Man with folds of excess skin after dramatic weight loss says it's a 'blessing' to have it removed
A man who shed more than 300lbs (21st 6lbs) after he became morbidly obese now reportedly had 13lbs of loose skin removed from his body in what is believed to be a life-changing procedure.
John Allaire was so obese at a point that he wore 8XL shirts and had to be weighed on a commercial scale at a fish market, reports the Daily Mail. However, after he joined a fitness program and ended up dropping from 540lbs (38st 8lbs) to a lean 230lbs (16st 6lbs), the 27-year-old was left with drooping excess skin.
John underwent the surgery to remove his extra skin in March, post which he said, "It is a blessing to be able to move freely. There are just so many constant little things throughout the day that I think most people take for granted."
Following the session, John said: "The last six weeks I really missed not just being in the gym but being around people like Aaron and Andrew the trainer and all the people. So the exercise was one thing but I really miss the people and it was just great to see them again, even if I was not fully back I'm glad that I didn't wait any longer to get back around with my friends."
After his intensive fitness programme in California took away a majority portion of his weight, John started a GoFundMe to help pay for his excess skin surgery. He recently got out for the first time after his surgery and hit the gym, and chose to speak about his long journey and his battle to overcome a dangerous relationship with food.
"It's one thing to be obese and it's another thing when you reach morbid obesity," he said. "When I was about 20 years old I tried to go to the doctor and they couldn't weigh me. So they found a fish market where I lived in Florida and I had to get weighed on a commercial scale in the back of a fish market."
He added, "There were people there and we had to explain why we were there, but I have no recollection of any of those interactions – I think I just completely blocked it out."
It took a long time for the Florida man living now in Japan with his enlisted Navy wife, to be able to break his dangerous food habits since it was something he fully committed to only after becoming engaged to his high-school sweetheart, Caila.
He said: "Looking back at my eating habits, whenever there was a bad situation stemming from my parents' divorce we would get upset and my mum's answer was, 'OK, let's go to a supermarket and pick up an extra cake for dessert tonight'."
His bad eating habits continued for years, and John later revealed that he used food as a coping mechanism to deal with his dad passing away from cancer. He was just 18 at the time of his father's death. Within a year of his father becaming sick, John shot from 380 lbs to a staggering 500lbs, which put him in the category of morbidly obese.
"I started skipping all of my college classes," he explained. "Every day when I was supposed to be going to college I would go to a fast food place, put on sports radio and just drive around aimlessly eating three to four meals-worth of fast food."
The massive weight gain took a heavy toll on John's life, causing him to break several couches and chairs, and even two toilets just by sitting on them. "I didn't fly for a period of 15 years because it just would not have been possible," he revealed.
It wasn't until he became engaged to Caila, that he started taking weight-loss seriously. He said: "Even though Caila loved me as I was, and she was ready to commit to marrying me at 540 pounds, I was like, 'There is no way that I can, in good conscience, drag this woman through the difficulties that I am going to go through the rest of my life if I don't lose weight.'"
After seeing an advert on Facebook for The Camp Transformation Center in San Diego, John went along to the first session. The gym manager at the camp, Tanya Sites, said: "A lot of people will lose half that weight and just be like, 'I am okay! I am fine. I feel great. I lost a lot of weight. I am good'. 'But he pushed himself until the very end, which is incredible. He is definitely the most successful participant."
Prior to John's recent surgery, his wife Caila said: "I think his loose skin affects him in a lot of different ways. The surgery is just going to improve his overall quality of life. He's finally going to feel completely free – there's not going to be any baggage from his obesity."