Are calories overlooked?

After nearly 5 years of TRT with varying levels of success, I recommend anyone contemplating seeking this solution to look at your previous month's diet before getting tested.

Right before I was tested and diagnosed with hypogonadism due to an 81 ng/dl reading, I was involved in a 6 week weight loss contest at work. Many days my intake was less than 1200 calories much of which was protein. Many studies will show that eating this way will tank your T levels.

I'm going to soon do a re-start protocol with a diet that tries to closely resemble the composition of human breast milk. About 50 percent saturated fat, 45 percent carbohydrates in the form of mostly sugar with a little starch and 5 percent protein. I'm going to aim for 3,500 calories a day.

If my theory is right, I should be able to get my T levels in a healthy range without resorting to clomid, nolvadex, ai, etc. I'll update this in two weeks when most of my Test enanthate will be out of my system.

I've got my thoughts on this theory myself,

It's going to take a lot longer than 2 weeks to get your HPTA started up and running again though.

Just to clarify, I plan to start the hypercaloric high saturated fat high sugar diet in two weeks to correspond with the last of the Test E leaving my body. I'm going to get labs at the beginning of the experiment and then again 3 weeks later.

mattingly23 said:

Just to clarify, I plan to start the hypercaloric high saturated fat high sugar diet in two weeks to correspond with the last of the Test E leaving my body. I'm going to get labs at the beginning of the experiment and then again 3 weeks later.

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Of course excess calorie restriction will lower ones t levels as the body is in survival mode.....let alone if one were to cut calories too much beyond ones maintenance level and also follow a low fat diet than it is even worse as higher fat diets 30-40% composed of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids as well as dietary cholesterol have been shown in studies to increase testosterone levels.

Forget trying to follow a diet that resembles human breast milk.....that is for infants!

If anything you just need to be in a slight calorie surplus 250-500 cal/day above maintenance and make sure 30-40% of your calories are from fat (saturated/monounsaturated).....eat whole eggs, butter, fattier cuts of beef, drink whole milk, olive oil, avacado oil or avacados, macadamia oil or macadamia nuts and fattier cuts of poultry have a lot of monounsaturated fats (chicken thighs).

As far as carbs forget the sugar and eat lower g.i. starchy complex carbs- oatmeal, yams, sweet potato, basmati or parboiled rice, quinoa, buckwheat, beans and legumes or if you want low fiber than eat starchy carbs low in fiber.

Higher fat/moderate-higher protein/low fiber diets are best for increasing ones endogenous testosterone levels.

user_joe said:

Low calories or fat intake causing low test, sure. Not new.

The rest of this theory? One of the funnier things I have seen posted on here.

Tons of people have tried diet diet to improve test levels, along with lifestyle changes. Never been a dramatic difference.

Its known that people who exhibit symptoms of low T generally need to triple levels to get the full therapeutic benefit. Butter eggs, and chicken aren't going to do that.

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I was speaking from a general perspective in a healthy male as of course diet would have a minimal impact in a truly hypogonadal man!

I shoud have been more specific and stated that to the poster.

So yes it would be funny if you truly believed I would recommend/state that by implementing such a diet it would drastically increase ones t levels.

mattingly23 said:

After nearly 5 years of TRT with varying levels of success, I recommend anyone contemplating seeking this solution to look at your previous month's diet before getting tested.

Right before I was tested and diagnosed with hypogonadism due to an 81 ng/dl reading, I was involved in a 6 week weight loss contest at work. Many days my intake was less than 1200 calories much of which was protein. Many studies will show that eating this way will tank your T levels.

I'm going to soon do a re-start protocol with a diet that tries to closely resemble the composition of human breast milk. About 50 percent saturated fat, 45 percent carbohydrates in the form of mostly sugar with a little starch and 5 percent protein. I'm going to aim for 3,500 calories a day.

If my theory is right, I should be able to get my T levels in a healthy range without resorting to clomid, nolvadex, ai, etc. I'll update this in two weeks when most of my Test enanthate will be out of my system.

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True, but from normal levels of 81 ng/dl ?! Not typically no, unless there were other factors involved such as hours per day of cardio and such, but still... Will be interesting to see what your HPTA reboot higher calorie intake results in. Good luck!

user_joe said:

Tons of people have tried diet diet to improve test levels, along with lifestyle changes. Never been a dramatic difference.

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And I think that's part of the problem. Most of my personal friends who have gone on TRT did so after deciding to get "healthy". Which meant adding endurance exercise like jogging, cutting out sugar, incorporating whole grains, nuts and seeds high in Omega 6 and increasing protein.

My experiment will be to eat as close to possible as I did when I was a lean teenager. Tons of sugar(kool-aid, Coke, OJ) and saturated fat like milk, butter and cream in the form of milkshakes and ice cream. Meat was relatively rare and I distinctly remember having to drown my mom's pork chops in apple sauce in order to get them down. I'm almost certain that I got barely the RDA in protein which is like 56 grams.

Anyway, when I get my blood test in 2 weeks I expect LH, FSH and TT to be in the tank. Then I'll retest in 3-4 weeks after using this diet alone for an hpta restart. If it doesn't work, oh well at least I'll get to eat tasty food again for awhile.

Thanks Will!

And if anyone wants to see what 6 weeks of a low calorie high protein diet does to blood work check out mine from 2012. High Cholesterol, high reverse T3, high CRP, high fasting blood glucose and rock bottom Test levels are what stick out to me.

