My TRT/fat loss log

[TheBigKahuna901]

Quick update: Sticking to maintenance pretty well, bouncing between 2700-3400 cals a day depending on appetite and how busy work is. I’ve gotten back up to 255, I suspect mainly water weight and glycogen stores as I was extremely low carb prior to switching to maintenance (hitting 50g/day on average), and now my carbs sit at around 300. It is tough to get calories in from quality sources but it’s nice to be able to treat myself to an ice cream bar or a few Oreos every now and then.

Currently awaiting bloods, I’ll post them on here when I get the results but hopefully I’ll continue to see improvements in my health markers and numbers.

Workouts were vastly improved, unfortunately I changed positions at work and it’s been so busy that it’s tough to have any energy in the afternoon. On top of that I injured my shoulder Friday so I think this week might be a deload week until that heals.

Thinking of maintaining until the middle of August, should be about 7 weeks of maintenance and then head back into a deficit to hit my 225lb goal. I’ll be sure to post some updated pictures when I’m able to get a good pump in!

 

[JG91]

Quick update: Sticking to maintenance pretty well, bouncing between 2700-3400 cals a day depending on appetite and how busy work is. I’ve gotten back up to 255, I suspect mainly water weight and glycogen stores as I was extremely low carb prior to switching to maintenance (hitting 50g/day on average), and now my carbs sit at around 300. It is tough to get calories in from quality sources but it’s nice to be able to treat myself to an ice cream bar or a few Oreos every now and then.

Currently awaiting bloods, I’ll post them on here when I get the results but hopefully I’ll continue to see improvements in my health markers and numbers.

Workouts were vastly improved, unfortunately I changed positions at work and it’s been so busy that it’s tough to have any energy in the afternoon. On top of that I injured my shoulder Friday so I think this week might be a deload week until that heals.

Thinking of maintaining until the middle of August, should be about 7 weeks of maintenance and then head back into a deficit to hit my 225lb goal. I’ll be sure to post some updated pictures when I’m able to get a good pump in!

Just be careful you don’t slip into old bad habits. Your low weight was 247 and you’re up to 255? You’re not a small guy so definitely could be water fluctuating. But I would be mindful not to slip into the 260s.

You’ve already crossed the natty threshold so if your shoulder injury is bad enough you could look into healing peptides while you deload or rest.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

Just be careful you don’t slip into old bad habits. Your low weight was 247 and you’re up to 255? You’re not a small guy so definitely could be water fluctuating. But I would be mindful not to slip into the 260s.

You’ve already crossed the natty threshold so if your shoulder injury is bad enough you could look into healing peptides while you deload or rest.

Yeah it’s definitely been tough to avoid slipping into old habits at this higher calorie level, 255 is my cut off if I go any higher I plan to back off the calories, I’m hoping a solid 5-6lbs is water weight but I’ll definitely be mindful not to put on fat during the maintenance phase.

As far as peptides, I have been looking into BPC-157 and TB-500 to help assist the healing process, thankfully this particular injury is healing pretty quick, the pain is nonexistent as of today, still planning on taking it easy on pressing movements this week so I don’t hurt it again but hopefully with some more rest and ice I should be alright in a day or two. But I should probably pick up some BPC-157 to have on hand in case I do get injured again.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

Blood test results came in finally! Trough is definitely lower than what I was hoping for. Planning on upping to 200mg a week injecting MWF to see if that helps. I’d like to be around at least 600 on the trough ideally 700, don’t want to be running over 1,000 until I’m lean and want to blast. If that fails I do have test c from Stan as well as test from other vendors I can swap, thankfully E2 is okay and cholesterol numbers aren’t awful, not great either. Probably going to up my fish and fiber intake to try and help those numbers.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

In other news, maintenance is still going well. Holding at around 252-254, lifts are all up and my shoulder is recovering nicely. Was able to hit chest and shoulders yesterday with a moderate intensity and no pain, hopefully by next week I’ll be back full force. Macros have been rough lately but there’s a lot of stress in my life so I’m just trying to focus on protein and calories until everything gets sorted. Excited to get started on the next cut in a few weeks and make my way to 225!

 

[JG91]

Blood work is perfect!

 

[Eddie.]

