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.

Determining one’s body fat percentage seems to be more or less impossible. None of the options except DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) produce results that are in any way reliable. I have no idea where I would go to have DEXA done.

I’ve decided that all I really care about is how much of a layer of fat there is over my muscle. I’m not going to worry about intramusclar fat since I excercise a lot (which gets rid of intramuscular fat) and that’s all I can realistically do about it.

Since all I care about now is fat thickness, I bought myself a set of body fat calipers and will use them to judge my body fat amount.

Based on the Jackson-Pollack 7 site/4 site/3 site measurements, I’m at most 11.5% body fat. The 7 site version indicates between 6.7% and 9.5% body fat (depending on what age I enter in the forumula). I’ve decided to consider myself 10.5% body fat as of today at 162 pounds. That leaves me with 8 pounds of body fat to lose to reach my goal of 6%. Basically my goal is now to have a maximum skin fold of 6 mm in each of the Jackson-Pollack 7 measurement sites. I think that’s reasonable. I’m already under that at most of the measurement sites.

I’m between 3 mm and 12 mm right now at the Jackson-Pollack 7 measurement sites.

I had been expecting to travel for a few weeks, but my plans changed and I only ended up travelling for a few days.

I’m in Europe now and have a scale again. I’m not sure that’s such a good thing because the needle on the scale hasn’t moved much. But, despite that, I have lost more than 1 inch off of my waist. I can’t really see that I have gained muscle, but I think that I must have.

It’s interesting that a pound of muscle contains only 600 calories of energy while a pound of fat contains 3500 calories of energy. Based on that it seems entirely possible that I’ve been gaining pounds of muscle at a similar rate to the fat I’ve been losing lately.

There are some physical signs that perhaps I have actually put on muscle lately. I was working out yesterday, and I think I did a proper pushup. Actually, I may have done six of them. But, I’m not 100% certain. I’m not sure I was quite low enough. That’s the part I have trouble with when doing pushups. But, if I’m not quite doing pushups correctly, I am very close.

That 10th pushup isn’t far off.

I have two days left until the end of this part of my "transformation". This is the part where I have been attempting to get down to my long term goal weight.

I achieved my goal four days ago. Unfortunately, I have only "technically" achieved my goal. I was actually hoping to go four pounds under my goal, because I know as soon as I eat any amount of carbs I’ll gain back those four pounds of glycogen/water I lost at the beginning.

Today I noticed a bit of muscle definition on my back. That’s a first for there!

I noticed a bit on my abdomen a couple of weeks ago. No, it’s definitely not a six pack. It’s not even a 2 pack. Even if all of my fat was removed, I would not have a two pack. It’s just too early for that. I saw a bit of definition near my hip bones.

I think that I have to lose about 10 more pounds before I can expect to see much definition. That would put me in the 8% to 10% body fat area. 

When I was at the height of my cycling career, I don’t think I ever had much muscle definition. I had some, but I guess I always had around 10% to 12% body fat. Only once for a brief period did I get into the sub 10% area. At the time I wasn’t that interested in muscle definition, so I honestly don’t remember what I looked like.

When I get down below 10% body fat this time, I’m definitely going to look at muscle definition.

I’ve now had 4 consecutive days of the same body weight. I’m definitely not happy about that.

I worked out every day, and on two of the days I actually worked out for 3 hours. My calorie intake was quite low too. I should have lost two pounds in those four days based on how many calories I ate and how many I expended.

But, I feel a bit OK because my body fat scale says I have dropped to 14% body fat from 14.5%. Also, my scale has said that I have gained water each day for quite a while. So, I figure I have lost those two pounds, but am retaining water. There’s no reason to panic yet.

Actually, my hands were very swollen while I was walking yesterday, which is a pretty good indicator of excess water. I have no idea why I would be retaining water. I do retain water when I have eaten too many carbs, but this time I have had very few carbs. It’s a mystery.

A couple of days ago I posted a picture taken of me 18 years ago when I was in fairly good condition. I weigh the same now as I did then. That’s great of course.

But, there has to be a down side to this and there is: My skin isn’t anywhere near what it was like then. My abdominal skin has not recovered yet. It is getting close to "baggy", and my behind is a bit "old man"-like.

I also figure that I have about five pounds less muscle, and five pounds more fat. That’s to be expected I guess. We gradually lose muscle mass as we age, and it has been 18 years.

I have my fingers crossed that my skin will recover. Under no circumstances am I having any sort of skin removal surgery. I’ll take baggy skin over a giant scar.

Today I reached my goal weight, and took my first progress pictures.

I did not like the experience of taking body pictures. Looking at yourself in a mirror is quite different than seeing a picture of yourself. But, having said that, I wish I had taken pictures back when I was 225 pounds and when I was 186 pounds, so that I can compare those times to now at 165 pounds.

