Cutting over 50

bceagle1

New member
I have never had an issue losing weight before. I would gain weight to 198, hate myself and be back down to 172 in about 4 months, always lost some muscle, but got there by basically intermittent fasting, calorie deficits and just a little more activity besides lifting.

Over the last year I ballooned all the way to 216, BF went up to 29%, I really fell apart and checked my test in February and it was down to 198 so I blamed that and started TRT. I'm eating something 5x a day, just trying to get to 200g protein and Im in a 200-400 calorie deficit a day, but I cant drop below 211 for the life of me.

Any advice? How do I not drop weight on a deficit?
 
If you're not losing weight you're not in a defect it's as simple as that. You may have been in a defect when you started and you've already gotten to a point where you need to reduce your calories again there's really no other way around it unfortunately. If you don't mind,

1.What's your daily activity levels like. Describe a day.
2. What's your job like for activity
3. How long is your workout and how many days a week are you working out
4. How many calories are you currently eating.

With those four things I can at least get a reasonable idea of the amount you're eating versus the amount you need to eat
 
1.What's your daily activity levels like. Describe a day. ----Up at 530, Gym from 6-7 but completely sedentary after that with a desk job.

2. What's your job like for activity ----None, I sit at a desk from 830-5

3. How long is your workout and how many days a week are you working out ----1 hour, 6 days a week. With the summer I have added some outdoor activity on weekends

4. How many calories are you currently eating. ---According to my app, I have been between 1650 and 1950 calories a day, usually around 1800. I eat 5x but usually its a protein bar/shake, chicken or roast beef sandwich with nothing on it.

At first I was hoping for a little recomp from the TRT and I have put on muscle but not that much bigger and my pants have gone from 32 to 36.
 
Smont said:
If you're not losing weight you're not in a defect it's as simple as that.
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bingo.

bceagle1 said:
1.What's your daily activity levels like. Describe a day. ----Up at 530, Gym from 6-7 but completely sedentary after that with a desk job.

2. What's your job like for activity ----None, I sit at a desk from 830-5
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My job is the same. 6am till 3 or 4pm sitting on my ass. I have started doing as many 10 minute walks around the building (like go outside and walk down the sidewalk) as I can to get an extra 20-30 minutes per day of LISS cardio in and I'm doing evening cardio as well. Stairs for 10-20 minutes then incline treadmill for same. My goal is a minimum of 45min cardio at least 4x per week.

bceagle1 said:
I'm eating something 5x a day, just trying to get to 200g protein and Im in a 200-400 calorie deficit a day, but I cant drop below 211 for the life of me.
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if you just got your T checked in feb when did you start trt? are you weighing in every day and taking weekly averages? if you're putting on muscle then a recomp could throw you off a lot, too.

if you can't fit in the time to get the cardio in, then I'd look heavily into fasting. any time I cut weight I like to fast for the first 10lbs or so to speed things up then slow down with a more balanced approach later.
 
Started TRT same day as blood test came back, so February.

I am going to start checking body fat % and compare weekly averages of weight and body fat. Maybe try and new app.

I may add a combo of cardio in the morning and evening and fasting until noon.
 
I know a lot of guys have good luck with short term calorie restriction like the 16:8 fasting etc and I have had some success there, but my best success has been eating more at maintenance or above most of the week with 30-60hr fasts occurring usually on monday/Tuesday for what its worth.
 
This is a tough one because your already not eating a lot of food so we don't wanna take more food away. Can you get a couple morning walks in or some kind of morning cardio going. That would be a good start just to get the calorie deficit back. Your not going to get much physique help out of TRT, of course it's helping but nothing dramatic. Recomp is tough even on cycles most of the time.
 
bceagle1 said:
Started TRT same day as blood test came back, so February.

I am going to start checking body fat % and compare weekly averages of weight and body fat. Maybe try and new app.

I may add a combo of cardio in the morning and evening and fasting until noon.
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This may help, but fasting till noon who won't make a difference if there isn't a restriction in calories still, It doesn't matter if you eat the food all in one meal or in five, The total calories are going to be the biggest factor. I will say that for convenience I've always done well getting up and taking a 15min walk while I drink my coffee, skip breakfast, small lunch to get me through the work day. A post workout shake and dinner would leave me with a good amount of calories this way. Do what you find convenient as long as calories are in a deficit
 
What is your estrogen at right now? If it’s too high, it can make much more difficult to lose weight. At least that’s my experience.
 
botk1161 said:
What is your estrogen at right now? If it’s too high, it can make much more difficult to lose weight. At least that’s my experience.
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So, you may have nailed it. I went to the MD last night and estrogen was high at 82 H. Going to try DIM for now before an AI.

