Just wanted to echo what everyone else has said. You are an inspiration. All the best.
D
Thanks for the compliments, guys. And Graphicsman, I had intended to have new pics to add from Vegas but that didn’t quite pan out. I’ll probably have some done in 6 weeks or so though… for comparison purposes, of course. 
[quote]~karma~ wrote:
Thanks for the compliments, guys. And Graphicsman, I had intended to have new pics to add from Vegas but that didn’t quite pan out. I’ll probably have some done in 6 weeks or so though… for comparison purposes, of course. ;-)[/quote]
Of course!
you are f’n amazing
~Karma~
OMG, you are more than amazing!!! You know, it’s hard enogh for anyone to have to face people when they don’t feel good about the way they look…but you were brutally honest enough to YOURSELF that you were looking at photos of your old, heavier self. That can be such a difficult thing to do…to look at yourself and say you’re unhappy with this or that aspect of yourself. WOW. I’m impressed with how strong a person you must truly be! I’m glad you got yourself out of that bad situation and moved forward and are going for what it is that will make you happy.
You really are inspiring…
Hey ~Karma~
I remember this thread. Cannot believe it has been 2 years since this thread appeared.
Still great job ~Karma~. Keep up the good work and us men will keep having our dirty thoughts. :^P
Now we need to bump up the thread with your fun in the snow.
You simply own.
A true inspiration.
Hey ~Karma~
Really REALLY bumbed that it took lipo to “jump start” you on your way. My body looks EXACTLY like the way yours does in the back-view “before” picture and my stats are exactly the same too. Except I’m quite older than you.
How much did the lipo cost and EXACTLY what “spots” did they extract fat from?
I have started Fahrenheit, completely reconstructed my eating habits per the guidelines on F-Heit.com and am working out with weights, etc. now.
The big difference is our ages (I’m 55). But I hope to achieve at least a FRACTION of what you have. I really believe it is NEVER too late!
You look great and are a great inspiration!
Looking at the current photos I think you would not have needed the lipo.
I know your goal is to get very detailed with things here but so far most of it seems pretty broad. Could you detail what and how much your currently eating? I know you said it is a hybrid of T-Dawg and Berardi. I know alot of women who are shooting for similar results as you but don’t really understand how to get there. It means more coming from another woman than a man.
btw great work.
[quote]goingforit wrote:
Hey ~Karma~
Really REALLY bumbed that it took lipo to “jump start” you on your way. My body looks EXACTLY like the way yours does in the back-view “before” picture and my stats are exactly the same too. Except I’m quite older than you.
How much did the lipo cost and EXACTLY what “spots” did they extract fat from?
I have started Fahrenheit, completely reconstructed my eating habits per the guidelines on F-Heit.com and am working out with weights, etc. now.
The big difference is our ages (I’m 55). But I hope to achieve at least a FRACTION of what you have. I really believe it is NEVER too late!
You look great and are a great inspiration![/quote]
Karma,
I don’t know how I missed this thread before today. I just want to echo what everyone else is saying, that you’re story is inspirational and of course, you look great. Keep the pics coming (I’m very dissapointed that there are no Vegas pics coming:(
Must have been too wild for pics;)
Keep it going,
DB
I’m diggin you more and more everyday Karma. Great Job!!!
Thanks, Xen, Zanroth and China! It’s always nice to hear that kinda stuff.
And China, you’re so right about being honest with oneself. It’s easy to lie to ourselves and if we do it often enough, it really does become our truth.
Mage, ask and ye shall receive!
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=304990&pageNo=1
[quote]goingforit wrote:
Hey ~Karma~
Really REALLY bumbed that it took lipo to “jump start” you on your way. My body looks EXACTLY like the way yours does in the back-view “before” picture and my stats are exactly the same too. Except I’m quite older than you.
How much did the lipo cost and EXACTLY what “spots” did they extract fat from?
I have started Fahrenheit, completely reconstructed my eating habits per the guidelines on F-Heit.com and am working out with weights, etc. now.
The big difference is our ages (I’m 55). But I hope to achieve at least a FRACTION of what you have. I really believe it is NEVER too late!
You look great and are a great inspiration![/quote]
Well, like I said, I’m more motivated by fear of loss than of a desire to gain. “A man must know his limitaions.” While it didn’t physically take lipo for me to jumptstart things, mentally it did. I’d been sporadic with it in the past and need a “reason” (along with realizing that I simply cannot diet and exercise away my body’s preferred fat storage method). It’s not something I’d advocate for a lot of people, but if you know yourself well enough and your reasons are valid then … why not?
My lipo was rather extensive as far as that surgery goes, even though I only lost 6lbs from it. My main areas of concern were upper and lower abs, flanks (lovehandles) and lower back. That’s where the nasty stuff naturally accumulates the most, as well as being all the more obvious on my as I am extremely short waisted. Secondary areas were inner, outer and rear thigh (hammy), upper arms and chin. The cost all told was $12,500 and I under anesthesia for 8 hours, then stayed overnight. I had the cash; I researched my options; I went for it. The only thing I can say as far as EXACTLY where anything in particular happened would be the incision sites. One is under the tip of my chin (invisible), one at the top of each elbow (in a skin fold, invisible), one under each breast (invisible), one inside my belly button (invisible, obviously), one on my mons pubis (slightly visible when I’m completely shaved), one on each side of my puss in the “bikini line” area (slightly visible as a darkened area but not so anyone would notice unless pointed out), one dead center of each hip (visible as a small scar), one on each side of my back about where my bra strap hits (invisible), one in the center of my butt crack (slightly visible depending on my tan), and one under each butt cheek (invisible).
