An Unexpected Interest

[LeSportifMC_6192615]

Introduction: Who I Am​

Hey, all! My name is Jay and I'm in the US. I was referred to Meso by an old friend from high school. I'm 48 and have always led a pretty active lifestyle. My fitness hobbies include snowboarding, cycling, lifting weights, yoga, hiking, disc golf, and many more. I have a degree in psychology, but I have found a place in the tree service industry. I think most people who blame manual labor for wearing out their body aren't taking enough personal responsibility for living a balanced life. The people I know in my field who are progressively aging actively practice lifestyle choices that are hard on their bodies. And they don't work out the muscle groups that are neglected in their work.

The Struggle with Appetite and Metabolism​

Despite my commitment to staying active, I've struggled with being over weight off and on since my mid 30s. This is entirely due to diet and a diminished metabolism. The last time I got down to a healthy weight (2018) it took 4-5 months of exercising 15 hours a week using a combination of HIIT, yoga, cycling, and weight training.

Since then, I've started a business, became very active in my community, and became the father of two children. For five years I was wearing all the hats, including the laborer hat. I found I needed around 3500 calories a day to keep up, but those 3500 calories often times weren't good for me. For the last three years I've been out of the field, but my body still wanted 3500 calories a day. I obliged without paying any attention in the first year and ballooned quickly. In December of 2023 I weighed 235 lbs.

At the beginning of 2024, I started exercising again, but I no longer had 15 hours a week to give to it. While I have been able to maintain muscle mass and good cardio, I have struggled with my appetite. My body didn't want to let go of eating 3500 calories a day and I've lacked the time and discipline to do what I needed to do to get my weight under control.

The Turning Point: Incretin Therapy​

In July I visited my high-school friend. I was blown away by his physical transformation since I last saw him in January of 2022. He was extremely overweight back then and this summer he was as lean and healthy as I'd ever seen him. I'd been pursuing life-style change the past two years, but it didn't take much for him to convince me to give incretin therapy (Tirzepatide/Semaglutide) a go. Wow!

I've seen these fail with other people, but his story played out differently. He's a friend who happens to have a deep knowledge of fitness and nutrition, and he has used these and other prescribed peptides in combination with steroids to lose weight, work through some major injuries, put on muscle mass, recomp, and reset his lifestyle. Since he helped me get started on this therapy, I've gone from 235 lbs down to 193, the lowest I've been since before 2000. I've also been working out religiously (5-6 days a week), using Tonal-guided weight training, and have been able to keep from losing all but maybe 2lbs of muscle mass, largely due to a consistent high protein intake. My current calorie intake is controlled between 1850-2250 calories a day.

Future Goals: Bulking and Sustainability​

The short and sweet is that he's kept me motivated the last several months, I've been very disciplined with diet and exercise going on two years, and I need to maintain this lifestyle. But I don't want to be dependent on these drugs indefinitely.

My target weight pre-bulk is 180 lbs. Once I reach that goal in a couple of months, I want to transition off the therapy and learn how to efficiently put on 10-15 lbs of muscle mass to ultimately be a very built 195 lbs with 10-12% body fat. I need to learn from the community what I need to do when it's time to start bulking—specifically, how to safely and efficiently transition into that phase while maintaining a lower body fat percentage. I have a lot to learn and I'm hoping to learn to do it safely, here.

 

[Elektrobot]

My current calorie intake is controlled between 1850-2250 calories

A 400 calorie sway is like saying sometimes you keep your deficit, sometimes you don’t.

Weigh your food on a food scale and track you calories in an app. Start this habit now so that it just becomes part of what you do.

using Tonal-guided weight training, and have been able to keep from losing all but maybe 2lbs of muscle mass

…….. this isn’t doing what you think it’s doing and your body composition guesses are misguided

My target weight pre-bulk is 180 lbs

Make 12% or less body fat your goal. You don’t know what that weight is going to be.

Start doing some real training. Why are you worried about when to plan a “bulk” when you haven’t even begun to workout yet?

Don’t add calories until you can see quad and chest veins. If all you can see are shoulder veins, you are way above the mark still.

If you are using a tonal machine as your training, we have a long way to go before worrying about how to bulk properly

 

[LeSportifMC_6192615]

The sway is intentional and leaves room for enjoying life. My body fat and skeletal muscle mass numbers are measurements, not guesses. I suppose I should have mentioned that I'm currently at 22% bf. My goals and your goals probably aren't the same, but I like your suggestion of how to look at my body fat percentage goal. I'm not opposed to moving on from Tonal at some point, but I'm also not trying to be a body builder. I understand there are some beautiful obsessions, but my main focus is on family, health, and wellness, not competing or being the most ripped dude out there. My starting point is higher than average because I've been lifting 300lb logs since I was 20 and working my way through college. I initially laughed at the idea of using Tonal, but I've been impressed with its versatility and convenience. Right now helps me balance focusing on my business, marriage, children, service, and physical health. I do have veins showing up in my quads and chest now.

