Skinny but still fat

Question
Hello. I had a question on how to lose chest fat aka man boobs. I am 18 a college student, 6ft, about 138lbs. I am skinny but fat, I have large man boobs for my size, even though I ve been working out for a few months, mostly cardio. I ve read all over forums, bodybuilding, weightloss..., from what I read it said that doing cardio will hinder muscle growth.  I posted online and the response of people were to gain weight by eating 2500 cal a day, now I eat 1500 cal, very low fat, mostly protein and carbs.  The fat usually is from whey prtoein shakes, I eat fat free everything...meat cheese dressing.  I eat 5-6 meals a day.  I used to be overweight but sorta now. I have skiny limbs and a little gut, but my chest fat sticks out rid. far.  I never even where t shirts in public, or take off my shirt.  My main goal is to be able to take off my shirt by Aug. 1st, vacation at beach with friends.  Everyone thinks I m skinny, but no one has ever seen me without my shirt.  I try to lift more, recently with benching, but I gave up easily...I could barely do 100lbs.  What should I do, again I don t really care for muscle just want to lose the fat?

Answer
Dear AP,
I hate to say it, but the folks at the gym are right. At just 138 pounds, you are quite thin, and if you lose any more weight, you could be putting your health in danger.
If you don't work out at all, then you need to eat at LEAST 2,000 calories per day to avoid losing any more weight. If you do work out, then you need to increase your daily calories by the number of calories you burned working out. Make sure, too, that at least 10% of your daily calories are coming from fat (if you eat 2,000 calories each day, you need to eat at least 22 grams of fat every day). As far as the man-boobs go, the guys at the gym are right. Weight lifting is the only thing that will firm up that area. It's difficult at first, but try to lift once or twice a week, and by Aug 1 you won't have any trouble taking off the shirt. When you lift, make sure that you don't neglect your lower body. Pushing the large muscles in your legs will cause muscle-building hormones to be released into your bood, where they can travel to your chest and stimulate muscle growth.
The other trick is applying self-tanner over soft areas-it will make you appear firmer than you really are. Tanning lamps cause cancer, but self-tan lotions are pretty safe. Just experiment well in advance, so you'll be able to apply it without looking streaky.
Good luck!

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