Well, it's Summer time.....

[stepgranpep]

     So, last year I told everyone that I was allergic to chlorine to try to avoid the pool and it was a disaster. It was Summer, and that was all my circle of friends wanted to do, every fucking day, and everyone knew I was full of shit and just didn't want to take my shirt off, and they probably all knew why, because I had bought one of those piece of shit compression shirts that was extremely noticeable every time anyone touched me. When Summer was finally over, and the trips to the pool finally stopped, I really felt like my troubles were over for a few blissful months, but unfortunately, it is that time of year again, and again all I fucking hear is "let's go to the pool! We're going to have a pool party! I got a new bathing suit! Bleeeeeaaaaauuuughh!" So, this year I have actually lost a whole bunch of weight recently, and have been hitting the weights, and even stopped wearing the retarded compression shirt, and I'm not looking nearly as repulsive as I did the previous year, although, as we all know, this shit doesn't ever really go away once you've had it for a while. I've been invited to go to the pool this Wednesday, and I have been racking my brain trying to think of legitimate excuses to get out of it. I was thinking of maybe jumping in front of a moving vehicle, or eating a bunch of raw chicken or something in an attempt to arrange a convenient trip to the emergency room on the day of so that nobody has to know my shameful, horrible secret. However, it's becoming increasingly obvious that every single person I know is already well aware that I intentionally avoided going to the pool or taking my shirt off last year, and I've been encountering a bit of ridicule already. I've been wondering if maybe my chest doesn't look as bad as I think it does since I've lost a bunch of weight, and I've been contemplating just going to the pool, taking my shirt off, and lying in a lawnchair on my back until a strategic moment in which I can throw a shirt on quickly while nobody's looking. I'm really fucking nervous about it, and I really don't want to be humiliated by everyone I know about this. I'm very secretive about it, and I've never actually discussed it with anyone outside of this forum. I'm wondering what peoples' thoughts might be on this subject, and I want to post some pictures of how I look now so that I can possibly receive some feedback regarding whether or not I should do this. I'm going to post this text, and then take a couple minutes to try to figure out how to post a picture..............

[stepgranpep]

here's one. I really want some honesty about how this looks.

[stepgranpep]

Here I put the camera on the counter and took a picture with my arms at my sides to get a more honest depiction of what they look like. you can see how one's lower than the other.

[scrabble]

I see some boobage, but nothing serious - from the pic, the contours don't look that bad. You have a skinny build so overall, any chest fat may seem exhaggerated, but rest assured yours is nothing in comparison to had you had a fat/"big boned" build. IMO, go to the pool on Wednesday and fearlessly take off your shirt; if you get any comments tell em you lost lots of weight, and try speak some body-builder, ie, im still toning the muscle, can probably bench 40kg etc... Then time to start acting body builder and find out if it's just fat or full on gyne.

[looseSHIRT]

Yes, go to the pool.. Looks good mate.. your body looks good.. compared to mine.. its way better...

[stepgranpep]

I see some boobage, but nothing serious - from the pic, the contours don't look that bad. You have a skinny build so overall, any chest fat may seem exhaggerated, but rest assured yours is nothing in comparison to had you had a fat/"big boned" build. IMO, go to the pool on Wednesday and fearlessly take off your shirt; if you get any comments tell em you lost lots of weight, and try speak some body-builder, ie, im still toning the muscle, can probably bench 40kg etc... Then time to start acting body builder and find out if it's just fat or full on gyne.

   - You know, it's funny, I've actually never been thin. I've always had a crummy metabolism, and always been overweight, but I started doing the paleo diet about a month and a half ago, and I feel like just about all of my body fat melted off in about the first two weeks. In combination with weightlifting, my chest really does look a million times better than it ever did before, but it's almost more embarrassing now, because at least before I was a 'fat guy' and had a somewhat legitimate excuse to be sporting man cans. A skinny guy has no business with breasts. I wish I had a picture of what they looked like before so I could show you how extreme they actually were. 

[puffycurse]

In all honesty; I think you look great! It's very mild and I wouldn't notice it if I were to walk pass you. At least you don't have horrendously puffy nipples like me that stick out about half an inch, lol.

[morpheus11]

Don't sweat it man, you look normal.  As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here reading these and my gf is beside me watching tv. I asked her, "what looks wrong with his chest?" She says, "nothing, he has pecs." Some girls just don't give a sh*t about this stuff and couldn't tell otherwise. 

IMO, you're in great shape, and yes the gyne is noticeable to guys like us who are cognizant of what it is because we suffer from it as well.  I think to the "untrained eye", you look fine. Go to the pool, take off your shirt, have fun.  Ohh, and most importantly, act confidant. If someone cracks a joke, remain confidant and have those witty comebacks ready. I doubt it will happen, but preparation doesn't hurt.

