General TRT status and diet question

[Radical Ice]

Starting out 13 weeks ago, my test level was at about 300, but free test was low enough that I could qualify. At week 6 was at 1100 and added deca 200ml/week (at same facility).

During the initial weeks of test, strength and size came back soooooo much faster than trying to regain without it. Got out of weightlifting due to an injury about 20 years ago. Was never super strong, but could do 400 bench for about 3 reps.

Now, getting back into it, I was struggling with 170 for 8 reps, but at about week 6 of test, I did 300 for 6 reps, which is also when I started Deca.

Pumps were super painful but fun with the first weeks of deca (not sure if related), but strength and size gains have really slowed down.

Did more bloodwork at week 10, test was down to 880, which nurse said was normal when adding deca. Estrogen was up a bit so she added anastrozole at 1/2 tab per week.

Currently at week 13, 5 workouts per week, mild cardio at 25 min x 4 week.

I blissfully hoped that fat loss would have happened somewhere on it's own, but it's not budged. At about 22% bf per gym instructor's caliper calculations. 6'1" 288 LBS. Question: Currently at 2500 calories/day -- Can I drop significantly to about 1200/day to rush the process, or should I reduce slowly, like minus 200 calories/day?

I'm curious if the TRT aids in hanging on to muscle even under a huge calorie deficit and doubling the cardio -- or if I need to be just as careful and gradual with diet and cardio as I would without TRT?

Thanks!!

 

[stevesmi]

SMH. this is a disaster

eating in a deficit DOES NOT WORK. you are learning this the hard way. counting calories DOES NOT WORK. you are learning this the hard way

all you are doing here is fucking up your metabolism. never ever count calories to lose weight. that is weight watchers and even they ADMIT on their website their system does not cause weight loss, that is why 95% of their clients fail miserably and most of them end up gaining weight which will happen to you if you keep listening to stupid people

also the nurse said what? deca causes a rise in testosterone, not drop.

how about you end the nonsense and just hit me up for a 1 on 1 consult and let's fix all of this and get you in the right direction

 

[P0N]

What you need to do is fix your diet. Crash dieting won't work very long at all.

 

[dylangemelli]

Starting out 13 weeks ago, my test level was at about 300, but free test was low enough that I could qualify. At week 6 was at 1100 and added deca 200ml/week (at same facility).

During the initial weeks of test, strength and size came back soooooo much faster than trying to regain without it. Got out of weightlifting due to an injury about 20 years ago. Was never super strong, but could do 400 bench for about 3 reps.

Now, getting back into it, I was struggling with 170 for 8 reps, but at about week 6 of test, I did 300 for 6 reps, which is also when I started Deca.

Pumps were super painful but fun with the first weeks of deca (not sure if related), but strength and size gains have really slowed down.

Did more bloodwork at week 10, test was down to 880, which nurse said was normal when adding deca. Estrogen was up a bit so she added anastrozole at 1/2 tab per week.

Currently at week 13, 5 workouts per week, mild cardio at 25 min x 4 week.

I blissfully hoped that fat loss would have happened somewhere on it's own, but it's not budged. At about 22% bf per gym instructor's caliper calculations. 6'1" 288 LBS. Question: Currently at 2500 calories/day -- Can I drop significantly to about 1200/day to rush the process, or should I reduce slowly, like minus 200 calories/day?

I'm curious if the TRT aids in hanging on to muscle even under a huge calorie deficit and doubling the cardio -- or if I need to be just as careful and gradual with diet and cardio as I would without TRT?

Thanks!!

thats not going to rush anything... trt helps you lose weight, yes, because if you need trt, like REALLY MEDICALLY need it, that means you have a medical condition... one of the side effects of low T is the inability to lose fat/weight or at least a drastic slowing of the process... so by correcting that issue, then you have THE ABILITY to lose weight normally again IF you eat and train properly... it doesnt just magically happen...

 

[SteveMobsterG]

It's not even TRT. Who adds deca and an AI on TRT?

 

[cbbram]

I wouldn't expect more from TRT than you would with your natural genetic potential if you had normal levels.

 

[RickRock13]

I'd be willing to bet your diet isnt quite you think it is. Your intake is probably higher than you think. You have to track and weigh to get accurate numbers.

 

[sean501]

SMH. this is a disaster

eating in a deficit DOES NOT WORK. you are learning this the hard way. counting calories DOES NOT WORK. you are learning this the hard way

all you are doing here is fucking up your metabolism. never ever count calories to lose weight. that is weight watchers and even they ADMIT on their website their system does not cause weight loss, that is why 95% of their clients fail miserably and most of them end up gaining weight which will happen to you if you keep listening to stupid people

also the nurse said what? deca causes a rise in testosterone, not drop.

how about you end the nonsense and just hit me up for a 1 on 1 consult and let's fix all of this and get you in the right direction

Eating in a calorie deficit doesn’t work for weight loss!? Are you for real? That’s the scientific foundation that weight loss is built on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Radical Ice]

Eating in a calorie deficit doesn’t work for weight loss!? Are you for real? That’s the scientific foundation that weight loss is built on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That one is kinda intriguing to me as well. There's 63 billion books, videos, courses, magazine articles, gimmicks, etc -- where the people who leaned out, got shredded, slimmed down, or whatever, did so by reducing calories in one form or another, over time, either by food choices or caloric expenditure. The second part of that, once the desired outcome is achieved, is to slowly add calories back in while hopefully putting some muscle back on that may have been lost in the 1st part.

Could get complicated if you lose focus or let go completely and gain all the fat back, which unfortunately seems to be the norm.

