It's awesome that you came here to learn
5'8'', 158lbs, 30" waist
(6 months ago - 200 lbs)
Nice work. That has to feel good
Body Fat - haven't completed anything moderately accurate
There really isn't an accurate test... go by looks. Shoulder veins usually show up around 20%, chest veins at about 12%, ab veins at 10%.
This is where the tough love starts:
debating pushing forward with AAS
New Plan: 10-15 minutes of cardio, Resistant Training focused on individual muscles group daily
If you are just now moving from a Tonal machine to ..... (I'm guessing weightlifting) as resistance training, there is no need or benefit to considering anabolic steroids.
Get those beginner gains. Nail down your food plan and stick to it. Sleep as much as possible.
I saw someone use this analogy earlier today: Don't try to use racing fuel before you've built a race car.
To keep the car analogy going, right now we are a Honda Civic, or to be very honest.... wheelbarrow ( tonal..... ) that just got its rusted floorboards replaced (weight loss). There is a long way to go before it's a racecar that needs racing fuel.
Previous: 45min (cardio daily
New Plan: 10-15 minutes of cardio
Dropping your cardio is probably the worst thing you could do. Especially if you have the eventual goal of using anabolics in the future. Do 35 min steady state cardio at 70% of your max heart rate every day. Split it from your training if possible. I roll my ass out of bed, piss, chug water, walk directly to the treadmill and turn it on as soon as my foot hits it. Put youtube on tv for 35 min. 3.8mph with no incline does it of for me. Prioritize this.
(Arm, Chest, Back, Shoulders, Legs, Core) whole body through 6 days + some core daily. Plan 6 days a week.
Work with a coach or trainer if you can. If not, this is where you should first spend your curious energies. Binge workout content on youtube. Not everyone is correct. Actually most aren't. A lot have at least one right thing to say. Sometimes it's just as beneficial to hear the bad advice as it is to hear the good advice. Your understanding of it will mature. After a few months you will here things that fist sounded like gospel, and second guess them. This phase is a years long process. The most critical component here is building training experience and progression. Without this, anabolic steroids are absolutely pointless.
New Diet (No Keto): 2600 cal,
I would not get overzealous with a surplus. Especially as you start. Your energy demands most likely aren't going to be that far above maintenance for a good while. There is no point in eating calories simply for the sake of eating calories. If a few months into it, you feel like you lost a little big of recovery points... increase the calories a SMALL amount. Like 150. Go by both the scale and the mirror. If the scale says you are gaining 1.5 pounds a week, but your muscles only look more smoothed over.... you are overeating for what you are doing. You don't have to "bulk" to gain muscle. Especially at where you are right now. Spend your fat budget on healthy fats. Be picky with where your fats come from. Eat between 50-70 grams from sources like walnuts, hemp seeds, big butts, and include a fish oil supplement. Cholesterol is going to be very important if you keep an eventual goal of using anaobolics.
on cheat meal of Dinner Once per week.
Cheat meal is out. Think of it as calorie cycling. Plan your high calorie meal for a day when your training demands a little more for recovery.
ps. weigh your food if you don't already. Get a food scale. Use an app to track your daily intake. I like one called MyNetDiary. It will calculate your goal macros for you, and it automatically imports food nutrition data when you scan the barcode with your phone. All you have to do is tell it how many grams of each food you consumed.