Also, I had heard about paleo diet a few weeks back and incorporated stuff from it (limiting refined carbs). Is it really that effective?  Any suggestions?  I suffer from mild gyne and would say I'm about 10-15lbs overweight. I'm 5'11, 180lb. My goal is 165.  Suggestions on cardio and weights please?

[stepgranpep]

Don't sweat it man, you look normal.  As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here reading these and my gf is beside me watching tv. I asked her, "what looks wrong with his chest?" She says, "nothing, he has pecs." Some girls just don't give a sh*t about this stuff and couldn't tell otherwise. 

IMO, you're in great shape, and yes the gyne is noticeable to guys like us who are cognizant of what it is because we suffer from it as well.  I think to the "untrained eye", you look fine. Go to the pool, take off your shirt, have fun.  Ohh, and most importantly, act confidant. If someone cracks a joke, remain confidant and have those witty comebacks ready. I doubt it will happen, but preparation doesn't hurt.

Also, I had heard about paleo diet a few weeks back and incorporated stuff from it (limiting refined carbs). Is it really that effective?  Any suggestions?  I suffer from mild gyne and would say I'm about 10-15lbs overweight. I'm 5'11, 180lb. My goal is 165.  Suggestions on cardio and weights please?

Augh! You showed your girlfriend?! How dare you break the sacred trust shared by all of us guys with tlts by showing your girlfriend!!! Haha. Just kidding. I really appreciate the encouraging words, and that bit about her calling them pecs rather than boobs or something actually does make me feel a bit less nervous about this whole thing. So, in regards to paleo: it's a fucking miracle diet. I've been doing it for about a month and a half, and this is the first time since I was a very small child that I have even entertained the notion of taking my shirt off in front of people. The first two weeks doing the diet were rough, because it makes you feel incredibly sluggish, your energy is all drained, and after each excruciating trip to the gym, you just want to pass out because you're so tired. -On the plus side, during this exhausting time period, I distinctly noticed all of my body fat melting away like it didn't know what else to do. If you make it into week three, something changes and then you feel like a fucking superman. Your limits in the gym get pushed way easier, and I doubled the distance I was running on the treadmill effortlessly. My boss (who is a mountain of muscle) is the one who turned me on to paleo after I asked him for advice, and the other thing he told me was to only work each muscle group once a week. I've gone through a few episodes of trying to get in shape throughout my adult life, and I usually hit the gym obsessively, everyday, trying to hit each and every muscle group every time I go. Doing your chest only once a week I think is particularly difficult for those of us with man cans, because we just want them to be FUCKING GONE ALREADY. However, giving them a full week in between working them seems to be working for me. They've gone way down in size, and building up my pectoral muscles seems to have helped lift them back up a bit. It seems like letting your muscles soften a bit after healing completely makes them more susceptible to the next workout so that you can get them nice and sore again. As far as specific weight lifting routines go, I am by no means an expert on bodybuilding, and I usually just go type "chest workout" into the youtube search bar and try different workout routines posted there. I hope this is helpful in some way to somebody somewhere. I certainly feel like it has been for me.   

[Mark102]

Have fun at that pool, once the cold water makes your nipples erect, it won't even be noticable!

[stepgranpep]

Have fun at that pool, once the cold water makes your nipples erect, it won't even be noticable!

  LOL! I'm counting on that.

[Mark102]

Just realized how silly my sentenced sounded, haha. How'd it go at the pool?

[thetodd]

Honestley,

your in great shape, but you do have gyne in my opinion. Its certainly not bad and i wouldnt be embarrased if i was you taking my top off but i can definatley see the gyne contour. Front on your case reminds me of my gyne albeit your in MUCH better shape than i was.

My view on it is, surgery would definatley give you a flatter look if you are prepared to go down that route

[stepgranpep]

Just realized how silly my sentenced sounded, haha. How'd it go at the pool?

It went really well. I got something my torso hasn't had in years: a sunburn. I've thought about getting the surgery to look normal many times. But it's so scary and expensive. I always thought I was lucky to have a hairy chest with my gyne. If I got the surgery and they fucked it up, I could probably hide the scars and what not than guys with smooth chests. But now, I feel like everything just keeps looking better and better the longer I keep working out and doing paleo. Right now I feel like I can possibly get rid of this thing without surgery. It's worth a shot, right?

[morpheus11]

Congrats on your first "top off" pool outing.  You're in great shape so no need to worry.

Re. Paleo, I had heard about it 2 weeks back and results seemed amazing, almost unrealistic.  Then I read your post, and that solidified my start.  So I started it on Monday and man that second day was tough.  Right now I'm five days in, and I feel great. Like you said, it's a really responsive diet.  I lost 4lbs and already show signs of leaning out.  I was never really fat to begin with, but I do have bodyfat I need to get rid off, so I think this diet should work.  My new goal is to stay on this diet and possibly put off surgery until I hit that 10% bf level. who knows? maybe my results will end up being something I can live with. Your results seemed to work for you.