Written by Blake Gauthier (@thesilverbackviking)
Last month we published a story involving plastic surgery for men, which can be found here. This is the companion piece to this, sharing the personal journeys of other men who have chosen to go “under the knife”.
Having gone through a physical transformation myself which is what brought me to Dr Barr originally, I started to wonder if other people, more specifically men who had gone through similar transformations went through the same questions prior to having plastic surgery. I reached out to several friends of mine and they agreed to let me interview them.
Introducing Jeancarlo Danies (JC @fatfree.jc)
JC is 42 years old. He is a realtor and the CEO of Fat Free Enterprises and Fat Free Foundation. JC is also the WBFF World Transformation Champion. At the time of writing JC has entered 3 different competitions and won first place in all 3.
Blake Gauthier (BG): Can you please provide a quick history regarding your fitness journey?
Jeancarlo Danies (JC): My journey began in February 2019. In 19 months, I lost 222 pounds and became world champion in the transformation division of the WBFF. Before I started, I had to use a breathing machine to sleep and I couldn’t walk or even tie my shoes. I had very little blood flow in my right leg and my doctor gave me less than 2 years to live.
BG: At what point in your journey did you begin to consider having plastic surgery?
JC: I decided to have surgery after I won the first two competitions. I wanted to win that world championship and I knew the competition was going to be tough. Several competitors had their tummy tucks done and I wanted it also. I felt it was the only way to beat the competition. In my two competitions with loose skin, you could still see my abs.
BG: What were the pros and cons in your mind about having the surgery vs not having it?
JC: I knew I wanted surgery. There were no cons for me. It was all positive.
BG: What surgery/s have you had and how long ago did you have the surgery?
JC: I had an extended tummy tuck in February 2021.
BG: How has your life/fitness journey changed since having the surgery?
JC: It really hasn’t changed a lot because I was able to see my abs with the skin but I do feel more confident because the tummy tuck is the final chapter in my journey and I love that I feel tight!
BG: Do you have any regrets about having the surgery?
JC: The only regret I have was that I didn’t do it 360. My back area you can see some love handles cause of the loose skin no matter how slim I get.
BG: Did you receive any feedback regarding being a male and having plastic surgery? Positive or negative
JC: It’s the best thing you can do and if you can do 360 go ahead and do it. Anything we can do to better ourselves will make us feel better physically, mentally and emotionally. All our lives we had body problems. Now it’s time to enjoy and have that body you always dreamed of having.
Jack Bunch
In June of 2022 I finally got to meet Jack Bunch (age 63 payroll manager) in person at the Toronto Pro Show. Jack and I were in the show together, I won the lifestyle division I entered and Jack won the fit division he entered.Jack is also a part of the Radical Body Transformation (RBT) group and can be seen along side me in Episode 6 of the series The Super Lolli’s. Jack is an amazing individual whose positive attitude inspires a lot of people in the RBT community.
BG: Can you please provide a quick history regarding your fitness journey?
Jack Bunch (JB): My journey started in August 2017. I needed to work on my mindset first, before starting my weight loss journey. That took about 10 months before I was ready to go all in. Having 3 mini strokes (TIA’s) wasn’t enough to get me going, but the birth of my grandson Cole was - he’s my why and my hero.
I’m always working on goals, but my top two are leaving a legacy of health and fitness for my grandkids and being on the back end of life, my goal is to embrace each year as I get older to improve myself physically and mentally, so I can be at my best for me and my family.
BG: At what point in your journey did you begin to consider having plastic surgery?
JB: I considered having plastic surgery as soon as I won the 2021 Radical Body Transformation Summer challenge. I got down to my lowest weight at 195 lbs and I was pretty lean, but there was a lot of loose skin. I really thought if I got below 200, I would see abs. NOT! LOL! I looked like an old skinny man in the mirror.
BG: How long did it take for you to decide that you were going to have surgery?
JB: As soon as I hit 195 lbs, I knew I was going to have the surgery. Of course, like a lot of people, I tried to add muscle to fill up the loose skin. Failure!
BG: What were the pros and cons in your mind about having the surgery vs not having it?
JB: The pros were freeing my mind up from the mental warfare. I feel good working out again and now I don’t wear a shirt when I workout. LOL! It really has improved my lifting; I really feel that mind/muscle connection. The cool thing is I don’t remember having the loose skin on my body.
