Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

From the picture it doesn't look obvious that you have much extra skin...I can see a bit but not much. I have quite a bit more.

There are two types. One is held in your hands and the other is stepped on with bare feet. I had one once and thought it sucked. I cannot remember the science behind them but do know that the hand held ones can only really estimate upper body and the foot model can only estimate lower body - so the number will always be off. At least, that's my understanding.

If you are only looking for a TREND and not 100% accuracy then using the same person with calipers is a cheap way to go.

Hi Pink!
I might have missed this, but how much water do you drink? That really helps to flush out toxins, excessive salt, etc.
Also, if you look at how bodybuilders/figure comp. eat, they space out their meals--5-6 smaller meals throughout the day. This gives you a steady energy supply without the insulin spikes. Large meals eaten at one time, from what I've researched, cause you to release a lot of insulin which can cause you to store excessive fat.
I do have to say that everyone is different in body chemistry so it might be trial and error for a while. Just some other things to try if you need to.

One more thing I have experienced with myself, since I have not been weight training consistently for the past few months(maybe 1time/wk), my weight has not changed that much, but i am more flabbily (as i call it), so i know my body composition has changed. i concur with everyone else, in that, weight training should help tighten things up more. (i am speaking to myself at the same time) :0)
You are very motivating and inspiring. You should be so proud of yourself for losing that amount of weight!

It is really a struggle and not as easy as the magazines/media make it seem.
Keep up the awesome work!
i hope my tidbits don't come off as being rude or pushy. I am struggling with weight loss issues, so I can relate in some sense.

When I started gaining weight back, yes, I was afraid of putting fat back on. I still am afraid of doing so. I used some calculators to see how many calories I need to maintain, gain, etc. and kept my caloric intake actually slightly below maintenance level and my body seemed to just find its way to a comfortable weight for it. I sat at 175 for quite some time and am now trying to bulk beyond that. I checked my body fat by an electronic impedance device, if I am remembering the terminology correctly, at a local gym. I know I don't have tons of loose skin and when I flex it tends to mostly disappear. I am lucky to have some fairly elastic skin, thanks to youth and maybe some genetics. My arms, shoulders and back, though, look much more defined than my stomach area. I have a "four pack" but I can't seem to get the bottom two (I know those aren't always terribly defined anyway) to show up at all. I may just need a bit more time and more muscle to fill it in, which is a lot of why I am trying to bulk. I guess it can't be too bad since Robert did give me a VBB profile.

You look fantastic.

Unless you are hell bent on competing in bodybuilding you have no worries as far as your appearance goes.

This is reassuring to me as I plan on doing something similar.

I am 2 pounds away from going into maintenance. I lost my weight VERY slowly and exercised all along the way, so I do not have problems at the same level Dr. Pink does, but I do have some flab, and some loose skin.

I plan on keeping my calorie level at maintenance levels, reducing my cardio slightly, and upping my weight lifting.

The electric ones are largely inaccurate (+/- 4%) from my experience and if I remember right they work on electrical impedence.

Yeah, that sounds like a good way to do it. I think I may compete someday if I can get the size I need. So I am trying to focus on getting that and if that happens, I will worry more about getting rid of the midsection skin and fat.

Are they consistent? I can always spend the cash to go take a dunk in a tank for accuracy, but I essentially need consistency to know if I am going in my desired direction.

You know how cheap scales will give you 3 different weights if you step on them 3 times in succession?

Will body fat scales do the same?

The very much do just that. Any amount of dehydration makes them extremely inconsistent...I've lost 15% bodyfat in a few hours by one of these scales measurements...sure I lost a lot of water so its gonna change things a bit but who's to say how hydrated you are right before you step on...even if you feel hydrated.

I meant 3 times in succession as in with only momentary gaps between trials and without shifting your weight. Standing on the scales the same way, a few seconds between each trial and getting a different weight each time.

Junk.

I've done that with small but noticeable deviations. The weight on the scales I've tried were accurate within 1/5 of a pound each time I've stepped on it in back to back tests which is an acceptable inaccuracy in my opinion but I noticed a 3-4% deviation in body fat the first time I did this test on one of the scales...I did it again on a few more and go the same innacuracy...if you increase that number to what a bodyweight reading would be that would mean 4-10 lbs of inaccuracy depending on what you weigh and if you compare that to actual percentage of bodyfat...then that would really be a much larger deviation...similar to 20lbs or more off.

I just found this thread. Hey dr pink I am in a similar situation as you are. I use to be at my heaviest 275 lbs and i am now 157lbs. I lost weight very quickly and by doing so i also eroded away alot of muscle. its weird because just the act of being overweight was enough to make me have muscles but once i lost the weight my body didnt need the same volume of muscles to carry my bulk. I never thought about nutrition above and beyond eat less calories than you burn in a day idea.

Well cycle forward to me being 147 lbs super thin loose skin still deeling as though im over weight. i make steady gains with muscle and what not by doing the pilates tv system and eating more balanced so now im about 10 lbs heavier. its not like bodybuilders though its not that lean muscle its just someone who has controlled the diet aspects.

I have loose skin and it can be so infuriating because i feel fit when i press my abs they feel flat and hard but i can feel my stomach at times hanging over my jeans. Also when i do pushups my pectoral skin hangs slightly and i feel as though i have breasts.

This is the route i have decided to go. Eat more of a bodybuilding diet and work out to gain about 5 lbs a year because my goal is not to be a bodybuilder but rather healthy and fit so that i can sustain it by doing natural activities like rock climbing and hiking and body weight excersizes a few times a week. I think the key here if you do not want surgery and based on my ethics its not an option is to gain muscle to fill in where the fat was gone. I am at this stage because in truth i might at the most have 5lbs of extra fat on my body.

I appreciate your struggle because it is my struggle too in another stage. if you ever need to talk about it private message me. I can say this though once i got my diet under control and the excess fat i was carring came off i felt better and was more realistic in my goals. At 157 at 6 feet tall i still wont take off my shirt in public but thats the cross i bear for being inactive for so many years.

Good luck man, i totally think you can achieve your goals and am excited to see you do it.

Perhaps you might want to enroll in the 2008 fitness challange as a method to track your progress. I am doing this so you can see my progress as well.

I think I found an interesting way to tighten my stomach and eliminate my stretchy skin. I bought an ab tightening waist belt many months ago and I never use it. But I figure that if I just wrap my loose parts up in it really, really tightly( Like take a deep breath in and wrap it up tight ) maybe wearing it constantly would cause my stomach to adapt and my skin would tighten on it's own.

It's not one of those stupid electrical stimulant belts( Which I actually wanted at one point until I heard it was bad for your internal organs ) it just wraps around and tightens.

I plan to wear it through the entire day, While I work, While I play, While I eat, While I sleep. I'd only take it off to shower.

I keep it covered of course. I wear it over a tank top and under a nice dress shirt.


So any comments? Do I have the right idea down? Will it work to any extent?

Also keep in mind that this is only temporarily until I get tighter abs. Then I will begin ab workouts to further the process( Removing the belt tightener of course )

But until then I plan to do light ab workouts( With the belt tightener on )

be careful man from what i hear at least anecdotally you need to provide circulation to your loose skin in order to help it so don't wear the belt thing to tightly or you might cut off your circulation. if you can afford it perhaps try one of those holistic wraps, and if it does work let me know cause id be damn interested. My loose skin can really only be seen if i bend over and am kind parallel with the floor standing up it is only minorly noticeable. What helped was to reach a low body fat percentage and incorporate body weight excersizes to tone underneath the loose skin.