Diet, training and overall health.

Hi all, new to the forum so here goes my first post.

Admin, please advise should anything seem out of place.

I recently* made the decision to get back into the gym and pay some attention to my physique, eating habits and general (* recently being almost 3 years ago)

Personal background- at the age of 16 i became driven by the vision of having a hulking physique, broad shoulders, huge biceps and creating a body similar to the Austrian oak, I'm 5ft 7 so that was never going to happen. I did however create a good physique over the next 5 or so years, got involved in a few amateur bodybuilding shows and trained like a Trojan. One thing that I never properly dialed into though was diet and the correct usage of food and nutrition. 

The next 10 years (give or take) i spent with little to no physical activity, very poor eating habits (most days only eating in the evenings and basically going on 24 hour fasts)

I am now approaching my mid 30s, 5ft 7,  88kg and a father of 3.  I have always had a strong build and good muscular strength, however with age, alot changes. I no longer have the small waist that I used to,  excess fat is more stubborn than ever (specifically in the stomach and chest area) and I tend to hold alot more water than I used  

I have considered having some blood work done to check my test levels and get a starting point for the possibility of self administered TRT (low dosages and not 500 to 750mg per week) to get myself back to feeling and looking the way i did when i was younger, aid in recovery and give me a better, healthier zest for life and drive. It would however begin as a trial as I have no previous blood work to base my current levels off of.

My questions for the gurus are as

Can my fat stubborness be attributed to low test levels and high estrogen levels? Perhaps brought about by my previous poor diet. 

I am willing to post my current diet and training schedule for somebody to study should the be willing to take the time to comment and assist.

I feel it necessary to first dial in on diet and training before hopping straight onto TRT.

Thanks guys.
Hope to chat soon 

 

Getting blood work is first prize to start.

Body fat accumulated is generally lack of controlling the hole underneath your nose.

So getting on to a high protien diet is the start, 0 alchohol is a start. 10 000 steps a day. Training with intensity 4x a week, even a basic upper lower split(note i personally train upper lower split and im a competitive body builder). Sleep 8 hours a day, and then manage fatigue and recovery and stress.

You can post everything up, but your stubborn fat is not stubborn, its just fat, when you get close to the 5-6% range and you have a small amount left, that is stubborn fat.

A beer gut and chest fat is far from stubborn bro.

And yes, your estrogen will be quite high due to the aromatase enzyme being created in sub q fat stores, so if you are above 15% that generally will cause you to get higher levels of e2 and also lower levels of Testosterone. But by changing diet and doing 10 000 steps a day and lifting 4x a week, do this for 6 months, and you will find your blood work will be way different than it is now.

Thanks a mil for the response Empire.

I had a good chuckle at your comment regarding controlling the hole below my nose lol.

Perhaps "stubborn fat" was the wrong term to use, I am by no means a fat person but do generally carry a higher body fat, always have.

So yes, blood test to get a reference for future is definitely a start.

I work a pretty physical job and meet the recommended 10 00 steps atleast 6 days of the week so I don't worry too much with cardio in the gym.

I train 4 x a week, sometimes 5 and almost always in a fasted state as I train at 5am before work. Unless I fit in a session on the weekend.

I do not drink, I have been sober for 3 years and was not a heavy drinker before that either.

I do however come from a family where the males tend to have a thinker mid section lol.

So I'm thinking the problem lies in what I am consuming in a day and when. I eat relatively clean, meaning no junk food and keep oils, sugars and unhealthy fats to a


I will post up what I'm currently eating day to day aswell as my training programme to give a better perspective.

Thanks again bro.

Here is my current programm:

Day 1 - shoulders + calves

DB shoulder press 3 x 10
Machine shoulder press 1 x 12 to failure
Rear delt raises 3 x 12 to 10
Side laterals 3 x 12 + 1 to failure
Reverse flyes + cable side laterals superset 3 x 12
DB shrugs 4 x 10
Barbell Shrugs 2 x 15 to failure

Seated calve raises 4 x 12 to 15
Standing calve raises 7 x 12 (FST)

Day 2 - Back + triceps 

Single arm DB rows 3 x 10 to 8
T bar rows 3 x 10 to 8
Machine rows 2 x 12 to failure 
Lat pulls 4 x 10 to 8
Cable rows 3 x 8/10/12 to failure 

DB overhead press 3 x 12 to 10
Single arm extensions 2 x 12 to 10
EZ bar French press 2 x 12 to 15
Cable press downs 2 x 12/15 to failure 

Day 3 legs 

Barbell squats 3 x 10 to 8
​​​​​​Front squat 1 x 15 to faliure
RDL 3 x 12 to 10
Machine/ hack squat 3 x 12
Prone leg curls 3 x 12
Leg extensions 2 x 12 + 1 drop set to failure
Seated leg curl 1 x drop set to failure

Day 4 - Chest Biceps Calves 

Incline/flat DB press 3 x 10 to 8
​​​​​​Incline/flat flyes 3 x 10
Hammer strength Machine 2 x 12 to failure
Incline Hammer strength 2 x 12 to failure 
Cable crossover 7 x 12 (FST)

Hammer curls 1 x 10
Barbell Curls 2 x 10
DB curls 2 x 10
Machine preacher curls 2 x 12 to failure 

Seated calve raises 4 x 12 to 15
Standing calve raises 4 x 12 

I train 2 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on.


