John Stone's Ab-Solved & Tight Journal

[John Stone]

Rather than re-type everything, I'm going to post a slightly modified version of today's (March 31, 2004) update, followed by today's daily pictures, and then [gulp] close-up pictures of my lower ab fat and loose skin.


March 31, 2004

After 15 months of eating clean and working out, I've still got a little fat just below my belly button. I've had this fat since I was a pre-teen and it's always been there no matter what I've done to get rid of it. I can't keep cutting because my body fat level is already at 8% and I just don't want to lose any more fat from any other area of my body. Even if I did continue to cut until I was at 6% body fat, chances are that little roll would still be there. I really hoped that after 15 months of clean eating and regular exercise that it would go away, but it's just not going anywhere. It really does bother me, and it's much more noticeable in real life than in my pictures. Lipo and/or plastic surgery is absolutely out of the question for me, so I see one last avenue to try in an attempt to get rid of this last bit of stubborn fat once and for all: supplements. I've never used ANY kind of fat burning supplements before, so this is my last-ditch effort to attempt to get rid of it. We all know cutting gels are worthless, but I've heard very good things about transdermal fat burners such as Ab-Solved.

I've been researching these types of products for a few weeks now and it does seem like they really work for people who are already at very low body fat levels, but have stubborn fat that just won't go away. These kinds of products are not going to help you if you are not eating right, working out and already pretty cut up. Since this is a last-ditch effort, I've also decided to try an Ephedra-free fat burner, Tight, which I'm told helps a great deal with the removal of stubborn fat.

I know this is quite a departure for me, but I've always been honest about my program and what I'm doing and this is no different. I don't know if any of this stuff will work, but you can bet that I'll be very detailed in charting my progress while I'm using these products. I'm going to start using both of these products tomorrow (NOTE: actually I'm going to start using them on Friday, April 2, 2004).

I'll update this thread at least weekly.

[John Stone]

Just for reference, here is how I looked this morning in a fasted state. These are my normal daily pictures:

[John Stone]

... and here is the problem area at its worst. These pictures are front, left-side and right-side close-ups of the stubborn fatty area below my belly button (and some loose skin just above it). I took these pictures right after dinner, so I'm looking pretty bloated - this is about as bad as it gets for me in these shots. These are not very flattering, and posting them is difficult because I'm very self-conscience about it (you're about to see why). I'm standing totally relaxed in these shots.

Hopefully these products will help me to finally get rid of this last bit of fat, which has absolutely no business on my body at this point (15 months) into my fitness program.

Okay, I've procrastinated long enough. Here they are:

[inurb]

I see what you are talking about, and I understand how it can seem like a big deal to you. I can't give you any advice that you dont know already. All I can say is good luck

[daciz2]

interesting. hope your supplement works for you.

[ClimbOn]

So John is human. I was beginning to wonder.

, I hope it works for you.

BTW, I would feel the same way, no reason to give up now.

[Specialbear]

btw John, have u checked out other forums and asked over there for opinions? Those guys (bodybuilding.com,elitefitness.com) have much more experience in dropping all bf and many have competed.

[senimoni]

John,

Have you looked into the Lipoderm Ultra from Avant, b/c Absolved is more for Visceral Fat and Lipoderm is for SubQ fat? Just wondered

[Obscura]

I'm still a newb so my ignorance is going to show in this post but...

I was reading something online about how bodybuilders will prepare for a competition and some of the changes to their diet in the last weeks leading up to a competiton lead to their skin looking "paper thin" so it shows off every muscular detail.

I did a search and dug up the article... Check it out:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magaz...zeyourself.htm

3. The Advanced Bodybuilder

A bodybuilder reaches a more advanced stage when he feels that he has attained a solid base of mass. If you look in the mirror, or at your photos and feel that you have achieved this then your chief goal in this sport changes. ( Again, I feel that every bodybuilders primary goal should be attaining a solid or great level of muscle mass first and foremost! ) However, don't think for a minute that it gets easier. If this is your assessment than you will have to go into an even greater artistic stage in your bodybuilding career.

At this point I would recommend taking countless photographs of yourself and painstakingly critique them. Your goals will have a greater emphasis on thinner skin, separation, body fat percentages, symmetry, lagging body parts, and last but not least a beautiful v-taper.

