Confused after consultation Need help

[Complete novice]

Hello all

I have low testosterone and am currently considering treatment, anyway over the last year I have put on nearly 3 stone. No matter what I have eaten I have still put on weight.in the past I have always struggled to lose weight. Now it seems impossible.

Anyway I went to see a sports scientist today to have my rmr tested and went in a bod pod. My bf was 34% and I'm 6ft and 110kg so I'm a big lad carrying far to much fat.

The rmr came back at 2870 calls doing nothing! Anyway the specialist is yet to send me my complete breakdown. But has told me I need to dramatically cut down on protein and up my carb and healthy fat intake to lose weight. I find this strange as it goes against everything I have ever read.

he told me I need to keep my protein to around 100g per day and make the rest up with 30% fat and the rest carbs...more carbs than anything else. (He is yet to send me the rest of my study)

I train hard and heavy 4-5 days a week, have never taken steroids !

I'm in need of help, I am willing to give it a try but don't want to gain anymore weight in the process..

HELP PLEASE

[austinite]

What were your testosterone level results? Your weight problem can be fixed with proper nutrition and cardio. AAS will not do anything to make you lose weight if your diet isn't fixed. I'd suggest you post your "low T" results and post your diet and please, list your macro nutrients per meal.

Also, be sure to visit our HRT section for a plethora of information on treatment for low T.

[Complete novice]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I had my most recent blood test this week and am waiting the results, they did full blood count,thyroid and testosterone . I'm in UK and its hard to get the results but I will try and get them. My last results were testosterone 6.6 (9.1-30).

I have arthritis (grade4) in my knee so any weight baring cardio isn't possible.

As far as my diet goes, I've tried this for the last month, with no loss in weight!



Thanks for any help

[austinite]

Ok. Sorry about your knee. It most certainly is not easy without cardio.

Here's how you lose weight...

You need to find out what your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is. This is the number of calories that you burn in a typical day, based on your level of activity. In order to get this number, you will need to find out what your Body Fat percentage is and your weight. There are several formulas, I use LBM x 15.

Once you find out what this number is, you will need to go into a calorie deficit of 500 calories or more per day. Meanwhile, you have to pay close attention to your macro-nutrients (Proteins, carbs, fats).

According to your chart above, you're eating 2800+ calories daily. If your TDEE is anything less than that... you will never lose weight.

Here is a thread that might shed more light on this: http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...g#.USlNZzA4t9U

[--->>405<<---]

^^ good post austin and OP read that sticky!

also ill do the math for u:

rough maintenance: (LBM x 15)

for u this means:

110kg 34%bf

110 x 2.2 = 242lbs

242 x .66(%LBM) = 159.72(lbs LBM)

159.72 x 15 = 2395.8cals (rough maintenance)

call it 2400cals maintenance

if i were u id start at 2000cals 50/30/20 split (pro/carb/fat)

2000cals
250g pro
150g carbs
44g fat

also IMO this "specialist" is a MORON and i would not take any further dietary advice from him/her.

i suggest posting ur diet for review including total cals, macros, meal times, workout times.. get a good calorie counting app if u dont already have one like my fitness pal dot com..

[Complete novice]

Hi thanks a lot for this, I really appreciate it.

I have been trying to lose weight eating clean for as long as I can remember with no actual change, so I thought I'd go and see this "specialist" but have been annoyed ever since and the money I spent seems like a total waste.

I am going to make up a realistic diet that I will stick to and is affordable that I can fit around work ect. I often don't have access to a microwave or oven (whilst at work) so I always end up spending loads of pre cooked meat, and miss out on carbs. Or only end up eating oat cakes.

Any ideas would be great. Thank you so much for the link it is a great read, also the links from it are very informative to.

I will be making my diet tonight and get it posted for criticism! Getting depressed is part and parcel of my low testosterone , I know losing the weight is the one thing that will make me happier.

I am also thinking the guy I saw doesn't know what he's on about, eating a high carb,low protein and fat diet will be ok for losing weight. But I don't want to lose my muscle how every little I have and I'm sure doing his diet will only end up in disaster.

