Hi, longtime reader/lurker, firsttime poster. I’m going to skip the usual introduction stuff and save it for later as my story is long enough as it is.
The problem to put it simply is there’s something up, or rather not up with my sex drive. I wake up everymorning feeling stiff, and on once or twice I’ve gotten so over other things, but otherwise I havn’t felt particularly horny or aroused the last 4-6 weeks.
I first associated the problem with sleep, because about a month ago I began having insomnia issues(that I cleared up about 1.5 weeks ago) where I would be getting little sleep, or restless sleep for the most part. It has improved some, especially the firmness in the mornings but otherwise not much.
I also am tempted to blame it on stress, mostly from my job but also from my personal life as far as health, fitness, and combating my persistant acne problem is concerned. For that, and the insomnia, I’ve begun taking St John’s wort 3 times a day, and valerian root along with a melatonin capsule just before bedtime. This has helped me relax somewhat and again has helped with the problem but not fixed it completely.
Recently I read about a study in two places, once on a website devoted to said study(I wish I had the link) and once in a paper magazine(sorry guys but I was bored at the airport), that was done which links testosterone levels to saturated fat and monounsaturated fat positively, and protein negatively. I’m one to overeat protein, especially now that I’ve moved back into a paleolithic way of eating and I’m wondering if that is it, although I kind of doubt it.
I strongly believe that I have enough testosterone(I’m hard in the morning, I still have the acne problem, and my muscle growth and training intensity over the past weeks hasn’t seem to have been hindered) but I can’t figure out why then I am having this problem.
So that everyone can get an idea of what my lifestyle is like, I’ll lay out an average day below. I’ll also note now that I’m just turning 21, I have a very active job(cleaning and maintenance) and generally lift about 3 days a week, 45-60 minutes, practicing a HIT-like training program right now. I’m on vacation this week and am sticking strictly to my way of eating, however, I am not training this week and overtrained last week in preparation for this off-time(lifted twice a day the first couple lifting days as Chad Waterbuy suggested here, and then did strip sets on most of my lifts on the final day).
Average Day:
Sometime between 8 and 10:
Wake-up
teaspoon of glutamine,
400 IU of Vitamin E,
300 mg of Vitamin C,
1200 mg of Calcium,
600 mg of Magnesium,
200 mg of Milk Thistle,
25 mg of Grape Seed Extract,
50 mg of Red wine powder,
300 mg of Siberian Ginsing,
200 mg of Bee pollen,
500 mg of Nettle
15 minutes later:
teaspoon of creatine in 8 oz of apple juice,
protein shake
1-2 hours later:
4-5 organic scrambled eggs,
1 multivitamin/mineral
300 mg of St John’s wort
160 mg of Saw Palmetto
500 mg of Dong Quai
750 mg of Echinacea
600 mg of Goldenseal
About 1.5 - 2 hours later:
1 multivitamin/mineral(empty stomach)
15-30 minutes later
a few cups of raw spinach
1/2 pound of top blade steak
Every two or three hours after that I eat around a 1/2 pound of some kind of animal(usually beef, lamb, or pork, though sometimes chicken but I eat almonds or walnuts with the chicken for fat) and about half of the meals have some kind of vegetable on the side(generally raw spinach, mashed cauliflower, steamed brocolli, raw cucumber, or some kind of tossed salad). I take the St John’s wort, and the Echinacea/Goldenseal a second time towards the late afternoon.
Before the meal I have around 8 at night I take another dose of the ginsing/bee pollen and the nettle on an empty stomach. Before my final meal(it has been a big bowl of porridge but yesterday I decided to try a pound of meat instead to see if my body can adapt even more to the fat burning) I take another teaspoon of glutamine, plus ZMA on an empty stomach. 30-60 minutes later I have the final meal along with another saw palmetto and another st john’s wort pill.
After the meal and just before bed(generally about midnight) I take 500 mg of Valerian root, and 3 mg of melatonin. Sometimes I go to sleep right away, sometimes I can’t drift off till 1 am, however I have been getting 8 hours now and its been much more restful.
Well, if you guys have any questions or, hopefully(I’m praying here) some advice, please post back. Thanks to all in advance, I’m sure someone has something to add.
Update
I forgot to mention, I season the eggs and all meats heavily with potassium. I’d also like to note I drink 1-2 gallons of water a day.