Female: first anavar cycle (cutting)

[Jennygump]

I'm new and currently doing my first cycle of anavar . I'm up to 10mg a day and started at 5. My goal is cutting.
My starting stats are:
Female, 5’6, 33 y/o

Weight: 154lb

Chest:38
Bust:32
Waist:30
Navel:33
High hip:37
Low hip/butt: 39
arm: 11
Thigh: 23

I want to document my experience because I could not find a place where women were sharing this. I finally found this site and the stories and experiences of other women so want to give back by sharing mine too. Plan to update my measurements weekly or so. My cycle will be 6-7 weeks.

I started my first day May 11, 2020 and did 2.5mg. Following day I did 5mg for the next 3 days, then I did 7.5, then up to 10 where I will stay for rest of the cycle.

I've also started a diet cut March 21, 2020 when quarantine started where I live and this cycle will bring me to the end of the cutting cycle. This is my second cut this year, was on maintenance for two months. The measurements from the beginning of this cut phase are here (naturally cut to the above measurements that are counting as my anavar start weight/size):

Weight: 161

Chest: 38
Bust: 32
Waist: 31
Navel: 35
high Hip: 37.5
Low hip/butt: 39.5

[Jennygump]

Info on my diet. I follow these macros during my cut right now:
150g protein
45g fat
25g carbs

I'm using Renaissance Periodization app to keep track of my cut. Since being on anavar it doesn't like me very much. Starting to suggest I go into maintenance since I've gain a pound in the week I started (I'm a week in as of tomorrow.) Will write a better update about my experience so far. Suggestions welcome.

[Jennygump]

I was planning on doing a classic strength test with max lift on deadlift, pullup, bench, squat but with corona that just won't work out right now. Instead I'll use the barbell curl, strict press, and pull up as my gages for increased strength until our gyms open again.

My first week I have gained 1.5 pounds. Seems on the high side to me considering I’m eating in a deficit and doing a lot of cardio. However, since I was in middle of cutting naturally and was down about six lbs at my starting point it's not too absurd. I gained the weight about .3 lbs a day. Im definitely having a hard time watching the scale climb back up after spending 8 weeks working it down. I'm still in the same deficit as I was when I started, so I know it's an old mental game with the scale but I'm sure I'm not alone there. I know steroids are for gains and keeping/ gaining muscle while cutting bf. Old fears die hard I guess lol. I've been keeping up with measurements for this reason too knowing it would be the better scale of loss at this point on for me. Because of quarantine I can’t get my bf professionally tested either however I did have blood work recently with an all clear.

I'm down inches already. I don't want to say the anavar kicked in so fast, but the measurements going down with scale going up seems to point to that direction.

Split
Here is my workout split during covid (usually I'm in crossfit 6x a week)

push day
Pull day
Leg day
Rest
Full body
Rest
Cardio has been at least 40 mins a day but aim for 70, at least 4/5 times a week. The cardio is just added for my cut and cycle. I only add cardio during cuts because I get enough at CrossFit for my liking.

Results
1 week done cycle results:
Weight 156 (up 1.5lb) down 1.5 inches

Chest: 37.5 (-.5)
Bust: 32
Waist: 30
navel: 32.5 (-.5)
High hip: 36.5 (-.5)
Low hip/butt: 39
Arm: 11
Thigh: 23

Sides/ Things I've noticed that may or may not be related to the anavar:

I've felt more tired than usual during the day. I could nap, and sleep fairly well at night. Lethargic. But workouts are fine once I get going, then sleepy lazy again.
I also felt like I need to stretch a lot more. Like not a regular muscle soreness or stiffness just like I need a good stretch. All. The. Time.

I think my curls are getting stronger already. I used to be able to do 25db but for only 6 reps then I’d need to go down to 20 for higher reps but now I’m able to do 25 for 3 sets of 12. So I might try to add a bit next week.
- 25lb DB, 3 sets of 12 or 50 barbell
- Strict press is 50 lb barbell 3 sets 12

I'm close to a pull up, still using a red band to get it. I have a doorway pull up bar but it just isn't the same as a tall bar in gym. Hoping to gain the strength to finally get my strict pullup. Maybe will walk to the park this week to try on a monkey bar lol.

Also hoping to get strength to do handstand. I'm already there if I can use toes to balance against the wall and I want enough strength to walk away from the wall. Yes these are very crossfit related goals!

My libido is up although my first week is lined up with my ovulation window so who knows if it's that or the other. Will update next week on that front. I'm not on bc either.

My water intake has gone up on it's own. Although that's not a complaint. Just been extra thirsty. Peeing more. Not sure if anavar is a diuretic or if it's something else.

Before anavar my appetite had gone down from being low carb so long. Now I’m noticing craving carbs again. Oatmeal and fruit specifically. Cereal.