Thanks again

[Complete novice]

Was thinking something along these lines. But still short on cals any thoughts

[--->>405<<---]

looks like ur short on protein and high on carbs.. at 34%bf u can prob still lose fat for awhile even at 40/40/20 which is what it looks like ur trying to do.. i dont know what brand that chicken is but make sure all ur foods are fresh and NOT PROCESSED!! i cant emphasize this enuff..

u dont need a microwave or an oven to hit ur macros.. eat it cold. u will get used to it.. rarely do i heat anything up when im at work.. shoot ive eaten broccoli frozen! had to suck on it for a few mins first to thaw it before i could chew it! dont give me that microwave bullshit.. tuffen up mate!

also ur diet needs to be typed out here for others to see. i dont like looking at that format and u will get a better review if u post it on here by typing..

[Complete novice]

Hi,

Yeah think I'm going to try and start with a basic 40/40/20 split, still under on calories

Meal 1 Calories Carbs Fat Protein

Asda - Fresh Milk Semi-Skimmed, 100 ml 49 5 2 4
Sainsbury's - Scottish Porridge Oats 1kg, 50 g 217 48 7 9
Reflex Peptide Fusion - Protein Shake, 25 g 89 1 1 20
Nescafe Gold Blend - Black Instant Coffee, 1 cup 0 0 0 0
Add Food Quick Tools 355 54 10 33

Meal 2

Brocolli - Boiled, 1 cup 20 6 0 3
Sainsbury's - British Chicken Breast Fillets (One and A Half), 100 g 104 0 2 30
Nando's - Hot Peri-Peri Sauce, 5 ml 4 1 0 0
Nuts - Almonds, 17 almond 118 4 10 4
Add Food Quick Tools 246 11 12 37

Meal 3

Tuna - John West No Drain - Little Sunflower Oil, 130 g 212 0 8 34
Asparagus - Grilled, 6 Spears (83g) 20 3 0 2
Homemade - Sweet Potato Mash - Nothing Added, 150 g 131 32 0 2
Nando's - Hot Peri-Peri Sauce, 5 ml 4 1 0 0
Add Food Quick Tools 367 36 8 38

Meal 4

My Protein - Recovery Evo (Strawberry & Apple), 80 g 295 49 1 23
Add Food Quick Tools 295 49 1 23

Meal 5

Broccoli - Cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 0.5 cup, chopped 27 6 0 2
Generic - Cooked Whole Wheat Spagetti, 1 cup cooked 210 37 2 8
Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted, 100 g 165 0 4 31
Add Food Quick Tools 402 43 6 41

Meal 6

Optimum Nutrition - 100% Gold Standard Casein (Chocolate Supreme), 34 g (one heaping scoop) 120 3 1 24
Meridian - Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter, No Added Salt or Sugar, 10 g 58 1 5 3
Add Food Quick Tools 178 4 6 27

Totals 1,843 197 43 199
Your Daily Goal 2,000 200 44 200
Remaining 157 3 1 1
Calories Carbs Fat Protein

Hopefully this is a little better

[ma_fighter]

Oh goodie, you caught 405's attention, that guy is a Guru when it comes to nutrition

Macros look to be ok at a glance, not seeing much essential fats though.
You should drop about a lb/week with a deficit like that, nice steady pace.

I'll leave the nutrition bit to 405, but I can give the following advice when it comes to fatloss, as I've done it myself. 116kg down to 77kg @6' tall.
#1Assuming -1lb/week, set up a long term goal, say a year away. Get a calendar and write in your goal weight every monday.

#2Weigh in EVERY MORNING, and log it in this calendar. You can jump a good pound or two up and down in weight overnight, but weighing in every day lets you catch the ongoing general trend, up or down. This also gives you short term goals to work towards.

#3Take weekly/eow/monthly progress shots. Try to do it in the same place at the same distance in the same poses. Side and front. Some times the scales will tell a lie, but the mirror wont.

#4 Reward yourself in a productive way, have ONE day a week where you eat more or less what you want, but try to stay as close to TDEE or lower as you can. This worked for me when I got the munchies, I had a day to look forward to, I knew that in just two days I could have that pizza I've been drooling over (literally drooling) the last few days.

