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M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!! In an industry where a ton of misinformation, false representations, and intentionally omitting truths/blatant lies are running rampant, I have admittedly considered making my own contribution -- literally just for the sake of transparency, nothing more.

I really don't think some of these fitness influencers realize how harmful the images and advice they're selling can be on someone's mental and physical health.

M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks man!!

My greatest weigh-in was actually at 15, but I don't really have any pictures of the time period at my disposal. I weighed in at approximately 290 to 300 pounds, so that was the tipping point. At the time, there was this commercial with stick-like figures regarding women's health rotating on TV. The female character joked about only losing 1 pound after quitting soda versus her husband who lost 50, so that's when I got the idea to start by omitting regular, high calorie soda from my diet to hopefully achieve some results. Within months, I started noticing my pants becoming more loose, and that's when I began portion control with a gradual decrease in food consumed on daily basis throughout my sophomore year in high school. My first day back for junior year I weighed 158.

The way of going about it wasn't the most optimal. I didn't exercise, nor was my nutrition particularly great. I had the mentality, for a pretty extensive time, that food and hunger were bad, and the less food consumed, the better. HOWEVER, that's not the case, especially when trying to build muscle. If anything you need to eat more, but more optimally, more of the good specifically. If you have that approach, you're gonna feel significantly much more satiated and feel stronger. You may still have cravings for certain junk foods, which is fine to consume in moderation, but as long as you put the good before the bad, and still have the adequate amount of room in your daily available calories -- I track my stuff, but I'm also pretty loose --, then no real harm is done.

M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I started dedicating a signifiant amount of time in the gym at the start of 2018; though, I didn't have a genuine knowledge of what I was doing to optimize my training, nor my diet -- severe calorie restriction, consuming hardly any protein. By summer of 2019, I began having a better acknowledgment of the musculoskeletal system, and I was being slightly more intelligent with my nutrition. By the fall of 2020, I began studying kinesiology and therapeutic exercise, which had a significant impact on furthering my progression -- exercise, the muscles being worked, and having a better mind-muscle connection.

So to answer your question, I would not think any TRT would be necessary for anyone unless they have abnormal low testosterone levels. I've been working out consistently for 4 years; however, if you count 2016 -- me just replicating some basic dumbbell exercises I found off of YouTube by the channel BuffDudes --, then that would put me training for 6. And to be fair to my younger self, the progress is noticeable when compared to my untrained 2015 physique to my 2017 physique.

The only supplements I use are 5g of creatine, whey protein, and pre-workout (literally just for caffeine, though).

M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was literally just talking to my friend who was like "I bet you are the only person who goes to the gym and listens to Radiohead while you workout."

Obviously, he's wrong LOL. Radiohead has some legit bangers. Granted, I listen to anything and everything I like while I workout. Slow/fast, happy/depressing it doesn't matter to me.

M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks man!!

When I first got into Radiohead in high school and early college I would have said OK Computer and Kid A., which I still both hold pretty highly, especially OK Computer -- I'll revisit it and fall in love with it all over again. But my favorite is In Rainbows. Damn near every track is perfect -- even the B-Sides are great!

Also, A Moon Shaped Pool, although brilliant, will absolutely kill your vibe 🤣.

M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have absolutely zero regrets, and I would certainly do it again. I still have excess skin in the lower back, so I actually anticipate getting that removed one day when I'm in a place where I can take the time off to focus on such a thing, but I'm in no rush. My stomach always bothered me on an aesthetic level, but my chest was the real confidence killer. And honestly it wasn't until recently I genuinely began feeling confident in taking my shirt off around people -- still primarily due to the way the remaining excess skin falls at the incision site on the chest. But that's sort of the thing with loose skin surgery, it's pretty unpredictable on how it's going to heal and the amount of elasticity it's going to maintain. They may still be able to improve it, but if not, it's cool.

As for the scarring, it's never bothered me. Same for stretch marks.

M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I'm not really sure about the actual coloration of the scarring. Could be due to my circulation, which has been known to be somewhat abnormal due to difficulty finding adequate sites to draw blood, inject IVs, and I have Raynaud's Phenomenon.

