Hi all,
I know starvation mode is talked about on here a lot and I'm struggling with coming to terms on why I can't lose weight. I am an avid CICO proponent and stand fast in the "eat less, move more" motto.
However, I have not been able to lose weight despite my efforts and was recently diagnosed with a pituitary micro-adenoma (a tumor on my pituitary gland) which is causing (hopefully) low testosterone. My doctor did bloodwork twice and I came back with testosterone levels of 236 ng/dl. I am a 30 year old, healthy, male standing 6'2" and 240 lbs, with approximately 25% body fat. According to my doctor, the average 30 year old male has a testosterone measurement of between 600-800 ng/dl, so I have about 1/3 the testosterone of an average 30 year old male.
Anyway, enough about my health background. I'm relatively active person, I play soccer occasionally and I go to the gym regularly (3-4 days per week). I usually lift weights for approximately 1-1.5 hours and, depending on how much energy I have, I might do 10-20 minutes of relatively light treadmill cardio. According to my fitness watch, I burn between 300-500 calories during a workout (sometimes more if I'm on the treadmill for a while).
So, my BMR is approximately 2,300 and my TDEE is approximately 3,160 as "lightly active" (I have a desk job M-F 8-5). I've been eating in the realm of 1,800 - 2,200 calories per day with the goal of losing at least 1lb per week. I track my calories through My Fitness Pal and try and be as truthful as I can about drinks, snacks, etc. Based on my BMR of 2,300 and a deficit of 500 calories, 1,800 is about where I should be and then I work out a few days per week and I do not eat back the calories spent on working out. So, if I burn 500 calories at the gym and eat the minimum of 1,800 calories (it's usually closer to 2,000) then I'm still at 1,300 calories for the day.
My brother, girlfriend, and everyone else is telling me that I'm not losing weight due to being in "starvation mode". I try to explain to them that that's not the case because I'm still well above what would be considered starving myself (<800 calories per day). My brother is an avid gym goer and power lifter and is 6' 240 lbs and very strong. He keeps telling me that I should be eating 2,500 - 3,000 at a minimum to lose weight and the fact that I'm only taking in 1,800 - 2,200 calories per day is starving my body and having it hold onto fat and burn my muscle (for the record, I've always had a really hard time trying to put on muscle, if I can put on any at all).
I don't know if they are right and I'm eating too little, or if it's my testosterone that is not allowing me to lose weight. I'm scheduled with an endocrinologist later this month to go over steps moving forward and possible surgery, but I've stopped working out for the last month because I've become discouraged that I can't seem to get below 230 lbs.
I apologize for the long post and I'm happy to answer any information questions I have missed. I look forward to hearing from you all to see if you can point me in the right direction.
PS: My brother has given me the below links to persuade me that I'm eating too little:
https://www.muscleforlife.com/how-to-speed-up-metabolism/
https://healthyeater.com/eat-to-lose-weight
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2P4ZyTB
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