An Ohio man who shed an impressive 276 pounds experienced an unexpected side effect: being mistaken for a woman.
Joshua Hart, 23, has been left with loose skin around his chest that creates the appearance that he has breasts after slimming down from 427 lbs to 151 lbs in just over a year.
Dropping pounds too quickly means the skin cannot shrink at the same rate as fat cells, leaving loose, sagging skin that can only be eliminated through surgery or laser therapy.
Mr Hart wasn’t bothered by people’s assumption that he was a woman or transgender at first, but the mix-ups have taken a toll on his self-esteem and his confidence as a new parent.
Mr Hart said that the comparison to a woman or a trans woman has taken a toll on his self-esteem, harkening back to a childhood marked by bullying and severe anxiety
Mr Hart, now a father, underwent a drastic transformation over about a year.
He underwent weight loss surgery to shrink the size of his stomach, which studies have shown is more effective than game-changing obesity drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic for keeping weight off long-term.
The surgery changed his life for the better, and he finally found relief from his severe anxiety and the trauma of spending most of his life being bullied.
He was mistaken for a woman even before he underwent that life-changing procedure due to excess fact around his chest, giving him the appearance of having breasts.
He has also been mistaken for a trans woman.
He said: ‘I always had long hair, I never had short hair. I was always called a girl, and it never really affected me when I was heavy, and I think that’s because I looked like a girl.
‘Except now that I look like what I am, a guy, it’s almost offensive when people are still telling me, like “No you’re not, you just took testosterone and did a gender transition.”’
For Mr Hart being called a woman didn’t stop after his transformation. The mistake, he said, is offensive and harkens back to his childhood, marked by anxiety and bullying.
‘People can very clearly see that I’m not a girl and it almost just hurts more.’
Joshua Hart, who weight 427 lbs, was constantly mistaken for a woman due to the excess fat around his chest, giving the appearance of breasts
Even after losing 276 pounds with the help of bariatric surgery, Mr Hart is still mistaken for a woman
Growing up, constant bullying caused him so much anxiety that he dropped out of school, a move he now deeply regrets.
At one point, while he was at his heaviest weight, 427 lbs, and lowest point psychologically, a full Wendy’s meal wasn’t enough to satiate him.
Mr Hart said: ‘ I was very unhappy with being overweight. I was very insecure and had a lot of social anxiety. I never went out. I was a child that didn’t have a childhood pretty much.
‘In middle school I isolated myself and I kind of just took myself out of the equation, and didn’t really allow myself to make friends.’
Mr Hart also used to have long hair and occasionally wears makeup, making him look more feminine
Since losing nearly 300 lbs, Mr Hart has taken to social media to encourage viewers struggling to lose weight, while showcasing good news about young people shedding pounds to become healthier.
Still, Mr Hart hopes to undergo a tummy tuck to eliminate the excess skin around his abdomen and chest, a procedure that costs a hefty $15,000.
Even after the operation, he would still have loose skin on his arms.
Excess skin can add unwanted pounds on the scale, which could be discouraging for people trying to shed unhealthy weight.
People who have succeeded at losing 70 to 100 lbs or more have described operations in which doctors remove five to as many as 20 lbs of excess skin.
