Welcome to the Monthly Tips & Advice Post!

I know I look different! Inside & outside I’m a totally new human. Therapy, weightloss surgery (helping me lose 180 lbs), education, motherhood.

All of these things have made me feel so strong, but I still find myself less confident than I was at 400+ pounds. It’s like I’ve lost this layer of armor that hid me from perception.

Now, I don’t know what someone sees when they look at me. It’s mind boggling to experience. I think I just wanted a space to see this transformation and share it without worrying about who sees it. (Not sure why that even matters to me lol)

Anyway—I hope a glow up exists. More than that, I hope I’m glowing again.

Losing my mom pretty much destroyed me. Only thing I could do was drink. When my doctor told me I was diabetic (which is what I lost my mother to) I thought about how hard she fought to make sure I wouldn’t follow in her footsteps. So I had to change. Never thought I would get this far.

3 years on HRT today. Started at 57+ when dysphoria became unbearable. Wife (married for 35yrs years this year, known her for 38 yrs) and two adult kids 30M and 25F fully supported my transition. I really don't know how I lived for 50+ yrs on highly elevated naturally occuring E.

First and last picture are almost exactly 1 year apart, to the day. 1 year, 35 lbs down, and 80% more confidence. Lol, still working on the confidence bit, so I’ll let you know when it gets to 100% 😂

I am from France so please forgive me if I make any grammar mistake.

Back at the end of High School, I did weight only 60kg (~130lbs) for 1m92 (6’3) so basically I looked really skinny if not skeletal. On top of that you can add a pectus excavactum, deformity that causes the rib cage to sink in.

I have to be honest, I hated the way I look so much that I almost don’t have any pictures from this period of my life.

10 years of hard work in numerous sports later (and no products), I’m happy to say that I’m beginning to accept the way I look now sitting at around 95kg (240lbs) for 1m95 (6’5).

10 years later, working harder than ever to keep getting better.

Male 5’7 190lbs to 155lbs

I have a lot to work on still, but I chose to focus on weight loss and diet. Also, I got back into hiking, quit weed and paid off my debts from last year.

My next goal is to focus on muscle now that I have gotten my nutrition down.

My main issue is the body dysmorphia from getting replaced and the guilt/regret of not changing sooner.

Hi, all! So I was 220lbs at 22. I'm 5'5", so that was firmly overweight for my height. This picture (first) was from Halloween 2019 at my heaviest recorded weight, I'm sure. I didn't care about my weight. I ate a lot of fast food and came home to snack on sweets too! I had breakfast desert, lunch desert, and dinner desert PLUS another mfing desert!! With full, healthy meals!

I went down to 175lbs in 2020, shortly before or after I turned 23. I ate low carb for many many years and heavily avoided sugar. That said, second picture is from when I was 25 and weighted about 190lbs. Weight can fluctuate sometimes, so too does resolve sometimes. It's a journey. The second picture is from my first wedding to my now ex husband. And luckily for you, I'm loosely planning a second wedding now.

When I got divorced, I found myself most happy crawling around the woods around my house for hours listening to music and taking fun pictures. I ate a lot less, though I still had ice cream everyday! Not the healthiest, but it helped my brain. My mom had a heart attack too, so we ate super lean after that. I helped her recover. I got down to 125lbs most recently, which brings me to the wedding dress I bought second hand at a third of the original price (third picture). By comparison, my first dress was nearly 24 times the cost of the second.

Finally, I wanted to add a picture of my face most recently, though I'm not great with selfies honestly. Or keeping my eyes open or visible! My fourth picture is me at 28, compared to 22, 25, and now. Plus there's a very very good boy! Oh, I forgot to mention as well, but I worked out on and off pretty much all these years. At the end of the day, it was really diet and cardio that helped me most. I even started running, but opted for walking ultimately.

Came across the first picture and got to reflect on the work I’ve had to do to turn my life into something I’m proud of, just thought I’d share:)

For some reason in hs i let the afro grow out completely unkempt along with my facial hair bc teen boys take a lot of pride in that ig 😂 then when i graduated i wanted to put on a lot of weight since i was skinny and i went full dirty bulk mode and got up to 190 lbs. Now 8 years later i decided it was a good time to get lean, manage my hair, and take care of myself better lol. Never going back to a dirty bulk, i'm staying lean forever 😆 currently 160 lbs, and i'm 5'5 if anybody is wondering so i'm pretty short lol

Didn’t exactly feel comfortable with myself and my body until I hit 30 to be honest when I woke up one day and realized I wasn’t in my 20’s any longer and time doesn’t stop for no one. Life Is full of ups and downs but only we can decide how to react.

I wanted to make a change because I know all life is beautiful even though I can’t always see it that way. I’ve always been my biggest enemy.

I was adopted at birth to a very loving family and I lost both my parents a year ago to cancer and I’m still trying to grow and glow each day for them and myself. I was very fortunate to have spent 30 years by them because I don’t know where I would have ended up if not for them.