Said stress may also be an issue, she asked what caused me to go from my before pic to after and was happy someone asked. Cause was covid, shoulder surgery, deviated septum surgery, back to back to back and then a divorce and $20mm mistake at work. She said the layoffs and stress probably prompted all the weight gain and now stress is keeping it on.

I'm going to try & lower my E and I'll fill you guys in. I do appreciate the advice. Going to add in some more cardio/activity and get more steps in.
 
How strictly are you tracking your food intake? I've worked with a few people that didn't think those couple handfuls of m&m's from Sharon's desk or that extra bit of mayonnaise mattered... they do. Not saying that is what's happening but something to watch for.
Also, are you on any other meds such as beta blockers. Those make it extremely difficult to lose weight.
Whatever the case keep trying.
 
bceagle1 said:
Said stress may also be an issue, she asked what caused me to go from my before pic to after and was happy someone asked. Cause was covid, shoulder surgery, deviated septum surgery, back to back to back and then a divorce and $20mm mistake at work. She said the layoffs and stress probably prompted all the weight gain and now stress is keeping it on.
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what a shitstorm dude! glad you are here and lifting now, you can only go up from here!!
 
ironviking said:
How strictly are you tracking your food intake? I've worked with a few people that didn't think those couple handfuls of m&m's from Sharon's desk or that extra bit of mayonnaise mattered... they do. Not saying that is what's happening but something to watch for.
Also, are you on any other meds such as beta blockers. Those make it extremely difficult to lose weight.
Whatever the case keep trying.
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Not on anything else and i am guilty of 4-5 dark chocolate covered almonds, every day at 230ish.

The only thing i can think about being off is portion size. A lot of time I am eyeballing, but i dont think a few extra ounces of grilled chicken is that bad. I did realize all the supplements add about 100 calories a day, which i need to fix, plus the non-calorie drinks i drink have 10 calories. Going to try straight water.
 
bceagle1 said:
Thanks, I appreciate it, yeah, one hit after another. But is what it is, I just hate years of gains and keeping bf% low and poof.
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So hard to make the gains and maintain and so easy to wreck. Wish it was the other way around :ROFLMAO:
 
lanky said:
areas on my body that used to be skinny are now fat. and areas that were fat are now skinny..i am pretty fugly :ROFLMAO:
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I think that's what age does to you :ROFLMAO:
 
LeanEngineer said:
I think that's what age does to you :ROFLMAO:
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i definitely lost lots of subcutaneous fat from the fat pads in my face and neck region which has aged me in the past 5 years. i spent my entire life in the sun playing sports, fishing, golfing, without sunscreen and have some basal cell stuff going on that i have to get taken care of. lots of sun damage has popped up over the past few years. muscle mass in the shoulder girdle area has reduced despite my best efforts and trt, and waist has increased an inch or so. lost and inch and a half or more of mass on my thighs. when i was young i looked more like my mom, now i feel like i am starting to look more and more like my father who passed 8 years ago at 84
 
lanky said:
i definitely lost lots of subcutaneous fat from the fat pads in my face and neck region which has aged me in the past 5 years. i spent my entire life in the sun playing sports, fishing, golfing, without sunscreen and have some basal cell stuff going on that i have to get taken care of. lots of sun damage has popped up over the past few years. muscle mass in the shoulder girdle area has reduced despite my best efforts and trt, and waist has increased an inch or so. lost and inch and a half or more of mass on my thighs. when i was young i looked more like my mom, now i feel like i am starting to look more and more like my father who passed 8 years ago at 84
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If it hasn't been mentioned, and I also don't know if it's something you're comfortable with, have you thought about upping your trt to 300-400mg and adding some extra estrogen control. Maybe run a little cycle and leverage something like a non stim fat burner (mitoburn is my suggestion) idk if you have access to HGH but it's definitely the aging man's secret weapon
 
Smont said:
If it hasn't been mentioned, and I also don't know if it's something you're comfortable with, have you thought about upping your trt to 300-400mg and adding some extra estrogen control. Maybe run a little cycle and leverage something like a non stim fat burner (mitoburn is my suggestion) idk if you have access to HGH but it's definitely the aging man's secret weapon
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i thought about it for a while but not really looking to run anything other than a normal replacement dose from my urologist right now. .androgel at 3 pumps has me in the 500-600 ng/dl range currently. if anything i will just add in a transdermal dhea or pregnenolone or oral b-androstenetriol. it definitely was easy to stay lean when i ran things
 
Try a low dose of retatrutide. 1-2mg per week. Stops the food noise and actually has some health benefits. Can get the peptide pretty inexpensively. It works, especially for older folk.
 
