Men accounted for 28.3% of weight-loss drug prescriptions filled in 2026, up from 18.3% four years earlier, according to GoodRx data.
"A man who may never previously have contemplated plastic surgery loses 50 or 80 pounds, starts lifting weights, changes his wardrobe, and becomes much more conscious of the disconnect between the healthier person he has become and the residual anatomy left behind by his former weight," said Miami-based plastic surgeon Dr. Rian Maercks. He said that about 60% of his patients are male, compared with 30% to 40% last year.
After reaching a weight-loss plateau with exercise alone, Walter Barrientos, 45, of Lancaster, California, joined a clinical trial for Eli Lilly's experimental drug retatrutide in November. He has lost 65 pounds overall and currently weighs 197 pounds.
"I want to be able to go out to the beach, to the pools, and be able to take off my shirt and feel more confident about myself," said Barrientos, a truck driver. "I wanted to feel great about myself."
He had tummy tuck surgery, liposuction of the abdomen, flanks and chest among other procedures in July. Dental implants are next on his list.
Barrientos' Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Omidi, said his approach begins with understanding the specific concern that brings a patient in for a consultation.
"When a patient wants to have surgery, I think the rule is it should bother you every day, then you can make that change," he said.
Kandace Kichler, a surgeon at AirSculpt, which offers procedures to reshape areas of the body, estimated that men account for 20% or more of its clients, up from 10% or less previously.
Mohammad Warrad, 27, had surgery with AirSculpt six months ago. The New York-based business owner felt his midsection was disproportionate to the rest of his body after using GLP-1 drugs.
"I had a skinny-fat body," Warrad said. "If the top part of my body was a medium (size of clothing), I had to wear an X-large just to kind of make everything look uniform," he said.
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