There's no such thing as loose skin?!
I already knew this, but I guess I just needed to read it over and over again to get it into my head.
There's no such thing as loose skin, at least in the way that I was using the term. What I have is rolls of skin with subcutaneous fat, ie, fat rolls. They are not as thick as they used to be and they're not as solid, but they're still fat rolls. You can tell the difference between skin and fat rolls by pinching up skin on the back of your hand. See how thin that is? That's skin. Now grab that "loose skin" on your belly. How thick is that? Guess what--that ain't just skin. That's fat. If you've got loose skin, what that really means is you've just got more fat to lose, so I'm reading. Well, hell. I knew that! I was just hoping that someone would tell me what I wanted to hear. But since when at any point in this weight loss journey has anyone ever told me what I wanted to hear? (Except those bastards trying to get my money--Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers and Slim Fast, etc, etc.) I'm just glad a few people (not all) keep telling me what I need to hear: the truth.
The truth is, I need to modify my lifestyle yet again. I need to eat more like a healthy bodybuilder and less like a chocolate-snarfing library assistant (which is what I am). I need to increase my lean body mass and cut the fat.
That's it then. I need to read about bodybuilding--natural vegan bodybuilding, obviously--instead of basic nutrition and weight loss. I'm done with weight loss. I want to move up to the next level in this.
I found a before-and-after photo that says it all. My body looks so much like the before photo on the left that she might have lobbed the head off a photo of me and stuck her own on! Well, to be honest, I have better body tone than her before picture, but the small chest and little bit of flab on the belly look like mine. And her results on the right are precisely what I'm after. I have no intention of taking any weird supplements or trying to get results in 12 weeks. It's just the photos I was amazed by.
Have a look.
Okay then. I'm through telling myself I have "loose skin". I'm off to find some reading material on leaning out and building muscle. Any help would be greatly appreciated!