The con for me was being 62 years old when I had the surgery and thinking damn, what if something goes wrong - that’ll be it for me. I knew that the mental warfare I was dealing with would continue to beat me down and knock me off course, so I felt it was worth it to take that chance.
BG: What surgery/s have you had and how long ago did you have the surgery?
JB: I had a tummy tuck 4 months ago.
BG: How has your life/fitness journey changed since having the surgery?
JB: It’s been amazing. Like I said, my lifting has improved, I really understand my body and I workout without a shirt. What’s pretty cool is last summer my granddaughter was born. My youngest grandson knew his mommy’s tummy was bigger because baby sister was in there. He lifted my shirt up one day and said, “Papa you have a baby in there”? No more baby for Papa. LOL!
BG: Do you have any regrets about having the surgery?
JB: The only regret is that I didn’t get lean enough before surgery. I worked my ass off, but my body was not cooperating with the process. I couldn’t change the surgery date, because my daughter was going to end her maternity leave and I needed to take care of the grandkids each day. I knew this was my only opportunity in 2022.
BG: Did you have any feedback regarding being a male and having plastic surgery? Positive or negative
JC: This was the best thing I did for myself, and I would definitely do it again. The mental healing I received from having this surgery was huge and now my mental health is strong, which has helped make me a better husband, a better dad and a better papa.
Chris Murphy, age 43 (@no_excuses_chris)
Chris is a business owner who came in 1st at the 2020 Gator Classic Transformation category, 2nd in the 2021 Summer Shredding Transformation category and competed at the 2022 WBFF Worlds where he tied for second.
BG: Can you please provide a quick history regarding your fitness journey?
Chris Murphy (CM): In 2018 I entered the hospital at 498lbs and a blood sugar of 790. I was turning septic and dying. When I was released, I was put on so many medications and I was so depressed I tried to commit suicide by taking all my blood sugar meds and going to sleep. My daughter found me and called 911. When I woke up, I realized I needed to change; I needed to live with no meds. I needed to learn to eat healthier and train harder. As far as goals I just strive to be better then yesterday. To me every minute of the day is a new minute. I have no excuses and I will never be satisfied.
BG: At what point in your journey did you begin to consider having plastic surgery?
CM: In 2021 I had lost about 290lbs and had a lot of extra skin hanging. It was not causing me any health issues but all the hard work I put in on changing my mind and body, I needed to change this. In November of 2021 I took the leap and had 14lbs of skin removed. I still need 1 more surgery to remove some side growth and I plan on doing this when it makes financial sense.
BG: How long did it take for you to decide that you were going to have surgery?
CM: When I started my weight loss, I was that guy saying I won’t have much skin. Boy, was I wrong. I pretty much knew after about 200lbs lost I was going to need to do it for me. So, I continued to grind and lost more weight. I had the surgery right after a summer shredding show so I could be as lean as I could be.
BG: What were the pros and cons in your mind about having the surgery vs not having it?
CM: Honestly there were absolutely no cons to me. I knew it was what I wanted for me and my wife at the time. I put in all that work, years of training my mind and body. I wanted to look better for my wife and myself.
BG: What surgery/s have you had and how long ago did you have the surgery?
CM: My surgery was a full FDL 360. I was cut up and all the way around. That surgery was in November of 2021. It was an 8hr surgery and in the recovery room I started to bleed a lot, so I had to go back into surgery for another 4hrs to stop the bleeds and then I was transferred to a hospital for blood and plasma and observation.
BG: How has your life/fitness journey changed since having the surgery?
CM: Man, my life has completely changed. Some for the good some for the worst. My quality of life has gone way up. Not just from the weight loss but from the surgery. I feel great walking with my shirt off; my self esteem became so high. I love myself more. Now the worst. My weight loss also brought me to divorce in many ways. My wife could not handle the attention I received. It created a lot of tension in the marriage, and she was convinced that after 22 years of me being faithful that I would move on to another woman. My morbid obesity caused my wife to step out on our marriage a few times in that 22 years and she was convinced I was going to do it to her so you can say it was tense all the time especially with the attention I would receive.
BG: Do you have any regrets about having the surgery?
CM: Absolutely none. Best decision I made for myself.
