Decision is made... looking for some advice.

[hidden_from_society]

Hi.

I've taken a few week break from the forum so I stop stressing myself out over Gynecomastia. I'm glad I found the forum though. I found the Underworks site via this forum, and well, since I've gotten them, I don't feel comfortable without them on at all. It's a big change at first, from going around wearing a baggy sweater, to wearing a t-shirt. The first day I was worried people would notice, but after that I didn't care.

I don't want the happiness to be fake. I'm going to get surgery. I'm not going to hope for insurance to cover it, because I'm going to get a part-time job, and pay for it fully myself. I feel that with the aid of a Compression shirt, I feel able to work in environments with at least my pride intact.

Now, I'm looking for some advice...

I've read that weight loss is best before surgery, and I would agree. This question could probably go in another forum, but I'll ask it here.  What's a good.. weight loss regimen to undertake for good results before a surgery? I think I would need to lose about 20-25 lbs, not a major deal, but to someone with Gyne, it seems a lot. I believe my main problem is over-eating. I have a very good metabolism, but I can easily eat 3-4 lbs of food in one sitting (I'm not joking). I don't feel full unless I eat a lot. It's not something where you can just tell me to cut back on the food, or take smaller portions, because it doesn't work. If I don't eat to the point I'm full, I feel weak and end up getting more food later on at night, which is bad.

I have trouble committing myself to this type of thing. One may say that if I can't keep the commitment, I don't want the solution. That's as far from the truth as possible. I tell myself that one day off won't matter, then another passes... I've been telling myself I'm going to find a work out regimen since April.

Note: I have a stationary bike, weights in my basement. I was looking to find the perfect routine to build muscle mass and lose fat, and prepare for surgery so that after I get it done, I will be able to do the whole shirt off thing. I wanted to test the stationary bike first to see if I can handle it for long periods of time. I biked 5.5 miles in 30 minutes, 271 calories burned. Is that good? What can I do? all advice is good advice, as long as you're not here to flame me or something.

[unknownman]

Hi.

I've taken a few week break from the forum so I stop stressing myself out over Gynecomastia.

lol thats sounds like what im doing right now stressing out over Gyne from being on these forums

[Mr_Nip]

Alright, I know I'm going to get it from some of these guys for suggesting this...  Oh, so be it.

If you just can't cut down on the food, then cut down on the carbs.  Don't eat fries or a bun with that cheeseburger, for example... Just eat another helping of meat and throw in a salad with ranch dressing and maybe some green beans or something.  You'll fill up faster and won't be as hungry so soon after eating.  I know from experience that eating fewer carbs will not hurt you.  Notice I said "fewer" carbs.  I did not say "no" carbs.  A total lack of carbs WILL hurt you.  Be smart about it. 

I have read some of the low-carb vs. low-fat threads, and both sides make good points, but I believe the truth is that it's more unhealthy to be overweight than to lower your carb intake and lose the fat.   Most of us eat an unhealthy amount of carbs anyway (pizza, white bread, french fries, potato chips, etc.) and that's why so many people are fat in the first place.  If you just cut out those things I just mentioned and replace them with green beens and chicken or steak, then is that really doing something more unhealthy than before?... No - I'd call that an improvement.  Anyway, I don't know what your current food habits are, but if you're eating tacos, spagetti, pizza, hamburgers, or anything like that every day, then I believe you'd benefit greatly by what I just suggested.

Add a regular exercise program to that and you will lose weight.  What's better, you'll be replacing the fat with muscle growth.  Here's how to start.  Get a gym membership (it's easier to focus in a gym) and get on your choice of cardio machine.  Use it for about 20 minutes to start (slow at first) and then go to some weight machines (very important) and spend about 20 minutes on any 3 or 4 of them.  Then get out.  Do that 3 times a week for 3 weeks and then increase your time and weight on the machines a little.  If you do just that while controlling your carb intake, then the weight will melt off of you.   You don't need to spend more than 40 minutes in the gym at a time (at first) to make a huge difference.  You'll probably see a difference by the end of the first week, and you won't go hungry.

I'm suggesting this because it is the only thing that's worked for me.  After 5 months I went from 250 lbs down to 205 lbs.  I'm 6'3".   I have better muscle definition than ever, too.  I don't go hungry either, and now I'm able to eat more carbs within reason because they are burned by the extra muscle I now have. 

All of you who want to lash out at me for suggesting such evil, you may now proceed...

[gyne35]

Good plan - I am on it right now.  I will post some of the biggest things that I feel helped me loose weight (and I thought I could NEVER loose weight!)

1 - Get a good digital scale.  Weigh yourself every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed.  This shows you your 'beginning' and 'ending' weight for the day.  I say a good digital scale because the old dial scales aren't that accurate and you can fudge the pointer a couple of pounds.  With digital, your weight is right there in bold LCD numbers and it feels great when you see that number start to go down - it was my main motivation.

2 - Look for easy calories first.  Do you really need soda pop for lunch or could you drink water or unsweetened tea?  Maybe a chicken sandwich or salad instead of burger and fries.  It's actually fairly easy to get decent fast food nowadays, most every place has a salad or chicken wrap or something along those lines

3 - Another big thing that helped me - Try and keep dinner small and light and minimize before bed snacking.  Generally, after dinner, your activity declines and the last thing you need is a big gut load of food to metabolize into fat.

4 - Use smaller plates

5 - Try to choose baked, roasted and grilled options as opposed to battered and fried.

6 - Eat smaller portions, but have health snacks in between meals.

7 - Ease into what ever plan you choose.  Nothing worse than crash dieting for a couple of days, going to bed hungry, then giving up. 

I started real simply by choosing unsweetened iced tea for lunch instead of pop.  After about 10 days, I noticed a couple of pounds difference on the scales and thought "WOW - I might be able to do this"  Then I substituted things like chicken sandwich for hamburgers...a little more weight came off.  Then I quit getting fries with almost every meal.  Then I started getting into salads and fresh fruit...but all this over a 6 month or more period.

Anyway, hope this helps - there are as many plans out there as there are body types, but I still say the main thing is to get the scale so you can see even 0.1 pound come off and ease into it!

Good Luck!!