I do believe that if I had the knowledge available at Fhiet.com and here on T-Mag, and had the benefit of the supplements offered here AND some sort of support system that would kick my ass when I was slacking, I could have made similar progress towards reshaping my body. HOWEVER, I do know that nothing would have changed how my body distributes fat. Hell, even when I was 110lbs and 11% and age 19, I always had trouble getting a lean belly/hip/low back area. I had striations and vascularity in quads, delts, traps/lats and that line between my pecs and still had a soft torso. And I sure as hell don’t plan on getting back down to 11% just so I can have a decent belly.
You’re right about it never being too late. You’re in the right place, at the right time and have the right attitude to make it happen!
~Karma~ Thanks for the detailed message. I really appreciate it. Yes, I carry all my fat in the same places AND am short-waisted. That’s why the picture of your “before” hit me… I could have sworn it was me. My arms and legs don’t look like they belong to me because they have always been thin compared to my “puffy” body! They never change no matter what weight I am (except for very upper legs/arms).
Your story has really helped me, as I have been through a divorce, depression, illnesses, etc. Now I am healthier than I have ever been in my entire life, but also the heaviest! I want my body to reflect more of how good I feel INSIDE now!
Besides working out, logging everything I eat, taking vitamins, Low-Carb Grow!, and Fahrenheit, is there anything else that you could suggest to help me on my way?
dj7: No problem! The whole purpose of the thread was so that my experiences could be of some value to others (though I won’t lie and say all the positive attention sucks… wink).
As far as anything further you can do?
LEARN
Educating yourself is the best weapon you have in changing your body composition. What good will it do you to log, take sups, and work out if you eat the wrong stuff (or too much or too little) and train ineffectively?
I’d recommend reading everything by John Berardi and Lonnie Lowery for diet info. Christian Thibau…Thibeau… Heck, CT has some great info on carb cycling if you’re taking a low carb approach. Put together a sample diet that fits your taste preferences and lifestyle from the “Foods That Make You Look Good Nekkid” list along with theoretical timing of the meals and how training fits into the schedule, and post it here or at Fheit for feedback. Folks are great about helping people who make a basic effort to help themselves. Just don’t do what some do - zero research and want everyone else to devise something for them. That’ll get you nowhere in a hurry.
For training, read a variety of authors (I read mostly Chad Waterbury, CT and Charles Staley - not digging on any of the other guys but for some reason those always strike a chord with me) and put together a sample routine (or use one of the ‘ready made’ ones that may need to be tailored to your particular needs) and post it for feedback.
Once you do those things and put it into ACTION, you will find yourself with questions. ASK them. INTERACT with the folks here. You may need to tweak stuff here and there to make it more effective for you. That’s where learning, asking and following through on the feedback of knowledgable people will pay off.
Can’t think of anything off the top of my head beyond that. Oh! Yeah… Don’t major in the minors. Don’t get bogged down or intimidated by minutae. The bottom line is always gonna be eat well, train consistantly (no big layoffs) and allow for recouperation. As long as you do those things, you’ll always make progress. The tweaking just makes it happen faster.
Good luck!
[quote]~karma~ wrote:
goingforit wrote:
Hey ~Karma~
The only thing I can say as far as EXACTLY where anything in particular happened would be the incision sites. One is under the tip of my chin (invisible), one at the top of each elbow (in a skin fold, invisible), one under each breast (invisible), one inside my belly button (invisible, obviously), one on my mons pubis (slightly visible when I’m completely shaved), one on each side of my puss in the “bikini line” area (slightly visible as a darkened area but not so anyone would notice unless pointed out), one dead center of each hip (visible as a small scar), one on each side of my back about where my bra strap hits (invisible), one in the center of my butt crack (slightly visible depending on my tan), and one under each butt cheek (invisible).
[/quote]
Karma,
Would you mind posting pics of your incision scars??? For medical purposes of course;)
DB
[quote]Todd S. wrote:
Looking at the current photos I think you would not have needed the lipo.
I know your goal is to get very detailed with things here but so far most of it seems pretty broad. Could you detail what and how much your currently eating? I know you said it is a hybrid of T-Dawg and Berardi. I know alot of women who are shooting for similar results as you but don’t really understand how to get there. It means more coming from another woman than a man.
btw great work.
[/quote]
Hey Todd,
Well, thanks. Part of the reason the current pics make it appear as though I didn’t need it, is because they’re post-lipo pics. My tits now don’t look like I needed to do them - because I did do them! That’s the beauty of cosmetic surgery when done well.
As far as details on what I’m eating, I’ll post links to Fitday and also a thread with a hour-to-hour sample. I’m just a month in to the logging thing and am still tweaking but it’ll give you an idea as to how I’m doing it. If anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear it!
www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=~karma~
BTW, the big gap recently was my trip to Vegas… I don’t even want to try to log what I consumed there!
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=702244
Other than these links, I’m not sure what kind of detail you’re looking for. If you have a particular question, fire away.
[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
Karma,
I don’t know how I missed this thread before today. I just want to echo what everyone else is saying, that you’re story is inspirational and of course, you look great. Keep the pics coming (I’m very dissapointed that there are no Vegas pics coming:(
Must have been too wild for pics;)
Keep it going,
DB[/quote]
Yeah, sorry about the Vegas pics… I’ll have to find some excuse to dress up in my naughty schoolgirl costume or fishnets, thigh high boots and hotpants here in Denver.
And like I said, most of the incisions are invisible… You’d have to be very very close to see anything…
heeheeheeee
Great work Karma!
Mike Mahler
[quote]Mike Mahler wrote:
Great work Karma!
Mike Mahler [/quote]
Wow, Mike! Great to “see” you again. And thanks! You know, I went back looking for that pic of you pressing the 88lb kettlebell and all references were those darn red X’s. Got a fresh one you could post?