The Natural Way? How Much Can Be Achieved?

[Lee11]

I am fortunate in that I have been writing about bodybuilding and nutrition for over ten years. I am also fortunate in that my best friend is a pro bodybuillder and Registered Dietician. So, that being said, I have looked into chest surgery recently and due to the uncertainty of outcome have decided to see what I can do naturally by intensifying my training and stepping up my diet with my friends help.
I am lucky in that I have a small chest size to begin with....but I am willing to see how far I can take it before re approaching surgery.
Does anyone out there want to join me in this experiment?

[VeryGnawty]

That sounds like a very interesting experiment.  I've actually been working on an MtF project.  I recompiled my data to see if it might be able to support a method for FtM.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find any reasonable solution for FtM.  My methods are designed for MtF and I lack sufficient data to form any conclusions about FtM

Don't female bodybuilders typically lose a lost of breast tissue if they use the specific diets and techniques that the males do?  I saw a show once and it looked like the women had very little breast tissue.  It's kind of hard to tell because their breasts are so dwarfed by muscle.

[xAndrewx]

Hey man, much as I would love to join you my chest is too huge to be able to loose it by exercise. I'm very interested in hearing about everyone's results though. I recently started doing weight lifting myself to lose as much chest fat and build muscle for better surgery results. Good luck with your experiment

[Victor]

Would join but, yet another who's chest is far too large to burn off just with diet and workout routines, however the subject matter is interesting thus certainly something I'll watch on the forums to see how it develops over time.

[Sharky]

I have DD's so there is no escaping surgery for me, however I do want to see what I can accomplish naturally. I have no body building experience, but want to learn. The idea of doing this has actually been brewing in my head for awhile.  I am taking all my classes online next semester so I can work out as much as possible.

[Lee11]

Don't female bodybuilders typically lose a lost of breast tissue if they use the specific diets and techniques that the males do?  I saw a show once and it looked like the women had very little breast tissue.  It's kind of hard to tell because their breasts are so dwarfed by muscle.


Yes they do when they are dieted down for a show but the vast majority of them gain it right back as soon as they start gaining weight in the off season.
The concept here is not about weight loss but actual weight gain in the form of muscle throughout the body BUT with the focus on building up the chest, increasing the muscle mass and tightening up the skin...that is going to be the tricky part...

On a side note...it is very funny that a lot of my female bodybuilder friends are about to get implants whilst I am doing the reverse...lol!

[Lee11]

I have DD's so there is no escaping surgery for me, however I do want to see what I can accomplish naturally. I have no body building experience, but want to learn. The idea of doing this has actually been brewing in my head for awhile.  I am taking all my classes online next semester so I can work out as much as possible.

Let me know if this is something you really want to work on and maybe my friend and I can help you......

[Tad]

Sadly I doubt my large B's are going to be able to shrink down. In the last 3 months of working out I haven't noticed any difference in their size, despite lots of growth of muscle all over/loss of fat.

[Carson]

I would be interested in trying something out. I am getting my top surgery in march but need to work on building up my chest for the best results.

[Squirrel698]

This is something I am very interested in.  My breasts are about a size A or B and 34 inches around.  Actually I don't even know how to tell if they are an A or B. 

I am fairly sure they have shrunk quite a bit since I started T and wearing my binder constantly.  The skin is kinda loose unfortunately after breast feeding which is my biggest worry.  If there is anyway possible to avoid surgery I would really like to know about it.  Finding the money is not going to be easy for me. 

I've been on the anabolic diet which is really focused on losing fat and gaining muscle.  In a nutshell it's eating 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs with around 2,800 calories a day.  Eating all of that food isn't easy but amazingly I haven't gained an ounce.  In fact I've lost some weight.  Weird I know.  I've only been on it for 9 days but I already feel a bit tighter so hopefully it's helping.     

[Sharky]

Let me know if this is something you really want to work on and maybe my friend and I can help you......

It is something I really want to work on. The only thing is I don't want to travel to a gym. I rather just buy everything I need myself and enjoy the comforts of being able to work out at home. What do you think the must haves are, and what I should get right away?

[VeryGnawty]

I've been on the anabolic diet which is really focused on losing fat and gaining muscle.  In a nutshell it's eating 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs with around 2,800 calories a day.  Eating all of that food isn't easy but amazingly I haven't gained an ounce.  In fact I've lost some weight.  Weird I know.  I've only been on it for 9 days but I already feel a bit tighter so hopefully it's helping.     

