N00b looking for some direction

[gbrice75]

Hi all, and well met. I'm a newb to this board, so please go easy on me. =) A little info about me: I'm 34, 6'0 and currently around 195lbs. I started working out (again) last December when I was way out of shape, 255lbs and very unhappy. I managed to drop most of the weight - alot of bodyfat but of course some lean mass as well. I've managed to gain back a bit of the lean mass, but not much. However i'm flabby and still have a nasty spare tire around the mid-section. At 34, the hormone levels just aren't what they were back in my teens.... i'm starting to get frustrated and this is my last ditch effort to 'kick start' things again.

I have access to Anavar and am thinking of starting an 8 week cycle. I've done a bunch of research before posting here and realize most people don't recommend doing Anavar alone, however it is my first experience with anabolics and I would like to start off small and see how that goes before moving on to bigger and better things. Here is what I was thinking:

Week 1 - 30mg/day
Week 2 - 40mg/day
Week 3 - 50mg/day
Week 4 - 60mg/day
Week 5 - 60mg/day
Week 6 - 60mg/day
Week 7 - 60mg/day
Week 8 - 60mg/day

At this point i'll re-evaluate and take another step if I feel it's necessary. I am trying to set my expectations based on what i've read. I understand i'm not going to look like Arnold from this, i'm just hoping to see some progress, something to relight my fire. I do have one major concern though...

My wife and I are trying to have our first baby and this is probably the worst time to start using gear. This is mainly why i'm going with a relatively safe (based on what i've read) one to start with. Should I be majorly concerned about this (i.e. birth defects, lowered sperm count, etc.) affecting our plans?

Thank you in advance for any input, I look forward to your responses.

~George

[LeroyB]

Speaking as another 30 something - welcome!
Can you give me your diet. That will go a long way to helping you out.
Cheers buddy.
I just noticed as well that your username is your email address - Dont let people start emailing you and helping you with the gear.
Just saying that hawks look for that junk on here and sell you junk or worse!

[redz]

No point in pyramidding the dose, just keep it the same throughout. I don`t really like the idea of oral only cycles but anavar would be one of the only ones that isnt too bad. Anavar may lower your sperm count while your on it atleast.

[gbrice75]

Thanks for the feedback guys. @ redz - the only reason I was pyramiding was to avoid shocking my system too much with a 'higher' dosage. Do you think it's perfectly safe to start at 60mg/day right from the beginning? The sperm count issue has me concerned as well...

@LeroyB - thanks for the warm welcome! Bad idea about my username - I have to see if it can be changed asap! I'll give you a good idea of my diet. I realize cals are pretty low, this is mainly due to the fact that I am trying to lose this STUBBORN bodyfat I have left, and still am making less than acceptable progress. I'm sort of in a catch 22 as well, because the low cals are certainly not helping with building muscle. Here goes:

Unfortunately my days are long, about 17 hours with only 6 to sleep, and I can't get around that. =(

5:45am - 7:15am - workout (M-F)

7:30am - Post Workout Meal - 1/2 cup cottage cheese w/ pineapple, 1 fat free yogurt, 1 protein shake. approx. 50g protein, 35g carbs

10:30am - 2nd meal - protein shake, oatmeal. approx 40g protein, 30g carbs

1:30pm - 3rd meal - protein and starch (usually chicken breast or lean steak, baked potato) - approx 36g protein, 50g carbs

4:30pm - 4th meal - Protein Shake and an apple - approx 30g protein, small amt. of carbs from apple

7:30pm - 5th meal - Protein and Starch (usually chicken breast, lean steak or fish, baked potato or rice)

10:00pm - 6th/bedtime meal - protein shake and tbsp. of peanut butter - approx 30g protein (not counting PB since it's not quality/complete protein) and 20g carbs

That's pretty much M-F, getting approx 2000 cals daily - on weekends i'm alot more lenient and definitely consume more cals. (and alot more fat)

Let me know what you think, thanks again!

~George

[big_k]

Thanks for the feedback guys. @ redz - the only reason I was pyramiding was to avoid shocking my system too much with a 'higher' dosage. Do you think it's perfectly safe to start at 60mg/day right from the beginning? The sperm count issue has me concerned as well...

