Advice: 35, fat, and looking to kickstart with a cycle

[Jabbathehutt]

I agree with most of the opinons here, but checking your blood to find out if you need TRT would be good. When I started TRT I was fat (28%) and after 1 year or so I got close to 18%. What I can say is that is harder to loose fat when your test is low, and yes you will aromatize more, I had to take AI doing 100mg test cyp/week.

 

[malfeasance]

and yes you will aromatize more, I had to take AI doing 100mg test cyp/week.

WOW.

 

[malfeasance]

I'm 35yo 260lbs, 30% BF and low energy and low motivation despite daily workout efforts. I just can't get traction.

It was worse when I was a 20yo: 300lbs @ an even greater BF than now and despite daily workouts I similarly couldn't get ahead and had poor recovery.

Around 21yo I started test and saw quick weight loss.
Ended up at 205lbs @ 12% BF and good muscle growth and I found some local success in powerlifting as a hobby, blasting and cruising steadily until age 25 when I came off cold turkey with no PCT.

I kept lifting, maintaining above average strength and took up running (10-25km races, always finishing among top 20% of runners) and felt great & looked fine for a lot of years afterwards


Recent situation:

Fast-forward to age 33 in 2020 and pandemic BS started. I had just finished a half marathon, was able to crankout pull-ups, and still no slouch with any lifts and suddenly life got fucked up with gyms and running events shut down, and working long hours and stress as a nurse I got fat fast.

I finally got my environment settled in early 2021, built my dream home gym and re-started working out and jogging, but have had no successes, held back by low self esteem and motivation about the progresses I'd lost and the crazy amount of fat Ive put on again.
After a year of this I'm still just an unmotivated fat blob with no "go". I'm just going through motions with nearly no weight loss and have shit recovery when I give my hardest efforts.

I feel like I did when I was 20yo all over again... In my case that is not a good thing.


My objective now:
I want to make a plan that is as simple and as painless as possible; The lowest effective dose for the shortest time possible with as thorough and fast a recovery as is reasonable with limited options for PCT.
I'm not looking to get into long term TRT, and I'm only looking for modest results from drugs in terms of strength and mass

My current idea is to run Test Cyp @ 250mg or up to 500mg/wk for somewhere between 12-16 weeks to help get me recovered and excited for workouts so I can experience some progress to set momentum for myself.

I know I should use PCT this time even though I haven't before, due to age and my expectation that coming off won't go as easily for me now as it did when I came off from my 4 year long blast & cruise a decade ago. I don't want to end up wrecked at the end of this cycle, and want to get back into doing the things and fitness routines I liked doing

for PCT I think Im limited to things that come in tablets (If HCG vials needs to be refrigerated, it won't survive being mailed to me?)
novadex and clomid seem to be the drugs most mentioned by others, but I could really use advice on how to best use those drugs in context with my plan.
I'll get some Cialis as well to try to keep my marriage going


This forum is a good resources for cycles and PCT that I've read through and will continue to go through, but it's tough to fit it together for my personal situation without experience or guidance to reflect on.

thanks to anyone who's got anything to say about this. Advice is really appreciated, especially with PCT for my circumstance

I know none of the above is what you want to hear, but it's all very good advice.

Get your training back on track. No excuses.

Get your diet sorted - and yes, you are fat because your diet sucks, not because you are not on steroids. Plenty of women are not fat, and they have almost no testosterone to speak of.

Body fat is in your kitchen. Period.

Get your shit together.

Track.

Measure.

Weigh.

Prepare your own food so you know what is in it.

Cardio, a.m., fasted (I said no excuses, get to it).

Weight training.

Get on it.

Steroids later when you want to add mass that your natural body cannot support and you already know how to do your own diet.

You issue is discipline.

Being fat ought to be enough "motivation."


Low motivation, well, wake up and get to work and make some progress and stop whining.

 

[Jabbathehutt]

WOW.

Yep, needed 0.5 anastrozole with the shots. After my bf got below 20% I managed to drop it.

 

[grey]

Solid advice in the this. Subbed for the inevitable non-compliance.

 

[Ninjaturtle2020]

Stop eating! Fast and get the carbs out of your system. Then stick to low carb high protein meals. Use ephedrine. Build some self control before the steroids.

 

[Hornbeam]

Solid advice in the this. Subbed for the inevitable non-compliance.