​​​
 

My diet is as follows:

7am - 75g future life high protein + 250ml full cream milk + banana 

9am - 100g oats + 200ml full cream milk + 30g peanut butter

11 am - 3 boiled eggs + 150g sweet potato

2pm - 250g cooked white rice + 150g venison mince 

5pm - 200g low fat yogurt + banana 

7:30pm - dinner (chicken pieces + veg/ mince pasta/ chicken pasta/ chicken schnitzel and )
 

Excluding dinner, which i am going to go on an average of about 600-700kcal

Your calorie intake is about 3100.

Your calorie intake is roughly, 33kcal per kg, which is where i usually start clients for offseason.

You want to be at 24kcal per kg for fat loss.
So yea its the hole under the nose thats the problem here. For fatloss you need to shave a 1000kcal out of your diet


220g Protein 60g fat 180g carbs a day.

What you posted up excluding your dinner is 2350 kcal, 70g fat, 280g of carbs, and only a 130g protein. So pushing that up with dinner is going to push you through the roof.
So that is why you are holding a lot of fat.

Thanks for taking the time to respond and advise Empire. Legend!

I will go do the math and adjust to meet those macros!

Any feedback?

Hey Empire, was just about to put an update up... hope all is well.

So changed things up a bit, diet now looks like this

7AM
60g future life
30g whey protein
250ml low fat milk

8:30AM

50g Rolled Oats
200ml low fat yogurt
1 x Banana

11AM

4 x whole scrambled eggs

1:30PM

150g chicken breast
200g steamed green bean, baby marrow, broccoli mix

4PM

150g chicken breast
100g steamed green bean and broccoli mix

7PM - Dinner

200g chicken breast (200g lean steak once a week)
150g sweet potato
150g green salad with tomato or 150g broccoli and cauliflower mix.
50g Avocado

Roughly 4 cups of coffee throughout the day, no sugar with low fat milk.

Been keeping a steady magnesium supplementation going for a bout 6 weeks now, I read that it could have benefits of lowering SHBG slightly.

As for the scale, it's says I'm 1.7kg down from the beginning of June.

I have noticed quite reduction in bloat and my mid section is starting to seem leaner.

Vascularity has increased and definition in certain areas like calves, forearms and slightly on my delts is getting better.

Please let me know your thoughts on my daily food intake, am I on the right track?

Training program has stayed the same.

Thanks legend, keep well.

Download the app fatsecret on your phone. Plug all the values in and see what macros you come to daily.

If you are having lean steak i wouldn't have avo with that as it will push fat up.

Remember lesn steak and chicken have different fat contents.

Log the food report back the Macros.

Funny you should recommend Fatsecret because I actually downloaded the app at the beginning of this venture to log my intake.

Played around for a few days to get the macros to where they are now.

Here is what it gives me...

Based on chicken and not steak in the evenings and no avo. Everything else as previously stated.

Total fat 62.9g
Cholesterol 1185mg
Sodium 1525mg
Total carbs 187.02g
Fiber 34.9g
Sugars 81.3g
Protein 214.49

It's a great app, eing south african, everything is relevant to what we can purchase at most stores.

Then you are bang on target, and if your weight has already started dropping and you are noticing less bloat then you are on the right path. Well done.

Now stick at that for a good period of time before you think of adding the gear in and you will be primed and ready for your growth phaze.

And based on that fat loss already i would cut training back to 4 days a week, 5 at a push, but about 80 working sets total per week.

I will keep my food intake consistent for a good while and see how long I continue making progress... not really concerned by the scale but more so by BF % so I will get that checked once a month or so.

I may change up my training programme slightly, due to time constraints as I only really have an hour in the mornings so perhaps lower the volume and up the intensity.

Between 12 and 15 working sets is my sweet spot, leg days 18 sets. After that I just feel depleted and that I'm doing unnecessary damage... I end up just doing random shit with no focus to just fit in extra sets which in essence is useless... so I may change to 2 days on, 1 off, 3 on, 1 off...

Once again, thanks a stack for taking the time and effort to respond and share your wisdom, that's class!

Until the next update... keep well

Hi guys, hope all is well and everybody had a lekker Christmas, new year and we're all fired up and ready for the year ahead.

OK, so I've been going steady with my training and diet since I started this thread and it's been going well.

I have managed to get my body weight down to 81kg which i have managed to maintain for the past 3 to 4 months while making progress on adding muscle.

I went to see my GP a few weeks ago to discuss a few things (vasectomy was the main reason) and also to discuss my slight concentarion issue and low sex drive... so my GP has quite a bit of experience with HRT and TRT patients  and working with various endocrinologists.

She sent me for a couple of basic tests just to get a start point and this is what came back.
          
Free test                             107.6     (170 - 660)
Total test (Beckman)       6.0         (6.9 - 23.6)
SHBG                                  35.8       (13.3 - 89.5)
FSH                                     3.3          (1.3 - 19.3)
TSH                                     1.95      (0.45 - 4.12)
LH                                         0.8        (1.2 - 8.6)
Glucose                               5.3        (3.9 - 6.0)
 
so as you can see, my free test, Total test and LH are all low. 

My GP did ask if I had recently been on any form of anabolics to which I answered no as I haven't used since 2013.

After receiving the results, my GP called me and expressed concern about my low LH levels and is currently trying to get me an appointment with the endo that she works with.

Just wanted to post on update and get your guys thoughts on my results. 

Chat soon.

With those numbers it looks like it's time to go on TRT. Thankfully you've got a few kids already. There's always the option of HCG if you want another kid.