Moobs?

LegacyUser

My moobs are ruining my life.

I've had them since I was a kid basically. I was a fat kid who grew in to a fat adolescent, who grew in to a fat adult. I'm 25 now and have basically lost all of the weight I've been carrying all my life. (In the region of six stone lost over the course of two years). I was worried about having loose skin, but crazily enough this has not been an issue because I lost the weight slowly and because I did a lot of weightlifting as I was losing weight. I still have plenty of stretchmarks, but they don't bother me as much as the moobs.

I focused primarily on building up my chest muscles, and while the obesity related manboobs are basically gone, I still have remaining breast tissue that just sits there. Its on one side of my chest in particular. Its quite noticable. My posture etc. has improved with the weight loss and gym work, so they are obviously less bad than when I was obese, but they are still there. I've become quite athletic too, I go running all the time (Most days I run 8 miles!) and the breast just jiggles about. I don't really notice anybody staring or laughing at them, but I'm pretty sure they do!

This manboob problem has definitely held me back with the opposite sex. I've never had a girlfriend, mostly due to self esteem issues when I had the weight. Now I've lost (most) of it, I'm beginning to get attention from girls. I've no idea how to respond to that attention or how to 'make a move' because I'm so lacking in experience. But I just can't imagine being naked with a woman with these moobs hanging off me. That holds me back big time. It goes without saying that I am extremely sexually frustrated to boot. (I've had sex before, but not the kind of sex that one would look back on with any great fondness..)

I like to think I'm a nice guy and would be a good boyfriend. I read a lot, am interested in lots of things. I love conversation. I have lots of friends. I like a drink but don't binge (Apart from Christmas, obviously!).

I've considered surgery. I don't have the money, and frankly any surgery is a risk, and why chance anything over a vanity?

I'd love to hear from lads who have/had moobs and from girls to know what they think. How unattractive are moobs. Would they completely turn a girl off, or could you ever come to accept them if you like the person enough?

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

LegacyUser

Canttakeitanymore! wrote: »

My moobs are ruining my life.... I've considered surgery. I don't have the money, and frankly any surgery is a risk, and why chance anything over a vanity?

Hi,

Very briefly. If you're on the medical card the HSE will cover the cost of gynecomastia surgery. I have already met my surgeon twice and when I get my weight down to the required kgs, I will be put on the waiting list for it. Talk to your gp asap, ask him for a referral to a consultant and lose that surplus weight. There have been a number of threads on moobs and gynecomastia surgery elsewhere on Boards.ie. I found some posts very informative.

daisybelle2008

OP would you not consider lipo, while it is a bit invasive but specific and you are actually awake while its done, it is fairly straight forward no overnight stay, low risk and addresses very well your issue. You might get a credit union loan.... Personally I would not rule it out if I was you.
To be honest the baggage and mental hardship you have attached to this would definetely be worth eliminating in a couple of hours with lipo for me anyway.

December2012

Hi OP,

Firstly congratulations on your achievements. You should feel very proud of your hard work - well done.

Personally I've had boyfriends who have a bit of what you're describing, i never noticed it really ( I more noticed the other body parts in that respect - and in a good way!)

Most women look for things they like about a person, not things to be judgy about.

However, it's a trouble area for you and one thing you could do is talk to a personal trainer or seek nutritional advice, maybe from the nutrition forum, because there may be something in your diet that you could change to affect your hormone level.

Have you had your hormone level checked by a dr?

blatantrereg

If it is genuinely enlarged breast tissue then it might indicate an underlying medical condition and you should talk to a doctor about it.
One way that can occur is from losing weight very quickly. If you get to the stage of malnourishment then that can mess up your hormones. However six stone in two years wouldn't suggest that, assuming it was lost at a steady rate. That sounds like a sensible rate of weight loss. Also weight training would tend to boost your testosterone levels. Even if it is enlarged breasts from something transient, it would probably resolve itself within a year or two.

It is much more likely to be a remaining deposit of fat or loose skin. The former can be dealt with just by losing more weight. The latter will probably resolve itself within a year or two, or at least very largely resolve itself.

It is a bit outrageous if the HSE will cover the cost of surgery for this typically, considering how badly stretched the resources are in the health sector at the moment, and the fact that medical conditions causing a significant impact on people's quality of life are sometimes refused. It is usually done by liposuction, which only removes fat, not any actual breast tissue at all. Obviously this is transient, and the same effect could be achieved just by losing weight in most cases.

The condition is unlikely to effect your ability to develop a relationship with a woman. It is the sort of thing you yourself might fixate on, but most people wouldn't even notice in most cases, unless you point it out to them or something like that.

The_Conductor

daisybelle2008 wrote: »

OP would you not consider lipo, while it is a bit invasive but specific and you are actually awake while its done, it is fairly straight forward no overnight stay, low risk and addresses very well your issue. You might get a credit union loan.... Personally I would not rule it out if I was you.
To be honest the baggage and mental hardship you have attached to this would definetely be worth eliminating in a couple of hours with lipo for me anyway.

The OP really needs to discuss this with their GP in the first instance.
What should be kept in mind- in cases like this- quite often it may not be fat tissue that remains- aka it may not be suitable for minor cosmetic surgery such as Liposuction. The OP needs to discuss this professionally though- it would be remiss of him to blindly go down any particular path.

jantheman91

Gonna have to lose them i'm afraid. Looks matter in the world we live in. I had them and pretty badly too. Hit the gym, and eat a diet low in carbs and high in protein and good fats. Work on your chest hard in the gym and do some cardio.

There's no miracle to losing weight it's simple and boils down to:

1. Calories in vs. Calories out - You eat less calories than your body needs you'll lose weight.
2. Weightlifting - Increases testosterone levels which is crucial in fat regulation and metabolism increase.
3. Cardio - Anaerobic or Aerobic cardio burns fat.


I made excuses all the time. It's my genetics, i've a gland problem. It was neither. I was lazy and made excuses.

There's two types of work:

1. Hard work
2. No work

You decide which route you want to go down. Good luck.

PS: You may have a breast tissue gland problem but i highly doubt it. Hit your chest even harder than you have. In my opinion you've still got moobs because your diet is all wrong.