I just injected 1000mg of test with no ester into each thigh and each delt, and will continue to do so until the end of the year

Keep my compliance out of your fucking mouth!

 

[hallomonde]

I'm highly interested on this one so i'm going to watch it too.

 

[Hornbeam]

I'm highly interested on this one so i'm going to watch it too.

For sure there some interesting info being shared by experienced members about alternatives to using AAS for my goals and those with similar goals.

So far I've just cut carbs down to 60g a day, eliminated sugar, introduced a minimum of 12hr fast each day and so far I am feeling much better. Still missing the "pep" in workouts, and being fat is killing my motivation and desire to go running and biking (it sucks being a disgusting fatfuck with titties bouncing on runs, or gut hanging over thighs while in the bike saddle) and still day dreaming about a test-only cycle, but holding off until I hit the goal of losing 40lbs unassisted and then reassessing if I want to go down the AAS road again.
I don't have any health problems (besides being fat) or use any medications at all, and I'd hate to find myself with permanently lower test levels post-cycle and needing to consider TRT, so it's a choice I don't take lightly

 

[Btcowboy]

For sure there some interesting info being shared by experienced members about alternatives to using AAS for my goals and those with similar goals.

So far I've just cut carbs down to 60g a day, eliminated sugar, introduced a minimum of 12hr fast each day and so far I am feeling much better. Still missing the "pep" in workouts, and being fat is killing my motivation and desire to go running and biking (it sucks being a disgusting fatfuck with titties bouncing on runs, or gut hanging over thighs while in the bike saddle) and still day dreaming about a test-only cycle, but holding off until I hit the goal of losing 40lbs unassisted and then reassessing if I want to go down the AAS road again.
I don't have any health problems (besides being fat) or use any medications at all, and I'd hate to find myself with permanently lower test levels post-cycle and needing to consider TRT, so it's a choice I don't take lightly

Thats the best and I have been there. Was 325 fat as fuck at one point. Never touched any AAS until I got the weight down and under control. I started AAS when I hit 185lhs, with 15% BF

 

[Spokeonawheel]

Drugs are always the answer.

 

[malfeasance]

For sure there some interesting info being shared by experienced members about alternatives to using AAS for my goals and those with similar goals.

So far I've just cut carbs down to 60g a day, eliminated sugar, introduced a minimum of 12hr fast each day and so far I am feeling much better. Still missing the "pep" in workouts, and being fat is killing my motivation and desire to go running and biking (it sucks being a disgusting fatfuck with titties bouncing on runs, or gut hanging over thighs while in the bike saddle) and still day dreaming about a test-only cycle, but holding off until I hit the goal of losing 40lbs unassisted and then reassessing if I want to go down the AAS road again.
I don't have any health problems (besides being fat) or use any medications at all, and I'd hate to find myself with permanently lower test levels post-cycle and needing to consider TRT, so it's a choice I don't take lightly

Tell us about your diet. Cutting carbs to 60 grams a day does not really tell us much.

What are you eating? How much? What is your minimum daily protein? How many grams of fat, and what are your sources?

What are you actually eating, and do you make it yourself?

 

[malfeasance]

And you haven't said a damn thing about what you did today for cardio. What did you do?

 

[Megadick3000]

You dont need steroids to lose fat, and what you need to do is lose fat.

You dont need any drugs to lose fat. You dont even need to goto a gym. You only need to eat less calories per day than your body burns. Its very fucking simple stop being so fucking lazy about it.

Once you dial your diet in to where your losing weight then look into as recommended an ECA stack or albuterol/salbutamol or something if your so hell bent on magical solutions.

 

[Hornbeam]

Tell us about your diet. Cutting carbs to 60 grams a day does not really tell us much.

What are you eating? How much? What is your minimum daily protein? How many grams of fat, and what are your sources?

What are you actually eating, and do you make it yourself?

I'm not tracking macros right now except to reduce carbs, especially sugar, for the reason of lessening cravings for junk like bowls of pasta or cookies and shit.

Lots of control I can take over meals, I make all my own, but for now I haven't wanted to micromanage myself in that way. The changes I've made are improvements and I know there is room to adjust as I move forward from some progress I'm making now.

