Restricting Calories, Lowered Test?

Nutrition
1

I read that if you restrict calories too much, then your testosterone levels and other anabolic hormones plummet and you go into starvation mode.

I thought that you are in only three stages, anabolic (more going in than out), maintenance (equal), catabolic (more going out than in). So theoretically, if you are dieting which is catabolic, your body is always going to go into starvation mode anyway?

Any thoughts?

2

Everything you just talked about has conditions with it. What TYPE of calories you are restricting, how many calories under maintenence you go, how often you consume calories, and what you may be supplementing with. Just because you go into a caloric deficit doesn’t necessarily mean you go into a “starvation mode”.

Test levels are best maintained with fat calories. I have been in a restricted phase for about 2 months and I can tell my levels haven’t plummeted. A high fat, low carb aprroach IMO is the best way to restrict and still have good hormone levels. I would also suggest ZMA as a staple for maintaining those levels. It is inexpensive and has been VERY effective, for me at least.

There are many articles here that will answer your question and educate you about restricting calories, maintaining hormone levels, and everything that goes with it. Here’s one to get you started:

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1615551

cueball

3

Thanks a lot for your response! Yeah, I have also found that to be true also. I am doing the metabolic diet (orignally anabolic diet) just now.

I am following a high phase and low phase plan (i.e. low calories for say 3 days, and high calories for 1-3 days). It is recommended that your high days are only at maintenance level or just higher, and the lower days are at 500 less than maintenance.

I am starting to experiment moreso now though because I find that eating a peak level of calories of maintenance doesn’t increase t-levels enough (they go down gradually even though I’m not losing much fat). I’m trying a new plan where I increase hormone levels and metabolism pretty well on the high days (via about double my maintenaance levels), and hoping that this will be enough to keep t-levels high through the really low calorie days (i.e. 1000 cals lower than maintenance). Still experimenting though.