Hey man, your overall bloodwork is ok although you could improve some things like your lipids further, no need to take action with extra medication now but if they stay at that range when you finally reach your end goal of bodyweight you might need to add something like ezetimibe for starters to drive LDL below 100.

I'm a little concerned for your test levels though. For my liking it's kinda lowish for an enhanced person. Don't bother questioning if the gear is real etc, you maybe metabolize test faster than others and hit a peak and trough faster. You could avoid that with pinning more frequent and preferably add 20-25mg to your total weekly load.

Milligrams don't matter, serum test in blood is the best way to determine if you're in optimal spot or not. If you keep pinning 3 times a week and add lets say 25mg then your peak might exceed 1000ng in order to maintain a trough at 700. Best way to avoid it is microdosing every day, then you can easily adjust your levels because if you have 900 one day then every day will be the same with no hormonal fluctuation.

Just my 2 cents, this is what i would do. Atm stay away from supraphysiological levels (until you reach your goal and start a proper cycle) but you could benefit from a tad higher serum test levels.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

Hey man, your overall bloodwork is ok although you could improve some things like your lipids further, no need to take action with extra medication now but if they stay at that range when you finally reach your end goal of bodyweight you might need to add something like ezetimibe for starters to drive LDL below 100.

I'm a little concerned for your test levels though. For my liking it's kinda lowish for an enhanced person. Don't bother questioning if the gear is real etc, you maybe metabolize test faster than others and hit a peak and trough faster. You could avoid that with pinning more frequent and preferably add 20-25mg to your total weekly load.

Milligrams don't matter, serum test in blood is the best way to determine if you're in optimal spot or not. If you keep pinning 3 times a week and add lets say 25mg then your peak might exceed 1000ng in order to maintain a trough at 700. Best way to avoid it is microdosing every day, then you can easily adjust your levels because if you have 900 one day then every day will be the same with no hormonal fluctuation.

Just my 2 cents, this is what i would do. Atm stay away from supraphysiological levels (until you reach your goal and start a proper cycle) but you could benefit from a tad higher serum test levels.

Thanks Eddie, I agree cholesterol and total T levels could definitely use some help. Thinking of adding in some more fiber and fish oil to help the cholesterol levels, and I agree I’m going to try 175mg a week to try and get that trough up a little bit. I’m currently pinning MWF so I’m debating going EOD at 50mg a time or doing MWF at 60mg per pin. My only concern with going EOD is scar tissue build up over time, that’s a lot of pinning for TRT unless I can make sub q work, but I prefer IM.

My other thought was switching to Test C once this vial runs out, like you mentioned I could be metabolizing it fast so maybe the longer half life would help? I agree though no plans to run supraphysiological until I can eat in a solid caloric surplus and put on some muscle. I’d like to be sitting between 700-900, no point going higher than that at my body fat and no point being on TRT to have a level at 550. Thankfully even with the levels where they’re at, I’m seeing a ton of benefits from it, and I’m excited to se show much it’ll help when I’m running higher levels.

 

[Eddie.]

Scar tissue is a concern if you don't rotate through various spots. You can pin in 10-12 spots but i agree pinning your triceps or lats for TRT it's not the best thing haha. Yeah, not everyone agrees with subc but for everyday shots are a bless if you tolerate it.

I don't think switching from E to C could make a difference, i believe what carrier oil you chose is more importand than the difference in E vs C. You can try it by all means, maybe C ester suits you best. You definitely don't want MCT oil. The more viscous the more slower absorption, like GSO or even better castor oil.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

Scar tissue is a concern if you don't rotate through various spots. You can pin in 10-12 spots but i agree pinning your triceps or lats for TRT it's not the best thing haha. Yeah, not everyone agrees with subc but for everyday shots are a bless if you tolerate it.

I don't think switching from E to C could make a difference, i believe what carrier oil you chose is more importand than the difference in E vs C. You can try it by all means, maybe C ester suits you best. You definitely don't want MCT oil. The more viscous the more slower absorption, like GSO or even better castor oil.

