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Testosterone and weight loss: the evidence
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4154787/
The purpose of this article is to examine the contemporary data linking testosterone therapy in overweight and obese men with testosterone deficiency to increased lean body mass, decreased fat mass, improvement in overall body composition and sustained weight loss. This is of paramount importance because testosterone therapy in obese men with testosterone deficiency represents a novel and a timely therapeutic strategy for managing obesity in men with testosterone deficiency.
The preceding were studies or papers that looked at obesity from a more bioenergetic or holistic perspective, and didn’t simply revert to the simple explanation of “you ate too much and moved too little.”
The last one is an excellent review for obese and overweight men, as it a collection of studies using supplemental testosterone. In the longer term studies, all studies showed a decrease in fat mass, and an increase in lean mass. The weight loss was very significant in some studies, averaging about 50 pounds, and more in some individuals. In the short term studies, some did show weight loss, and some didn’t, but all studies showed a reduction in waist circumference, indicating an improvement in body composition. Testosterone might have similar effects in women, although there is the potential problem of getting masculinized features. Progesterone might work just as well (or better) for women in similar doses, and there would be no risk of masculinization. If anything, features might become more feminine.
Hello everyone. My name is Yelka. I’m 57 years old, 5’4” and 110 lbs I’ve been thin-boned all my life. I have Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism.
Two years ago I got a strong episode of bell’s palsy from being so over stressed, malnourished, and undernourished that I got down to 101 lbs and lost my hair in clumps.
I’ve been following Ray Peat’s recommendations since I discovered his work about a year ago. I also found the old forum and I eagerly read Rinse & Repeat’s posts. I was reviewing those posts yesterday when I came across a link to this site, and here I am!
I’m still working on finding the best way to eat for me. I feel famished and drained when I don’t eat starches. Coffee makes me jittery.
Since starting eating this way, I noticed loss of muscle and an increase in subcutaneous fat accumulation and an increase of my waist to hip ratio.
First I blamed it on the fat from my raw milk. I went low fat. Now I think it might be the starches and the fat. Probably high cortisol and not sleeping through the night.
Anyway, perceive, think, act.
I look forward to sharing my journey with you guys.
Hi @yelka and welcome to our happy forum! Right away I gotta say yes high fat with starches creates excess fat. I can maintain my perfect size 6 with fats, but not with the starches. I don’t get bloating or any digestive issues from them, but I don’t look as lean eating them daily. Most days I don’t eat any, and on days I do it may be a slice of organic yeast-free sour dough or some boiled white sweet potatoes or red potatoes at night, and that might be maybe three days a week and only once a day. Switch to sprouted grains, they are much more forgiving. Otherwise keep your protein up and ALWAYS pair it with a sugar source. It is a calm, but energetic combination. I try and keep my starch splurges and higher fat foods in my evening because they are good for my sleep.
Welcome @yelka!
I wonder if you are taking any thyroid supplement for the Hashimoto’s and what you might be doing to oppose the high cortisol levels (ie progesterone or any other cortisol antagonist such as RU 486).
Are you supplementing any magnesium?
Coffee makes you jittery, how do you take it ie with cream and sugar or straight black?
How much carbohydrate are you consuming compared to fats, and what is your ratio of carbohydrates to protein in a meal? What type of carbohydrates are your preferences leaning toward?
What is your salt appetite like?
Thanks for the warm welcome! Those are all thoughtful suggestions and relevant questions.
For my thyroid I currently take 10mcg of Liothyronine (T3) in the am upon waking, 10mcg around noon, and 5mcg around dinner. This is new for me. I used to only take 75mg of Levothyroxine (T4).
For cortisol, I didn’t know what RU486 was. I had to look it up. I’m not taking it. But I am rubbing molecular progesterone drops on my gums before bed to help me with sleep. It does help when I take it. I’ve considered rubbing some progesterone drops during the daytime but haven’t tried it yet.
I started back on 200 mg magnesium a few days ago. I had stopped. I also take VitD/K2 drops. And one aspirin 3x a week. I just ran out of niacinamide but I was taking that in the am and before bed.