@LeroyB - thanks for the warm welcome! Bad idea about my username - I have to see if it can be changed asap! I'll give you a good idea of my diet. I realize cals are pretty low, this is mainly due to the fact that I am trying to lose this STUBBORN bodyfat I have left, and still am making less than acceptable progress. I'm sort of in a catch 22 as well, because the low cals are certainly not helping with building muscle. Here goes:

Unfortunately my days are long, about 17 hours with only 6 to sleep, and I can't get around that. =(

5:45am - 7:15am - workout (M-F)

7:30am - Post Workout Meal - 1/2 cup cottage cheese w/ pineapple, 1 fat free yogurt, 1 protein shake. approx. 50g protein, 35g carbs

10:30am - 2nd meal - protein shake, oatmeal. approx 40g protein, 30g carbs

1:30pm - 3rd meal - protein and starch (usually chicken breast or lean steak, baked potato) - approx 36g protein, 50g carbs

4:30pm - 4th meal - Protein Shake and an apple - approx 30g protein, small amt. of carbs from apple

7:30pm - 5th meal - Protein and Starch (usually chicken breast, lean steak or fish, baked potato or rice)

10:00pm - 6th/bedtime meal - protein shake and tbsp. of peanut butter - approx 30g protein (not counting PB since it's not quality/complete protein) and 20g carbs

That's pretty much M-F, getting approx 2000 cals daily - on weekends i'm alot more lenient and definitely consume more cals. (and alot more fat)

Let me know what you think, thanks again!

~George

You're eating about as much as a figure girl (maybe less). You might be slowing down your metabolism with that much calories. I guess it also depends on your activity level. Cardio/Workouts/Job, etc.


My suggestion is, Up your calories, and Up your cardio...get that metabolism revving again. I made the mistake of cutting calories too low and brought my weightloss/fatloss to a standstill after a certain point.

[gbrice75]

You're eating about as much as a figure girl (maybe less). You might be slowing down your metabolism with that much calories. I guess it also depends on your activity level. Cardio/Workouts/Job, etc.


My suggestion is, Up your calories, and Up your cardio...get that metabolism revving again. I made the mistake of cutting calories too low and brought my weightloss/fatloss to a standstill after a certain point.

LoL, I hear you! I always go through this vicious cycle in my head where when I start eating more, I don't feel i'm gaining muscle and only putting on more fat (which i'm trying to LOSE), so I drop calories - and then I feel i'm losing muscle (and still don't see fat loss btw), so the cycle starts all over again.

What do you think would be a good caloric starting point? I honestly don't know my maintenance amount, but based on the fact that at 2000 cals I haven't really seen any changes, and my weight itself hasn't fluctuated very much i'd have to say 2000 is about it. Should I bump up to 3000 cals? I also realize i'm not getting nearly enough protein in - I should be getting 200 grams/day minimum, and am probably getting about 150.

[LeroyB]

What you need to know is your BMR and then figure your TDEE. From there you can adjust if you want to gain. I threw your numbers into my spreadsheet.
See image.
The numbers should make some sense. Basically your BMR is what you burn just living. Not moving or anything, from there we get your TDEE form one of the 5 levels of activity, and from there we ad or remove depending if we are cutting or bulking.
Got it?

I chose the middle one, but you can guess / adjust as needed!
Cheers

[gbrice75]

Leroy - thanks, that's awesome! So if i'm understanding this correctly, my BMR is around 2000 (meaning my body requires 2000 just to function?) - is this the same as my maintenance level then? That would make sense since like I said before, i'm consuming around 2k/cals per day and not really changing one way or the other. You were right in choosing the middle one (moderately active) - same one I would have chosen. This is where i'm confused though - the 3032 cals/day is what I SHOULD be consuming to grow, and then can up the percentage from there? Sorry if i'm being dense, this is kind of new to me. Thanks for your patience!

[LeroyB]

Your BRM is what you need to Breathe, think, heartbeat. In other words that is caloric intake just to exists. Soon as you walk to the car, let alone go to the gym this requirement increases.
Your TDEE is your Maintenance. That is where you choose which activity level you are.
So based on this scale, if you are moderately active your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is 3032. So you need to add to THAT to grow.
Thus the final part of the spreadsheet.
The % section. If you bare bulking and you want to do it a 10% increase then you look at that chart and know you need to eat 3335 cals a day.

If you are really eating 2000 a day then you are probably losing weight, unless some other part of the information you have given me is wrong.

You need to really count you cals every day and then do your macros (what % is protien / carbs / fats). Then you will know where to go from there.
If you want PM me your email and I will send you some spreadsheets you can plug your own numbers in and get your calculations.
Once you know that we will figure out your macros.
Cheers!

[gbrice75]

Thanks again! I get it now - I am definitely going to up the cals/day as soon as I start my Var cycle. It's extremely hard to get my arms around the idea of eating more COULD equal fat loss - it just doesn't seem logical, but I do understand that I will definitely not grow muscle without boosting the calories. That would probably be the case even if I was on the end all be all steroid, right?

[LeroyB]

Yup! I spent the vast majority of my years training natty. I am new to the AAS game as are you, but learned how to grow muscle / lose fat with diets long before I ever heard of this board. You should just pop over to the diet section. Tell them your Age / Weight / BF% / BMR / TDEE and your goals. They will sort you out like a shot.
Cheers!