This is working for me... (overall weight loss and a bit of chest fat lost)...

[DRock27]

my story so far...

I am a 5"11, 25 yr old male with gyne, (i think its mostly psuedo, but i dont wanna set myself up for dissapointment, so im considering it gyne)...
In high school, I was pretty thin, but i think i had a tad bit of excess tissue, in fact, i was using tea tree oil shampoo (there ya go!) in my hair to correct bald spots on the back of my head at around age 16 or so, so there was surely some hormonal stuff going on, but it was still never THAT much tissue until college...

then, my college diet of beer and pizza turned into lazy, sloth-like behavior as i became inactive, and ate nothing but straight junk! fast food ALL the time, ordering pizza like every other night with roomates!  ive always looved food throughout my life, but being on my own and partying and chilling with friends and dormmates meant all the food i wanted all the time, any time, a 24-hour junk food marathon!  im not saying i was a 350 lb super-obese guy or anything, but i was moving up in weight, carelessly and it turned into an addiction, very quickly. Wendys became my late night obsession.  number 6, no mayo, biggie size fries and a large coke! i had it memorized... that or the number 2 (double stack).  man, that was my comfort food, almost nightly. as i munched away in the car on my way home from the drive through around 2 am, tired and lazy, all my petty troubles sunk to the back of my mind as id wash the salty juicy stack of hot greasy burgers with melted proccessed cheese and golden fries down with a giant cup of bubbly iced coke. it numbed my mind, and filled my stomach, and it felt damn good.  then, with my lazy music playing in my cd deck, id drive my lazy ass home onto my lazy ass couch with my lazy ass roomate and watch a lazy ass movie and pass out like a lazy ass loser!

At one point, a few yrs back, i was realized i was disgusted with my body, and especially my sagging male breasts! i started to try and give up the crap.  i tried the WRONG way.  cold turkey... i tried eating things i didnt like, or small amounts of things that was a bit healthier, and tried to lay off of soda. a few days.  then fail.  wait a month.  do good for 3 days.  fail. wait another week.  good for 4 days! nope. then fail. and fail. and fail. and fail. what was the point? but why did i wanna quit? why did i want to lose weight and eat healthier? i knew i wanted to look better to get more chicks, but what i didnt know was how much dedication it would take and what it would mean as far as an overall lifestyle change.

A little over a year ago, I was at my heaviest (225 lbs).  it was pretty depressing for me.  then a friend of mine tried to get me on some stuff (i wont mention the brand, since i dont want this to sound like an ad)... i was skeptical, but tried it out... repeat fail cycle again and again.  8 months of trying and failing, trying and failing, losing money, letting myself down, setting up false promises, and guilt-eating, etc etc you all know the drill. it was 2 soy protein shakes a day, 2 multivitamins, aloe vera juice, green tea concentrate, and 1 regular sized meal (or two small sized meals).. it was working actually, and i was losing a good 5-10 lbs here and there, but then theyd gain back cuz i couldnt stay on it! id count the days, like ok im on day 6! yes! lets do this- id be feeling great, but then like day 7 came, and night would fall and i would hit the drive thru, cuz the craving was so bad! then id feel guilty and start all over... i think I made it to day 13 once and then messed it up, after which i failed miserbaly for like months, just felt like crap. kept saying one day, one day, one day.

then, i realized.  man, "im 24" i dont wanna be in my late 20s only getting action as a result of "lucking out", due to lack of confidence!  i dont wanna be the fat guy all my life. I CAN get that crap off of me, and i can feel good and look good like i did in high school! so ill cut to the chase and tell you guys where im at and how i got here... (sorry for the long long intro)... its just that this is my first post and im kinda excited to be a new member... so heres what im doing...

MORNING:

*protein shake:
  -2 scoops of whey protein isolate
  -water
  -ice
  -2 caps of aloe vera juice
  - 1 teasp of green tea concentrate (herbalifes original flav)


*1 multivitamin (w/ no iron)
*2 cell activators (micronutrient stuff for absorption/digestion)

AFTERNOON:

*small sized meal (1/2 of a regular size meal)
 -(my rule is not what i can have, but what i avoid which is:
    fried, greasy, oily or fatty foods, fast food, white sugar/flour,
    sodas, sweets, sugary drinks, etc etc etc)
- i will usually eat a chicken/turkey/roast beef sandwich with plenty of veggies as well as a bag of sun chips.
 fav is a chicken sandwich from Whole Foods market with fresh mozzerella, spinach,
 fresh basil, roma tomatoes, portabello mushroom, roasted red peppers, pepperoncinis,
 artichokes, black pepper, oil and vinegar on whole wheat bread, grilled. or sometimes subway.

- half the sandwich for the first meal

*green tea concentrate in between to curb appetite and build metabolism

-the other half four hrs later along with another multivitamin and 2 more cell activators...

*more green tea

*workout at gym (40 mins cardio, 30 mins weights low weight, hi reps) bout 5 times/wk

NIGHT:

Another protein shake minus the green tea... and then...

THIS LAST PART OF MY ROUTINE BEFORE I HEAD OFF TO SLEEP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT B/C ITS WHAT KEEPS ME FROM SLIPPING OFF THE DIET: NO JOKE!!!

