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I am in the same boat as caino and on trt now 125mg test cyp weekly, yeah maybe a year of lots of rest, sleep and food would have fixed it but either way I was gonna hop back on the bike eventually so why beat around the bush?Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
This topic interests me quite a bit. I honestly was not aware people had testosterone issues unless they were over the age of 40.
I have to ask this.. Cuz it doesn't seem like the basics have really been covered.Suap.. how much are you eating? Are you fasting? If so, how often? What kind of training are you doing? Are you sleeping 8+ hrs a night? So many basic, basic things could possibly fix your problems, all without ever having to touch exogenous hormones.. (Well, except the xenoestrogens that are all over the world 😛 )
that x10000000The only reason why im on TRT is due to severly under eatig and overtraining while trying to keep sub 6% BF the only thing i can say toMyself is, stupid fucking idiot,
And even still, there is a decent chance one in that situation could dig themselves out of that hole by simply just eating a lot, sleeping a lot, and lowering stress. It would be slow going, and probably wouldn't get someone back to where they would've been without the issue to begin with, but still..
tried that, never returned to normal, my normal would be about 10 mmol free T which is very normal...... For an old man not a 24 yo
Well that really sucks.. But yeah, everyone will be different. Some can bounce back, others can't.. And it could possibly take a very long time, like mike alluded to.
Hey guys – since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Hey guys - since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Great post, firstly.Secondly.. in regards to the multiple herbals vs the HRT .. Keep in mind the herbals will work to help your body NATURALLY start producing your hormones, so that in time you stop using them and your body is back to producing them the way they should. The HRT will act in the exact opposite way of supplying the hormones for you, so your body thinks "Oh ok, we don't need to try and make this anymore since we're getting it elsewhere" and it can POTENTIALLY downregulate your ability to make the hormones in the future, thus possibly making HRT a rest-of-your-life type thing. Just my thought on that..Lastly, you said "I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath" .. Who gives a crap what the endo will 'allow'? It's your body, neither practitioner can force you to do anything. If it were me, I'd definitely work the natural route first and see what kind of results I can get from that, and quite honestly I probably wouldn't even tell the endo.. I'd just stop going to them, ha.Good luck, man!
Hey guys - since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Very interesting post... you seem like a good guy Do you feel out of balance at all? diet/lifestyle or anything at all? The diet sometimes isn't the issue, and it looks like you are doing it fine, without all the minusha details. Although i am sure some will say you screwed up because u didn't add almond butter Lol
Hey guys - since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Great post, firstly.Secondly.. in regards to the multiple herbals vs the HRT .. Keep in mind the herbals will work to help your body NATURALLY start producing your hormones, so that in time you stop using them and your body is back to producing them the way they should. The HRT will act in the exact opposite way of supplying the hormones for you, so your body thinks "Oh ok, we don't need to try and make this anymore since we're getting it elsewhere" and it can POTENTIALLY downregulate your ability to make the hormones in the future, thus possibly making HRT a rest-of-your-life type thing. Just my thought on that..Lastly, you said "I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath" .. Who gives a crap what the endo will 'allow'? It's your body, neither practitioner can force you to do anything. If it were me, I'd definitely work the natural route first and see what kind of results I can get from that, and quite honestly I probably wouldn't even tell the endo.. I'd just stop going to them, ha.Good luck, man!
TCB - 1) I really like the endo and got the same feeling, helps when they're attractive. 2) What I was saying is I'd like to suggest that route of treatment first, and ask to work hand in hand with her. "Hey doc, I'd like to try to treat this naturally first...what would you think if I tried to work through this with the naturopath and came back in two months for more blood work?" I kind of need the endo for insurance related blood work so I'm not paying out of pocket for all of the work with the naturopath and also, I'd prefer not to look like a complete ass in 2 months if it doesn't work and have to say "Yeah, so I guess you're right, let's do it your way now." I'd prefer to have her on board is all I'm saying. If she's not for what I want, then you're right, it'd be time to find someone who is. I want to have people helping me on their team and at the same time, I don't want her to think I don't think she's right.Yes, HRT would be a rest of your life type move...thus the reason for my internal debate about which the treatment route.
