Yesterday I was on the fence about gym-hitting, and ended up just heading straight home to start laundry. While it was running I picked up some grocerehs - cantaloupe for a couple breakfasts, bananas which will be perfect Sun-Mon and maybe even Tue, deli fried catfish that was delicious again but gave me moderate heartburn again, and frozen chicken tenderloins on sale at $3.50/lb. Not sure what I'll do with the chicken, probably pan-fry low and slow for wraps or sammiches. And wtf is up with the catfish, maybe it's rolled in that GMO corn meal that makes your guts explode.
Woke a couple hours in the wee hours, up for real ~9:30 because the landlord sometimes comes that early for rent, half a cantaloupe for lunch when I realized I was getting hungry, and at 3:30, a scramble dog wrap and some plantain chips and V8. gym is looking like a non-plan today too. Relaxed calorie restrictions has been good for my energy, but the lack of exercise has definitely impacted my sleep.
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Take-aways from "13 Ways to Naturally Boost Your Testosterone Levels" (credited to Ron Geraci, Men's Health, December 25, 2000):
1. Body weight and diet: Being 30% or more over ideal body weight can inhibit testosterone production. Dieting in "starvation mode", i.e. cutting calories more than 15% (presumably below caloric equilibrium), can inhibit testosterone production, making it harder to maintain and build lean muscle. Excessive protein intake, i.e. over 16% of total calorie intake, can inhibit T production. Insufficient fat intake, i.e. under 30% of daily calories, can inhibit T production.
2. Exercise: Engaging several large muscle groups in one exercise (e.g. squats) promotes T production more than motions that isolate specific muscles. Working out at a load level where you can only do 5 reps, and doing 3 sets, maximizes the effect on T production. But don't "overtrain" - that is, work different muscle groups on alternating days, and get enough sleep.
3. Sex drive and sleep: Testosterone surges in the morning (presumably hence the common male experience of "morning wood") and overall testosterone circulation increases with erections. Insufficient and disrupted sleep habits specifically interfere with that, as well as just generally being a poor health habit that strains all body systems.
My thoughts:
At 5'9.5" height and 44y age, depending which formula you use, my ideal body weight could be as high as 162.4# (Hamwi 1964), down to 153-154# (Miller or Robinson 1983).
At 171# my sedentary calorie equilibrium point will be 2000 kcal/day, down to 1880 kcal at the BMI "ideal" of 149#. Cutting just 15% to buffer endocrine function means plodding along at a 300 kcal deficit or less, losing maybe .75# per week.
The writer's example cites an "average" 170# man who eats 2700 kcal per day, resulting in a protein limit of 140g/day. Obviously this is not the average sedentary 170# man, because 2700 kcal daily would be 30% and more over sedentary caloric equilibrium. 2700 kcal equilibrium would be 171# me, running ~4-5 miles a day - certainly above-average activity level. 140g of protein is more than I ever eat anyway, certainly more than I eat on a "calorie metered" day.
I question the chicken-and-egg relationship of morning libido and testosterone surge. Do we have erections because T is surging due to some mystical response to dawn breaking, or does inducing arousal promote T production, or is the morning libido peak simply a side effect of being well-rested? To wit, if you work night shifts and sleep 7AM-3PM, does your T surge happen in the afternoon? Aside from the dangers of distraction, will sexual fantasizing improve your workout? Likewise the impact of alcohol excess - if you drink yourself stupid thereby blunting your sex drive (regardless of the disinhibition effect), it follows that testosterone production will lull while your endocrine system is metabolising the alcohol excess.