Mandrik on Nostr: I'm done with the carnivore diet. 🐄 I defeated carb addiction, and boosted my ...
I'm done with the carnivore diet. 🐄
I defeated carb addiction, and boosted my testosterone with lifestyle changes, in 5 months.
Long read:
I'm currently 5 months into a cut, working on reducing body fat. Before that, I ate a carnivore diet for 5 years, paleo/keto since 2011.
I agreed to add 60g of carbs pre-workout at the start of my cut, per my trainer. Also 1g protein/lb body weight, with fat for the remaining calories.
Carb addiction is something I battled my entire life. Moderation was impossible for me - the cravings were the worst! Keto and carnivore diets can be lifesaving for people with this issue.
That said, I still couldn't lose stubborn body fat, so I was willing to make changes.
The cut was going great initially, but my energy levels dropped off a couple months in. I felt like a zombie. I knew at some point it could happen, and I know hormones are impacted by a cut.
I had blood work done pre-cut, and my total testosterone was 575ng/dL. Normal for a mid-40s man, and I always felt great & healthy. No complaints!
10 weeks later: total T dropped to 205 ng/dL. 😲
My body was telling me something needed to change.
For the first time in nearly 15 years, I switched to a high carb diet. I started eating 165g carbs per day, timed around pre & post workout meals.
My weight skyrocketed ~10lbs, even with only 1885 calories/day. Most of that was likely water weight, but my workouts at the gym started progressing at crazy levels, likely because of increased muscle growth.
Even so, it felt bad seeing that scale number shoot up when I'm trying to *lose* weight. I rolled with it, understanding that body recomposition can take many months.
By the end of November I felt incredible. Energy through the roof, huge mood improvements, etc. The carbs were working! So I decided to get more blood work done. The results?
Total testosterone jumped to 1005 ng/dL. Free testosterone 205.2 pg/mL. 🤯
This...WAS a surprise, to say the least. WOW!
My long break from carbs helped overcome the addiction and cravings. For the first time I can moderate these foods with ease. This is the biggest win so far, and I've had a lot of W's recently.
My perfect diet down the road (post-cut), will still be heavy on beef, but also foods like fruit & honey. Never processed garbage.
It took a long time to fix this issue, but it's real growth to be able to have a healthy relationship with carbs. I still have a ways to reach my current goal, and lots of building to do after that, but I thought I'd share this interesting development.
Can't say I expected my total T to drop 50%, and then nearly 5x within a few months, like it was the #Bitcoin price chart. 😂
(FYI: all blood work took place early AM in a fasting state)
I defeated carb addiction, and boosted my testosterone with lifestyle changes, in 5 months.
Long read:
I'm currently 5 months into a cut, working on reducing body fat. Before that, I ate a carnivore diet for 5 years, paleo/keto since 2011.
I agreed to add 60g of carbs pre-workout at the start of my cut, per my trainer. Also 1g protein/lb body weight, with fat for the remaining calories.
Carb addiction is something I battled my entire life. Moderation was impossible for me - the cravings were the worst! Keto and carnivore diets can be lifesaving for people with this issue.
That said, I still couldn't lose stubborn body fat, so I was willing to make changes.
The cut was going great initially, but my energy levels dropped off a couple months in. I felt like a zombie. I knew at some point it could happen, and I know hormones are impacted by a cut.
I had blood work done pre-cut, and my total testosterone was 575ng/dL. Normal for a mid-40s man, and I always felt great & healthy. No complaints!
10 weeks later: total T dropped to 205 ng/dL. 😲
My body was telling me something needed to change.
For the first time in nearly 15 years, I switched to a high carb diet. I started eating 165g carbs per day, timed around pre & post workout meals.
My weight skyrocketed ~10lbs, even with only 1885 calories/day. Most of that was likely water weight, but my workouts at the gym started progressing at crazy levels, likely because of increased muscle growth.
Even so, it felt bad seeing that scale number shoot up when I'm trying to *lose* weight. I rolled with it, understanding that body recomposition can take many months.
By the end of November I felt incredible. Energy through the roof, huge mood improvements, etc. The carbs were working! So I decided to get more blood work done. The results?
Total testosterone jumped to 1005 ng/dL. Free testosterone 205.2 pg/mL. 🤯
This...WAS a surprise, to say the least. WOW!
My long break from carbs helped overcome the addiction and cravings. For the first time I can moderate these foods with ease. This is the biggest win so far, and I've had a lot of W's recently.
My perfect diet down the road (post-cut), will still be heavy on beef, but also foods like fruit & honey. Never processed garbage.
It took a long time to fix this issue, but it's real growth to be able to have a healthy relationship with carbs. I still have a ways to reach my current goal, and lots of building to do after that, but I thought I'd share this interesting development.
Can't say I expected my total T to drop 50%, and then nearly 5x within a few months, like it was the #Bitcoin price chart. 😂
(FYI: all blood work took place early AM in a fasting state)