Shirtless Phobia

I have NEVER in my adult life walked around (even at the beach/pool) without a shirt, it's always been a dream of mine, but never have.  This can, of course, be attributed to the fact that I've been overweight since birth!  To those of us who have lost a large amount of weight and are at or near enough to your "goal" weight, do you now (as a postop) feel comfortable enough to lose the shirt at the beach, pool, or in the yard?  I'm only about 30 pounds away from what I would consider my goal weight and I still don't feel comfortable enough to remove my shirt outside of the house and don't know that I will AFTER losing the last 30 pounds!  I wish I was one of those guys who was comfortable in his own skin...I live across the road from a guy who weighs at least 300 pounds (not hating, I've been there-recently) and mows his grass EVERY TIME with no shirt on (hairy back and all!).  I plan on mowing tomorrow and I've told myself tomorrow is The Day.  I'm going to get out there-no shirt- and hell with what everyone thinks!  I weigh at least 70lbs less than this guy and "For Sale" signs don't start flying up around the neighborhood when he mows.  Geez, this seems like such a small issue, but I KNOW tomorrow it will get on my nerves soooo bad that I'll probably chicken out.   How much weight did you all lose before you felt comfortable enough to bare the midsection?   Thanks Jason 320-295-230-200 highes-surgery-current-goal

Hey Jason, living in South Florida, this is a shirtless haven all year, and trust me, nobody seems to care about what they look like.  If your that close to goal, I wouldnt sweat it, go for it.  I think I finally was comfortable at about 250, a little loose skin, but not anything to freak anyone out over.  Take care. John

Sounds like you're on the right track. Going shirt-less has nothing to do with how much you weigh, or how much you have a keg in place of a six-pack. It's about comfort. If you feel like doing it, go for it. Make up your mind that you're ok.

I wrestle with much the same issue. When I run my torso flesh bounces. I used to wear an UnderArmor compression t-shirt because it hurt to run, and kept me from running. As I have lost more and more weight, and become a little more tone, I have stopped wearing the shirt. Some mornings, though, I think of putting it on again so people don't see the bouncing. It's all up in the gord. Like people really care as they're driving by!

My wife and I went to the lake with 3 other couples this past wknd. I didn't really pack any clothes to get in the water. I thought we were just gonna boat and fish and bbq. Well the guy that owns the lake house had this trampoline sized tube and everybody gets in their swimming gear and goes out into the lake to climb up on this thing and jump off of it. I wasn't gonna be left on shore, but I didn't want to get my shirt wet. So I whipped it off and through it in a lawn chair and took my glorious 290 into the water. I wouldn't have done it at 450 and probably not at 350, but the crazy thing is that at 290 I kinda feel skinny. Although I know there's still plenty of unsightly flesh all over this bod. Of course it helped that the other three guys were about 400, 250 and 230. There wasn't a greek god amongst us.

> I live across the road from a guy who weighs at least 300 pounds > (not hating, I've been there-recently) and mows his grass EVERY > TIME with no shirt on (hairy back and all!) Gee, being hairy  everyplace except my head (rivalling Robin Williams) is one of my few physical features that I'm NOT ashamed of!    If anything, now that I've lost almost 100 lbs., I realize that I look hairier now than I have in a long time, simply because the hair follicles are once again much closer together than they have been for the past 20 years! (For some reason, women seem to think this is gross; over on the other boards, back hair seems to be a favorite creep out of theirs.  It's times like this that I'm glad I'm gay!) I'm not big on going shirtless anyway because I had a melanoma removed 14 years ago (plus the moobs and everything else), but I have to admit that now when I look in the mirror, I don't look any worse than a lot of schlubs who haven't had WLS--like your neighbor--and the loose skin and saggy tits haven't turned out to be as nasty as I expected they would be. So, yeah, it's all in your head.  Doing it once should help put this behind you! /Steve

I hear ya and I wouldn't say that it's a small issue.  It's a big part of the whole change.   About 2 years ago, I went to six flags new england and there is a water park there.  I was 6 months out and down about 130 lbs and feeling pretty good so I lost the shirt.  I must say that even though my stomach is still a mess, it felt very liberating.  Some people looked, mostly at the scar and I took it as a badge of honor.  I have no problem going shirtless when appropriate.   Last week I ran a 10K when the northeast had its heat wave.  When I finished the race my shirt must have weighed 10 lbs and it was really annoying me.  With all these skinny runners with big adams apples hanging around, I did it again.  The shirt came off.  My thought was that if anyone had an issue I would beat their skinny ass  but more than that I thought, "I look like this but I still ran a sub one hour 10K.  Beat that".   Anyway, I think that it's more about how you feel about yourself and how project yourself than how someone else feels.   Go shirtless and screw everyone else if they don't like it.

Hey Jason - When you go out there and mow your lawn topless, try not to get sunburn   If you haven't had your shirt off for a long time, your skin might be a little sensitive to the sun.  Have fun showing off

I have no problem losing the shirt. Now, dropping the drawers is an entirely different thing!!! BwaHahahaha!!! 

Woah...please no "comando" mowing. The neighborhood watch would have a field day with your junk blowin' in the clippings.

I have always been sensitive about going shirtless. Having lost over 200 lbs I will maybe walk out to my car or out in the yard with out thinking to much about it but I feel just as naked as if I have no clothes on. In the past I would just as soon go bottomless than without a shirt. pan head