#5 The day before your reward-day, do some IF (intermittent fasting) where you eat your last meal in the afternoon then nothing at all till breakfast or lunch the next day. Essentially a 16-18 hour fast. This will deplete glycogen stores to some extent, and the extra cals and carbs you chow down will be used to replenish those stores. At least that is my understanding of the mechanics, but I know for a fact it works, and works well.

It just occurred to me you have diabetes, so I leave this up to you.

#6 Take your time in the beginning, every time you cook a meal, calculate the macros for it, switch it up a bit and make it fit your daily needs as best you can. Write down and save the recipe. That way, after a month or so, you will have a whole bunch of recipes, macros already calculated, ready to go! This is nice so you dont have to eat the same things over and over.

Good luck!
/Maf

[--->>405<<---]

assuming ur macros are correct u want to go with them as a 40/40/20 split at 2000cals is:

2000cals
200g pro
200g carbs
44g fat

your macros are pretty much there and that is what we want to pay attention to over the calories. i suggest u go thru them again to make sure ur math is correct as ur cals should be closer to 2000 with total macros like u have listed.

there are a lot of things in ur diet that can be changed/dropped/tweaked which is good because ur gonna be dieting for awhile. i would run the diet just as u have it set up and lets see how u progress. i suspect u will be able to lose some fat for a few weeks before any changes need to be made.

one thing that jumps out is ur: (My Protein - Recovery Evo (Strawberry & Apple), 80 g 295 49 1 23) - this will have to go at some point but it can stay right now. i uspect a good bit of those 49g carbs are sugar..

what is ur weightlifting and cardio plan??

[Complete novice]

Thanks again for the advice. I need it.

I am using myfitnesspal for the macros so hopefully it's close enough. I've done my first shop today and am going to make a bulk order on chicken soon.

My workout will consist of mainly compound exercises although I am open to suggestions as I think I need to make a fresh start with my training as well.

As for cardio, I have arthritis in my knee which makes most weight baring exercises very painful for the exercise and for the next few days. I don't have a problem with a slow cycle but I'm not sure how beneficial this would be?

Thanks again for anymore help

[--->>405<<---]

Thanks again for the advice. I need it.

I am using myfitnesspal for the macros so hopefully it's close enough. I've done my first shop today and am going to make a bulk order on chicken soon.

My workout will consist of mainly compound exercises although I am open to suggestions as I think I need to make a fresh start with my training as well.

As for cardio, I have arthritis in my knee which makes most weight baring exercises very painful for the exercise and for the next few days. I don't have a problem with a slow cycle but I'm not sure how beneficial this would be?

Thanks again for anymore help

cycling would be fine! it can provide an excellent cardio workout. let me ask u this: can u set the tension lower and pedal faster? that would be the ticket. resistance does not have to be high on a bike but u want to have a high cadence.

u can also do intervals on the bike (what i do) where u go 60 secs at a decent pace but nothing too hard and then 60 secs about 80%.. alternate.. if u can increase resistance on ur intense minutes do it and if not dont worry about it..

u wanna shoot for 120-130 HR on LISS and intervals u want to hit 160HR..

the main thing with cardio is maintaining a sustained elevated heart rate in excess of 120 BPM IMO..

[Complete novice]

I have tried a bearable circuit on the cross trainer which takes it out of me. Maybe it's coz I'm out of shape but I do regularly get my heart rate around 185 + when doing this! But even going slow my hr stays around 150ish!!

I'm having an injection in my knee this weekend which will hopefully help things.. I'd like to use a punch bag for my cardio. May think about buying one for the garage. I know from past experience how much that take out of me.

[ma_fighter]

Punching bags are excellent! Just get a big, heavy, one that stays fairly put, or one you can anchor top and bottom. IMO its worth the little bit of extra cash over a smaller bag.

Swimming should work for you as well, and any rowing type of machine I would think.

Compound movements are fine, just try to use free weights as much as possible, and maintain proper form all the time. Go slowly, esp on the eccentric part, as this is the part of the lift that does the most micro-tears to your muscles, and thus is more effective at building muscles than the concentric phase.

If one muscle gasses out during a compound lift, use isolation movements as a complement to hit the muscles that are still going strong.

[--->>405<<---]

ur heart rate will come down over time. mine used to regularly be 156-160 doing LISS where now is stays around 120-125.. ur heart has to get in shape!