Hey guys - since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Very interesting post... you seem like a good guy Do you feel out of balance at all? diet/lifestyle or anything at all? The diet sometimes isn't the issue, and it looks like you are doing it fine, without all the minusha details. Although i am sure some will say you screwed up because u didn't add almond butter Lol
Thanks Big_R, I am good guy. And I love some almond butter, just feel like eating the almonds gives me more substance than the almond butter when looking at the total cals.Dude - here is the problem, assuming you like football...if I gave you tickets to an NFL game for free, I'd think you'd be pumped. Someone gives them to me, opening Monday night home game at that, and I'm too busy thinking about how tired I'll be the next day and how late I'll be home. I have no zest for life...no "HELL YEAH" attitude, no adrenaline or rush anymore, nothing gets me excited.The biggest struggle for me is I currently hit a wall around 2:00 and in the evenings I'm pretty tired...like tired enough to lay down at 5:30 and go to sleep...make sense?I'm not some schmuck just looking for a reason to get on the sauce. I've seen myself become an extremely short-tempered father and a very bitter husband who gets snippy so quickly it's repulsive. It's just not me. I'm more than willing to see a psychologist but at the same time, if you felt like this every day, wouldn't you probably be a little bit depressed too? I think the lack of energy/mood swings are causing the depression...not the other way around.
Hey guys - since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Very interesting post... you seem like a good guy Do you feel out of balance at all? diet/lifestyle or anything at all? The diet sometimes isn't the issue, and it looks like you are doing it fine, without all the minusha details. Although i am sure some will say you screwed up because u didn't add almond butter Lol
Thanks Big_R, I am good guy. And I love some almond butter, just feel like eating the almonds gives me more substance than the almond butter when looking at the total cals.Dude - here is the problem, assuming you like football...if I gave you tickets to an NFL game for free, I'd think you'd be pumped. Someone gives them to me, opening Monday night home game at that, and I'm too busy thinking about how tired I'll be the next day and how late I'll be home. I have no zest for life...no "HELL YEAH" attitude, no adrenaline or rush anymore, nothing gets me excited.The biggest struggle for me is I currently hit a wall around 2:00 and in the evenings I'm pretty tired...like tired enough to lay down at 5:30 and go to sleep...make sense?I'm not some schmuck just looking for a reason to get on the sauce. I've seen myself become an extremely short-tempered father and a very bitter husband who gets snippy so quickly it's repulsive. It's just not me. I'm more than willing to see a psychologist but at the same time, if you felt like this every day, wouldn't you probably be a little bit depressed too? I think the lack of energy/mood swings are causing the depression...not the other way around.
Hey i was kidding about the Almond butter! hahaActually man, you and I are in a similar place... your 30 w/ a 5yr old and i'm 26 with a 15 month old! Have a good "JOB" and nice living space. I hit the 2:00pm wall too sometimes, but sometimes i don't ... I train at 6:00pm and have been known to fall asleep at 5:00 hahah, thank GOD for CAFFEINE!!!!I don't know if i'd go as far as psychologist, because they like to 'diagnose' and i'm not always a fan of that.... sometimes it just easier to talk about stuff first. you went from playing baseball, professionally, to landing a good job getting married, and having kids. If you haven't been married or have kids then you simply don't understand the stress that comes with that. Seriously, give yourself a break once in a while because i'm going to be honest.... It's tough shit, and it can take it's toll on the body. the thing about me is that i'm still getting used to it all. Nothing is easy anymore and i tend to be pessimistic and glass half empty too. Are you feeling any wavelength's here? common grounds?
Hey guys - since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Very interesting post... you seem like a good guy Do you feel out of balance at all? diet/lifestyle or anything at all? The diet sometimes isn't the issue, and it looks like you are doing it fine, without all the minusha details. Although i am sure some will say you screwed up because u didn't add almond butter Lol
Thanks Big_R, I am good guy. And I love some almond butter, just feel like eating the almonds gives me more substance than the almond butter when looking at the total cals.Dude - here is the problem, assuming you like football...if I gave you tickets to an NFL game for free, I'd think you'd be pumped. Someone gives them to me, opening Monday night home game at that, and I'm too busy thinking about how tired I'll be the next day and how late I'll be home. I have no zest for life...no "HELL YEAH" attitude, no adrenaline or rush anymore, nothing gets me excited.The biggest struggle for me is I currently hit a wall around 2:00 and in the evenings I'm pretty tired...like tired enough to lay down at 5:30 and go to sleep...make sense?I'm not some schmuck just looking for a reason to get on the sauce. I've seen myself become an extremely short-tempered father and a very bitter husband who gets snippy so quickly it's repulsive. It's just not me. I'm more than willing to see a psychologist but at the same time, if you felt like this every day, wouldn't you probably be a little bit depressed too? I think the lack of energy/mood swings are causing the depression...not the other way around.
