Weight Gain and Water Retention on TRT

OK…You probably already know this but no matter what you read about the latest fad diet when protein is equated calories are king.

@coolhandpmb
Don’t let yourself get discouraged. I was overweight when started TRT and didn’t notice much difference in size immediately but by 1 year in I looked like a different human being. I was 30+lbs lighter and gained some muscle on top of the fat loss. My pics are in the “TRT Credentials Thread” if you want to see them. You’re obviously on the right path and though you may not be where you want to be yet you look much better than you did. Just know that you WILL get there. I found keto worked amazingly for me to lose the weight and allowed me to eat shit that I liked to eat (fatty roasts, bacon, cheese, ground beef) just cut out the carbs. Once I got to a point that I was somewhat lean I reintroduced carbs and started building more muscle.

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Thanks.

I saw your post in one of the other threads. That’s great progress.

I’m pretty motivated right now as my weightloss has been good this year. My progress has been good and I’ve achieved a lot and weightloss is the one thing I’m lagging on. I’ve just been more focused on gaining strength.

You definitely have a good frame to be jacked once you lean up so you’ve got a lot to look forward to. The genetics are there it’s just time. As long as you stay motivated you’ll get there and likely surpass what you think is possible. If I were you I’d post a log that you can update with your progress every month. It’s something I wish I had done. It will motivate you to stay on track and will help so many folks that are where you started and feel like it can’t be done. I hope you make one and I’m excited to see how your progress goes.

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Keep up the great work. It’s really easy for people to judge you negatively, especially when you post a picture of you with higher body fat percentage. What most people don’t realize is everyone’s journey is different. What matters now is that you are on, and have been on a path that is improving your life. I also started off TRT overweight. I tried my best to drop fat, and that pushed me to the point of over training. With TRT my body recovered and allowed me to train harder, get better sleep, and find more balance and my body responded by dropping fat while adding muscle.

I didn’t keep track of my macros or calories and have lost 7-8% body fat since I started TRT. I focused on a balanced diet with lots of fruits and veggies. They keep me full and give me stable energy. I’m not a fan of “diets” as they are hard to maintain once I’ve met my goal weight. Continue to use what works for you and keep up the progress.

Sorry If I was too harsh…

I’m a novice to TRT…haven’t started yet but am close…

I am not a novice to weight lifting / dieting…I’ve seen Dexters pics and I’m pretty close to that only I’m 6’2" and 47 years old with no TRT yet…No friggin way I’m putting a pic on here so you can take my word for it or not…

Many, many guys on here believe that simply starting T is going to give them the body of their dreams …It’s not…your workout and diet have got to be on…

I’ve tried Keto but find it unsustainable long term…Plus, oatmeal and potatoes are 2 of the most satiating foods on this earth and controlling hunger is the key to long term success…

Just remember to get 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight…and control calories to around 2250 and you’ll be fine. The rest of your calories you can split between carbs and fats to your liking.

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No Problem, I get it. I am still fat and that was kinda the point of my post yesterday. TRT isn’t magically helping me loose weight and I need to put some effort into it.

That’s kinda what this thread is about. The year before TRT I gained about 20lbs very quickly without changing my diet or activity levels in any meaningful way. I figure this was related to my low T. I thought TRT and working out would lead to weight loss and then experienced the opposite. I gained 20lbs pretty quickly. Mostly water weight and muscle (per my docs body scanner). I read a lot of posts talking about the initial weight gain but not many going into the longer term so I started this thread to track what happened with me.

That said the main reason I posted the pics yesterday is because I did think the transformation was pretty impressive (at least to me) considering both pics are take at pretty much the same weight and that before pic was actually 2 months into TRT. Still you can only look so good when you are 50lbs overweight.

At this point cutting weigh is my main goal. I am still lifting 3 times a week and aiming to eat 200g of protein per day (when you are overweight you should use your lean weight to estimate the protein intake 1g per lb of Lean mass or goal weight) and keep my calories around 1800 per day. Goal is to average 1 to 1.5 lbs per week in weight loss.