Lets discuss thinner skin briefly. When a bodybuilder steps on stage his goal is to look as close to an anatomy chart as possible. The thinner his skin is, the closer he will be to this look. In order to achieve this he will want to avoid over stretching his skin with anymore " heavy bulks. " When he does bulk I would recommend it to be a clean one, in which the athlete is extremely cautious about the rate at which he gains weight. This means upping his meal frequency to avoid storage of food, lowering starchy carbs at night and on off days, and very slowly upping his caloric intake.

Also if you notice that an area of your body isn't tight enough, even though your body fat percentage is low, then I would suggest working the area hardcore on a bulk to fill in the loose skin. For example, if you have a small amount of lose skin on your abs, animals mass workout would help fill this in nicely.

Notice how I mention still going on bulks even though the bodybuilder has reached a great base of overall mass. The focus on these bulks however will be mostly lagging body parts, and other aspects of ones physique. I will discuss these in more detail below. At this point in his career he will also shoot for much lower body fat percentages when he cuts, again to achieve that paper thin type of skin he will need for the stage.

Heh... you've got the photos and you are analyzing them! :-)

You said in your post that it seems to be there no matter how much fat you lose... Could it be loose skin? That would explain why it remains at only 8% body fat and below.

Every friday I listen to a fitness guru on the radio here in Houston. His name is Keith Klein and a few weeks ago he took a call from a guy who lost a lot of weight and had issues with loose skin. He said that it takes a long time to tighten up.

The caller was considering plastic surgery and Keith said he knew of some folks in town who specialized in tighting up folks who have lost massive (150+ Lbs lost) but the caller hadn't lost that much and he told him to be patient.

Could it be loose skin?

[seeDerekNow]

You're standing relaxed in those shots? I didnt know one could look so ripped without flexing. Then again, I've never been at 8% body fat, so I guess I wouldn't know. But someday, soon... :db:

[Funeral]

John That looks Like More Skin than fat to me, But from the side view I can see that maybe some fat is hiding there. Good luck.

[Reno_1ted]

Im interested to know what u will do once this fat deposit / loose skin thing is solved. If that is the only bit left that u are unhappy with, what will your goals be once its gone?

Reading back through your work, i note that you always had something to focus on. The removal of the fat in this final area has been ur focus for months. Before then, you had countless other focal points. What will u focus on next?

I note in these forums that everyone is bulking or cutting. No one is maintaining. No one is fully satisfied. I set goals and reached them, but now i look and say "Well actually, that arm could be a little bigger, that part could be a little thinner" and so on. Surely on some level this is narcasistic, striving for a perfection that doesnt exisit, because we will by our very nature find flaws in how we look, no matter what we look like.

That tiny bit of fat / skin is so small, so un-important in the bigger picture, hardly noticable. It is not effecting your health or relationship. But that is all you really have left to loose before u reach ur goal. You need a focus and that is it. But then what? Will you notice something else that "needs improving"?

I fully understand that u are self concious of this area, i, and nearly everyone else on these forums are self concious about areas of our body that to the normal eye, wouldnt even be picked up on.

What do i think? When u (in the sense of general u, not u personally)were overweight, you had a focus and a goal and thats what drives u. In my opinion, you cant train to maintain, because maintainace doesnt drive a person in the same way that Improvment does. It just isnt the same. We want to look in the mirror and see a difference. See some improvement, feel better because we look better. So thats why we pick up on small irrelevent things, so we have something to focus and improve, something to keep us going, keep us training. A slighlty smaller arm, slightly eneven pecs... where does it stop.

I just want to know your feelings on all this.

And good luck with ur aims !

[John Stone]

I told you guys that I wasn't imagining it.

I've heard conflicting reports on which product (Lipoderm or Ab-Solved) would work best for me, so I just picked one to try first. I'm going to try Lipoderm Ultra next if Ab-Solved doesn't work out for me.

As for future goals, we're getting a bit off-topic for this thread but I want to add lean mass to my upper body and will do so once my shoulder is healed. But I disagree with the statement that once you are happy with your body you can't stay motivated to maintain. Once I reach a certain size, that's exactly what I'm going to do, and I guarantee you that won't have trouble staying motivated.

[JeremyLikness]

Hey, John, if there's anyone I know who keeps a detailed journal and has a great baseline to work from - it's you! So I look forward to reading this and seeing if the products do, indeed, help. I've been skeptical for YEARS on fat burners (I posted about this in another thread) simply through my own experience and coaching others, but I'll be the first to sound a "hoo-rah" when we find one that works without horrendous side effects! Keep us posted and best of success with that last little nip. For now, I'll just be satisfied finding my abs again - let alone worrying about that last little bit of belly button! TAKE CARE!

