10Pushups’s BodyBlog

I’ve lost roughly 70 pounds in the last two years. I haven’t decided what’s worse, loose skin or being overweight. I think from an aesthetics point of view I’d rather be 20 pounds heavier and have nice tight skin. But, I feel so much better when I’m lean.

I’m feeling very strong and athletic these days. I went for a 45 kilometer (28 mile) hike over a mountain last weekend with a 16 kg (35 pounds) pack, and wasn’t even tired at the end. I could have hiked another 20 or 30 kilometers. I love that.

Two weeks ago I started using various creams to tighten up my skin. I had been hoping to tighten it by adding muscle, but I’m having a lot of problems adding muscle.

The creams (Alpha Hydroxy Acid, DMAE, Retinol, Retin-A, Copper Peptides etc.) I am using are scientifically proven to tighten skin. The question is: How much?

It’s only been two weeks, but I think there is some effect already on my face. Ultimately, that’s the most critical thing. If things continue as they are, I think by six weeks I’ll be satisified with my face. I may need to get Botox injections in my forehead though because my skin wrinkles much easier with less fat below it.

A few weeks ago I was in for Intense Pulsed Light treatment of my Rosacea (reddening of the skin near my nose). The doctor said that if I had a laser treatment I would have good results. I won’t do that unless absolutely necessary.

My belly is the next most important, and I have seen no improvement so far from the creams. Actually, it seems I am retaining a bit of water right now and my belly looks worse than usual. I don’t think it’s the cream’s fault. I still have hopes that excercise, creams and time will resolve it. If not, I’ll probably go for Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments or possibly some sort of laser treatment. I don’t want to do anything radical like surgery.

My butt is by far my worst skin problem, and no cream alone is going to fix it. Fortunately, I don’t go around wearing thongs on the beach, so it’s not that critical. I’ll continue to try to add muscle and use creams, but I suspect the only thing that will fix the skin is either laser or surgery.

Something interesting that I came across recently that makes improving my skin even more unlikely. There are fibrous strands that connect your skin to your muscle. These strands normally hold your skin tight against your muscle. But, it seems these fibres stretch when you gain weight and never recover. That’s part of the reason that skin sags. It’s not only that the skin has lost elasticity, but that these fibres are not holding it tight anymore. I don’t think any amount of muscle gain will fix this unless the new muscle is created between the old muscle and the skin like the fat that was replaced. But, I don’t think that is how it works.

So, the short of it is that there may not be anything we can do except make our skin less heavy by losing the fat that it is attached to it. If the skin is light enough perhaps the elasticity of the skin will be enough to support itself.

So based on this, I’ve decided to try losing some more weight in hopes that it will help with my skin. Most people think I am already too thin, but I’m willing to try anything.

After Note: Copper Peptides are somewhat controversial. For some people it has the opposite of the desired effect and causes loose skin. So, I’ve stopped using it except to treat scars.

I’ve been on a weight lifting program for three months now, and though I have had some significant strength increases, I have had no measureable differences in muscle mass.

I can see that I have minor increases in muscle on my chest and abdomen. But, due to the concurrent weight loss there has actually been a decrease in some of my measurements.

I’ve taken the last two weeks off; partly because of discouragement, and partly because I’ve changed living locations.

I’ve decided to change my weight lifting program. I had been doing the "Body for Life" program, but it did not seem to work for me.

I’ve decided to go from the 5 set approach of "Body for Life" to a 2 set approach. The first set is a warm up set of 2/3rds what I plan to lift in my second set, and the second set is the maximum amount of weight with which I can achieve at least 5 repetitions. If I achieve 8 repetions on the second set, I increase the weight the next work-out.

The problem with the 5 set approach was that I was so worn down by sets 1-3 that when I did set 4 (the big weight set), I couldn’t lift that much. With the 2 set approach I can lift more, and I think that may be what I need.

I’m giving this approach at least a month. If I see strength increases, I’ll keep with it. If not, I’ll think again.

I talked to my dad on this past weekend, and as far as he knows no-one in my family has ever had any significant amount of muscle. My father, uncles, grandfather were all farmers, yet they never got muscular even with large amounts of heavy labour. They all got very strong, but not muscular. My dad had tests done while in hospital for arthritis treatment and he was much stronger than his muscle measurements would suggest. Something about "coordinated firing". Basically, it seems his muscles were very efficient. Darn… why can’t my family have "inefficient", but medium-sized muscles.

So, it might just be that it’s going to be very difficult for me to gain large amounts of muscle. I’m not giving up. I’ll keep trying different approaches until something works for me.