Mark David said:
Try a low dose of retatrutide. 1-2mg per week. Stops the food noise and actually has some health benefits. Can get the peptide pretty inexpensively. It works, especially for older folk.
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Reta is becoming rapidly popular. I'm very anti ozempic for the large majority of people but Reta is a much, much better option imo
 
It's not going to kill your appetite as much but it's going to tone it down a little and it actually has properties to make you lose fat and some health benefits
 
Smont said:
It's not going to kill your appetite as much but it's going to tone it down a little and it actually has properties to make you lose fat and some health benefits
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From what I've read it has about a 6 day halflife. So a lot of folk are microdosing and splitting the dose into 2 or 3. I've been on it for two weeks at 1.5mg once a week, but going to split it to .75 2x. I'm 67, 200,6'2" now. I've lost about 3lbs, accounting for water weight. Been following " protein first", low carbs, shooting for around 1g protein per lb. Want to lose about 6-7 more lbs, and this makes it much easier. Only want to lose about 1 to 11/2 a week to minimize any muscle loss. It's working well so far, just added SLUPP 500mcg 2x a day. Wife has used it at a low dose, reta,1mg a week for two months and has lost an avg of about 1lb a week, following a high protein diet and working out 4x week and is now cutting back to .5 split to .25 2x a week. Says it has been the easiest weight loss she's had, she's 68. Stuff works.
 
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Dustin07 said:
and the places I want hair seem to be thinning while the places I don't want hair are growing more 😂
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lol. i have hair growing out of my ears now/and on my lobes and i need to use the turbo nose hair trimmer on my nostrils at least once a week.
 
Add to that
Mark David said:
I feel ya, I'm 67 now and growing hair where I don't want it as well. Hairy ears and nose isn't a good look.
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Add to that freaky caterpillar eyebrows if you don't keep them in check also.

More on topic... the older I get (57) the harder it is to drop fat. Sucks, but it is what it is.

Hard <> impossible
 
jfigliuolo said:
Add to that

Add to that freaky caterpillar eyebrows if you don't keep them in check also.

More on topic... the older I get (57) the harder it is to drop fat. Sucks, but it is what it is.

Hard <> impossible
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thank god i dont have the genetics for a unibrow/ caterpillar eyebrows yet..i definitely have the hairy sacrum/buttcrack though :ROFLMAO:
 
Figured I would update everyone...
Bloodwork was perfect including E, so I starting intermittent fasting and a only ate foods I knew exact macros. Ended up dropping about 12lbs and keeping gains, so good news. Started Reta hoping to continue the trend, BUT....

I got an H.Pylori ulcer, sprained my back, and dropped 15lbs in 3 weeks, unfortunately there is probably lots of muscle in that number. Couldn't eat anything and lifts finally dropped off about 15%. Ulcer and Reta made me not know whats what. Finally able to eat food the last 2 days, going to up my calories to 500 below maintenance and work on getting lifts back until I hit about 12BF and then work my way back.

What a pain in the ass.
 
bceagle1 said:
Figured I would update everyone...
Bloodwork was perfect including E, so I starting intermittent fasting and a only ate foods I knew exact macros. Ended up dropping about 12lbs and keeping gains, so good news. Started Reta hoping to continue the trend, BUT....

I got an H.Pylori ulcer, sprained my back, and dropped 15lbs in 3 weeks, unfortunately there is probably lots of muscle in that number. Couldn't eat anything and lifts finally dropped off about 15%. Ulcer and Reta made me not know whats what. Finally able to eat food the last 2 days, going to up my calories to 500 below maintenance and work on getting lifts back until I hit about 12BF and then work my way back.

What a pain in the ass.
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Dang that sounds awful. Glad it's behind you now!
 
Respect for taking on a cut at 50+. Shows real discipline and dedication. Age definitely makes the process different, but with smart nutrition and consistent training, results can be just as impressive. Looking forward to seeing your progress updates.
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