Polls: Health & Fitness

I've been working out a lot but haven't seen progress in my lower stomach/gut area.

Is there a solution to tighten up the mid section of a middle aged male? I want to get back to my prime. The gut area is just too much. My front profile is decent, but side... no good.

No carbs?
No sugar at all (tears).
No hope?

My deodorant popped out of it's case, which means I'm buying more tomorrow.

I got to thinking that instead of throwing away the last bit of useable deodorant like I usually do, I can use it in my bellybutton to be extra sanitary.

My bellybutton is an issue of mine because I have a deep innie.

So on dec 2021 after almost 1.5 years of inactivity i went to the gym. On that particular day i was skinny fat almost (20 percent body fat) so i opted for cutting and thought to get my abs fast without losing much muscle mass. Now it's almost 2022 feb , I have 15-16 percent body fat and further calorie deficit seems to make me a lot thinner. I promised myself to get clean strong abs in few months when i began with it but rn i think it's tough as i look very thin and obviously can't make more muscle mass. So should I cut for a month more to complete what i aimed for or start to bulk straight away so i can grow bigger?
Any genuine help is welcomed. :). The pic below is what i look right now.

I feel like i have a fairly robust long term memory. I can remember things on a fairly easy basis especially if its something important someone told me

I've been overweight my entire life. Both of my parents had sh*tty genetics and I inherited 100% of all of their sh*tty DNA (it's the main reason why I'll never conceive kids).

I've been contemplating weight loss surgery for a while now, even before I've put on extra weight. Even back in 2018, I was thinking about bariatric surgery, and I weighed less then. I decided against it because it seemed too extreme and I figured proper exercise and diet would be enough.

I've been semi-regularly going to martial arts gyms since 2012. I used to do Jiu Jitsu & Judo, then Boxing, then Powerlifting, then MMA, and here in Korea, Kickboxing. Never lost any weight at all. The number NEVER went down on the scale! Not that it matters or anything, but part of it might be because I have a minor medical condition called Hypothyroidism.

I remember joining a cardio gym shortly after high school in 2006 and having my personal trainer flirt with me and make inappropriate comments towards me, whether she was on the clock or not. It was uncomfortable, because I was 245 lbs (111 kg) back then and even that felt unattractive to me.

In 2013, I first started keeping a daily food log and counting calories (spoiler: it's useless and stupid to do so). I was 275 lbs (128 kg) then.

In early 2019, I remember hitting 300 lbs (136 kg) for the first time and I felt awful about it, because I've never once been a glutton or an overeater.

Now I'm at my heaviest at like 315 lbs (145 lbs), at least.

I'm 181 cm in the morning waking up, and 179 cm at the end of the day.

I f*cking HATE this body of mine, because literally not a single thing about it works right! After years in martial arts gyms and absolutely nothing to show for it, weight wise, I've decided I might as well just get the stomach sleeve surgery since I'm not getting any younger or taller. Doing the surgery will mean I can probably can't do martial arts again or will gain much muscle, but chances are, it's a moot point.

A pill may seem less invasive than a needle.