 

[IndividualMan]

Real advice man:
You will not look like a bodybuilder. Unless you go 100% in the gym for the next 10 years, eat perfectly, and take rather generous amounts of AAS and GH, you will never get in a position which "makes you look like you compete" or "the most ripped dude out there". probably not even the most ripped dude at your gym.
At 22%bf, you are in a great position compared to normal people. The next step you will have to do to continue seeing progress is probably moving on from Tonal and going to a real gym, otherwise you will probably start spinning your wheels in a year or so.

Your goal for the end of your cut/ start of your bulk should be more focused on a certain BF% (maybe 12-14%) in my opinion. (not necessarily weight based, because people get the urge to just crash diet the last bit off, which is not sustainable/productive). Same for the end of your bulk. if you get above 20ish% in the future, it is probably a good sign you should start the recomp/cut.

Also, do you plan on leveraging Testosterone or other AAS for your bulk? 10-15lbs of muscle (actual contractile tissue, not lean tissue which includes intramuscular water and glycogen stores) takes a few go-rounds as a natural, especially when approaching the 200lb mark.

Also, I like the calorie sway for the purpose of enjoying life. This definitely slows down progress, but it is good to have one or two "off days" if you are not someone who is 100% going on stage/making oney off your physique, but just doing it to feel like an actual healthy person.

 

[BigDadd7]

Introduction: Who I Am​

Hey, all! My name is Jay and I'm in the US. I was referred to Meso by an old friend from high school. I'm 48 and have always led a pretty active lifestyle. My fitness hobbies include snowboarding, cycling, lifting weights, yoga, hiking, disc golf, and many more. I have a degree in psychology, but I have found a place in the tree service industry. I think most people who blame manual labor for wearing out their body aren't taking enough personal responsibility for living a balanced life. The people I know in my field who are progressively aging actively practice lifestyle choices that are hard on their bodies. And they don't work out the muscle groups that are neglected in their work.

The Struggle with Appetite and Metabolism​

Despite my commitment to staying active, I've struggled with being over weight off and on since my mid 30s. This is entirely due to diet and a diminished metabolism. The last time I got down to a healthy weight (2018) it took 4-5 months of exercising 15 hours a week using a combination of HIIT, yoga, cycling, and weight training.

Since then, I've started a business, became very active in my community, and became the father of two children. For five years I was wearing all the hats, including the laborer hat. I found I needed around 3500 calories a day to keep up, but those 3500 calories often times weren't good for me. For the last three years I've been out of the field, but my body still wanted 3500 calories a day. I obliged without paying any attention in the first year and ballooned quickly. In December of 2023 I weighed 235 lbs.

At the beginning of 2024, I started exercising again, but I no longer had 15 hours a week to give to it. While I have been able to maintain muscle mass and good cardio, I have struggled with my appetite. My body didn't want to let go of eating 3500 calories a day and I've lacked the time and discipline to do what I needed to do to get my weight under control.

The Turning Point: Incretin Therapy​

In July I visited my high-school friend. I was blown away by his physical transformation since I last saw him in January of 2022. He was extremely overweight back then and this summer he was as lean and healthy as I'd ever seen him. I'd been pursuing life-style change the past two years, but it didn't take much for him to convince me to give incretin therapy (Tirzepatide/Semaglutide) a go. Wow!

I've seen these fail with other people, but his story played out differently. He's a friend who happens to have a deep knowledge of fitness and nutrition, and he has used these and other prescribed peptides in combination with steroids to lose weight, work through some major injuries, put on muscle mass, recomp, and reset his lifestyle. Since he helped me get started on this therapy, I've gone from 235 lbs down to 193, the lowest I've been since before 2000. I've also been working out religiously (5-6 days a week), using Tonal-guided weight training, and have been able to keep from losing all but maybe 2lbs of muscle mass, largely due to a consistent high protein intake. My current calorie intake is controlled between 1850-2250 calories a day.

Future Goals: Bulking and Sustainability​

The short and sweet is that he's kept me motivated the last several months, I've been very disciplined with diet and exercise going on two years, and I need to maintain this lifestyle. But I don't want to be dependent on these drugs indefinitely.

