Weight Loss and TRT questions

Howdy, y'all, long time listener, first-time caller.

Lemme set the stage: I'm 50, a former motocross rider, banged up a lot in extremity joints from various forms of crashing. Never been on TRT.

All my life my weight's been kind of a yo-yo. Lost ~125 lbs once (304 to 179), then gained it back over the years, mostly due to (undiagnosed) depression and alcohol. I don't know if low T caused the depression, or quitting riding caused the depression with a side-effect of low T. Anyway, I've lost ~35-55 lbs a few times in my life, and I respond pretty well to exercise. I can get my HR to max on an elliptical, I get about 45min a day at or past theoretical max (220-age) doing S(uper) HIIT, two minutes 'on' and two minutes 'off'. When the weightloss starts to flatten, I add 12-20 min of flat out max effort resistance cycling, and that usually picks the rate the weight comes off back up. I can usually hold a 0.35-0.4 lb/day rate for ~8 months before something (work travel, usually) comes up to sort of punt me out of the zone.

The problem is, I'm 50. And I want the weight gain/loss cycle to end, at the loss end.

Now, my question...

Should I hold off to start TRT until I'm near my ideal/goal weight (5'10.75", target BMI is 24.6 @ 175lb)? Or, start TRT and have more-effective workouts and (should I expect to) drop weight faster?

Thanks in advance!

Do you have any recent blood work to post that you can share with us?
It's going to be hard to answer that question appropriately and accurately without it.....

Losing weight may help your testosterone levels, if they're not too low maybe you won't even need to go on trt. I found that going low carb has decrease my appetite it made it easy for me control my weight.

A low-carb diet for beginners

https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?14206-A-low-carb-diet-for-beginners

What happens to the carbs?

https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?4276-What-happens-to-the-carbs

You could have an undiagnosed hypothyroidism, low thyroid hormones mainly low Free T3 will lower fat burning ability. You might have to pull teeth to get your doctor to order a comprehensive thyroid panel checking Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3 and antibodies to get a clearer picture. Depression is common among those with hypothyroidism or low testosterone.

That's a really good to suggestion by Systemlord, I wish I would have got them my thyroid levels good before I started trt. The benefits are unbelievable.

AustinSteve said:

Howdy, y'all, long time listener, first-time caller.

Lemme set the stage: I'm 50, a former motocross rider, banged up a lot in extremity joints from various forms of crashing. Never been on TRT.

All my life my weight's been kind of a yo-yo. Lost ~125 lbs once (304 to 179), then gained it back over the years, mostly due to (undiagnosed) depression and alcohol. I don't know if low T caused the depression, or quitting riding caused the depression with a side-effect of low T. Anyway, I've lost ~35-55 lbs a few times in my life, and I respond pretty well to exercise. I can get my HR to max on an elliptical, I get about 45min a day at or past theoretical max (220-age) doing S(uper) HIIT, two minutes 'on' and two minutes 'off'. When the weightloss starts to flatten, I add 12-20 min of flat out max effort resistance cycling, and that usually picks the rate the weight comes off back up. I can usually hold a 0.35-0.4 lb/day rate for ~8 months before something (work travel, usually) comes up to sort of punt me out of the zone.

The problem is, I'm 50. And I want the weight gain/loss cycle to end, at the loss end.

Now, my question...

Should I hold off to start TRT until I'm near my ideal/goal weight (5'10.75", target BMI is 24.6 @ 175lb)? Or, start TRT and have more-effective workouts and (should I expect to) drop weight faster?

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Sure training is part of the equation but you never once mention your diet which is the critical factor regarding weight loss/gain (fat/muscle) and most importantly your OVERALL hormones (testosterone, thyroid, adrenals).

Before even thinking about trt you need to forget about how much you train or what you are doing as for all we know you may have low t which will increase ones chance of gaining adipose and losing muscle tissue.

You may also have a dysfunctional thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) which can mimic the symptoms of low t and of course lower ones metabolism to the point where putting on body fat is extremely easy even with the best diet/training protocol and also impede building muscle among many other negative health issues.

Have a full set of labs done- total t, free t, estradiol (sensitive assay), shbg, dht, prolactin, dhea, psa, LH/FSH, TSH (full thyroid panel), chemistry and CBC (complete blood count) which will include hemoglobin/hematocrit, vitamin D, hemoglobin A1C, homocysteine, C-reactive protein.

Systemlord said:

You could have an undiagnosed hypothyroidism, low thyroid hormones mainly low Free T3 will lower fat burning ability. You might have to pull teeth to get your doctor to order a comprehensive thyroid panel checking Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3 and antibodies to get a clearer picture. Depression is common among those with hypothyroidism or low testosterone.

Click to expand...

Solid advice. If your doctor is reluctant to test as you wish, I would urge you to find another doctor, but - while that sorts out - you can test on your own through www.discountedlabs.com (all lab work is run through LabCorp). Many of us rely on it as we monitor our health.

madman said:

Sure training is part of the equation but you never once mention your diet which is the critical factor regarding weight loss/gain (fat/muscle) and most importantly your hormones (testosterone, thyroid, adrenals).

Click to expand...

It's never really 'bad'. I make barbeque about 1x/mo - usually smoked salmon, once in a while a pork butt. Usually eat well during weightloss periods - low carb, lots of salads, granola, as much pickled herring as I can stand, some cheese (usually Jarlsberg Lite). Off-period, I eat what my family eats (more carbs, true).

I don't eat potato chips by the bag, I don't eat a lot of processed foods or boxed/frozen meals, I cook my own supper. I think the killer is Scots Whisky though.

I've been thinking about the food allergy thing, and as I understand it, I can get a thyroid panel from various labs if I don't want to go the insurance route (I have BCBS Anthem, and I'm in Texas). I *have* had thyroid panel checked about 14 years ago, about 4 years after stopping radiation for lymphoma (pretty sure that's cured, knock on wood). I didn't see the results, but the doc said all was 'fine'.

I have older bloodwork from a few years ago with low numbers; I fully intend on getting it redone. My thinking is similar to many suggestions - my free/total may climb a bit due to heavy/intense, sustained exercise. I will shoot for mid-June blood draw - that will have had me 45 days on this cycle of exercise, enough to show some effects (beside the weightloss).

FWIW, I have no desire to gain muscle mass, and every desire to be slim, with good hair, and look good in a suit.

I'll check back in in four and a half weeks; no intention of rushing in headlong.