Not sure I care for an anabolic. Metabolics? appetite suppressants?
Hi all. First note, I've yet to use any gear. If you're not just gonna say "eat less, you have to be in deficit," feel free to skip to the last paragraph. If you are going to say that, please read the rest first.
I've been lifting well over a decade, did a big meaningful bulk last year, and I'm at my goal for lean mass (I'm 5'10", 194lbs, 17%BF) but I'd really like to get rid of most of my fat mass. I have naturally low testosterone but seemingly high sensitivity to it - I've always had the muscular look and feel to the point that people comment on it surprisingly often. Total test has never been higher than 485 since I first tested it at 22yo (currently 30yo, last total test was 412). I'm interested in a cutting cycle but can't get past debilitating cravings.
I know the obvious answer is to stay in a reasonable caloric deficit. Two things make that hard: firstly, my whole family has very elevated serum ghrelin. My mom wakes up with intense cravings for disgusting, high-calorie fatty foods - I've caught her combining multiple sticks of butter in a pile of brown sugar to eat like ice cream. My grandfather, father, brother, and myself have nearly unstoppable carb cravings - we all occasionally have such intense cravings that we eat uncontrollably to considerable visible bloat, once or twice a week.
My brother managed his weight in high school by being an ectomorph and joining the mountain biking team, often burning 2500 calories or so 3x/wk on 3-4hr training rides. He doesn't do much as an adult and has a weird figure, distended belly but otherwise quite lanky. Grandfather was morbidly obese most of his life. Father was morbidly obese last anyone saw him (lol). Mother is morbidly obese. (BMI's well above 40 with no considerable musculature).
Mom's been seeing specialists to try to ascertain a non-surgical solution. Both mom and brother have celiac which is somehow related - stomach pains often get bad enough that they supercede their cravings. I have a fairly iron stomach and have yet to feel fullness pains strong enough to stop a binge meal.
I manage it by staying active in multiple endurance sports - running, cycling, and xc skiing. I use some apps with advanced biometrics to get good estimates of caloric expenditure, and I track everything including my crazy splurges. I average a surplus of 3,500 calories per week. That 3,500 could be accounted for in one of those bad craving binge meals. Last week's binge craving lasted 6 hours and was 5,400cal, I only stopped because I passed out on the couch. I woke up at 1am and weighed myself, I was 199lb (up 5lb from the routine morning postshit weigh-in). Point being, it's pretty painful. 5-6 days per week I'm tempted to eat junk food but the 1-2 bad craving days it's the only thing I can even imagine doing. Perhaps I could burn the extra cals off if I had a bit more energy and/or increased my muscular endurance...
All that said, I'm looking for something to boost my metabolic rate, suppress my appetite, and improve my endurance performance. I'm still fairly early in my research but it's seeming like clenbuterol is the best option for this. There's some limited info about Cytomel but I'm not getting much consistent info with that. Winstrol and Anavar also sound good but more anabolic focused - as stated above, I'm pretty happy with my musculature and I enjoy a lot of agility based sports so more lean mass isn't a goal. I also just heard about Germany or somewhere using Tbol for their olympians, which sounds good for my endurance goals but I've done 0 research on that. I'm also starting to get a line on GH as being helpful in this regard, but again, limited info. I'm well aware that depending on what I end up deciding to go with I'll need a PCT plan etc. etc. but that's jumping the gun. Tell me who you think the star of the show should be and then I'll work on finding the supporting cast.
Any thoughts, criticisms, and/or suggestions are appreciated.
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It sound like you need to find your caloric base line and adjust the caloric intake. Your issue is similiar to what we see with a lot of Collegic wrestlers and combat athletes. These guys cut a lot of weight and the body figures a way to become efficient…too efficient and the metabolism goes to shit. Take a look at Daniel Cormier. The man has always struggled with that. It’s not because he’s not working. The man works his ass of even as a retired guy.
Dial that diet Inc count your calories every day and weigh your self every day. Figure out what your calorific baseline and adjust your intake. I posted a detailed post on this a while back. Look through my posts and you should find it. If I get some time I’ll find the link.
Good luck.
Thanks for all the responses. At least the serious ones (looking at you rustyhooker - how much of your 5.9k points is just shitposts?).
Spent the last week or so really researching fat burners and I'm with ya'll, sounds like the negatives far outweigh the positives there. I am interested in cardarine though. Might help me push past my running performance plateau.
