Figured I would make a post about some of the stuff I’ve learned over the last couple months because I see a lot of other beginners on here asking the same kind of questions I’ve asked.

I’m definitely still a beginner myself so this isn’t supposed to be me telling anybody how to run a cycle or acting like I know everything. Trust me, the more I read on here the more I realize I don’t know shit --

But I’ve learned a lot from searching through old posts on here and asking questions, so maybe some of the stuff I’ve picked up can help another newer guy.

Little background on me. I’ve actually been on TRT for about 2 years, so testosterone and injections aren’t new to me. About 8 weeks ago I decided to put my foot on the gas a little bit and see what I could do with just testosterone. I started at 75mg EOD and eventually moved to 100mg EOD.

That’s just what I did. I’m not saying that’s what anybody else should take.

The funny thing is I thought most of what I was going to learn would be about testosterone.

It really hasn’t been.

Most of the shit I’ve learned has been about FOOD --

Calories were probably the biggest thing for me

I’ve gone from about 235 pounds down to around 180 over the last 6 months or so. And no, before somebody says it, I’m not saying testosterone made me lose 55 pounds lol. I was already losing weight before I decided to turn things up 8 weeks ago.

What really changed things for me was actually learning how calories work instead of just saying “I’m eating less.”

I always understood calories in/calories out on a basic level. Eat less and you lose weight. No shit.

But I never really understood maintenance calories, how to estimate what I actually burn in a day, how big of a deficit I’m running, or how quickly that deficit SHOULD be moving my weight.

Once I learned that part, this became a lot easier.

The other thing I learned is how unbelievably easy it is to lie to yourself about how much you’re eating --

A little olive oil doesn’t look like anything.

Neither does some sauce.

Or the milk in your protein shake.

Or grabbing something while you’re cooking.

Or the couple bites you ate while standing in the kitchen that apparently don’t count because you never technically sat down.

Start weighing all that shit and suddenly you find the 400 calories that mysteriously appeared every day.

I’ve been running around 1,700 calories and keeping my protein high, and actually tracking everything has probably made a bigger difference than anything else I’ve done.

I’ve been using AI for basically all of my food tracking

This sounds kind of goofy but it’s actually been a huge help.

I basically turned ChatGPT into my food accountant --

I tell it what I eat throughout the day and the amount, and it keeps a running total of my calories, protein, carbs and fat.

So instead of getting to 9pm and guessing where I’m at, I can ask it and know I’ve got, say, 450 calories left and still need 40g of protein. Then I can figure out what the hell I’m eating from there.

It also helped me figure out a starting estimate for my maintenance calories and understand how to adjust it based on what my weight was actually doing.

That’s another thing I learned. Those online calculators are a starting point. If the calculator says your maintenance is one number but a month of your actual weight says otherwise, I’d probably listen to your body.

If any of the newer guys want the prompt/setup I’ve been using, PM me and I’ll send it to you. You can probably use the same basic thing with ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or whatever AI you use.

I also quit acting like carbs were going to make me fat overnight

This was a big one --

At first my thinking was basically:

Protein = good.

Carbs = stay the fuck away.

Then I’d go train and wonder why I felt flat and had no gas.

Now I actually save some of my carbs for around when I’m going to train.

I’m still staying inside the same calorie deficit. I’m not magically adding extra food because “workout carbs don’t count.” I just try to put some of the carbs I’m already going to eat before and around my workout so they’re actually useful to me when I’m trying to train hard.

That has made a noticeable difference for me.

And I’m not talking about sprinting into the locker room with a bowl of rice because I missed the 12-minute anabolic window and my muscles are about to fall off --

Just learning that carbs can actually be useful instead of something I need to be afraid of was a big change for me.

The scale can also screw with your head

This was another thing I had to learn.

You can eat perfectly all day, train, go to bed feeling great and wake up two pounds heavier.

Like…what the fuck did I do while I was asleep? --

So I stopped using just my weight.

I bought one of those digital tape measures that connects to your phone and saves all your measurements. I don’t really care what it claims my exact body fat percentage is because I know those estimates aren’t perfect. What I care about is seeing the actual measurements change.

Because sometimes the scale barely moves but my waist does.

My clothes fit differently.

I look different in pictures.

I’m stronger in the gym.