It was great to complete the first milestone in my body transformation. I went from 227 pounds to 165 pounds. I look like your typical average joe now, but expect to look more athletic when I complete my training program in 11 weeks.

I have confidence in my current training program. If it doesn’t produce results, I don’t think anything can. It is quite strenuous, but also provides adequate rest. I just have to make sure that my nutrition is good.

I’ve uploaded my first set of progress pictures. But, of course nobody can see them until I upload my second set of progress pictures. I may not be able to take a second set of pictures until after I am finished my program. I’m going to be away for 10 weeks, and would like to have a consistent situation for my progress pictures. If I don’t, lighting etc. can make them look better, or worse even if there is no change in my body.

There has to be a first time for everything, but this "first" is a real stretch for me. I haven’t even read a web log, so writing one feels a bit strange. I’m not exactly certain why I am doing this, but here goes…

Two years ago I was about 60 pounds heavier than I am now. I lost 48 pounds over a three month period while travelling in Europe. I was walking so much that it actually wasn’t that hard. This weight loss was despite the fact that I had undiagnosed Thyroid problems.

After returning from Europe I spent a year and a half trying to maintain my results. I continued to walk, and did a bit of weight training that was entirely unsuccessful. I still managed to gain 8 pounds of fat. This weight gain was in part due to my Thyroid problems, which I am now being treated for, but mostly it was that I wasn’t eating healthily. More on that in another post.

I started a serious diet and excercise program 6 weeks ago. I’ve been on a low-carb ketosis diet (not Atkins), and have been walking about 10 km (6 miles) per day. I’ve been doing a bit of weight work all along, but have been much more serious about it for the last two weeks.

I’ve certainly lost too much weight too quickly. I figure that I have lost about 15 pounds of fat in the last 6 1/2 weeks. That doesn’t sound too bad, but I took a two week break in the middle while I was on holidays. So, I’ve been averaging about 3.3 pounds per week of true fat loss. That’s definitely considered a no-no.

I say "true fat loss" because I know that even though the scale says that I have lost 19 pounds, at least 4 pounds is water/glycogen stores. I think saying I have lost 15 pounds is a bit optimistic, but saying I’ve lost 15 pounds makes me feel good, so darn it, I’m going to say it!

I have a body fat measuring scale that tells me I have a body fat percentage of 14.5%. That doesn’t seem so unreasonable being 6′ 1" and 166 pounds. The only problem is that if I change the age I enter in it, it changes the percentage of body fat I have. A lower age, a lower body fat percentage.

Newer body fat scales ask your age so they can guess at the amount of internal (visceral/intramuscular) fat you have, since they can’t actually measure this. Older people do have more of this type of fat, so it’s certainly an educated guess. Unfortunately, the guess is wrong if you are an active person, and especially wrong if you weight train.

These body fat scales also only measure the body fat on your lower body. I have no idea if my upper body is fatter than my lower or not.

Because of this, I unfortunately have no truly accurate measure of my body fat. I’ve tried all sorts of caliper tests, and body measurement tests, and they seem to agree that my body fat is somewhere between 10% and 18%

Based on the body fat percentage my scale has given me, and my calculations, I need to lose 15 pounds of fat to reach my ultimate goal of 6% body fat. The changes I have seen in my body with the last 15 pounds of loss, makes me think I may well have 15 more pounds to go.

Why have I chosen 6% body fat? Why not 8% or 10%? The problem that I have is that being 43 and having lost 60 pounds I have a loose skin problem. I hope that if I get low enough the skin will snap back. This is definitely a "hope".

I’ve read a lot of sources on the Internet that say loose skin is actually skin and fat. I know this to be true, but the theory that it will "snap back" and "reattach to muscle" seems like a long shot. But, there aren’t many other options.

I actually consider myself lucky that I had very little muscle while I was seriously overweight. If I can manage to put on some muscle I can probably "fill up" my skin to some extent with muscle.

These last 15 pounds have been the worst on my skin. My waist size used to be 40 inches. I lost 4 inches off of my waist losing 40 pounds. These newly lost 15 pounds have brought it down another 4 inches. It’s funny, but if you are thinner you get a larger amount of "inch" loss per pound. I don’t know if that is an obvious statement or not. Maybe, I’ll write about it in another post.

So, I now have 8 inches of "extra" skin on my waist that I don’t need. One day there may be 10 inches of "extra" skin. My skin shrunk relatively well for the first 6 inches I lost, but every inch since it has got looser and looser.

Today for the first time when I was standing erect I could see a bit of "raisin" look to my skin near my belly button. Maybe that’s why I started this web log today.