Ahhh that could be the issue then. I am currently running MCT and most of my stuff is in MCT oil, I’ve read that carrier oil can effect half life by a day or so but wasn’t able to find anything concrete. Well maybe when this vial is out I’ll switch to the GSO, and pin EOD in the mean time to avoid a low trough. Whats weird is you’d think if I was spiking like crazy (even say 8-900) and then dropping to 550ng you’d think I’d really notice a difference on my trough days but I don’t. Sucks because I know I like the MCT, my body reacts well to it, so I stocked up on it. I’ve never tried GSO to be fair but hopefully I like that too and can switch nice and easy.

 

[JG91]

Scar tissue is a concern if you don't rotate through various spots. You can pin in 10-12 spots but i agree pinning your triceps or lats for TRT it's not the best thing haha. Yeah, not everyone agrees with subc but for everyday shots are a bless if you tolerate it.

I don't think switching from E to C could make a difference, i believe what carrier oil you chose is more importand than the difference in E vs C. You can try it by all means, maybe C ester suits you best. You definitely don't want MCT oil. The more viscous the more slower absorption, like GSO or even better castor oil.

If your pinning daily the amount of volume is probably 0.1-0.2 mL , correct? Why not inject subcutaneously?

 

[Eddie.]

If your pinning daily the amount of volume is probably 0.1-0.2 mL , correct? Why not inject subcutaneously?

I personally do only subc either cruise or cycle, i did up to 0,4ml daily in glutes only and i have no problems. Not all guys react the same though, maybe he doesn't want to start pinning subc.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

If your pinning daily the amount of volume is probably 0.1-0.2 mL , correct? Why not inject subcutaneously?

I personally do only subc either cruise or cycle, i did up to 0,4ml daily in glutes only and i have no problems. Not all guys react the same though, maybe he doesn't want to start pinning subc.

I’ve had a few accidental sub q pins when I was running shorter needles, my body doesn’t like them for some reason. I always get a lump, takes like 7 days for them to clear and they’re pretty bothersome. I’ve also found I feel more fatigued when a shot goes sub q but that could just be coincidence. I’ve considered switching to Test U to minimize pins for cruising but I’d like to get my dose dialed with a shorter ester so I know around what I should be pinning for Test U.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

Quick update, maintenance is going well! Holding around 254ish, I was ballooned up to 258 but the following day I was back to 254 thankfully lol. Couldn't let myself cross that 260 barrier again.

Calories currently are at 2700-3100 depending on the day, not ideal as I'd like to stay over 2,000 on my cuts. Getting around 260g protein, 260g carbs, 70g fat on the low days and 260g protein 310g carbs 90g fats on the high days. Lifts have been steadily increasing, was repping 100kg for 10 on flat bench which I haven't done in a long time. Still doing cardio but probably only around 100 minutes a week, I'd like to get that up but its tough with my lifts being extended to around 1hr per day. Thankfully work has been crazy busy so I at least get my heart going there.

Upped the TRT dose to 200mg as the 550 result I wasn't super happy with. Not sure why the result was so low, I know the stuff is legit so its either I'm a hyper metabolizer or a hypo responder. I plan on switching to test C next to see if that makes a difference, if not I'll switch to GSO instead of MCT. Otherwise I guess just poor genetics lol. Hopefully as I continue to lose weight my dose response will improve.

Current plan is to hop back onto a deficit in 10 days. Probably start at 2300 calories, see how quick I lose and adjust as needed. Shooting for 225 on this next cut, then I should be lean enough that I can finally do a slight bulk over winter and cut again in the spring.

On a more personal note, I think the time has come to break up with my girlfriend, and I wanted to see if anyone has any advice. Not really sure how to go about this as this is my first long term relationship and I do care about her, but I'm not happy, I try to avoid spending time with her and our goals are just too different. I don't feel supported by her and don't share the same vision she does for the future. So if anybody has any advice for initiating that conversation or dealing with it afterwards that would be much appreciated.

I'll post some progress pics tonight from my latest workout, definitely happy with the maintenance results probably put on a couple pounds of muscle and lost a couple pounds of fat, so thank you @Eddie. for advising me to take a break from the cut, I appreciate all your help.

 

[JG91]

I think the longer, more intense lifting sessions are better than extra cardio during your maintenance phase.

The gf thing is tough. Seems like you don't live with her? That makes it easy. Just sit her down and explain that you don't think you have the same goals and you don't feel the same as you used to. Just what you told us.

 

[Eddie.]