I’ve gone from wearing around a 38 waist to around a 32 and I’ve had to buy basically all new clothes.

I never thought losing weight was going to be this expensive --

But watching the measurements has helped a lot because if I’m losing fat while also building some muscle, the scale isn’t necessarily going to tell the whole story.

Sleep…yeah, I underestimated the shit out of this one

I’ve had some weeks where my sleep absolutely sucked and I still tried to train hard.

You find out pretty quickly that testosterone apparently doesn’t negotiate with 3 hours of sleep --

Everything is harder.

Training sucks.

Recovery sucks.

You’re tired.

You’re hungrier.

You don’t feel like doing anything.

And weights that felt great a couple workouts ago suddenly feel like somebody swapped them out overnight.

I’m paying a lot more attention to sleep now than I did when I started.

Another big thing I’ve learned is to actually SEARCH the forum

I know that sounds stupid, but there is SO much information buried on here.

When you’re brand new you think you have this really specific question nobody has ever asked before.

Then you search it and find somebody asked the exact same shit in 2013 --

Then somebody asked it again in 2017.

Then there’s a 6-page argument about it from 2021.

I’ve gotten into the habit of searching things a few different ways and actually reading through the responses.

And one thing I think is really important for other beginners:

Don’t just keep searching until you find the answer you wanted.

I caught myself doing that.

You already want to do something, so you search around until you find one guy who says it’s a great idea and suddenly you’re like:

“SEE. I KNEW IT.”

Meanwhile you skipped over 14 experienced guys explaining why it’s probably stupid --

I’ve actually learned more from reading the arguments between experienced members than I have from some of the straight answers.

If two guys who have been doing this for 15 years disagree, I want to know WHY they disagree.

That’s where I’ve started picking up the good information.

And holy shit is it easy to want to add more stuff

Spend enough time reading these forums and suddenly you know about Test, Primo, Deca, NPP, EQ, Anavar, HGH and 400 peptides you didn’t know existed three months ago.

Then your beginner brain starts going:

“Wellllll…what if I added…”

I’ve tried to remind myself that I’m still learning what happens when I change ONE thing.

There’s something to be said for keeping it simple enough that when something changes, you actually have some idea what caused it.

The boring shit has honestly mattered more than I expected.

Train consistently.

Try to get stronger.

Eat enough protein.

Track the calories.

Use the carbs intelligently.

Get some fucking sleep.

Do bloodwork.

Repeat.

It’s not nearly as exciting as buying another vial of something, but apparently your body doesn’t care whether your plan is exciting.

Bloodwork also hits different when it’s YOUR blood

I used to read people talking about hematocrit, lipids, estradiol and all this other shit and understand what they were saying, but it was still kind of abstract.

Then you get your own bloodwork back.

Now suddenly I’m very interested --

I’ve definitely started caring more about what’s going on inside my body instead of just:

Do I feel good?

Am I stronger?

Do I look better?

Those things matter obviously, but they aren’t telling you everything.

So I guess that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned

I went into these last 8 weeks thinking I was mainly going to learn about running more testosterone.

Instead I’ve learned more about calories, food, carbs, training, sleep, bloodwork and my own body than I expected.

I’m still a beginner.

I’m not trying to teach the guys on here who have been doing this shit for 10 or 20 years.

If anything, I’m writing this for the other new guys I see asking the same questions I’ve been asking.

Search.

Read old threads.

Ask questions when you don’t understand something.

But actually listen to the answers, especially when it’s NOT the answer you wanted.

Track your food.

Figure out roughly where your maintenance calories are.

Pay attention to more than the number on the scale.

Get your protein.

Don’t automatically be scared of carbs.

Get some sleep.

And maybe don’t start shopping for your 9th compound when you’re still figuring out what the first one is doing --

I’m curious about something from the guys who have been doing this for years though.

What’s something you thought was SUPER important when you were new that you eventually realized didn’t matter nearly as much as you thought?

And what’s the opposite?

What’s something you basically ignored as a beginner that you now consider one of the most important parts of all this?

I think those answers would probably help us newer guys more than anything.

And like I said, if anybody wants the AI prompt I’ve been using for the calorie/macro tracking, shoot me a PM. I’m happy to send it over.

I’m still learning too.

I just weigh the olive oil now. --