Hey i was kidding about the Almond butter! hahaActually man, you and I are in a similar place... your 30 w/ a 5yr old and i'm 26 with a 15 month old! Have a good "JOB" and nice living space. I hit the 2:00pm wall too sometimes, but sometimes i don't ... I train at 6:00pm and have been known to fall asleep at 5:00 hahah, thank GOD for CAFFEINE!!!!I don't know if i'd go as far as psychologist, because they like to 'diagnose' and i'm not always a fan of that.... sometimes it just easier to talk about stuff first. you went from playing baseball, professionally, to landing a good job getting married, and having kids. If you haven't been married or have kids then you simply don't understand the stress that comes with that. Seriously, give yourself a break once in a while because i'm going to be honest.... It's tough shit, and it can take it's toll on the body. the thing about me is that i'm still getting used to it all. Nothing is easy anymore and i tend to be pessimistic and glass half empty too. Are you feeling any wavelength's here? common grounds?
Sure, I know we have similarities and I understand life is stressful, but the biggest frustration for me is what I feel like is a lack of progress in the physique department. You look great in your profile pic and honestly, that's all I'd like to go to. I don't know what you're at but I'd like to feel like I'm making progress. Do you think I should throw creatine in the mix? Obviously I realize nothing is a magic pill.I've been reading a lot of poloquin lately and he advocates a preworkout meal as well as carbs post workout. Do you think I should be consuming something pre-workout other than my stim drink? Thoughts on carbs post-workout? Obviously I'm doing CNS so that would be hard. I am using leucine, is that supposed to mimic the effect of carbs?
Hey guys - since you asked I'll try to lay out as much pertinent info as possible:Currently 30, 6'4", 231 lbs as of Monday. In early July I was 241lbs w/ 18% bodyfat (approx. 198 LBM).I started CNS then but had a vacation in July and August so for the first two months I was doing more reorientation than CarbNites. So really for the month of September, things have been normal as far as CNS goes. As I stated I'm currently 231 lbs. Strength seems to be remaining the same.My BodPod testing put me at 3300 cals for maintenance, so I've been starting with that as a baseline. ULC days I eat 2700 cals, aim for 200g protein and fat, and 20g carbs. Here is a sample of what a typical day looks like:5:30am - Pre-workout stim drink (1MR)7:00 - Post workout shake (40 grams whey isolate/hydro, 5g leucine, 5g glutamine)9:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, spinach, pecans (or almonds/walnuts)11:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia1:00 - 8 oz 80/20 ground beef, kale, walnuts (or pecans/walnuts)3:00 - Green Tea w/ stevia5:30 - Typically a small snack (150 cals, nuts or pork rinds)7:30 - 10 oz beef/chicken/fish, veggies, some fat (typically butter/bacon grease, coconut oil)I do CarbNite on Wednesdays and aim for at least 600g carbs and occasionally hit 800g. Lately I've settled in around 650. CarbNites are typically filled with rice/dextrose/rice cereal/rice crackers/and very low fat. Gluten free but not dairy free as I have a fair share of skim milk. Here is a weekly breakdown of my last few weeks of Cals:Week of 9/17/13: 3092 daily average calsWeek of 9/24/13: 3119 daily average calsWeek of 10/1/13: 3098 daily average calsA little more info: in Dec. 2011 I specially asked about low test, results showed total test was 491 (28 years old at the time, averages say I should probably be in the mid 600s). Had a test two weeks ago and at the age of 30 I'm sitting at 318, again doc says I should be in the 600s. For further info, as a competitive athlete in college I dabbled w/ test twice. Both short cycles. I've had a child sense so I can only assume that my test levels bounced back to a certain extent.Sleep/Stress/Lifestyle - Sleep, I get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night in a cold, dark room. The endocrinolgist has ordered a sleep study and ACTH stim test to make sure this isn't adrenal or sleep related. I feel like I sleep well but don't wake up and feel refreshed. I have a somewhat busy schedule with a 5-year old and a career wife. I'm happy in my relationship and fairly happy with my job.Workouts - 4 days a week, lighter days on Mon (Push), Tues (Pull) - Rest on Wedneday with CarbNite, Thurs (Heavy Push), Fri (Heavy Pull), Thursday and Friday's workouts are followed by 10 mins of HIIT (stationary bike or elliptcal, 40 secs slow, 20 secs sprint), Saturday is just a HIIT session, sprinting on a treadmill, 20 mins (3:30 walk, 30 seconds spring, 5 cycles).Supplements: ZMA at night, 5000 IU vitamin D daily, mentioned Whey/Leucine/Glutamine post-workout and my pre-workout drink. I've been debating adding creatine but I didn't want to play with too many variables at once, because I'd like to figure out what's working and what's not.Symptoms - I pushed my doctor for additional testing because I felt like this was related to low cortisol. In May 2011 I had a 24-hour salivary panel done and it showed low cortisol throughout the day (normal test/DHEA levels. I noticed I had all of the symptoms then as I did now (No motivation, depression, lack of desire to do anything, extreme irritability, mood swings, overall bad attitude about life.) I see a general practitioner, now an endocrinolgist, and also a naturopath who I have great respect for. She discovered a food intolerance to eggs which allowed me to get off IBS medications I'd been on since college. I've pinged her about this a few times and she's stated hormone replacement therapy wouldn't be her first treatment option. The biggest problem with seeing the naturopath is that it's not covered by insurance so everything is out of pocket. Which is cheaper, to be on multiple herbal supps a month out of pocket or low-cost test through insurance. Which is overall healthier is a different question.A little more about me: not to toot my own horn but I feel like so far I've been very successful, I was fortunate enough to play baseball on scholarship at a top 10 ranked school, played professional baseball for a few years, and then was fortunate enough to land a nice job. I married young and have a wonderful family with a successful wife. I've always been a glass is half full type of guy but when your wife makes a comment to you that "If you were in a good mood, it'd surprise me." it really opens your eyes. I've become more aware of my pissy attitude lately. Everything is negative, my first reaction is to bitch and complain. I've very much become a glass is half empty type of person and that's just not who I am.Sorry this has been a long post but I wanted to give you the most information possible for making any recommendations/assumptions. I'm an open book and glad to share my journey. Stim test is set for the 14th and sleep study consult (to see if I qualify) is the same week.I want to do this in sync w/ the naturopath and the endocrinolgist. I'm wondering if the endo would give me say 2 months to work with the naturopath and then retest my levels to see where I stand.Thoughts are MORE THAN WELCOME!
Very interesting post... you seem like a good guy Do you feel out of balance at all? diet/lifestyle or anything at all? The diet sometimes isn't the issue, and it looks like you are doing it fine, without all the minusha details. Although i am sure some will say you screwed up because u didn't add almond butter Lol
Thanks Big_R, I am good guy. And I love some almond butter, just feel like eating the almonds gives me more substance than the almond butter when looking at the total cals.Dude - here is the problem, assuming you like football...if I gave you tickets to an NFL game for free, I'd think you'd be pumped. Someone gives them to me, opening Monday night home game at that, and I'm too busy thinking about how tired I'll be the next day and how late I'll be home. I have no zest for life...no "HELL YEAH" attitude, no adrenaline or rush anymore, nothing gets me excited.The biggest struggle for me is I currently hit a wall around 2:00 and in the evenings I'm pretty tired...like tired enough to lay down at 5:30 and go to sleep...make sense?I'm not some schmuck just looking for a reason to get on the sauce. I've seen myself become an extremely short-tempered father and a very bitter husband who gets snippy so quickly it's repulsive. It's just not me. I'm more than willing to see a psychologist but at the same time, if you felt like this every day, wouldn't you probably be a little bit depressed too? I think the lack of energy/mood swings are causing the depression...not the other way around.