Interestingly enough on the therapy side, my primary care doc prescribed me hydroxyzine for allergies and anxiety. I've taken it a couple of times when I couldn't get my mind off of binge eating and felt much more okay to abstain from overeating. We'll see if that continues.
RustyhookerVery serious. You want the golden ring but wont sweat for it because drugs fo the job. Right bruuh?
17% BF isn't terrible. It sounds like you have your mind right about training and what you know you should and should not be eating. Your family and genetics are a bitch to overcome, especially if you grew up watching this bad behavior. I have a lot of very/morbidly obese in-laws who eat like this and their children are little dough balls that sadden me to no end. Clen is not a good choice for fat loss or any drug for that matter. Possibly do a lot of research into a hypno therapist? I have members of my family who swear by it. Anecdotal story; My grandfather smoked cigars all day and ate like 100 hotdogs a day. He went to hypno for smoking and instead of quitting the stogies he stopped eating hotdogs LOL. So while they would seem to work the correct one would be the most efficacious. In short, reprogramming is the key and if you cannot through your best efforts exert this at a personal level something "outside the box" may be in order. Our brains are just very sophisticated gelatinous computers at their core.
When I would have to fight say a 8 to 12 weeks out and had to lose 30lbs. I could drop it pretty quick with some diet tweaks. I've never been big on cardio unless I had to shed some water weight. I generally do 30-45 minutes 4 or 5 times a week. Like Makwa says, get your diet on point. Get you binges in check. It took me a while but I don't really get cravings for much anymore. Anything sweet really doesn't do it for me. Thai food though....fuck I'll eat that all day if given the opportunity lol. In all seriousness you have to get super strict on yourself.
If cutting was easy everyone would be walking around with 6packs which would be very boring. Clen, steroids, whatever isn't going to make you lose fat if cals aren't consistently below TDEE. You need to control your binges. they are going to derail all your efforts. In all seriousness maybe you need therapy instead because clen etc isn't going to do anything to help.
Yeah man, like JakeKO said, stay away from clen. It’ll put serious stress on your cardiovascular system. If you’re dead set on pharmaceutical help, Cardarine sounds like it may be a good fit. Increased endurance & it helps your body prioritize fat for fuel, and can help balance LDL/HDL cholesterol. It doesn’t do anything as a suppressant, but MAYBE albuterol would be ok for you. The problem with almost all “fat burners” is they put undue pressure on your cardiovascular system. T3 and T4 have their very own thyroid counter-indications to be aware of. Be cautious in this line of inquiry, it can be dangerous.
You need to focus on nutrition that is designed for you. I recommend finding a nutritionist that is knowledgeable and can help you. No drug will help with those cravings or magically burn fat that you accumulate over binging.
If a nutritionist isnt an option then try focusing on smaller meals full of protein and fiber that will keep you fuller for longer. A simple example of this is ribeye with brown rice. Also find similar snacking options. The process of eating more frequent smaller foods boosts the metabolism through thermogenesis.
Nutrition is key not drugs or compounds especially at your stats
Rustyhooker(I'm 5'10", 194lbs, 17%BF)
Cardio
Already running 30-40 miles/week and xc skiing or mtn biking with friends for fun, don't have time for more unless I get fasterr....
edit: also cardio really doesn't seem to do much for fat loss, I go to community running and bike races all the time and dad bods are all over in the top 30ish where I usually land in 200-500 person events
Diet does more for fat loss than cardio. I do zero actual cardio and get into the single digit BF range based on my diet and workout. Cardio is a last resort when I need to get down to that 4% BF range but still can't do it without proper diet.
Accidentally negged with fat sausage fingers. My bad Makwa and was not intentional
Whatever you decide to do, stay away from Clen. Albuterol may be a better option if that’s the direction you’re going. I love Winstrol over Anavar, but a lot of people would choose Anavar.
I've seen a few "just stay away from clen" posts scattered around. Can you detail the reasoning or link an explanation? It doesn't read as any scarier than other common gear from what I've seen...
Clen is very taxing on your body, especially your heart. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of people use it during a serious cut, but when it comes to Risk vs Reward, I think you’re better off using a safer option.
Our stats are very similar, although I’m about 14-16 pounds heavier than you, so I’m just assuming you’re more defined than I’m am. Therefore, I think Anavar and a great diet will shred you up a bit. Although if you really wanna see something fast, go Anadrol, with an extremely strict diet