What worked for me

[bucsfan117]

For the past several years, I have periodically found myself going to sites and threads like these in order to rid myself of what I self diagnosed as gynecomastia.

I'll begin by describing a little about myself. I am 21 years old, I am roughly 5' 9'', 155 lb, and I would say I am in pretty descent shape. I have always been the athletic type, so for me putting on weight was never really an issue. But like everyone else, if I don't exercise I can put on the pounds just like everyone else. (I found that out during my freshmen year in college) I guess it was in the 6th or 7th grade when I first noticed the enlargement under my nipples, so I guess I was 12 or 13. It was painful and I could definently tell something was a little different. And I can recall my Dad mentioning he had the same thing and it just goes away. So years would go by, and nothing seemed to change. I started wearing under shirts to hide my embarrassment. By the 9th grade, I was tired of being embarrassed so I want to try and figure out what was happening. So after a little research, I can to find I had gynecomastia. In its description, it says how it occurs in about a third of all boys going through puberty so I really wasn't to worried, but it also said how it should disappear in six months to 3 years. So I had been thinking to myself, why hadn't this gone away? I played soccer and sports my entire life and I just couldn't figure it out. I figured it would eventually recede and it somehow just took longer for me. Just to let you know, my condition was pretty much large nipples that protruded about an inch. I had gone on websites like this and heard stories and experiences much worse than mine, so I didn't feel as bad but it was still so incredibly embarrasing. Not people would make fun of me, but I was just extremely self-conscious. Anyways, years went by and nothing really changed. I did research and heard of things such as those "special creams" or taking anti estrogen drugs or whatever those were. But after reading stories that claimed these were all fake, I wanted to find some other way. Also, by this point I was a senior in high school, and I was still playing soccer and probably in the best shape of my life, except for my chest. Nothing really seemed to help make it dissapear. At one point I almost asked my parents for surgery because I was so sick of it. I tried other ways like lifting weights. I had learned that doing high weight and low reps would build muscle and just protrude the nipples even more, so I decided on doing alot of reps at low weights thinking that I could "rip" it off. Thinking back it might have been a good idea, but in my experience it wasn't that effective.

I thought that maybe if I did alot of cardio, I might eventually be able to make my chest smaller. I had research concentrated fat burning, the idea that you can burn fat from specific areas of your body doing certain exercises. however I found that in most cases this is impossible, and you cannot control where you lose fate. Up to this past spring, I thought I had tried everything. I had even dieted at several points, even though I was already fairly lean and trim, and throughout my life I have always eaten pretty healthy. So I began what I called a dedicated diet, sounds pretty lame I know. In this diet, I cut sugar and fats , saturated especially down to meager levels. I would normally eat about 10 to 15 % to the daily recommended dosages. I didn't consume high amounts of sugar and I stayed away completed from fast food. Normally I would eat rice, tortillas( made from rice ,cheese, salsa) low fat yogurt, fruit, salad, and the occassional bowl of cereal. Along with that I would exercise 2 to 4 times a week, playing basketball or soccer.  Occasionally I would splurge on ice cream, but I tried to keep that to a minimal. I followed this routine for about 3 months and to this day I am gynecomastia free. Although I am not sure if it will return, if I go back to eating fat ridden foods, I just wanted to let people know there are other options besides surgery. It just took alot of dedication because for awhile I didn't see a whole lot of results.  It worked for me but everybody's different. Trust me it sucked going to the beach not feeling comfortable, as I am sure lots of you know. That is my story. If you have any questions email me.

bucsfan117@yahoo.com

[turningacorner]

oh man this is amazing

I have recently given up all bread, pasta, potatoes, and I am a vegan on top of this so I eat no animal products  or anything high in carbohydrates anymore.

I have some optimism that I can reduce my overall bodyweight and gyne to a point where I am not as self conscious about my appearance.

You've given me some faith, pics would be cool for some kind of virtual proof but thats upto you.

I do cardio at the gym, crosstrainer, rowing, and a hard run at the start of my workout before doing a weight workout which I split. I do low weight high reps, 20 infact.

I have noticed some improvements in muscular tone and definition all over my body, perhaps some small decrese in gyne, I swear it fluctuates though i.e some days it is worse than others.

 

[normexcept]

Yay for you!  Everyone should start with good diet and exercise.  However, it doesn't work for everyone.  There are bodybuilders posting on here that have the lowest % of body fat that still need surgical help out of this problem.  I do believe where you started was the right place for all of us to start.  Thanks for the post.

[nick1234]

im seriously going to try this, so only salads and rice. What foods can you eat, and what foods cant you eat.

[Jamie30]

There are a lot of comments on this board saying surgery is the only option.  However, much Gynecomastia is Psedugynecomastia caused by fat.  And if you know for sure it is glandular, well according to my endocrinoligist, the size of your breast will depend upon your estrogen levels, which are elevated by being overweight.

This obviously isn't the case for everyone.  There are people with low body fat on here who have the condition.  However, I do make the GENERAL observation that the majority of photos on here are of people who look at least a little overweight / untoned.

I think anyone who is suffering from this should be trying to get their body fat down to a healthy level AND getting fit.  I.e. not just going on a fancy diet.  This will have lots of other benefits even if it doesn't cure the gyne.

[nick1234]

Well im not overweight and i workout so im in a very similar situation as the op.But I agree alot of cases on this site do look like they are linked to weight issues. Again Im 6 foot and about 160 so i figure worst case ill get into better shape, but yeah a basic list of good foods would help. Is bread bad, what about pasta, cofee, tea, and meat?

[Jamie30]

I don't pretend to be a dietitian or nutritionalist(?), but I think the most important thing is really quite simple:

Eat less calories than you burn.  That is working well for me.

It's also important to eat a varied diet.

[turningacorner]

I don't pretend to be a dietitian or nutritionalist(?), but I think the most important thing is really quite simple:

Eat less calories than you burn.  That is working well for me.

It's also important to eat a varied diet.

\

I can only do this for so long before I begin to feel exhausted and drained beyond the point of being able to do normal tasks i.e listen in lectures, walk up stairs. Excercise goes out the window due to lack of calories, it's so hard.

[nick1234]

ran like 6 miles yesterday then did some weight, going to go play soccer later, good stuff.

[turningacorner]

ran like 6 miles yesterday then did some weight, going to go play soccer later, good stuff.

great

and ur gyne is going then?

[nick1234]

umm not yet but its also a little early, but they(the rubbery bit) are a little sore, wich i dont know if thats good or bad.