So, struggled with weight on and off for my whole life, but was pretty active and fairly athletic. When I was 17, I was ran over by a truck (shock trauma, rehab, months of therapy, etc). This time I was sedentary and sympathy eating, gained a bunch of lbs (overeating and little no no mobility, this continued for a few years).
Started getting my shit together around 21, (originally ballooned to 310lbs) got down to 212lbs with fierce workouts, and a damn near starvation diet at times (fucking stupid, I know). I this process, I still was able to gain strength and some size even with a strict caloric deficit… got up to 255 on the bench for 5x5 at my best. I never realized my fitness/strength potential in this part of my life… the roller coaster weight gain/loss insued , dealing with the suicide of my father and the trials/tribs of that traumatic experience ( I found him, after the kapow) added another layer of issues.
Fast forward to age 35, I’m a father of 2… feeling pretty good mentally, financially stable and have a good wife but have to get healthy. I’ve been on Keto for a little over a month and have dropped 22lbs to 272, and steadily dropping. From years of abusing my body, plus the getting ran over incident… (broken hip,pelvis,ribs, punctured lunge, lacerated spleen, etc…) I’m very often aching and I’m tired of it.
This is what I have on the menu, TEST Cyp and a regimented diet exercise plan. I plan to stay on test for the duration of my years, be it therapeutic or the occasional blast. I’d love to hear some thoughts, advice, past experiences.
I’ve gotten pretty banged up through life too. It makes it easy to cut yourself some slack and wonder off into what if… Stick with what is and stay focused.
Regardless of what you’ve been through, 272 is too big to start juicing. When overweight people take roids they can often just end up with a ton of estrogen. If you feel like your T levels are low, get blood work and post in the T Replacement forum. This post rightfully does not belong in the Pharma forum with other steroid-related questions because you don’t have any business touching AAS until you’re healthier. We have tons of people here who can provide you diet advice, training advice, etc.
I encourage you to stick around, make a training log, choose a program that isn’t 5x5 or Stronglifts or any of those boring ass program, and work off the weight the right way.
If they were 350, I think that’s pretty low. The “normal ranges” are bullshit. But yes, @Chris_Colucci can move it to T Replacement, Pharma, or keep it here if he sees fit - until you have blood work and a detailed plan, the responsible thing to do might be to assume that this is in fact a beginner’s post (beginner has nothing to do with age, and actually not much to do with time spent in the gym).
How tall are you?
What’s your diet like? (As in, what did you eat yesterday, not what your ideal plan is)
What training program are you on now?
What are your lifting numbers now?
What are your goals?
Really sorry to hear about all the crap you’ve been through. Sounds like you’re definitely headed in a better direction now.
When you get the blood results back, you can start a new thread in T Replacement to get feedback on them if they’re actually low. If you don’t have low T and still want to use Test, that’s your call, but it’ll be a steroid cycle and Pharma is where the discussion would be.
I’d suggest using this thread to fine tune your training and nutrition. Laying out what you’re currently doing will let us review and tweak it if needed.
I’m 5’10
I’m currently, and have been eating this way for a month (keep in mind I’m on a Keto Diet):
65F/30P/5C I’m very close, or nailing that daily On about 1800-1900 Cals per day.
Right now, for exercise I’m not doing any weight training (other than body weight) squats, pushups and up/downs (old school).
I’m typically pretty active at work, doing about 14-17000 steps per day.
Goals are to be around 200lbs with a decent muscularity. My frame is wide across the shoulders and thick from front to back. I don’t carry my weight in the stomach area, and don’t have what you would call a beer gut. My weight is evenly distributed over my frame.
The plan is to get back some flexibility and condition my muscles before I incorporate weight training. I’m ready to get back in there though.
I think you have a good plan right now! Keto isn’t my thing, but for fat loss it’s great, provided you can sustain the restrictive lifestyle. If you find yourself cheating, I’m sure you know how easy it is to drop out of ketosis and how hard it is to get back in, and there are lots of other options.
Bodyweight work is great and I’m glad you have the discipline not to just jump back into weight training. Too many people underestimate the effect it can have on your strength and physique. If up/downs are burpees, do lots of them. If they’re not, do them and do lots of burpees. I’m sure pull-ups are hard currently but if you can’t do one, start with negatives. As you lose weight and get stronger every BW exercise will become exponentially easier. If your plan is to slowly incorporate lifting exercises again, then I’m all for it.
18-1900 cals is good for dropping weight, but a tough place to stay at. Just remember that regardless of low carb/low fat/etc diets you’ll need to be in a caloric deficit. Your fat loss will eventually stall, and the reason I like dieting down on moderate carbs is it gives you a macro to adjust when the going gets tough. Keto is kind of hard to manipulate macro-wise and there’s only so low you can go with calories so stick at it and pay attention to your body.
If you have wide shoulders and a solid frame you may have a nice physique waiting for you at the end of all of this. Thanks for having such a good attitude - I wasn’t disregarding what’s happened to you - I’m married to someone who was brutally abused, scarred, and has permanent damage from it, and I make it a point to never make her feel like any of that can hold her back. I don’t believe any part of your past, injuries included, will prevent you from achieving all of your goals (and then some) if you stick with it.
Keto can be restrictive for certain, I fell the key is (this is my second stint, success both times) vary your diet, get in the kitchen, try things and cook. It’s actually one of the methods I’ve enjoyed , when loosing weight. I think what ropes folks in is the psychological “win” when you have the first wooosh of 5-8lbs (depending on how carb dependent you were). Another win is the protein count is still pretty damn high, so atrophy isn’t as big as a concern compared to other “diets”.
I suppose cyclical Keto can add some variation and “shock to the body”, also IF is a huge player in Keto if it’s done right, and your body really has no choice but to attack the fat I’m this state.
The caloric deficit will always be the key until I’m at a point where building mass is the objective (probably 3-4 months from now at least). My BMR currently is around 23-2400 cals (or there about). I’ll reassess the necesssary caloric deficit as my weight trends down. I figure I will drop about 2-3lbs per week for another month or two and then, I’ll need to ramp up with more exercise, starting with compound movements and moving on from there.
I didn’t take your comment in a negative fashion. I’ve built up some pretty good callus, with all the things I’ve been through… What doesn’t kill us…
Mental health is certainly a big key to happiness, I’m getting there. I’ve never been a clinically depressed person, but A lot of that is because I’ve compartmentalized a lot of shit. Lol.
I don’t think my past injuries will prevent me, it might just be a little harder, especially with the hip/pelvis Deal and other nerve damage. Step one though, is giving my joints a helping hand and getting the weight off. At this size, high impact stuff can derail you, especially if and when there’s an injury (not to say I’m not down to grind).
I’m here to learn. I wouldn’t say my knowledge is newb, but my body needs to catch up. Lol.
I know we’re not really taking testosterone in this thread anymore, but one thing worth thinking about is that the positive changes in your exercise and diet that you will make to lose the weight will result in a healthier you, and that may well be reflected in your hormonal health.
Update. Leaning out a good bit, and adding recouping some muscle. I’ve been lifting for a week. Just been doing body weight stuff and lots of flexibility work until now. I think I’ve actually prepared myself for weight training fairly well.
One concerning thing is I believe Im fighting a humeral rotation. Damn desk job and keyboard fighting all day! I’m noticing a lot of fatigue in the rear shoulder blade area after doing bicep work. I think I’m not holding my shoulders down/back properly. Left side, no problem… right side dull pain. Plan is to do some more rear delt work and shoulder health exercises (following a PT program for shoulder joint injury). Any other tips you guys could throw out there?