It should help.  Putting on muscle helps eliminate the fat, including the fat in the breasts.  The real question is:  to what extent will this work?  If the difference is only minor, then it won't really help all the guys who were unlucky enough to have large mammary glands.

Keep us posted.  I'm doing my own little diet and lifestyle experiment on the MtF side.  I'm interested in seeing what happens to people with the inverse dilemma.

[sneakersjay]

Mine might have shrunk but I still would have needed some surgery.  I'm very happy with my post-op chest.  Good luck in your endeavor.  Though I do need to work out....


Jay

[padfoots666]

I've been exercising, losing some weight, gaining some muscle, and my breasts did get noticeably smaller but not by much. I used to weigh 136 lb (fattest state ever). I did Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (2 months) and lost 12 lbs. Then did some Pilates (2 months) and lost about 4. Now, I'm always anywhere from 116-120. I'm doing P90X. And I'm thinking of doing BJJ again. I think binding also helped in making my breasts more flat XD I used to be a C and now I'm a B.

[RenM]

This is something I'm very interested in myself, as I'm not sure when I'm going to start T and I have two goals before ever having top surgery:
1) Lower fat down to a healthy range. Right now, I'm about 168lbs which would be great...if I wasn't 5'2''.
2) Bulk and build muscle. Unlike a few of my fellow transmen, I want to be bigger when it comes to muscles. I've always wanted a healthy, fit body with plenty of strength.

My personal hope- as vain as it may seem- is to work on my muscle mass, especially in my arms since I'll be strumming for some time and I rather like my arms despite my current biceps being a bit lacking.
Hopefully this is something I can take part in as well for my chest, as anything which makes binding 36 B's easier would be wonderful!

[Lee11]

It is something I really want to work on. The only thing is I don't want to travel to a gym. I rather just buy everything I need myself and enjoy the comforts of being able to work out at home. What do you think the must haves are, and what I should get right away?

You should get yourself some STRONG flex cables (like Nike heavy duty) in somewhere like Modells, one of those new Power Gym doorway pull up bars are great too. You can use them on the floor for great push-ups as well as on the door for chin ups.
A  couple of dumb bells with extra weights too. My friend has one of those systems that attach to the door for full body workouts which at around $100 would substitute quite well for all of the aforementioned if you have a door to attach it to..it is called Body By Jake Tower 200...I am sure you can google it!

[Lee11]

This is something I'm very interested in myself, as I'm not sure when I'm going to start T and I have two goals before ever having top surgery:
1) Lower fat down to a healthy range. Right now, I'm about 168lbs which would be great...if I wasn't 5'2''.
2) Bulk and build muscle. Unlike a few of my fellow transmen, I want to be bigger when it comes to muscles. I've always wanted a healthy, fit body with plenty of strength.

My personal hope- as vain as it may seem- is to work on my muscle mass, especially in my arms since I'll be strumming for some time and I rather like my arms despite my current biceps being a bit lacking.
Hopefully this is something I can take part in as well for my chest, as anything which makes binding 36 B's easier would be wonderful!

I would love to have my friend work with you on this...contact me by PM or e mail   leighpenman@live.com

[Lee11]

I've been exercising, losing some weight, gaining some muscle, and my breasts did get noticeably smaller but not by much. I used to weigh 136 lb (fattest state ever). I did Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (2 months) and lost 12 lbs. Then did some Pilates (2 months) and lost about 4. Now, I'm always anywhere from 116-120. I'm doing P90X. And I'm thinking of doing BJJ again. I think binding also helped in making my breasts more flat XD I used to be a C and now I'm a B.

Sounds like you are doing great!

[Lee11]

I would be interested in trying something out. I am getting my top surgery in march but need to work on building up my chest for the best results.


This would be totally do-able and a good muscle base would certainly help you.......

[Lee11]

I've been on the anabolic diet which is really focused on losing fat and gaining muscle.  In a nutshell it's eating 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs with around 2,800 calories a day.  Eating all of that food isn't easy but amazingly I haven't gained an ounce.  In fact I've lost some weight.  Weird I know.  I've only been on it for 9 days but I already feel a bit tighter so hopefully it's helping.     
[/quote]

I will have to take a look at that diet and see what my thoughts are. The only problem with being on such restricted carbs is that it can slow down your thyroid over time. Having one day a week where you increase your carbs will prevent that and keep your metabolism kicking.....