Just starting to feel not fat!! Some of the journey...
I started gyming back in April of last year. Back then, I did a body composition read and I registered something like 270lbs at 34% bf. I was in deep alcoholism for a few years prior, and had been in rehab several times within a relatively short period of time. The last rehab finally clicked, and I'm well over a year sober now, which is great.
I feel the gym has replaced my former alcohol addiction. Most of my day and life revolve around trying to get enough protein and gyming. Several other items go with that, and one is not drinking.
I notice when I used to drink and gym the next day, I felt off - for around 3 days actually. I think alcohol sets me back too much. When I gym, I don't want to drink. Gyming is my addiction. That and the PEDs (which I feel I use at a conservative rate).
Now, it's been almost 11 full months of fairly good diet overall and lots of time at the gym. I'm now under 25% bf, and still falling pretty quickly, while also building muscle. I am now able to see some abs popping out, which feels good. Veins are starting to come out as well. I finally have a lot more confidence than I used to.
I don't feel I have been this fit for at least 5 years, and I feel so damn good. I can actually control my body like I used to.
And now I want to dive into the use of PEDs. I started these 6 months into my fitness journey. So far, I do no regret my choice - quite the contrary. I got the same results - some substantially better - in less than half the time being natural. This might have a few other factors as well, but I'm sure 400mg/wk of T and some anavar helped lol (AI and all that fun in hand). I'm in my mid-30s, so I feel justified in taking the hormones.
I've been cruising on 200mg of T per week, and I'm still losing fat and gaining muscle. I'm about to start up another cycle of T and var. There is a dash of NPP in there I like to use as well.
I'm about to take another blood test when I remember to schedule one during the week and fast. My lipids and blood all seem in pretty good order. I feel great. I feel PEDs helped me shed fat substantially faster; I don't see why their use for this reason isn't encouraged more, or considered instead bariatric surgery or something like that. Like a small cycle for people to shed some weight.
I'm happy in life right now, after some cluster fuck of bad things happening to me (because of my alcoholism) that started right about the time of COVID. That's when my alcoholism took off, and quite the series of bad decisions. A lot of recovery has been made in the past year. Self discovery, mental health practices - a bunch of "hippie shit" that actually works.
I wish you all the best and happiest 
End of Jan 2023 labs:
- Bookmark
- 0
- 0
Just to say well done to you. I have a close friend that was in the same position as you with alcohol. He’s been sober about 4 years now, replaced the alcohol addiction with a gym addiction. He’s gone from me having to drag him to train to being there before me. It’s great to see him that way.
Be proud of yourself. You done good ;)
Hell Yeah!!! Alcohol is soooo anti muscle. Stay sober get bigger. Foooooook struggling with nicotine rn. Wearing the patches. Love vaping and damn nicorett gum. Want more gains trying to kick it. Keep up the hard work brother!
Your lipids actually look too good to have been running anavar. After 4 weeks on var my lipids get horrible. And I have to take about 4 weeks off. Also if your 25% BF and seeing abs that means you have alot of visceral fat which is the dangerous kind. I would definitely stick to only a low dose of test and focus on your diet and overall health. My transformation and comeback after dealing with mental health issues are shown in my thread I created take a look there for motivation to see it can be done. That's from 270 in Sept to 225lb last week.
It could be attributed to the GW
@mash'd taters were you running GW before/during these labs? GW does amazing things to lipids, only way I'll run var
You might be onto something here....
I was running GW for a week or two I believe. I still have a couple dozen tabs left. Thanks for you input!!
For me, it's the main reason to take it. The endurance and fat loss is cool and all but the lipid health, that's key. This shit makes me sound old, lol. Next I'll be talking about sunday being my favorite day because the newspapers have the most coupons
TricepatopsI questioned that also about how good his lipids look on Var. Maybe his var is fake?
I haven't discounted this. I didn't get it from a source here, but I got it from a reputable enough place that sells a "brand name" UGL lab. My heart's not broken if it was fake, as I am going to use a source or two I've found here that I like.
I like var for this:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8574271/
Conclusions: Oral oxandrolone decreased SQ abdominal fat more than TE or weight loss alone and also tended to produce favorable changes in visceral fat.
Careful with the var and other orals if you had any type of liver damage from drinking. Congrats on staying sober that long that's huge. Keep it up! Be safe!
TricepatopsThe good thing about the liver is it is one of the few organs that can repair itself back to normal if you don't damage it enough or have some preexisting disease or disorder that constantly damages it. Var also affects kidneys.
Thank you. Yes, after deciding to go sober, and being sober for a few months, I got all the liver enzymes checked. But, I should probably get those checked again because it's been a bit. I've been getting all matters of other blood testing done here and there throughout the process.
TricepatopsYou just had bloods at the end of Jan that has 2 enzymes that tell you about your liver.
TricepatopsFirst congrats on being sober. Second and I think I won't be the only one. At 25% fat you see abs? And you shouldn't be on AAS. Also if you been on 200mgs of test a week you most likely are over the baseline and that usually is where most consider it a cycle. You need to get blood first of all and make sure everything is in check. Var is going to mess up your lipids and I have a feeling yours are pretty bad considering your former lifestyle. Most on here are going to say you need to concentrate on diet and nothing else added in no AAS. Now if you truly have hypogonadism then have a doctor monitor you and get on a dose that puts you in range. I use to be on 200mgs and I always tested over and made the decision for my health to lower it and get it in range. Also no need for an AI or Nolva. Get some bloods done a full hormone panel, CBC, and Metabolic and post and me or others can get you the info you needed.
Got some CBC and lipids checked a couple of weeks ago.
I really feel that T has helped me immensely. I feel so much better than I used to. I don't feel the lipids are bad at all.
TricepatopsYour lipids are pretty good. Are those when you were on Var? Cause those are real good considering your on Var. Not saying the Var is fake but usually Var hit HDL and LDL pretty good and yours are real good.
Some people try to give me a lot of advice, but honestly, I do a pretty good amount of my own research I feel, and I appreciate my results so far - and honestly what I'm doing is keeping me in the gym. I am at the gym almost every day for around 90 minute. Off day every 6 days or so.
I don't feel I am going overboard with anything and using everything responsibility. One of my friends gave me shit about my diet last night, but I feel all my markers are in pretty good order. I have my diet oscillations - true - but that helps me not stab my eyes out with ice picks. I'm not trying to compete or anything. It just takes time to lose the fat - and a lot of peer reviewed scientifical journals support the idea that PEDs help accelerate that, so I weighed the risks and decided to jump on board with T and a little var, and nandrolone for the joints. Then cycle off, with sub-200mg/wk of T. Not sure about permanent TRT or not yet.
TricepatopsAs long as you do it right and get bloods and they are healthy you should be fine. But also seen many people go from a drug addiction or alcohol and get into the gym and steroids. Then AAS becomes the replacement for their old addiction. Just be careful about that.
Point taken. The whole gym thing takes my obsession now. I do like the AAS, not going to lie about that. I'm pretty happy with just the T (and dash of NPP). I'm enjoying the results I'm seeing, especially the fat burning. I was losing quite a bit of fat and muscle before AAS/PEDs.