“Women may not notice a huge increase in size when measuring their muscles, due to a significant reduction in fat loss. However, women will typically see an increase in body weight on the scales, despite burning an exceptional amount of fat (indicating muscle gain).”
Does gaining a pound and a half a week seem normal pace? I’m feeling it’s high considering all I’m doing to lose weight. Seems crazy to be muscle gains.

[Jennygump]

Hey again Cylon! I do. Not a lot though. I have an elliptical, a bench, a barbell and about 90lbs of iron plates. I have some power blocks, and a set of 25 lb dumbbells. I also have resistance bands. That’s about it. However I count myself lucky to have them in these times when you can’t get to the gym.

[sv.elia]

Hey, I forgot to post a welcome to the forum!

Ty for sharing your journey, would love to see more.

Subscribing as well

[Bio-Active]

I will be following as well

[Jennygump]

thanks for following me!

this is my second week (doing 10mg a day). not at the end of the week yet, but wanted to jump on with a bit of an update on sides.

this stuff had me unable to move anything out of me for days, it took three nights of laxatives to get things going. I might need to take another one tonight too. My fiber is pretty good and am on my regular diet, the only difference is the pills. Just thought i should share, since i read somewhere anavar would do the opposite due to boosting metabolism. at first i thought "omg, what if its fake? what if its dbol !!!" but im actually thinking it isnt, because i didnt bloat even while being full of it :P

Now for the good-ish news!
i had a friend stay for a few nights this week. i knew this week was going to be compromised, my weakness is i'm easily persuaded to eat yummy food (a donut, a small blizzard, and two missed workouts), kept the cardio at least. ensured my protein stayed high, but alongside the cheats and the constipation, i was not getting on that scale!! especially since the scale creeped up the first week while i was strict deficit, low carb. I only used the tape measure once to make sure nothing crazy was happening, and i noticed i actually stayed the same. phew.

once i was no longer harboring three days worth of food in me, i got on the scale to face the damage, which was NO GAIN. at all! and a 1.5 inches lost this week so far, and a half inch gained in glutes. hallelujah!!! This is unheard of for me. If I'm in low carb deficit mode, any donut slip or missed workout and being lazy with my friend would have set me back with another week or two in order to get the scale moving back in the right direction. I know the scale is currently not my best measurement since i am on steroids and gains are happening too, but i'm glad its not creeping upward anymore and that i'm still losing fat where i need to. So dang thankful right now! also my friend has gone back home so i'm back on track 100%. I also was able to borrow a concept rower machine for a bit from my crossfit gym. I'm going to put myself to work on that. if its doing this well even though i had a few misteps then im really looking forward to my next week when things are stricter again.

My strength seems relatively similar so far, nothing mind bending there.
i've recovered from the over-tired feeling i had in my first week, mostly. i dont have that 'focused, generally feeling energetic and overall better mental well being' yet though. im just feeling very normal mentally and in gym.

well, i have a lot of cardio and weights to catch up on. Looking forward to my weigh in and measurement update this Monday!

i'm also in a cortisol spiking environment, and the anavar seems to be working through well. bought a new house, staging this one im in now, putting to market next week, moving to my mom during the showing period (dear lord help me), at home with a kid all day because we're both work and school from home right now. so all that considered, the fact im losing inches amazes me.

back on Monday with my official second week stats.

[sv.elia]

I feel you with the carb cravings. While on, they're huge. Add in the mix some non-fitness friends, some work related stress, and you end up on chocolate rampage lol.

I wouldn't worry much about the scale going up, every time I load up on carbs the weight goes significantly up but it's mostly water weight that goes back down when I resume a high protein, low carb diet.

Calipers are what I use to stay in check. They're not entirely accurate, given that we all have a different bodyfat distribution (so you won't get results as precise as dexa scans) but they're still a great tool to see if the bodyfat went up or down. I usually take the measurements every 2 -3 weeks, while carb deprived. I love to see the scale and tape showing bigger numbers, while the calipers go down.

I take most of my fiber from fruits and parsley, supplements too. They need a lot of water to work.

Generally I get the watery-bloated feeling on high carb days, while on wet compounds or in that time frame between the end of the cycle and the first period. I searched my problem on the forum at some point and found a useful thread here, about water weight. Diet can be tweaked to avoid it.

Looking forward to updates, hugs!

[Jennygump]

2 week done cycle results:
Weight 157.2 (up 1.2lb) down 3.25 inches with 1 inch of gains in bicep and glutes.

Chest: 36.5 (-1)
Bust: 31.5 (-.5)
Waist: 30.5 (+.5)
navel: 32 (-.5)
High hip: 36 (-.5)
Low hip/butt: 39.5 (+.5)
Arm: 11.25 (+.25)
Thigh: 22.5 (-.5)

Really loving the results i'm getting so far. I'm adding more complex carbs into my diet now, for the sake of fibre! I've still been struggling with that aspect. coffee, apples, dark greens and berries with small amount of oats. fingers crossed this clears up this coming week lol.

