A woman who underwent a 100-pound transformation says she is now constantly cold but has no regrets about the weight loss.
Drea Vasquez, 22, of Michigan, dropped from 246 to 140 pounds in five years after being rocked by a diagnosis of pre-diabetes at age 18.
However, the miraculous weight loss has some drawbacks. Ms. Vasquez says she suffered from body dysmorphia due to the amount of loose skin she carried.
She also described the cold she feels when she’s hit by a light breeze as “painful,” saying she’s an “ice cube” now.
Drea Vasquez (pictured), 22, lost 100 pounds in five years after her doctor diagnosed her with prediabetes at 18
Ms. Vasquez found others online having a similar experience after losing weight, while others warned that they “freeze all the time” and that “it really hurts all over.”
“My body now gets extremely cold in the winter and I couldn’t handle the freezing temperatures,” said Ms. Vasquez.
“In comparison, when I was bigger, I could happily walk out into a storm without a coat. It was crazy to be totally smacked in the face by the cold.
“My parents even gave me electronic hand warmers because I’m just an ice cube 24/7 now.”
Her weight loss journey began with a warning from her doctor that she could soon develop diabetes without changing her lifestyle.
Ms. Vasquez started her weight loss journey on New Year’s Day in 2018, when she was 18, by adopting a calorie deficit, healthy eating and a weekly exercise routine.
She said she had to “learn how to eat again.” Her diet is a lot healthier, with lean meats such as chicken and turkey, vegetables, and replacing unhealthy snacks with fruit, rice cakes and chickpea puffs.
She started going to the gym four to five days a week, doing 30 minutes of cardio and an hour of strength training each time.
“I tried to lose weight for years, but I always ended up losing hope and falling back into unhealthy habits,” she said.
“I was addicted to food and came to this realization when my pediatrician told me I was pre-diabetic.
“So I decided to do a calorie deficit to finally lose some weight and it wasn’t as scary and hard as I thought it would be.”
Experts say the most effective way to lose weight requires changes in diet and exercise.
Eating a low-calorie diet — preferably with healthy, nutritious foods — combined with burning calories through exercise can help a person lose weight.
“I did different forms of cardio for about six months, walking, running, stair stepping, and the same thing with strength training.
“Then I started practicing long-distance running, which has stayed with me to this day and is currently my main form of exercise.”
Ms. Vasquez is now at a healthy weight, but achieving a slimmer figure did not come with any drawbacks.
She struggled with body dysmorphia due to the excess skin on her body. Stretched skin is a common problem in people who lose weight because their bodies have already adapted to their oversized body that can’t be reversed.
Ms. Vasquez decided to have surgery in June 2021 to remove it.
“It was a really hard decision to have the surgery, I went back and forth with myself,” she said.
“Before going to the surgeon, I decided to have my doctor write a letter stating that I had maintained my weight and good health for over a year in hopes that this would help with insurance coverage.
“I was able to get almost the entire procedure covered and only paid $3,000 out of pocket for a tummy tuck, loose skin removal, muscle repair from muscle damage to my abdomen, and belly button reconstruction.”
In all, she had eight pounds of skin removed from her body. She said the recovery process took about two months.
Ms. Vasquez is not a content creator as her full-time job. Part of her job is sharing her weight loss story on TikTok.
Another problem that came up is the cold feeling she often has now.
Vasquez said the loose skin after her weight loss made her dysmorphic. She had surgery to remove eight pounds of skin
“It’s been three years since I lost 100 pounds, and my body is still in shock when a cold breeze hits me,” she said in a video that has been viewed more than 1.3 million times on her TikTok page.
This is a normal, albeit uncommon, feeling many experience after losing significant weight.
Fat serves as a layer of protection for the body and is even described by experts as a blanket.
When a person loses that level of insulation on their body, they can suddenly feel cold because they are exposed to the elements more than they are used to.
Many people who follow a low-calorie diet to lose weight may also be deficient in crucial nutrients such as iron. One of the signs of this nutrient deficiency is feeling colder than usual.
“This is not a medical condition nor a side effect of skin removal, this is just something common after major weight loss!” she said.
“Fat keeps us warm, so if we lose a significant amount of body fat, it will definitely shock our body when we no longer carry that extra fat.
“That was stated by my doctor and over time the cold won’t be that shocking, but having grown up overweight most of my life, I was never used to cold winters with less body fat.”
Despite it being a bit colder at times, Ms. Vasquez is still happy with her weight loss journey.
“I feel confident in my own body now, even if I need to be a little colder!” she said.