If there is an alternative method that doesn't rely on this, please share a link, or a study, or a book that I could hook up with... PLEEEEZ!

Would be mega-appreciated!

 

[Radical Ice]

thats not going to rush anything... trt helps you lose weight, yes, because if you need trt, like REALLY MEDICALLY need it, that means you have a medical condition... one of the side effects of low T is the inability to lose fat/weight or at least a drastic slowing of the process... so by correcting that issue, then you have THE ABILITY to lose weight normally again IF you eat and train properly... it doesnt just magically happen...

Thank you dylangemelli -- can I ask, when you say "by correcting that issue", do you mean by having a thyroid profile done (they've done that as well), or do you mean something else?

 

[SteveMobsterG]

As I addressed half a page back. You're not on TRT. Again I said why.

 

[Radical Ice]

As I addressed half a page back. You're not on TRT. Again I said why.

Sorry, don't understand your question. A half page back you ask "who"? Do you mean specifically which clinic?

 

[SteveMobsterG]

Starting out 13 weeks ago, my test level was at about 300, but free test was low enough that I could qualify. At week 6 was at 1100 and added deca 200ml/week (at same facility).

During the initial weeks of test, strength and size came back soooooo much faster than trying to regain without it. Got out of weightlifting due to an injury about 20 years ago. Was never super strong, but could do 400 bench for about 3 reps.

Now, getting back into it, I was struggling with 170 for 8 reps, but at about week 6 of test, I did 300 for 6 reps, which is also when I started Deca.

Pumps were super painful but fun with the first weeks of deca (not sure if related), but strength and size gains have really slowed down.

Did more bloodwork at week 10, test was down to 880, which nurse said was normal when adding deca. Estrogen was up a bit so she added anastrozole at 1/2 tab per week.

Currently at week 13, 5 workouts per week, mild cardio at 25 min x 4 week.

I blissfully hoped that fat loss would have happened somewhere on it's own, but it's not budged. At about 22% bf per gym instructor's caliper calculations. 6'1" 288 LBS. Question: Currently at 2500 calories/day -- Can I drop significantly to about 1200/day to rush the process, or should I reduce slowly, like minus 200 calories/day?

I'm curious if the TRT aids in hanging on to muscle even under a huge calorie deficit and doubling the cardio -- or if I need to be just as careful and gradual with diet and cardio as I would without TRT?

Thanks!!

So you had low test, qualifying for TRT. You don't say what they gave you for it but it was enough to boost your levels to decent numbers.

They then 'added deca' (a red flag) cos I've yet to see a TRT clinic do that. I didn't say who' all by itself I said 'who adds deca and an AI on TRT?'.

TRT tends to be for life and due to low natural test levels. AI's tend NOT be needed. Mostly cos those needing TRT don't have high estrogen levels.

Truth time - it's not TRT. No one needed to add deca and without it you'd be in range. The reality is you're getting medical supervision while on cycle / blasting. Start from there.

One more thing: I'm 100% behind the idea of most people (not those on TRT) needing an AI on cycle. However, being fat or having higher than needed fat levels tends to make issues with estrogen worse.

This also explains Dylan's reply.

 

[Radical Ice]

So you had low test, qualifying for TRT. You don't say what they gave you for it but it was enough to boost your levels to decent numbers.

They then 'added deca' (a red flag) cos I've yet to see a TRT clinic do that. I didn't say who' all by itself I said 'who adds deca and an AI on TRT?'.

TRT tends to be for life and due to low natural test levels. AI's tend NOT be needed. Mostly cos those needing TRT don't have high estrogen levels.

Truth time - it's not TRT. No one needed to add deca and without it you'd be in range. The reality is you're getting medical supervision while on cycle / blasting. Start from there.

One more thing: I'm 100% behind the idea of most people (not those on TRT) needing an AI on cycle. However, being fat or having higher than needed fat levels tends to make issues with estrogen worse.

This also explains Dylan's reply.

___________________________________________

Thanks SteveMobsterG -- I hope this clarifies... responses are underlined:

So you had low test, qualifying for TRT. You don't say what they gave you for it but it was enough to boost your levels to decent numbers. 140mg/cyp

They then 'added deca' (a red flag) cos I've yet to see a TRT clinic do that. I didn't say who' all by itself I said 'who adds deca and an AI on TRT?'. The center that I use offers this as an option provided all bloodwork is in order after 6 weeks. They'll do 10 weeks on, three times a year max, checking bloodwork as they go. I'll pm you a link to the center if you would like (not sure if I can post on the forum). They are in 2 states that I know of, doing very well for several years that I know of.

TRT tends to be for life and due to low natural test levels. AI's tend NOT be needed. Mostly cos those needing TRT don't have high estrogen levels. My estrogen level was still in range, but showed an upward trend by week 6 of cyp, so a .5 tab, once weekly was added. Bloodwork at week 10 showed that it lowered back to where it began.

Truth time - it's not TRT. No one needed to add deca and without it you'd be in range. The reality is you're getting medical supervision while on cycle / blasting. Start from there. Probably wasn't "needed", but it was an available option that I pursued as the discussion boards always seem to hype it's positive affects on joint issues, which I'm having a few minor issues with. I'm at week 7 of 10 on 200/mg week and can confirm the difference.

One more thing: I'm 100% behind the idea of most people (not those on TRT) needing an AI on cycle. However, being fat or having higher than needed fat levels tends to make issues with estrogen worse.

This also explains Dylan's reply

Got it -- thanks

 

[SteveMobsterG]

The short hand version is that you are indeed, with that singular clinic, on a blast.

Consider my comments about the AI and fat levels too.

Clinics, such as yours, have been closed down.