Man who shed almost 60 kg shares unexpected side-effect of his drastic weight loss: ‘Low-key embarrassing to…’

US-based Justin O’Regan is a self-proclaimed ‘weight loss coach’. He often shares videos of his weight loss journey, fitness regime, and diet on Instagram. In one of the videos, Justin, who is in his early 20s, speaks about how it has been ‘low-key embarrassing to lose weight‘. He said he had lost over 130 pounds (58.9 kg). Also read | Man who lost 50 kg reveals 12 not-so-obvious benefits of drastic weight loss: ‘I am an inch taller’

What did he say?

Alongside a video of himself, he wrote in his Instagram caption, “Can anyone relate.” In the clip from July 2024, Justin said, “Why does nobody talk about how it is lowkey embarrassing to lose weight? So, I have lost over a 130 pounds, but every time, I would try to lose weight when I was younger, somebody would point it out and be like ‘Hey dude, I saw you lost 5 pounds, good work’ or ‘Hey man, how is that diet going?’. I felt like my darkest secret had been exposed. It is almost like I thought that if nobody were to realise that I was actively trying to lose weight, then they would not know I was fat.”

He added, “I would literally hide my Fitness Powell (seemingly an app for a fitness centre) all the way in the back of my phone just in case somebody saw it as I was showing them something and then put the pieces together and be like, ‘Oh wait, you are on Fitness Powell because you are on a diet, and you are on a diet because you are fat’. It is just the next level of denial you have when gaining weight and you don’t want to weigh yourself because that will make it real.”

Reactions to his video

“For me, it’s the change in people’s attitudes when I have lost weight. So far I’ve lost 86 pounds (39 kg), and people are very enthusiastic about it. And as much as I’m happy about it, and I’m doing well, the voice in the back of my brain asks, did they not love me/ did I not make them proud/did they not respect me when I was at my heaviest? It hurts,” read a comment. 

Another person said, “Honestly, any self-improvement efforts are embarrassing because then you have to admit what you are. This is why radical self acceptance is step one in any self improvement journey in this essay I will…”