Example from today (I work from homez so this should be easymode for me) for typical new food & workout routine for last week, the only real change has been diet related, taking sugar and milk out of coffee, not eating candy whenever it's presented, not eating pasta meals, pizza etc

@8am
Wakeup
Water, tea

@9am
45min recumbent bike, 65% of max HR

@10am - 11am
Relatively heavy kettlebell, macebell stuff (goal of restoring mobility, coordination, and joint strength) swings, squats, cleans, a lot of off-centre swings to stress abs, circles around head etc

@noon
2 cups cabbage with a TBSP of butter
25g rice (dry weight)
Around 200g ground beef
Hot sauce
Black coffee, water

@4pm
About a 1/4c cooked oatmeal, 1TBSP butter
4eggs
A bunch of cooked kale
Water

@5PM
Hour with minimal rest doing sled pulling/pushing variations, heart rate high but unmonitored, focus is to get tension and work volume on muscles in all planes of motion that I can ie, heavy push, pull forward from belt, backward from belt, presses, rows, OVH extensions, flyes, facepulls etc...
200lbs bear-hug sandbag carry, 4× 40y with long rests between...
Negative pull-ups starting from chest-to-bar position until failure ×2.
Front squat 4 sets to failure @135

9pm
Mashed cauliflower, butter
Around 4oz dark meat chicken
Carrots, beets roasted in olive oil
Water
Tea

Asleep somewhere around 11pm-midnight

 

[Spokeonawheel]

Myfitnesspal might take you a total of 10 minutes a day to learn what you are really consuming every day.

It's a free app download it.

If you are committed, then you can sacrifice 10 minutes of your day. It'll track all your macros and calories. You need a consistent calorie deficit. And you need to learn exactly what you are putting in your body every time you pick up a fork.

I applaud you for doing better.

Better is good.

Bit if you are serious about your weight problem this is the solution.

Consistent calorie deficit. Understanding macros and calories when you are making food choices.

 

[Hornbeam]

Myfitnesspal might take you a total of 10 minutes a day to learn what you are really consuming every day.

It's a free app download it.

If you are committed, then you can sacrifice 10 minutes of your day. It'll track all your macros and calories. You need a consistent calorie deficit. And you need to learn exactly what you are putting in your body every time you pick up a fork.

I applaud you for doing better.

Better is good.

Bit if you are serious about your weight problem this is the solution.

Consistent calorie deficit. Understanding macros and calories when you are making food choices.

An app would make me more consistent and aware. You're right

 

[grey]

Great start! Seconding the recommendation of the MFP app for tracking.

 

[hallomonde]

MFP does indeed work, i can easily say that it was a game changer for me.

 

[malfeasance]

@noon
Around 200g ground beef


@4pm
4eggs

9pm
Around 4oz dark meat chicken

Ok, 200 grams of ground beef is 41 grams of protein (good) but 21 grams of fat (not so good from just one protein source in one meal).

21 grams of fat is an extra 189 calories that is not needed. It would take quite a bit of cardio just to get at that 189 calories. Maybe think about replacing this with a leaner meat source.

4 eggs is roughly 25 grams of protein (eh, kinda low) but an additional 19 grams of fat. Maybe think about one or two eggs with a bunch of liquid egg whites added to get more protein and get the fat level down, down, down.

4 oz of dark chicken meat is roughly 31 grams of protein and 11 grams of fat.

So, your entire protein intake for the day is 97 grams.

Get it to 250 minimum, day in and day out, consistently.

That is going to be a huge change for you, because you don't know how to eat for physique goals, and your body is not used to this.

Maybe start at 150 grams of protein (my tiny little wife's protein daily minimum) for a few days, then hit 200 for a week, then add a meal to up it to 250 grams a day.

250 grams of protein is only 1000 calories, and it is not really 1000 calories, because any protein that does not get used for, well, protein, requires a large calorie expenditure to convert to anything else.

UP your protein.

Get your fats down. I would say never, ever exceed 50 grams while you are cutting. You are exceeding that every freaking day even while not getting a mere 100 grams of protein.

Like I said, you need to learn to eat.

MyFitnessPal was mentioned above. It's great. I use it. Others do, too. You can see how your macros are going throughout the day. You will NOT hit your goals the first day you use it, or the next, but you will learn over time what foods do to your macro totals for the day and begin to adjust. A couple weeks into measuring and tracking you will be able to hit your macro goals with ease.

So, track.

Get your protein up. (above 250)

Get your fats down. (below 50)

Fill in the rest of your daily goal with carbs.

Asleep somewhere around 11pm-midnight

Why do late? That is a problem all in itself. It interferes with your goals.