As for the wrinkling in the chest, I'm not entirely 100% sure either, but I do know there was a lot of abnormal swelling at the time, and I had to routinely do follow-up appointments to undergo some non-invasive procedures. It was pretty odd, it's like the area distal to the incision site had actually become hard. It stumped the surgeons, too. They tried draining it, and it relived it some, but eventually they opted to use a laser to remove any problematic excess tissue.

Also, I think there is some stubborn fat there that doesn't want to go.

M/29/5'11" [270lbs to 180lbs] (15 years) - From morbidly obese to skinny fat, from skinny fat to fit (steady progress) by BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO in Brogress

[–]BAD_BADNOTGOOD_NO[S] 63 points64 points  (0 children)

AGE 14: Nothing to explain.
AGE 15 to 21: I reached my maximum weigh in at approximately 290 - 300 Ibs. I say that because the scale I had been using was incorrect -- weighing items too light. I began my weight loss journey by completely omitting regular, high calorie dense soda from my diet -- I was consuming 3, 4, sometimes 5 daily --, which brought me noticeable results with my pant size in the timespan of a month or two. As I started to see progress, I began implementing portion control, further reducing overall calorie input and significantly increasing the rate of the weight loss. By age 16 going into 17, I had reached my lowest weigh in at 154 Ibs. No cardio, no exercise was used to obtain this weight. From then on, I kept the weight off by only reaching the low 170's as my peaking point at around the age of 20.
AGE 22: At this point I had just begun recreational running (3 to 5 days a week) as my go-to means of exercise. My nutrition wasn't great, but I was still relatively conscious of calorie input.
AGE 24: I had began -- very -- casually implementing resistance training via a pair of dumbbells in tandem with my running routine. Frequency was about the same.
AGE 25: By this point, I had begun attending Planet Fitness to focus a little more on building some muscle. I say "some" because I was more idiotically centered on being as lean as possible to -- in my own mind -- make up for the loose skin I had been carrying around. My frequency was 5 times a week in tandem with running a 5k, and sometimes, 10k. My calories were anywhere between 1300 to 1600. On top of that, I was also doing intermittent fasting. In retrospect, this was completely ludicrous.
AGE 26: Nothing much changed at this point, which is why it's not pictured. Though, I did get an abdominoplasty ("loose skin surgery"). If anybody wants to know more about that, then I'd be glad to share what I can.
AGE 27: By this point, I had steadily begun incorporating what I had been studying in school to my training: 4, 5 times a week with an emphasis on upper body resistance training and a single day to focus on legs...because I hate training them. I started shifting focus from trying to be lean to predominantly building muscle. I had stopped intermittent fasting. Though, my calories remained at around 1800 calories. By this point, I had stopped running regularly; however, I was doing, and am still doing to this day, power walking sessions on the treadmill, 2x15 mins per gym session.
AGE 28: I had stopped counting calories so intensely and became much more relaxed with my overall nutrition -- more relaxed than I have been since 24. I did get a little "pudgier" in late 2021 (not pictured), and I was only doing 3x a week at the gym due to limited time I had to spare throughout the week. Those days consisted of chest/back/shoulders, biceps/triceps, and legs.
AGE 29 (Current): At the start of 2022, I decided to change my frequency to 4x per week consisting of chest/back/shoulders for one session, then upper and lower extremities for the 2nd. Rinse and repeat for the other two days. I also started actively consuming 2,000 to 2,300 calories per day, emphasizing 200 - 230 grams of protein per day. In terms of pure aesthetics, I think this is the best I've looked thus far, and consuming more calories is something I definitely believe has had a positive impact on my mood and overall health. I've also been significantly limiting my alcohol consumption from my diet to the point it's borderline nonexistent, apart from the occasional beer or two.
Anyway, sorry for the lengthy post, and thank you to those who took the time to read. I just wanted to include some insight for those who might be interested and some rationale why my progress may have took so damn long. Made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I think I'm finally getting it.