Quick update, maintenance is going well! Holding around 254ish, I was ballooned up to 258 but the following day I was back to 254 thankfully lol. Couldn't let myself cross that 260 barrier again.

Calories currently are at 2700-3100 depending on the day, not ideal as I'd like to stay over 2,000 on my cuts. Getting around 260g protein, 260g carbs, 70g fat on the low days and 260g protein 310g carbs 90g fats on the high days. Lifts have been steadily increasing, was repping 100kg for 10 on flat bench which I haven't done in a long time. Still doing cardio but probably only around 100 minutes a week, I'd like to get that up but its tough with my lifts being extended to around 1hr per day. Thankfully work has been crazy busy so I at least get my heart going there.

Upped the TRT dose to 200mg as the 550 result I wasn't super happy with. Not sure why the result was so low, I know the stuff is legit so its either I'm a hyper metabolizer or a hypo responder. I plan on switching to test C next to see if that makes a difference, if not I'll switch to GSO instead of MCT. Otherwise I guess just poor genetics lol. Hopefully as I continue to lose weight my dose response will improve.

Current plan is to hop back onto a deficit in 10 days. Probably start at 2300 calories, see how quick I lose and adjust as needed. Shooting for 225 on this next cut, then I should be lean enough that I can finally do a slight bulk over winter and cut again in the spring.

On a more personal note, I think the time has come to break up with my girlfriend, and I wanted to see if anyone has any advice. Not really sure how to go about this as this is my first long term relationship and I do care about her, but I'm not happy, I try to avoid spending time with her and our goals are just too different. I don't feel supported by her and don't share the same vision she does for the future. So if anybody has any advice for initiating that conversation or dealing with it afterwards that would be much appreciated.

I'll post some progress pics tonight from my latest workout, definitely happy with the maintenance results probably put on a couple pounds of muscle and lost a couple pounds of fat, so thank you @Eddie. for advising me to take a break from the cut, I appreciate all your help.

Glad i've helped pal! I'm sorry you'll have to pass through this ugly stage of life and i can't give many good advises on that, i just passed it ONCE after 8 years relationship and it broke me. I just have to say that everything happens for a reason. You'll may feel kinda shite for a period but time is the best healer. Take it as a opportunity to work more on yourself now.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

Glad i've helped pal! I'm sorry you'll have to pass through this ugly stage of life and i can't give many good advises on that, i just passed it ONCE after 8 years relationship and it broke me. I just have to say that everything happens for a reason. You'll may feel kinda shite for a period but time is the best healer. Take it as an opportunity to work more on yourself now.

Thanks Eddie I appreciate it. Definitely not looking forward to all this but I agree it all happens for a reason. Unfortunately I’ve been stuck in a limbo with ending things for months so it’s just time to pull the plug. Hopefully like you said it’ll be an opportunity to work on myself more. But yeah thank you again for the diet advice especially, I was really starting to slow down and the maintenance period has helped with that a ton.

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

I think the longer, more intense lifting sessions are better than extra cardio during your maintenance phase.

The gf thing is tough. Seems like you don't live with her? That makes it easy. Just sit her down and explain that you don't think you have the same goals and you don't feel the same as you used to. Just what you told us.

Yeah I agree with you, especially with worn being so busy I’m still getting around 10,000 steps a day and keeping the heart rate up. Once I start cutting again I think I’ll be dropping the lifts more and focusing on cardio heavier.

Yes thankfully we don’t live together which makes things much easier. I’ll definitely do that, I can get real caught up in my mind overthinking stuff but what you said makes perfect sense. Just have to explain it’s now working.

 

[Doog33]

Slow and steady progress always lasts! Keep it up

 

[TheBigKahuna901]

Well guys, cut starts again today. Things ended with the ex girlfriend yesterday, figured I might as well take advantage of being depressed and not eating lol. Starting out at 2000 cals, 260g protein, 100g carbs and the rest fats. Hopefully going to lose as much as I can on 2,000 and cut down to 1800 again if necessary. I was maintaining weight at around 2700 calories so I figure it’s a good starting point for a deficit. Also have upped the dose to 200, feeling better on it ignoring everything else going on. Hopefully gonna get to 225lbs by the end of the year, I’ll be sure to keep you all updated!