I hear you, man – and probably the length of time on TRT (2-3 years at this point?) has helped too. There are just a lot of guys who work out religiously but don’t look half as good as you – so that should be encouraging! Get that nutrition dialed and you’ll look like Mr. Olympia compared to most gym-goers.
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The first 6-8 months of TRT I didn’t workout and felt worse than I did pre-TRT because I was crushing my estrogen like McConaughey crushes vagine. That’s why depending on the conversation I usually say 2 years on TRT because that first year was more like Torture replacement therapy. Once I stopped that shit my body started changing dramatically.
I’m going to have to post pics one of these days
“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today.” - Ernest Hemingway
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Hemingway was a savage. Dude must’ve had impressive FT.
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Deep thoughts there… Nice reminder @dextermorgan!
I think this could be my problem. For a long time, I’ve had the fear of too many carbs, etc… And have only been eating around 1500 - 1800 calories. Didn’t want to get too fat I guess. Backwards thinking.
I love the athlean x program. I enjoy the web interface and how he’s laid everything out. I’m a believer. I’ve been sore in places I didn’t know I could get sore.
Once I can figure out a diet that works better for me, I’m hoping to see more improvement. Timing when I take my Armour Thyroid on an empty stomach and no food or coffee an hour before and after had been a real pain. I might say fuck it and just not worry about the empty stomach thing…
Haha, it’s honestly impressive man. I’m over here eating like a god damn saint, and have the lipids of a 500lb sedentary McDonalds eater, and you’re eating all that delicious shit and still looking good and I’m assuming decent lipids!
The majority of people I know / have helped, have this same problem. Everyone wants abs, and to be lean (well a vast majority). So they are terrified to over eat. In the process, they struggle to gain muscle. It’s VERY difficult to over eat healthy food. I personally have to add shakes, and biweekly pizzas to keep my calories up where they need to be.
I used to be the same way, 2,000 calories a day, ~8% body fat, but couldn’t get any bigger. Until I realized what I was eating wasn’t nearly enough. I have a buddy now who I’ve been helping. He said, “I eat a ton dude”. He sent me a log of his daily intake, and it was 2100 calories. He’s now eating 3500 and slowly gaining weight. People over estimate what they think they eat, and under estimate what they think they need to eat.
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I hate you dude. Hate you! Lol. I’m over here rejoicing that I dropped my LDL from 260 to 156 
my HDL struggles to even stay at 40. I don’t drink alcohol, smoke anything, eat fast food, drink soda, nothing. Yet my lipids are trash. I’m jealous bro!
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I think this definitely can pertain to the small crowd who are big into gaining muscle. But wouldn’t you agree that the inverse is true for most people (especially Americans)? So many sedentary people have no idea how much they’re eating (and just worthless calories too), it’s mind-boggling.
Personally I would agree. My dad finally figured out eating 1200+ calories for breakfast made it pretty tough to not gain weight assuming you ate anything for lunch/dinner. And he’s not remotely large compared to most of America
At the same time, until I actually recorded everything I was eating I didn’t realize I was only getting like 1200 calories a day. 1500 tops. The only time I hit 2000 was when I had a fried chicken fast food meal literally twice a day and ate something for breakfast, which I never usually eat
Have you always been a light eater? You must have a pretty small appetite. 2000 would have me ravenous!
Went to inject first thing this AM and noticed my arm was looking kind of juicy. I think arms are where I’ve seen the most growth since starting TRT, which is odd because I don’t do much direct volume…but not complaining. Every guy wants bigger guns!
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It’s crazy. I track my food and Thursday I consumed 1652 calories and was stuffed. Breakdown was:
Fat - 41g
Carbs - 82g
Protein - 251g
I usually get a tad less protein/carbs and more fat than that… But I’m usually right around those numbers daily.
I weigh 170lbs and am 5’ 11". I wonder if I need to switch those up. Seems I should get more carbs and less fat?
Curls get the girls man
Damn, that is extremely high protein and low calorie. I definitely think you need to bump your calories up. It’ll be easier to eat more if you increase carbs or fat and decrease protein — that’s the opposite advice of what most people need, but 1652 is so little, brother.
I’m cutting right now at 207 P 207 C 77 F (2400 kcal).
Thanks man. I guess I’ll just have to find some room for more good carbs in there. I eat oatmeal, quinoa and sweet potatoes as my main carbs… But get residual carbs from other things like veggies, cottage cheese and nuts (almonds, pumpkin seeds, pistachios). Guess I need to figure it out and just trust the process.
Appreciate the suggestions as diet has always been an issue to really figure out for me.
Edit - do you try to keep a 1:1 ratio of carbs to protein and fill in the rest with fats?
For sure, I’m only referring to those into fitness whether it be gaining or losing weight, I think most are shocked to find out what they’re actually consuming. The average American doesn’t give two shits about calories or how food affects the body, and it’s evident by 2/3rds of America being overweight in some capacity.
Jeezus Christ man. What are your goals?5’11 and 170 is relatively thin. You’re massively under eating unless you’re about to compete and trying to go on a massive cut.
I personally maintain around 3,500 calories, and when adding size, I aim for 4000-4500 calories.
You need to up your fat and carbs. Unless of course you’re undergoing a big cut phase.
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