Hey i was kidding about the Almond butter! hahaActually man, you and I are in a similar place... your 30 w/ a 5yr old and i'm 26 with a 15 month old! Have a good "JOB" and nice living space. I hit the 2:00pm wall too sometimes, but sometimes i don't ... I train at 6:00pm and have been known to fall asleep at 5:00 hahah, thank GOD for CAFFEINE!!!!I don't know if i'd go as far as psychologist, because they like to 'diagnose' and i'm not always a fan of that.... sometimes it just easier to talk about stuff first. you went from playing baseball, professionally, to landing a good job getting married, and having kids. If you haven't been married or have kids then you simply don't understand the stress that comes with that. Seriously, give yourself a break once in a while because i'm going to be honest.... It's tough shit, and it can take it's toll on the body. the thing about me is that i'm still getting used to it all. Nothing is easy anymore and i tend to be pessimistic and glass half empty too. Are you feeling any wavelength's here? common grounds?
Sure, I know we have similarities and I understand life is stressful, but the biggest frustration for me is what I feel like is a lack of progress in the physique department. You look great in your profile pic and honestly, that's all I'd like to go to. I don't know what you're at but I'd like to feel like I'm making progress. Do you think I should throw creatine in the mix? Obviously I realize nothing is a magic pill.I've been reading a lot of poloquin lately and he advocates a preworkout meal as well as carbs post workout. Do you think I should be consuming something pre-workout other than my stim drink? Thoughts on carbs post-workout? Obviously I'm doing CNS so that would be hard. I am using leucine, is that supposed to mimic the effect of carbs?
Thanks for the complimentI'm not going to BS you man... I don't take creatine, leucine, or anything like that, just protein/bcaa/occassionally tribulus but not in the past 6 months. I've spent a lot of time playing with diet, and it doesn't produce results. Hell, i'm eating carbs ALL DAY right now, oatmeal as soon as my eyes open in the morning and getting leaner!! It's the Training Stimulus that makes the difference. This is coming from someone who used test many many times... I'm at my best naturally now thanks to training correctly... (that's just me of course)The way that you train has to be right, which is why i suggest the personal trainer and measurements. your routine should be based on YOU and your body. This is why everyone in the gym looks the damn same year in and out. they pick exercises randomly and perform.... throwing up a prayer hoping it works. I know most personal trainers out there are full of shit, but you gotta look for a good one. My gym has an ex-bodybuilder who at least won't have you squatting one-leg on a bosu ball!
Exactly – and that's why I think the whole process sucks. There is so much information available EVERYWHERE and everyone has a differing opion. So far I've liked the push/pull splits. I could go to 4-day body part splits. I could go back to 3-day per week splits. I mean there is information everywhere. It's so damn confusing and trying to find a good trainer sucks. The majority of the trainers at my globo gym look like they're in worse shape than me. I just want to pay someone to do the programming, look at my results/numbers and adjust. One less thing for me to worry about…is that available from a trusted source?
Exactly - and that's why I think the whole process sucks. There is so much information available EVERYWHERE and everyone has a differing opion. So far I've liked the push/pull splits. I could go to 4-day body part splits. I could go back to 3-day per week splits. I mean there is information everywhere. It's so damn confusing and trying to find a good trainer sucks. The majority of the trainers at my globo gym look like they're in worse shape than me. I just want to pay someone to do the programming, look at my results/numbers and adjust. One less thing for me to worry about...is that available from a trusted source?
I haven't worked splits in a very long time... but all that really depends on goals/ you personal anatomy and stuff like that. Taking measurements allows you to see where you are genetically gifted and what your actual shape is like. Knowing your anatomy will better help you organize your routine. For example, I have big traps and my shoulders get big easy. I work them 1 time every 3 weeks... otherwise i will look like batista. No joke! My traps and shoulders like to get involved on EVERYTHING : shoulder press, bench press, fly, rows.... so it's hard for me to really target upper body muscles because they like to help so damn much all the time. Guess what i do? Monday i work shoulders - tuesday they are too damn tired to help on chest movements, resulting in a great stimulus and triceps actually get worked - I wouldn't have figured this out unless i got measurements.... it was really obvious to tell with the tape measure i was genetically blessed in that area. I would have never known otherwise! I never had great chest development .... till i discovered this. This is only 1 scenario..... I could list a hundred more! lol
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