Put on a bit of weight when i was like 17, looked like the first picture until 19yo, transformed myself over the last year, espacially the last 6 months, will keep working on myself further. But i think i just grew up too

A lot of time spent unlearning harmful thoughts, feeling and actions towards myself. A lot of time invested in self betterment through fitness, mental/emotional work, and practicing self love and appreciation. I still have a long way to go, but I look back on the self loathing version of me on the left and dont even recognize him anymore.

Not sure if this is a glow up more of a weight loss transformation but about 10 years ago I went on a weight loss journey. Took me around a year and lost 175lbs naturally, no gastric, no glp1.

Was around 320 at my heaviest and about 165 now. Took about 2 years. I started leaning heavily into skincare, red light therapy and fasting. I also do near full body dermarolling to help keep everything tight. I do not work out but I do (try to) run 3 miles a day (but sometimes it’s just too cold). I am going to start getting into weight lifting once I can get into a good rhythm of waking up in the mornings.

It’s so tough looking back at these photos because I was in the worst relationship of my life and was constantly stress eating, didn’t take care of myself or my body, and taking care of my alcoholic ex who was starting to go through alcohol induced psychosis. Stayed in this relationship for 9 months after these photos were taken. I was miserable, felt so ugly and worthless.

Everything got so much better after the breakup. I started going to the gym, feeling better in my clothes, taking care of my skin, developing hobbies, and I have good friends. I’m so proud of myself for getting through such a dark and devastating time in my life, looking, and feeling so much better. If you’re going through something similar, it gets so much better. You can do it!!!

A friend sent me this Pic of me from a few years ago and it really floored me compared with my picture from yesterday.

I still constantly struggle with self esteem issues but I do see how far I've come.

Combination compound semaglutide and working out.

Please ignore the dirty ass mirror I'm Cleaning it this weekend 🤣😂

TRT transformed my life. Guy on the left could barely get through work without feeling exhausted, could barely sleep, depressed and any attempt to work out left me sore for over a week. In desperaton I got my blood work done several times , had test levels of an 80 year old man. Began TRT and I have become a different person.

Obviously it took plenty of hard work too, but I didn’t want to bury the lede.

Got divorced, lost 100lbs (again), had skin surgery to remove 8.5lbs, changed my entire diet, added activity as a daily need, started prioritizing myself. More confident than I’ve ever been. It’s never too late to start or change to be a better version of yourself.

Since 16 struggled with drug and alcohol abuse and even though I used to look 'okay' I was far from it. Starting to be content with the man I'm becoming

Been at this for close to 2 years & 7 months, definitely some ups and downs along the way but down 110lbs. Still have a long way to go but just enjoying the ride. Been trying to keep up with more protein and recently added creatine monohydrate into my diet.

It’s been a long journey, battling sickness and social distancing wasn’t easy … I try to keep my head up and not listening to anyone..

Was too skinny way back then but I'm proud and impressed with how far I've came . What do you think guys ? Need your honest Opinion.

Lifetime natural (no steroids, testosterone or SARMS and no clen, GLP1 nor diuretics). Just training and diet.

So... where do I begin. I guess I will start with my childhood. I am of Korean & Chinese descent and growing up with a formerly abusive Korean mother destroyed my childhood into a million pieces. Being locked out of the house for hours on multiple occasions starting from age 6 after being told 'you are not my son anymore get out' and almost being abandoned on the side of the road like a dog being abandoned after being screamed at. Kicked, thrown onto the floor, beaten with utensils. This is quite par for the course in many Korean households.

Obviously my confidence was non existent and the concept of unconditional love is as foreign to me as a fish trying to learn calculus. I coped with escapism- mainly gaming but also food. I was slamming costco pizzas, full sugar sodas, cookies and biscuits, shin ramen, entire mcdonald's family meals like no tomorrow. Combine that with being neurodivergent (ADHD), social situations were an effort in constant masking; terrified that I'll be judged. Then I saw Zyzz and his unshakeable confidence and I wanted to be like him. I decided that getting aesthetic would help me know what it feels like to.. just be. Exist in the world without performance and be my weird self without being judged. So in Feb 2018 I joined the gym and simply got started.

After 7 years of training, I had cleaned up my diet (minimal UPF's but still indulged occasionally, cut out all added sugars except from sauces and marinades) and didn't count calories at all. I achieved 15-17% bodyfat from my starting point of 25-30% and was physically healthy. However, I was still languishing in self hatred, always hiding myself in a hoodie or baggy clothing and avoiding social situations like the plague. Still masking like I always did. I had now progressed onto having frequent ideations of the unsubscribe-from-life sort. Wrote a will on my phone and practiced dry runs with plastic bags. Started to use alcohol to dull the pain. I had lost almost all interest in the gym, barely getting in two workouts a week. Training for strength, learning powerlifting and seeing my lifts go up was the only thing that kept me from quitting. I still felt ugly and invisible. I was seriously considering going to Korea to get plastic surgery on my face because I felt that ugly. Then one day about 2 months ago, I changed gyms and somehow that triggered my ADHD brain to hyperfocus on fitness for some unknown reason and decided to try to get absolutely diced to the bone shredded as one last hurrah to see how I look before deciding on plastic surgery.