Sides
constipation
that's it!
my libido went back to normal, possibly even down. so that must have been ovulation thing.

upcoming diet plan

not as low of carb as before because of sides.

2 egg, 2 turkey bacon
apple/fruit and turkey slices/cheese
85g cooked chicken and 4 cups of spinach
25g oatmeal, scoop of casein or isolate protein, peanut butter or berries.
sometimes might switch out for canned tuna with pickles and light mayo on training days. on an open face sandwich of course.

I got kicked off the rp diet app into maintenance mode because I was no longer losing pounds. lol, which I saw coming. so, for now, im on my own with macros tracking so will be eating pretty simple.

my curls are doing well:
hammer curl 25 lb for 8
bicep curl 25lb for 6
concentration curl 30lb for 6

lateral raise has gone up to 25lb for 6 (from 15-20)
single arm row is 50lb for 6 (from 40lb) although I don't recall ever thinking I needed to try heavier at the time, I wanted to try for comparison so maybe its the Anavar maybe not!
wishing I could try heavy deads and pull-ups and squats. Things seem to be lifting around here so i might get in at some point this cycle to compare my lifts.

Hope everyone is having a great monday! If you guys are doing any logs right now let me know and i'll follow you back.

[Jennygump]

also, I was going to say I would do a calliper test for my bf measurements with the weight and measurements but I can't find my callipers for the life of me right now! I will update once they turn up again.

[Booz]

Never got constipation myself with Var but we are all different.....
Sounds like your doing well off this so keep it up and will be watching.

[Jennygump]

next check in: week 3 done

weight 160 (+3)

chest: 36.5
bust: 32
waist: 30.5
navel: 32.5
high hip: 36
low hip/butt: 40
arm: 11.25
thigh: 23

been a tough go this week. lots of obstacles kept me off track (selling house, family in town, was on my period. Kept my training up though, cardio etc, eating however was tough when my family was making apple crisp, cookies, and banana bread. dear lord. However, looking forward to a better week now that my gym officially opened yesterday.

sides:
early period and longer than usual (opposite of what I would have expected)
constipation

[Jennygump]

weekly update:

i upped my carbs. I was pretty low, around 25-35g a day and upped my water intake as a suggestion. I'm now around 1500 calories: 160g protein, 50 fat, and 100 carbs. i mightve added too much carbs, we'll see. any thoughts welcome!

training is going well, back in the gym, adding cardio on my own as well. strength is feeling the same, dont feel much change there this week.

I fluctuated this week in weight, was sitting at 158 but back up to 160 after the carbs came back so not really sweating it.

weight 160 (same as last week)

chest: 37 (+.5)
bust: 33.5 (-.5)
waist: 30.5 30 (-.5)
navel: 32 (-.5)
high hip: 35.5 (-.5)
low hip/butt: 39.5 (-.5)
arm: 11.50 (+.25)
thigh: 23

having a hard time this week mentally/emotionally. nothing particular happened to trigger it. hormones? idk. Feel like giving up the past couple of days and feeling sorry for myself. idk hormonally/ emotional changes are part of this so documenting anyways in case. Not giving up, just got that blue feeling!

on a positive note, I got to do heavy squats today. Heavier* I should say, definitely didn't push too hard since it was my first heavy back squat in about three months. I feel like i could have maybe gone another 10lbs but did 5 sets of 5 @145lbs. My 1MR is/was 200lb.

[Jennygump]

weight 163 :/ lol

chest: 37
bust: 32
waist: 30.5
navel: 33
high hip: 35.5
low hip/butt: 40 (+.5)
arm: 11.50
thigh: 23

fairly same this week but noticing the strength really improve this week. the carb break was a great idea for my strength. for my last two weeks of the cycle, I might reign it back in though on carbs and calories so I can see some more fat loss. I did some muscle cleans at 115lb Saturday like it was nothing. my current max rep was 125 and I felt i could have done that or more easily. wish i had the opportunity to test it out. im sore though. people around me are noticing I look stronger. that's the most common comment. "you look fit/jacked/strong" definitely see a difference in my shoulders/back/arms areas. I'm hoping to get more fat loss over next/last stretch too though. however, no complaints. really notice it kick in for me in this fourth/ fifth week the most.
sides
breakouts on the chin area
no mood changes/agitation anymore
strength improvements

im not too concerned with the measurements that have gone up (im trying to grow glutes so those measurements are great. but the navel ones would normally be a concern however, i upped my calories and carbs past two weeks so that is to be somewhat expected.

