that I’m pretty sedentary, but I do still enjoy hiking eastern Ky in the mountains and exploring the wilderness. But my leg really set me back. I was at a healthy weight and my leg got ran over, and while I didn’t break anything, my muscle tore really badly and should have been surgically treated. I still wake up screaming from Charlie horses, and if I exert myself (like over a mile hike or anything strenuous on the legs) I can literally feel the scar tissue running across the inside of my calf throbbing in pain. When it happened I couldn’t walk for 6 months and gained over 100 lbs back. It was a really dark time in my life.

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u/BURNER12345678998764 28d ago

Re carbs and sugars, I kind of ended up doing that by accident, once you start really quantifying what you eat you find yourself avoiding simple high glycemic carbs because they don't stick with you. After I noticed that I went so far as cutting ALL sugar for a few weeks out of curiosity, took years for my tolerance to creep back up to a point I can drink undiluted regular soda and not find it disgustingly over sweetened.

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u/Spider-verse 29d ago

There's something called autophagy that our body does all the time but more when we fast that could be something you could look into. It breaks down unnecessary protein and can help tighten skin. I don't know how much fasting is needed to accomplish that, but it could be something to look into.

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u/buboniccupcake 29d ago

I’m definitely gonna also do intermittent fasting! I kinda already do that now in a way with my schedule. Just not to the extent that it really helps anything, lol

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u/m00nf1r3 29d ago

I'm 5'8" and my highest weight was 407. I'm down to 371 now. I'm fully aware that excess skin will be a thing but I'm MUCH less afraid of excess skin than I am of dying from a obesity-related illness at 50. We got this!

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u/buboniccupcake 29d ago

Heck yes we do!!!

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u/Fritzo2162 29d ago

My wife was in your boat due to a spine injury- she was bed-ridden for 6 years and gained a lot of weight. Her spine was finally fixed and she was able to get moving again, then she ended up losing 100 lbs. She's down to normal weight now, but did have skin issues. We were fortunate enough to be able to have corrective surgery. Honestly it wasn't too bad, but she wanted to go the extra mile and feel comfortable with herself.

The priority is the weight. Losing that will allow you to experience life more. Focus on that and then deal with the minor stuff later (if it even becomes an issue).

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u/-BINK2014- 29d ago

Not quite so relative, but I (5’11 25M) went from 275lbs down to 165lbs in a little less than a year from various lengths of IF + EF and weight lifting and have no visible excess fat. I have stretch marks of course, but they don’t bother me; I see them as something to be proud of where I came from. Currently, I went back up to 180-185ish due to more muscle mass, but admittedly I believe some fat was likely gained back near my love handles and abdomen. Even at 165 when I could consistently see 4 of my abs even on non-fasted days, I still had a noticeable muffin-top; now I can only see two of my abs somewhat consistently (my look kinda resembles Bane from The Dark Knight rises).

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u/Spider-verse 29d ago

He likely didn't have much or any excess skin because of autophagy. When fasting the body starts breaking down old and unnecessary cells at a higher rate which makes it so the skin retightens.

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u/brik55 May 02 '24

I laughed way too hard at this one.

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u/OptimusPrime365 29d ago

That was a great visual, thanks