Coffee: I love the smell and taste of coffee. When I do have it, it has to be in the morning or it will keep me up at night. I only have it with milk and sugar (or maple syrup or honey). Never black. I have it maybe once a month, if that? Even decaf will keep me awake at night.
I worked with Mike Fave for about six months and my carb to fat ratio and carb to protein ratio we came up with for me was 4oz of protein (fish, beef, lamb) and 4oz of carb (white rice, rice pasta, boiled potato, boiled yuca, boiled sweet potato) for each meal. No added fat other than what’s needed to cook/sauté the fish or beef. I use ghee, tallow or coconut oil for that. My cholesterol is high. I also have persistent low blood pressure, especially the diastolic part. Sometimes I feel dizzy. I had low iron but it’s now stabilized thanks to loading up on liver, clams, and octopus.
My preference for starches are white rice, boiled yuca or boiled mashed potatoes. I also love to blend tropical fruit juices from frozen pulp I get at the Latin markets (soursop, chirimoya, passion fruit). I add water and sugar, honey or maple syrup if it’s not sweet enough. I also love canned guava shells which I drain the syrup and have them with goat cheese as a before bedtime snack. For fruits I eat bananas from my yard (I live in Florida), Coconut water and meat from the yard too, mangos from the yard when in season, cherries when in season, blueberries, pomegranate. I don’t like papayas, pears or apples or grapes. Pineapples make me burp unless they’re dried. I enjoy dried organic mangos from Costco.
Salt appetite? I like salting my food. More in the past year than ever before.
@Cari , when you say sprouted grains, do you mean I can sprout my white rice? I don’t eat any other grains. If I ever eat legumes they would be soaked, sprouted and cooked in the pressure cooker.I love to cook, which is why I was attracted to your posts in the first place. The recipes! Yum! I make my own bone broth in the pressure cooker.
Today I had guava with goat cheese upon waking, then later had two egg yolks with 4 oz of white rice, later on I will have 4oz of ground beef with 4oz mashed potatoes for lunch, and 4oz of mahi mahi with either rice or potatoes for dinner. I’ll do a peaty carrot salad somewhere in between there and drink milk, which I have switched from whole raw to 1% organic because of the fat.
I am still trying to get my head around eating a protein with a sugar source. In my Latin family meals always consisted of a meat or fish, a starch, a vegetable or salad and maybe a fruit juice as the drink. We rarely ate dessert. I’ve noticed Cari that you don’t eat much meat either, so that messes with my mind! LOL! If the dairy product is the protein and some fruit is the sugar source, I don’t think I would feel satisfied and feel hungry all the time. Unless I up the amounts, I guess. I’ve never tried that.
Sorry for the long post!
@yelka “I’ve noticed Cari that you don’t eat much meat either, so that messes with my mind! LOL! If the dairy product is the protein and some fruit is the sugar source, I don’t think I would feel satisfied and feel hungry all the time. Unless I up the amounts, I guess. I’ve never tried that.”
At the time I was on the Ray Peat Forum I was demonstrating weight loss in real time and I relied on high calcium foods because they work well for weight loss. I do eat meat now, but not everyday. I don’t eat out of habit, but more according to my cravings as Ray Peat suggested. It seems that now that cold weather is here meat is what I am wanting. Below are some of the meals I made myself this past week. I do eat egg yolks daily and raw milk. If I am not eating meat then I am eating cheese and strained cottage cheese. It isn’t that I couldn’t eat more meat, but I am not trying to lose weight and I’m careful about my consumption of it because of the aging compounds in meat like tryptophan and phosphorus. Since limiting meat and grains much of my gray hair has reversed and the texture is softer like it was in my youth and my skin looks so much better now. So my diet is not just based on weight loss. I do have a link on this website with foods I recommend for weight loss. I will add some more to that page this next three days. I could not eat all the starches you eat in every meal and be lean and energetic. I know cultures have eaten that way , but they didn’t eat 3 meals a day of it and sit a lot. I could say my German family ate a certain way my whole life, but my German side of the family are all very overweight people and eat mostly meat and potatoes. I really love potatoes too.
@yelka Here are some other meals I have recently made for myself with meat, but no starches ever with meat for me. I eat starches by themselves or with maybe an egg, cheese, mushrooms or broccoli…
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Cari aka "Rinse & rePeat"