*a 99 cent bag of spicy tabasco flav. Cheez its.  or doritos. or whatever salty snack i feel like as long as its a dollar size bag and not more than like 400 calories. instead of looking forward to fast food like taco bell, pizza, micky dees, or good old wendys for my late night cravings, i simply give in to a little bit of junk, instead of a lot... and it does minimal damage.  (the Circle K lady down the block wonders why i come in every night like a lunatic to buy single bag of cheezits at 1 in the morning EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, and how Im LOSING weight, not gaining it! lol  its b/c thats pretty much the only crap i eat all day, and its a tiny amount.

so from 225, i went down to 200 (within that 8 month period of struggling back and forth, losing it and gaining it back)... then over the last 3 months, i really took it to the next level, and lost a total of 40 lbs in over 3 months...

i am now 160 lbs., a total of 65 lbs lost... and i yes i have noticed my boobs shrink a little,

so a total of 65 lbs lost by sticking to this stuff, and still going.  i am going all the way, till i get cut.

advise: there is no one way to do it, but best tips i can offer is high protein/high metabolism diet. eat 4-6 times a day, spread out ever 3-4 hrs, smaller meals, veggies, fruit, lean meats, A LOT of water, and GREEN TEA!! (herbal tea concentrate keeps me sane, and helps me feel full in b/t meals) and dont forget to taste things here and there like when you are in the market, b/c it keeps things exciting, new tastes, new foods, as long as its just a few samples or bites, it cannot hurt.  in fact, they say if you are happy when you eat, you dont gain as much weight.  choose healthy foods that are tasty.  dont forget a bit of good fatty acids like olive oil, fish, avocados, nuts, etc. and a little snack keeps you sane! do not go overboard one way or the other and youll do fine. as you get used to it, the cravings are less.  they are never gone, just less.

the best part of the entire thing is waking up the next morning, knowing i treated my body right, and feeling great and motivated to do it all over again...  ok im not trying to sound like tony robbins here or anything.  its simple. i dont count calories or eliminate ALL carbs or eat absolutely NO sugar, or do any miracle exercise or anti-oxidant fad diet (like acai berry or dark chocolate) or any of that hype! i mean some of its good, but i feel that the best thing is a balance of common sense, confidence and commitment.  so i hope i can stay on this for life, get completely fit, cut and get the gyne surgery and move on with my life like im sure all the rest of you are looking to do!

sorry for this ridiculously long post guys.  im just a but excited for my first post and wanted to get my story out there!
so, please. i would love a comment or two... advise or if anyone has similiar success so far?  i am also here to help by sharing my experiences!  (oh and i tried turmeric, and i dont think it works! haha) 

-david

[mthatch1]

This is great, David.  Thank you. 

Is green tea concentrate a powder that you just mix with water or in a shake? 

Did you actually have this meal day after day after day? 

[DRock27]

Actually, I mix the herbal tea concentrate in my morning shake, which I forgot to mention that I also add either a splash of fresh squeezed oj or berries like strawberries/blueberries/blackberries.  Then, the other 2 times i drink the tea in between meals are just mixed with like 8 oz of water, which i usually add fresh squeezed lemon (i think it helps digestion), as well as, yes i know it sounds crazy, but a lot of black pepper.  ...Ive researched green tea, and a few sites just released a study that black pepper along with green tea helps absorb the ECCG (which is the active ingredient in green tea) something like 10 times more into your bloodstream than without black pepper. Black pepper apparently aids with absorption in general... you really dont have to mix it in, if youre not crazy like me- you could put a lot of pepper in your salad, sandwhich or whatever you eat before hand- probably the same effect. i dont know if the black pepper really has helped, but ive been doing it and somethings working so im gonna keep doing what ive been doing!

The concentrate is actually made by herbalife (unfortunately since i cannot stand their brainwash-marketing tactics) It is a blend of green tea, black tea and orange pekoe, along with a few other things like cardamom seed extract and hibiscus flower and stuff- apparently the different teas somehow work together better than if they were by themselves.  I've tried green tea pills to compare and it has barely any effect on me- like 10% that of the concentrate.)

And i try to switch up my meals, so i dont eat the chicken sandwich from whole foods day after day, but it is my fav cuz its the tastiest.  but about 50% of the time, i will eat those sandwhiches along with a bag of multigrain chips, and then maybe 40%, i will have subway (either chicken, turkey, or roast beef, with light cheese, all the veggies, oil, vinegar on wheat) and a bag of sunchips, whatver flavor i want.  i realize that subways wheat is not 100% whole wheat, and is probably enriched wheat flour or something, with caramel color added to make it look brown, but ive decided thats its probably a bit better than their other white breads, so i have no problem eating it, although eventually i would like to kick it up a notch and replace it with my own 100% whole wheat bread. And then about 10% of the time, Ill switch between like boston market, or any resstaurants' salads if im out with friends or family, or wherever else i happen to go as long as im getting greens, protein, and whole carbs/grains.  but i always eat half of the full portion first, wait 4 hrs and then eat the 2nd half.

hope this helps... anyone else do anything similar at all or even use green tea?

[moobydo]

Sorry, I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd throw in 2 cents:  you can get matcha green tea powder online and use in smoothies (or whisk up into simple hot tea). It's not cheap, but it lasts a long time: a little goes a looong way. Google it. If you're trying to give up coffee and want a more sustained energy boost (or just want the antioxidants or other good properties of green tea) it is worth it. Personally, I recommend Do Matcha (get from Amazon with free shipping) but there are probably lots of other options with good value (quality for price).