Update:
Week 14-15 9/12-9/19 - 21.5mg test cyp EOD (75mg/week) and 50IU hCG EOD
- Urologist recommended reducing the hCG to see how it affects my nipples sensitivity. Sensitivity decreased by the end of the week due to hCG’s short half-life, so I will be keeping it at 50IU EOD.
- Front Squats Mon-Fri - worked up to 1x190lbs
Week 16-20 9/26-10/24 - 26mg test cyp EOD (91mg/week) and 50IU hCG EOD
- Nipples felt good from reducing hCG so I upped my test to 91mg/week. Everything has improved positively and there are no symptoms of high E2.
- Front Squats Mon-Fri - worked up to 1x205lbs
Last week I did some digging into the ketogenic diet. I’ve known about its inflammation benefits for neurological disorders and it’s reputation as a great fat burning tool, but there was a small piece that finally sold me on it and really just makes a ton of sense: when dietary fats (ketones) are the primary fuel source the body and brain are constantly fueled by switching to burning body fat as necessary without the ups and downs from insulin/glucose on a carbohydrate based diet.
This is profoundly useful to me because something changed in my body after being subjected to a major stress event and I simply don’t respond to my diet the way I used to. Most days if I don’t eat every 2-3 hours I just feel dreadful. I have spent a massive about of time optimizing my nutrition through food choice and meal timing, which has worked but it was mainly a band aid.
I’ve also made tremendous progress with my TRT protocol and I was feeling pretty darn good, but on last Saturday I cut the carbs out and dove into a modified ketogenic diet which was 70% fat, 25% protein, and 5% carbohydrates.
I admittedly felt god awful for the first two days - angry, edgy, semi-emotional - but when I woke up on the third day I felt like I used to feel when I was sixteen. My head hasn’t been that clear in probably ten years and my energy felt almost endless. My flexibility is better, endurance is better, dry skin is gone, healing is faster, hair growth is fast, and I just look and feel more alive. I’ve felt excellent for the past week and a half, and from what I’ve read the first two weeks are the hardest as your body adapts to ketosis, and athletes can expect to keep adapting for up to six months.
I understand that this type of diet is looked down upon by the weight lifting community but there’s definitely something here that is misunderstood. I’ve been researching this like crazy and what’ve I’ve gathered is that most of the science is settled on the benefits of the ketogenic diet and that there can be tremendous increases in strength/endurance and quality of life but this is mainly dependent on ancestry/genetics because some people simply respond better to conventional carbohydrate diets. Dom D’Augustino, one of the leading researchers and practitioners of the ketogenic diet. Dom fasted for 7 days straight and then deadlifted 500x10 followed by 585x1. Lol
A few facts that I’ve compiled about the body burning ketones as its fuel source:
- Increased steroid receptor density
- Oxygen is 5-8% more thermodynamically efficient
- The heart is more hydraulically efficient
- Wounds can heal at a 20% faster rate
- Blood flow to the brain is increased by 10%
- Ketones can have a positive effect on blood lipid profiles
There are still some negatives to a fat based diet such gut microbiome issues, possible adverse effects on blood lipid profiles depending on ancestry, and increased transport of toxics due to fat availability. However, I’ve struggled with this for so long and I believe I’ve found the solution so I hope someone reads this and gets something out of it because I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off me.