Jeremy

[corbint]

Originally Posted by ClimbOn

So John is human. I was beginning to wonder.

, I hope it works for you.

BTW, I would feel the same way, no reason to give up now.

John isnt real... John is really animatronic. He is a humanoid employed by MGM Studios in Orlando for the "realistic explosion scenes", and also is a Crash Test Humanoid at the GM Test Track at Epcot.

[corbint]

Originally Posted by John Stone

... and here is the problem area at its worst. These pictures are front, left-side and right-side close-ups of the stubborn fatty area below my belly button (and some loose skin just above it). I took these pictures right after dinner, so I'm looking pretty bloated - this is about as bad as it gets for me in these shots. These are not very flattering, and posting them is difficult because I'm very self-conscience about it (you're about to see why). I'm standing totally relaxed in these shots.

Hopefully these products will help me to finally get rid of this last bit of fat, which has absolutely no business on my body at this point (15 months) into my fitness program.

Okay, I've procrastinated long enough. Here they are:

John, you look to have thick skin... Show us a pinch, maybe even a caliper pinching? In fact, thats a good video request, since a lot of people ask about proper BF % measuring with calipers and measuring themselves. Time for "Proper Measuring and BF % Calculations 101 by John Stone"!

Ive always had thick skin. When I was in the Marine Corps, lots of buddies had paper thin skin. Hell, I had a 1st Lietenant that I reported to that had a 20 inch neck, 49 inch chest, and benched 400+. His skin was LITERALLY like latex. If he pinched what was over his stomach, it was a TINY fold, like 4mm, and his arm vascularity was unbelievable.

Not sure if you are interested in getting professional photos done yet... But you might want to look into one of those 7 day diets to increase leanness/vascularity by yanking water out of the body. Here is one by Chris Janusz http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/266seven.jsp , and I know our own Jeremy Likness has a diet similar in structure.

Regardless, good luck on the upcoming supplementation testing. I look forward to the results, and your objective and honest review.

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by JeremyLikness

Hey, John, if there's anyone I know who keeps a detailed journal and has a great baseline to work from - it's you! So I look forward to reading this and seeing if the products do, indeed, help. I've been skeptical for YEARS on fat burners (I posted about this in another thread) simply through my own experience and coaching others, but I'll be the first to sound a "hoo-rah" when we find one that works without horrendous side effects! Keep us posted and best of success with that last little nip. For now, I'll just be satisfied finding my abs again - let alone worrying about that last little bit of belly button! TAKE CARE!

Jeremy

I agree with your skepticism. I honestly don't think these products are going to help much (if at all), but I'm sure willing to try and report my findings. The proof, or lack thereof, will be in my pictures and measurements. I think it's a worthwhile endeavor, and may help others who are in a similar situation make a sound choice. We'll see what happens!

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by corbint

John, you look to have thick skin... Show us a pinch, maybe even a caliper pinching? In fact, thats a good video request, since a lot of people ask about proper BF % measuring with calipers and measuring themselves. Time for "Proper Measuring and BF % Calculations 101 by John Stone"!

I think you're right. It's not as thick as it was when I was fat, but it's not nearly as thin as some I've seen.

You have to have thick skin if you're going to post pictures of yourself 50 pounds overweight in your underwear on the 'net.

The video idea is a good one! I'm not going to be producing any video until I get the new site up and iron out a few other details, but that's going on the list.

Originally Posted by corbint

Not sure if you are interested in getting professional photos done yet... But you might want to look into one of those 7 day diets to increase leanness/vascularity by yanking water out of the body. Here is one by Chris Janusz http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/266seven.jsp , and I know our own Jeremy Likness has a diet similar in structure.

I've read that article before and bookmarked it because it's something I'd like to try at some point. Maybe in two months when I'm done with this particular test. While I'm trying these new products I'm not going to change anything other than cut a few calories each day to ensure that any positive results are the due to the products working and nothing else.

[John Stone]

Here are my stats and measurements at the start of my program. I suppose the waist measurement is the only really relevant measurement, but I'm putting everything here for the sake of completeness.

[corbint]

Originally Posted by John Stone

Here are my stats and measurements at the start of my program. I suppose the waist measurement is the only really relevant measurement, but I'm putting everything here for the sake of completeness.

what about your waist caliper measurement? how many mm is it? that will be the real telling sign because the changes may just be very slight. also, can you detail what type of application schedule you will be using, ie, how many pumps for the topical, and how you are applying it? some people apply it after a hot shower because the skin absorbs it quicker.

thx!