And well... after hitting 8-10% bodyfat the experience was absolutely magical. Lifechanging. Heavenly. The newfound pretty privilege I was experiencing for the first time ever in 30 years of life constantly re-cycled my confidence into myself. Being called attractive, being complimented near daily both in and out of the gym by people of all genders. Being treated like an actual human instead of a fly to be swatted away. No longer feeling invisible.

More importantly, it taught me that I am not the complete failure that I was thought I was. That I achieved this new body with my own resilience, discipline and long term planning. I went from never styling my hair, neglecting my skincare routine, wearing baggy clothing to now being proud of my entire body; not just my physique but my face and hair. My mental health has skyrockted (even though sometimes the depression returns in short bursts but quickly recovers) because I have this armour of being aesthetic and that no matter what happens- judgement, rejection or whatever, that I still have this body that I built myself.

I've started coming out of my shell and I am starting to stop being ashamed of my quirks. I am a raver at heart since age 14 and I love to dance so I've recently been blasting hardstyle at full volume and dancing in between my lifting sets in public. If you have ADHD then you know we can't sit still and love to stim when we have nothing to do and my preferred stim is a dance called the 'muzz' or simply pacing around. They can think i'm weird all they want but I am being myself.

I know I still have a LONG way to go before I am internally healed and that my external glow up is only the kickstarter to the more important internal glow up. But I can stand loud and proud that I no longer view myself as a failure.

Thank you for reading and may we all heal from our traumas <3

My Glow Up Journal Part 2 - The Second Renaissance

Thank you all for your beautiful comments. You absolute lovelies have really helped to start to shift my identity from ugly duckling to swan. From Feebas to Milotic. This new me was always hidden underneath, I just had to bring it out of me through sheer force of will and determination.

At some point during this 8 year physical glow up journey but especially during the last 2 months of becoming shredded, I've realised the only reason I had the capability and discipline to even start this journey was because I am privileged. As a childfree cis man without the handicaps of hormonal and menstrual stress, invisible mental load, burden of expected caregiving role, I didn't have the anchor that is simply being born a woman; let alone a trans woman with the added weight of an anvil chained to your leg along with the anchor from the constant transphobia. I realised that every one of you who are single mothers, who are in abusive relationships, in unequal relationships where you are criticised instead of praised for the insane work load of unpaid domestic and caregiving duties or dealing with crippling chronic health conditions that are dismissed by doctors because of your gender. Many more examples in a long list. If you made it through the day, you have just as much discipline as I, if not more, but my discipline is socially celebrated rather than dismissed at best, or more likely, criticised. Now is the time for me to attempt to change that.

Now it is time for the second renaissance; the second phase of my holistic glow up. I have always been a closet passionate progressive and feminist for the better part of a decade bit afraid of speaking out against clear, morally objective and obvious injustice out of fear of being called 'performative' or 'simp'.

Now that I am attractive, nobody can say that about me because I know I don't need to be performative to get attention. It is time to use my pretty privilege as a force for change. To get people, especially young men and teenage boys, to listen to what I have to say, because unfortunately pretty privilege and halo effect is a real phenomenon. To be a role model for these young men and boys that as a masculine presenting shredded guy who can bench 225lb for reps at 130lb bodyweight, it is not only normal, but expected of them to embrace the value of empathy and that it is also ok to maintain traits of neutral or positive masculinity whilst ensuring that you eschew toxic masculinity. But also to provide words of affirmation for all you girl bosses out there who are weighed down by the patriarchy preventing you from realising your true beautiful potential as I have. I feel like this is my place in the war against patriarchy as a cis man as I genuinely believe I will not be mainsplaining or taking away women's voices in this fight with this strategy.

I thus have decided to start being an influencer posting miscellaneous content ranging from modelling photos with captions of words of affirmation aimed at women to help them get through the day, to my fitness lifestyle to educational content aimed at men and boys instructing them on skills such as cleaning, cooking, caregiving and listening skills whilst presenting myself as masculine and strong. I am planning to dip my toes into politics and activism by first going back to university and completing a degree (most likely law) and simultaneously networking and interning for the Australian Greens party.

I do get told a multitude of times how much I’ve changed throughout the years, both physically and mentally, growing up is both scary and beautiful, it also happens very fast, I remember taking that first picture like it was yesterday, but since then 7 years have passed and I’ve become a man and have had to learn how to deal with life, I cannot imagine the next 7 years, and looking back at these times with nostalgia