My target weight pre-bulk is 180 lbs. Once I reach that goal in a couple of months, I want to transition off the therapy and learn how to efficiently put on 10-15 lbs of muscle mass to ultimately be a very built 195 lbs with 10-12% body fat. I need to learn from the community what I need to do when it's time to start bulking—specifically, how to safely and efficiently transition into that phase while maintaining a lower body fat percentage. I have a lot to learn and I'm hoping to learn to do it safely, here.

That intro almost read like an advertisement.

I'm going to give you some bad advice here. Of course weighing your food is best for optimal results, blah blah blah. However, if you’re not interested in fully embracing the bb lifestyle, there are still ways to find moderate success.

I prefer tirz, some prefer reta. Some of the real big fatties like sema (works great if you like farting and burping all day). Start low and titrate up over the course of weeks. By "weeks" I mean hold a dose for at least 3 weeks to let it accumulate. These aren't diet pills where more is better. They are hormones that take time to work. Slow and steady gets the best results. After about 5-6 weeks, you will find a dose that makes it difficult (but not impossible) to eat. At that point, focus on hitting your protein goals daily.

Caveat: You will sacrifice a lot of potential gains with this method, but you can live a somewhat normal life with it.

Forget that 15 hours of exercise. That's dumb. It will lead to over training and burnout, and it's not practical for most people who have a full life and responsibilities. Hit the gym 3-4 times a week for 1-1.5 hours each time. In 60 days, you will see a massive change. Be sure to take a full selfie (please wear your underoos). Take a progress pic once a week. About week 5, you will start to see a significant change.

I understand all the actual bodybuilders in here are feeling their head explode about now, and rightly so. I'm not giving bodybuilding advice. I'm giving advice to an average Joe who wants to improve his life in a sustainable way. Good luck.

 

[LeSportifMC_6192615]

@BigDadd7 Thank you for your feedback on my goals. My buddy gave me 60mg tirz mixed with 3mg sema. The sema explains the several weeks of gas I experienced, but I've been past that for a month or so. I'm currently up to 10mg tirz/ .5mg sema. I'm getting ready to get self sufficient, making my first purchase and getting it tested. I don't want to be a burden on my friend. He gave me an intro and it's time to learn. I'm planning on getting straight straight tirz.

Maybe one day I'll get obsessed with intense body building. Right now, I'm an older dad with young children. I just want to be around awhile. My current workout routine is 1-1.5hrs 5 days a week. I add in yoga here and there to stay flexible and balanced. I usually go on a 30 mile bike ride once a week to get outside and give myself a boost. I sometimes trade calories burned for treats. I'm not in a rush.

 

[LeSportifMC_6192615]

Real advice man:
You will not look like a bodybuilder. Unless you go 100% in the gym for the next 10 years, eat perfectly, and take rather generous amounts of AAS and GH, you will never get in a position which "makes you look like you compete" or "the most ripped dude out there". probably not even the most ripped dude at your gym.
At 22%bf, you are in a great position compared to normal people. The next step you will have to do to continue seeing progress is probably moving on from Tonal and going to a real gym, otherwise you will probably start spinning your wheels in a year or so.

Your goal for the end of your cut/ start of your bulk should be more focused on a certain BF% (maybe 12-14%) in my opinion. (not necessarily weight based, because people get the urge to just crash diet the last bit off, which is not sustainable/productive). Same for the end of your bulk. if you get above 20ish% in the future, it is probably a good sign you should start the recomp/cut.

Also, do you plan on leveraging Testosterone or other AAS for your bulk? 10-15lbs of muscle (actual contractile tissue, not lean tissue which includes intramuscular water and glycogen stores) takes a few go-rounds as a natural, especially when approaching the 200lb mark.

Also, I like the calorie sway for the purpose of enjoying life. This definitely slows down progress, but it is good to have one or two "off days" if you are not someone who is 100% going on stage/making oney off your physique, but just doing it to feel like an actual healthy person.

Great feedback, man! I should've just averaged it and said 2050 calories a day. Lol. I'm going to take your advice on the body fat percentage goal. I am definitely considering AAS for bulking. I've never used any before, so I'm here to learn. Muscle-wise, I'm probably going more for lean mass. I'm more concerned with being stronger, but I'm not opposed to being bigger. I'm already pretty happy with the way I look, and my wife isn't complaining. Years of tree work has been kind to everything that's been hiding under my fat. Tonal has always been a good-enough-for-now solution. By the time I'm over it I'll be ready to either join the gym or create a space for my own gym. I have a future plan to convert 1/3rd of a large shop into a free gym for my crew. I've been looking into the possibilities. Again, thank you for the advice. I look forward to learning more from you.