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This alone is a huge win for your health at every level of your being. Keep it up.

Just a few things I learned as a new trt user. First several weeks (1-6 week) I started adding LB after LB very frustrating after working by butt off in the prior months before starting trt. I felt as if it was water weight just my body adjusting to trt and temporary in nature. Week 7 I spoke with my DR. Which recommend a AI I said no thanks. Reduced my injection dose 200mg a week to 150mg a week. Last couple weeks water weight went away I’m cut and lean again feel great best so far on trt. Guys I dropped like 6lbs of water weight in first week of adjusting my dose pure craziness.

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It’s not the crazy you were taking too much.

That’s why a good starting dose is 100. Not 150 or 200.

Least amount of medicine until symptoms are resolved.

Glad you are doing good.

What’s you frequency?

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Right now I’m at 150mg — once a week. That said I can already see the value of at least twice a week lower dosage injections.

I can “feel” the High peak 48hrs after my shot still at 150mg even though at 200mg It was a much stronger feeling. I get this ramped up feeling and itchy skin at peak after injection. It’s sort of weird feeling, nothing bad I can just feel it for 4-12 hours then it’s gone.

Maybe splitting the dosage would get rid of the peak or lower it even more. That all said I really, really hate injections and that’s not getting any better after 2 plus months. I’m going to move to scrotom-cream now from MedQuest. Trying to figure out the starting dose maybe start with 1 click morning and 1 click night starting out. My body seems to be high sensitivity to TRT so don’t think I’m going to need a ton to get good numbers with labs.

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Hopefully you tried the tiny needless. Insulin syringes. 29 gauge. That’s what I use and I read many others use as well.

1/2" needle that is 29 gauge.
.5ml so easy to dose

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Using 25ga 5/8’s now way more gentle than the clinic’s harpoons LOL

I’ve always really, really, really hated needles! I would feel better about doing hand surgery with my pocket knife than taking a injection it’s been that way my whole life. Hoped I would get use to the injections just not Happening for me and hating it every week. I really feel I need to still split dosage to 2-3 injections a week which makes it even worse for me.

So cream is were I go I guess at least I feel like I’m getting the same dosage daily so may that with get rid of some so the peaks and valleys I’ve had with once a week injections.

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Dude that’s a harpoon compared to 29g. You literally can’t feel 29g. Going from injections to cream isn’t going to be the same feeling so expect to feel quite different especially in the beginning. I think you’re crazy to change if you’re feeling good already.

Cream seems like much more of a bitch to deal with. Clean/shave the area, apply, don’t put on any clothes until it’s dry, hope for the same absorption every time. With injections you’re able to be more consistent. Maybe you’ll love it though so who knows.

Here’s what 28g looks like

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I don’t even feel the 29G needles, I have to take off my glasses (not bifocals) to see if it’s all the way in the quad.

This made me laugh…

Man that is tiny needle wise. I have three month supply cream on the way so will give it a run. If It doesn’t do the trick I’ll go back to injections. Really the only two choices that interested me were the injections and cream. Guess it will be good to have tried both and see go from there.

I use a needle even smaller than that, not that you can really tell at that point. It hurts maybe 1/10 times? Tonight it did for some reason but usually I don’t feel it.

I didn’t love the cream, though I did have some good weeks on it. Just the twice a day slathering shit on thing, then trying not to bang after putting it on for a while, then I didn’t like having having to shower or wash off before banging because who wants to kill the mood. It was a whole ordeal vs just sticking my arm 3x a week and being done with and doing whatever I want whenever I want.

Some people love it though. Especially the DHT boost. Maybe you’ll be one of those. If I had felt 10x better on it I would have put up with all the bs… but I didn’t

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If you’re that paranoid use the top of your finger LOL

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I didn’t realize it until after I posted so I edited the pic lol. Can’t risk someone using it to break into my phone and leaking pics of my 12 inch cock.

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