[GearHeaded]

weight 163 :/ lol

chest: 37
bust: 32
waist: 30.5
navel: 33
high hip: 35.5
low hip/butt: 40 (+.5)
arm: 11.50
thigh: 23

fairly same this week but noticing the strength really improve this week. the carb break was a great idea for my strength. for my last two weeks of the cycle, I might reign it back in though on carbs and calories so I can see some more fat loss. I did some muscle cleans at 115lb Saturday like it was nothing. my current max rep was 125 and I felt i could have done that or more easily. wish i had the opportunity to test it out. im sore though. people around me are noticing I look stronger. that's the most common comment. "you look fit/jacked/strong" definitely see a difference in my shoulders/back/arms areas. I'm hoping to get more fat loss over next/last stretch too though. however, no complaints. really notice it kick in for me in this fourth/ fifth week the most.
sides
breakouts on the chin area
no mood changes/agitation anymore
strength improvements

im not too concerned with the measurements that have gone up (im trying to grow glutes so those measurements are great. but the navel ones would normally be a concern however, i upped my calories and carbs past two weeks so that is to be somewhat expected.

if you want to lean out a little bit while on this cycle yet keep holding onto your gains , I would NOT cut my calories much .. instead just up your protein intake and limit your fat intake as much as possible and only use enough carbs to fuel workouts. but don't lower the actual calories themselves . then simply add some cardio sessions in to what your doing.
you'll naturally lean out and still be making the muscular and strength gains you seek.

just a thought

[Star80]

Hi the sides sound about right that too happened
To me
On m first cycle it goes away ! After a few weeks .. since my first cycle I ran 5 mg Ana at a day then primo a week . .. felt good ! However I found that the anavar made my muscles ache lol I’d be doing chest and the pumps were crazy !!! I’m now of them for a about a year now currently running primo cycle alone but want to do anavar again ! Would like some good advice on who has ran this also ! I’ve run primo cycles on and off !
I’m 40 5’2 still super strong even during the lockdowns
With no gym I kept my size and gains

[ChasinGains]

I'm new and currently doing my first cycle of anavar . I'm up to 10mg a day and started at 5. My goal is cutting.
My starting stats are:
Female, 5’6, 33 y/o

Weight: 154lb

Chest:38
Bust:32
Waist:30
Navel:33
High hip:37
Low hip/butt: 39
arm: 11
Thigh: 23

I want to document my experience because I could not find a place where women were sharing this. I finally found this site and the stories and experiences of other women so want to give back by sharing mine too. Plan to update my measurements weekly or so. My cycle will be 6-7 weeks.

I started my first day May 11, 2020 and did 2.5mg. Following day I did 5mg for the next 3 days, then I did 7.5, then up to 10 where I will stay for rest of the cycle.

I've also started a diet cut March 21, 2020 when quarantine started where I live and this cycle will bring me to the end of the cutting cycle. This is my second cut this year, was on maintenance for two months. The measurements from the beginning of this cut phase are here (naturally cut to the above measurements that are counting as my anavar start weight/size):

Weight: 161

Chest: 38
Bust: 32
Waist: 31
Navel: 35
high Hip: 37.5
Low hip/butt: 39.5

So annoying how woman get away with such low doses of orals lol, how did your cycle go/finish?

[Jennygump]

So annoying how woman get away with such low doses of orals lol, how did your cycle go/finish?

I finished and gained 8lbs I think. I learned a lot and would do my next cycle at the beginning of a cut instead of where I did mine. I was already in the hole pretty deep imo. I took a maintenance break and for the most part, kept my gains and most of my strength. I did get a bit weaker after a few months off, but only by about 10-15%, so I'd say I've kept most of the strength and am happy with that. I'm currently doing my second cut and down 8lb, no cycle this time, just trying to get lighter and faster lol.

I think after my next maintenance period I'd attempt another cycle, same dosage. and maybe with less CrossFit and more specific bodybuilding workouts.

the most obvious gains have been in my shoulders, arms and back. Those muscles have stayed with me afterwards. I'm so glad we get to use such low dosages! My cycle was so affordable. I think I'll cycle again in four months or so. Hopefully, be better at documenting it from start to finish!

Here are my stats as of now

Weight: 158lb

Chest:37
Bust:32
Waist:30
Navel:33
High hip:36
Low hip/butt: 39.5
arm: 11
Thigh: 22

compared to when I ended my first cycle:

weight 163

chest: 37
bust: 32
waist: 30.5
navel: 33
high hip: 35.5
low hip/butt: 40 (+.5)
arm: 11.50
thigh: 23

maintained fairly well in maintenance, could have been stricter but wasn't. Am cutting now, will reassess after the maintenance phase if I'll cut again or cycle again.

[ToTherion]

Thanks for sharing this! I'm about to start my first cycle, and this was so helpful to read. My beginning stats are nearly identical, and I also plan to use the RP Diet App. I'm adding anavar on in the middle of a cut, too, but I am fortunately not in the hole yet.

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