BG: Did you have any feedback regarding being a male and having plastic surgery? Positive or negative
CM: My feedback is that just love who you are loose skin or not. Body dysmorphia
is real no matter what surgery or surgeries you have. So, you need to learn to live with the body you were given. Treat it right fuel it right and enjoy the ride.
Anthony Lolli, age 44
Anthony is the founder of Rapid Realty and saying he’s a fitness influencer is an understatement. Anthony has entered 6 competitions since 2019, placing in various categories, including one with his wife. In August 2022, he won his pro card.
BG: Can you please provide a quick history regarding your fitness journey?
Anthony Lolli (AL): 2018 is when I started, so that’s 5 years. I turned pro in the documentary series Super Lollies. I turned pro August 13 of 2022 and so the goal is to compete as a pro in the WBFF.
BG: At what point in your journey did you begin to consider having plastic surgery?
AL: In the documentary (“From Fat Lolli to Fit Lolli: The Ultimate Transformation Story”) I talk about it. I lost all this weight and that was like, you know, what's next? And I, you know, had hoped that my skin would be elastic. It would come back. I was in total denial and so I had worked so hard and trained so hard. I'm like, I didn't come this far to only come this far. I didn't even know there were transformation competitions. So, once I found out I could put myself out there to show off my work… I really wanted to show off my work and the loose skin was not allowing me to be able to show off all of my work. So, I decided to have the plastic surgery and that was it.
BG: How long did it take for you to decide that you were going to have surgery?
AL: Once I realized that the skin was not going to go back and there were no other natural treatments to make it go back, there was no other choice. Then I knew there was a whole world of people that were getting loose skin surgery. At the time, there was not a lot of male stuff. I think that me doing the surgery and putting it in the documentary put it more on the forefront. That's why I'm working on another documentary called Skin Deep.
BG: What were the pros and cons in your mind about having the surgery vs not having it?
AL: There really are no cons to the surgery. The cons are more in not having the surgery. There are some health risks, and some people are susceptible. Susceptible regarding your skin rubbing and just hanging there and doing things like that. So, I know people have had those issues. You work hard to maybe take your shirt off in public at the beach like a normal person. You get there, to take your shirt off, but you don’t want to take your shirt off because you’re even more abnormal with the loose skin than when you were big.
You can't even put your obesity behind you. It's like, you know, doing a crime and being forever big, you know. It's like, I had a lot of fat ruining my body so you paid your price by doing the workouts and then the crime is still all over you, so the last skin surgery is kind of a rebirth.
BG: What surgery/s have you had and how long ago did you have the surgery?
AL: I had a bunch of stuff done. Regarding the loose skin and chest and nipple relocation skin pulled from under my underarm. You really can't tell that I had a surgery at all. 360 around waist. Taking all the skin out there. I didn't have to do anything on my legs and arms.
BG: How has your life/fitness journey changed since having the surgery?
AL: It’s changed a lot. I mean, you know, I got into the fitness industry, I got involved in fitness businesses and in the documentary business. I'm able to impact and help people all over the world. I've been able to host challenges and prizes. You know, skin surgery as well, paying forward and get to meet incredible people like you (Blake) and have you as a part of the documentary that we're doing, whole Transformation Icons to do all of that.
BG: Did you have any feedback regarding being a male and having plastic surgery? Positive or negative
AL: Feedback about having a being a male, having plastic surgery, all positive. I think if you do the research and I think what I did with my documentary and the new stuff, documentary Skin Deep is going to show the world you know, what a positive impact the people such as yourself (Blake) that are. Doing things in, talking about it and even this article, I wish I had all these resources at the time. You know I wouldn't have been as worried I did it the right way it came out without a hitch but I was worried.
Conclusion
The decision whether or not to have plastic surgery is obviously a very personal choice. For myself and the people I interviewed for this article it was a very positive experience that helped us to leave the demons of our past behind us and move forward in our own personal journeys. If you are considering having plastic surgery do your research, talk to others who have had surgery to get first hand information regarding their experience’s and talk to as many surgeons as necessary to find the surgeon that matches well with you.
This is not something to rush into and keep in mind that plastic surgery can change how you look physically, but it will not change who you are, so make sure you have the right expectations in your head as to what you want out of the surgery.
While working on this article I feel as though I have only scratched the surface of this topic and because of that I will be continuing to explore this through a series of video interviews that will be uploaded to my YouTube channel.