Might want to take a look at my labs in the previous message.

user_joe said:

You have got got to be trolling. Lmao. If eating like shit gave us high test we'd have women turning into men naturally in this country.

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my first thought when I read this was he is a troll, but I think he is serious, lol, anyway I agree with what madman tried to tell him, and you are right if eating diet like he laid did anything for test levels, all the fat middle aged guys would be jacked. tons of sugar, kool-aide, coke and oj, lol, good luck op.

You're going to get labs two weeks after coming of testosterone and then a few weeks later you're going to get labs again and if your testosterone has come up you're going to attribute that to your diet?

That's the plan. Look at my 2012 labs. I had Test level of 81 ng/dl after following a 6 week low calorie high protein diet. If not the diet, what could have caused that low Test level? And if I am able to get my Test into a normal range following a high sugar/saturated fat diet, wouldn't that prove that my original stupid weight loss contest diet was to blame?

I get what you're doing man, I discovered that I was hypogonadal after dropping 20-30lbs. I decided to lose weight and get healthy because I felt like garbage. After I lost all of the weight I felt even worse. My diet wasn't anything too extreme, eating 1800 calories a day.

Part of me knows that I've been hypogonadal for years, but without a doubt the weight loss did something to my hormones that has had long term affects. I wish I would've tested my testosterone and other hormones before losing the weight.


Looking forward to the labs!

StepbyStep said:

I get what you're doing man, I discovered that I was hypogonadal after dropping 20-30lbs. I decided to lose weight and get healthy because I felt like garbage. After I lost all of the weight I felt even worse. My diet wasn't anything too extreme, eating 1800 calories a day.

Part of me knows that I've been hypogonadal for years, but without a doubt the weight loss did something to my hormones that has had long term affects. I wish I would've tested my testosterone and other hormones before losing the weight.


Looking forward to the labs!

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Thanks. Maybe it's not just the calories but also the macros and composition of food. I've received some grief on this thread but all I know is that this picture is from me in my late teens and I never ate anything that would be considered a "health food" today. Low protein and high sugar and fat and I was lean. Of course, this was like 25 years ago...

but were you lean because of youth or diet? hell when I was a teenager I ate cheeseburgers and fries all the time and I was lean, if I ate like that now I probably be 50 pounds heavier and it would not be LBM, seriously, I do wish you good luck but if I were you I would go back and re-read what madman posted about diet and give it some consideration.

Ok, I've been off everything since June 18th. While I've tried to keep a ratio of 45/10/45 C/P/F I'm not making it most days. I find it too difficult to get the fats up that high. I have been pretty good at keeping protein under 80 grams mostly from milk and I'm getting in plenty of sugar. My main source of a calories has been OJ, Milk and a potato salad I make with butter, egg yolks and vinegar. Before bed, I do a bowl of natural vanilla ice cream with homemade magic shell to get in some extra saturated fat in the form of coconut oil. For those that don't know, to make homemade magic shell all you have to do is mix sem-sweet chocolate chips with coconut oil and nuke it in the microwave for about a minute.

I've been doing pretty good avoiding the polyunsaturated fats except when I eat out.

First post-TRT labs are scheduled for this Saturday. Wish me luck!

Also, I should probably write about how I'm feeling now so I won't be influenced by the lab numbers.

To be honest, I don't feel that much different than I did on TRT. Libido was way down at the 2 week mark but I feel a little better now. Anxiety is definitely lower and I'm sleeping better for sure. Subjectively I think the boys seem a little bigger but the wife doesn't agree and she thinks they are about the same size. Weight hasn't increased which is nice although I'm willing to put on a few pounds if it helps get my hormones optimized.

What I'm hoping for on the labs is that LH and FSH are working again even if Test isn't that high yet. As long as LH and FSH show some life, I'll continue the high sugar/high sat fat diet and re-test in a month.

mattingly23 said:

Ok, I've been off everything since June 18th. While I've tried to keep a ratio of 45/10/45 C/P/F I'm not making it most days. I find it too difficult to get the fats up that high. I have been pretty good at keeping protein under 80 grams mostly from milk and I'm getting in plenty of sugar. My main source of a calories has been OJ, Milk and a potato salad I make with butter, egg yolks and vinegar. Before bed, I do a bowl of natural vanilla ice cream with homemade magic shell to get in some extra saturated fat in the form of coconut oil. For those that don't know, to make homemade magic shell all you have to do is mix sem-sweet chocolate chips with coconut oil and nuke it in the microwave for about a minute.

I've been doing pretty good avoiding the polyunsaturated fats except when I eat out.

First post-TRT labs are scheduled for this Saturday. Wish me luck!

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Why those ratios? P should be higher and F should be lower. Your choices of foods are awful. I can't figure just what you're trying to achieve here, but if it's good health and optimal hormone levels and such, you're really on the wrong track. A high fat/high carb, low P diet is literally the worst of all possible worlds nutritionally speaking.

Will Brink said:

Why those ratios? P should be higher and F should be lower. Your choices of foods are awful. I can't figure just what you're trying to achieve here, but if it's good health and optimal hormone levels and such, you're really on the wrong track. A high fat/high carb, low P diet is literally the worst of all possible worlds nutritionally speaking.

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Could it be that mattingly23 is just pulling our leg with the food intake he recommends and takes himself?

MarkM said:

Could it be that mattingly23 is just pulling our leg with the food intake he recommends and takes himself?

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Man I hope so...