Living with Permanent Fat Cells added when obese

MarkC1963
MarkC1963 Posts: 51 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all! Check my Profile out to hear my story but in short at my worst weight I was 248 lbs, 5'10" medium-large frame. I am now 161 lbs striving to get down to 155 lbs as a final weight target. My doctor has told me that I probably have 10-11 lbs of added fat cells from my years of obesity than when I was 33 years old, a running fanatic and was able to get as low as 138 lbs which everyone said I looked like I was from Ethiopia and unhealthy/sick. So if I add 5 lbs to my unhealthy low weight and then another 10 due to the fat cells I can't remove without surgery then I guess my target weight should be about 153 lbs.

Anyway, I personally have other things to do with my money than spend $ 4-9 grand on having these fat cells removed so I am interested in what other folks have done to shrink to their absolute fittest weight level and look great given their past years of obesity and having fat cells now? Are there any other alternatives to surgery to remove fat cells?

Best,
MarkC1963

Replies

  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    Was your Dr trying to sell you surgery? It's just this seems like an odd thing to say, I thought that although you can't get rid of them they can shrink - otherwise all those huge people on the biggest loser wouldn't be able to get so skinny in the end.

    Just my wonderings as I don't actually know. Sorry.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Um...I'd look into a new docotor if I were you. Unless he's a wizard and has developed new magical ways of removing specific cells.
  • thrillpop
    thrillpop Posts: 20
    whats wrong with fat cells?
  • Doberdawn
    Doberdawn Posts: 733 Member
    It is my understanding that you can become just as lean as somebody without the extra fat cells. The difference is that it will be easier for you to regain weight. Instead of first having to grow the fat cell in which to store extra calories you eat, you already have the cell sitting there waiting. So, you'll just immediately store the fat when you overeat calories. But, they shrink down as a cell and do not provide "pounds" or bulk to your size.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    You don't need surgery to get rid of the fat cells. Adults have a constant number of fat cells regardless of weight or obesity status. There have been multiple published studies that show we maintain the same number of fat cells throughout adulthood.

    Perhaps you may ask your doctor if he ever reads the the New England Journal of Medicine or The Journal Nature or the Journal Cell or the journal of Lipid Research or any of another professional articles published since 2008 showing that fat cells remain constant in human adults.
  • kittyr77
    kittyr77 Posts: 419 Member
    You don't need surgery to get rid of the fat cells. Adults have a constant number of fat cells regardless of weight or obesity status. There have been multiple published studies that show we maintain the same number of fat cells throughout adulthood.

    Perhaps you may ask your doctor if he ever reads the the New England Journal of Medicine or The Journal Nature or the Journal Cell or the journal of Lipid Research or any of another professional articles published since 2008 showing that fat cells remain constant in human adults.

    WELL SAID!
    What planet did your doctor land from? Ten pounds of "extra fat cells" sounds like mumbojumbo to me.
  • msafunk
    msafunk Posts: 163 Member
    I was also under the impression that we retain the same amount of fat cells throughout our adult life, and obesity happens because the fat cells grow-- not multiply.
  • Doberdawn
    Doberdawn Posts: 733 Member
    You don't need surgery to get rid of the fat cells. Adults have a constant number of fat cells regardless of weight or obesity status. There have been multiple published studies that show we maintain the same number of fat cells throughout adulthood.

    Perhaps you may ask your doctor if he ever reads the the New England Journal of Medicine or The Journal Nature or the Journal Cell or the journal of Lipid Research or any of another professional articles published since 2008 showing that fat cells remain constant in human adults.

    I keep reading conflicting information on that. For example, in this same article it says we have the same number of cells in the first part of it, but then in later paragraphs, it talks about how obese/formerly obese people have more fat cells. What up with that? http://forum.a1supplements.com/content.php?260-Fat-Loss-When-Size-Matters So, are obese people hypercellular or not?
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    When you gain enough fat, your fat cells grow. When they grow to a certain point, they split. When you lose fat, they empty. If they are empty long enough, they die off. The difficulty is, due to fat storage being a 24/7 constant, it's rare for fat cells to remain completely empty long enough to totally die off.

    Obese people can have many, many more fat cells than a person who was never obese.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    Hi Mark,

    I can't answer your question, but just posting to say that at 5'10, 153 lbs. seems very slim. Don't worry!
  • Watermelon_Crush
    Watermelon_Crush Posts: 170 Member
    To be honest, I wouldn't even worry about the small details at the end of the journey. You'll have lost so much real weight by then, that should be the thing to feel great about...and the thing to concentrate on now! One thing at a time....and cross the bridges when you come to them ;)
  • MarkC1963
    MarkC1963 Posts: 51 Member
    Thanks all for your input!!!

    For the record, I have read Mayo Clinic articles about fat cells and my understanding is that correctly the average person has the same amount of fat cells after they are formed in youth for the remainder of their lives. Unfortunately formerly obese folks aren't average and the obesity causes the body the need to add fat cells to store the extra fat. Once developed I haven't ready before that with disuse they will wither, die and be expelled from the body as all other items are. That's something I am going to research further as that gives me hope.

    I also understand that fat cells are kinda like hefty zip-lock storage bags. Once you've emptied them with diet/exercise they deflate and stay small unless you eat too much and they fill up again.

    Again, thank you for your replies!!! Love MFP!!!!!!!!!
  • Bakkasan
    Bakkasan Posts: 1,027 Member
    There is a new medical treatment in stage 1 trials called Adipotide. It looks very promising. It cuts off blood supply to white fat tissue and kills it, then the body absorbs and disposes of it. 5-10 years out though.

    It might be a true magic bullet, and it's so far only a little rough on the kidneys as the body does the absorbing. A lot of waste products are filtered.
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