Need some advice on what to do

[notweakwilled]

Hi guys,

Been a follower of this site/forums for years. Never really posted much. Anyway, I'm 25 (soon to be 26) and still have gyne.

Long story short --- I've had gyne for years. I can first remember having it when I was about 12-13 years old playing basketball on the "skins" team. My dad always thought I just needed to loose weight, but really the gyne was the only obese part of me...

Anyway, as I went through high school I dieted for a long time trying to get rid of it. I actually got down to a pretty unhealthy weight. People thought I looked sick and told me that I needed to gain weight. Not a lot of people realized I had the gyne but I knew I did.

Through college, I started really getting into bodybuilding and eating right as well. I got in pretty decent shape and this lifestyle (for the most part) has continued. My girlfriend through college never even thought the gyne was that big of a deal but I made a huge deal about it. Anyway, I was weighing about 165 pounds, had put on a lot of muscle, was at 9% body fat, and STILL had the gyne. However, it was a lot better... but it was definitely still there. In fact, around this time (about 3-4 years ago) I posted some pictures on this forum asking people if they thought I had it and most of the responses were that I did not have it.... but I knew I did.

Since then, I've taken an IT job and have sort of gained a lot of weight back. I'm now weighing about 188 pounds (up from 165) but I'm back into the gym daily now and eating right again. (I had gotten out of this routine for about the past year or so). Anyway, maybe it is just in my head, but I feel like my gyne is way worse now.... but even in my VERY BEST shape (3 years ago), I still felt like I had it.

So, anyway, regardless of what people think now or in the past, I have decided that surgery is the only way I'm ultimately going to be happy. I debated getting surgery 5 years ago but I kept convincing myself that I could work it off. I actually made it appear better and got close, but the fact is that you can't just work gland off. Point is - a lot of it probably was fat, but there is definitely still gland that bothers me. My question is this: Would it be bad to get the surgery in the next month or two or should I really hit the gym hard and wait 6 months to a year? I feel like if I had gotten the surgery back when I was at 160 pounds and a lot more muscle that I would have better results than now (188 and less muscle).... However, I've decided that WAITING is only hurting me. If I would just GET THE SURGERY, I could move on with my life and quit thinking about this. All advice would be welcome. Thanks so much reading and any advice that is offered. Thank you thank you.

Also, I plan on taking a week off work to get the surgery done. I'm trying to plan it way in advance. I'm going to take this week as time to myself to really do some soul searching as well. I'm going to be making the trip alone as this is a VERY personal and sensitive subject for me. In fact, I don't plan on telling ANYONE that I'm doing this. Any advice on the best travel places that I could make it there, do everything that needs to be done, and be at work the following week?

Thanks so much for all the help

[scrabble]

If you're gunna get a gland excision + lyposuction, then fret not about the gym as I imagine you have good pec muscles behind it all anyway.

For the most part, calling up docs and making appointments is fairly discreet - just a matter of agreeing a date and heading along for a consultation. Only problem is, you may have to travel far which can be a pain if you don't have a car - in which case I guess its a bus ride.

When it comes to the surgery, you'll probably [though not an absolute certainty] have to put under general anasthetic meaning you'd have to stay the night, plus with all the bruising it's definitely good to take a week off even from a desk job? Main problems Id imagine you face here [I have yet to get to this stage] is hiding the drainage sacks [if the docs decide you need em], compression vest, and general post-op pain from everyone around you. As a back up, you may want to think of some excuses... personally, I play rugby on a weekly basis, and if anyone asks about the compression vest "Got tackled last by "biggest guy", doct thought I might've punctured something from the bruises..."

[morpheus11]

hey man, thanks for sharing your story with us.  we've all had similar situations.

I was checking out your previous posts, and I saw your pics.  Let me just say this, you definitely were not 8-10% bf. Maybe 13-14, but definitely not 8-10 in those pics.  You'll know when you're in the 8-10 range because your abs will show--esp in the 8 range. But the point is, why don't you try leaning out one more time, but this time, focus on cutting fat, not weight. Those two things are very different.  I would suggest you check out on amazon the book "burn the fat, feed the muscle", or just look up the primal blueprint diet. Both of those diets will help with fat loss, not so much muscle loss. 

So, your body comp is very similar to mine.  It's funny because at my leanest I was at 165 and still had them, but now i'm at 180. My body seems to like the 180s range. As of two weeks ago, I really got serious about the diet so now i'm going to try to get back down to 165, but a lean 165. Not a marathon runner, no muscle 165.

Anyhow, check it out.  I had a consultation with a surgeon a month back and he quoted me 5,500 for lipo and excision.  Once I saw him, it got very real. That's when I told myself, I'm not having this done until I hit 12% bf.  Once I've done that, the doc won't need to do the lipo, just the quick excision. Plus, it might save me some money too. 

My .02 cents. Good luck.

[pharmerjoe]

But at the same time, don't take it as an excuse to put off getting surgery. Notweakwilled is by no stretch of the imagination, "fat" and I suspect cutting more fat will not make that much difference, gland tissue will still be there. But thats just my opinion.