Hey everyone. Hope you're doing well. Starting a couple weeks ago I've adopted a more RP-inspired diet and lifestyle. I must say, I'm really enjoying learning about health from a bioenergetic standpoint. My motivation for this? Chronic sluggishness, feeling of cold, and flat-out poor metabolism. I'm a young man in what are supposed to be my prime years– I shouldn't feel the way I do.
[Diet]
Before this transition, my diet was decent with exception to regular nut butter consumption and fibrous vegetables+oats. Now I've simplified my diet to fit RP's basic principles. This means low-no PUFA, infrequent muscle meats, high dairy [organic milk, parmigiano reggiano or cheddar without additives/gums, and lots of 0% Greek yogurt to hit my protein needs, ice cream without additives/gums] and sugar [organic pulp-free OJ, honey, fruit] intake, daily gelatin consumption, only well-digestible (non-fibrous) fruit and vegetables [daily raw carrot, mushrooms, cooked apples], and occasional servings of well-digestible starches (white rice and potato).
A month ago I finished a successful (from a physique standpoint, obviously not health) cut down to my current conditioning at ~9-10% body fat. So since then I've been slowly increasing calories and decreasing cardio to maintain my physique and ensure I don't gain excessive fat. Currently I'm at at 2000kcal, 160-170P, 55-60F, 200-210c, with 1000 kcal low-intensity cardio per week.
[Exercise]
I regularly train for strength and hypertrophy and have been seriously training for about 4 years. Definitely physique-minded, as this is one of my passions. One thing I can possibly attribute to my poor metabolism is that in my mid teens I trained very hard MMA while severely under-eating. And then after stopping MMA and normalizing food intake I picked up weightlifting (powerlifting+bodybuilding style), which I still do this day (not competitively–screw that lol). But in my early lifting career I was stupidly in a caloric deficit way too frequently (every half year or so). I've gained significant muscle and strength over the years and I'm much healthier now, but I feel like my unhealthy and underfed background has contributed to the current status of my sloth metabolism.
[Supplements]
I'm a minimalist with supps and prefer to keep it that way. I take the following daily:
– recently started 4000IU vit D (Carlson's Liquid D3 - 1 drop topically on my shins)
– 250mg KSM-66 Ashwagandha (I find this helps with stress levels and mood)
– 3-5g creatine monohydrate (one of the few legit research-backed sports supplements, improved physical and cognitive function, no reason not to...)
[Basic Stats] 21 years old / Male / 144 lbs / 5'7''
[Blood Work] <taken on Oct-3-2017>:
TSH: 3.56 uIU/mL (HIGH - RP says this should be <0.4. In that case this is extremely high. Should I be worried about this?)
Total T4: 3.6 ug/dL (below the given standard range of 4.6-12)
Sodium: 142 mmol/L
Potassium: 5.1 mmol/L
CO2: 22 mmol/L
Calcium, Serum: 9.5 mg/dL
Albumin: 4.7 g/dL
Glucose, Serum: 91 mg/dL
BUN: 30 mg/dL (HIGH *)
Creatinine: 1.88 mg/dL (HIGH *)
* I assume bc of my muscle mass, daily creatine supplementation, and protein intake
[Temperature/Pulse]
I've taken my temperature and pulse readings upon waking for the past week and I regularly land around 96 F and 60 bpm. These are clearly suboptimal to say the least.
Given all this info, it would be greatly appreciated if you guys could:
(1) assess my blood work and inform me of anything noteworthy/pressing
(2) recommend changes in diet/lifestyle to put me on a path toward more energy and a strong metabolism
[Diet]
Before this transition, my diet was decent with exception to regular nut butter consumption and fibrous vegetables+oats. Now I've simplified my diet to fit RP's basic principles. This means low-no PUFA, infrequent muscle meats, high dairy [organic milk, parmigiano reggiano or cheddar without additives/gums, and lots of 0% Greek yogurt to hit my protein needs, ice cream without additives/gums] and sugar [organic pulp-free OJ, honey, fruit] intake, daily gelatin consumption, only well-digestible (non-fibrous) fruit and vegetables [daily raw carrot, mushrooms, cooked apples], and occasional servings of well-digestible starches (white rice and potato).
A month ago I finished a successful (from a physique standpoint, obviously not health) cut down to my current conditioning at ~9-10% body fat. So since then I've been slowly increasing calories and decreasing cardio to maintain my physique and ensure I don't gain excessive fat. Currently I'm at at 2000kcal, 160-170P, 55-60F, 200-210c, with 1000 kcal low-intensity cardio per week.
[Exercise]
I regularly train for strength and hypertrophy and have been seriously training for about 4 years. Definitely physique-minded, as this is one of my passions. One thing I can possibly attribute to my poor metabolism is that in my mid teens I trained very hard MMA while severely under-eating. And then after stopping MMA and normalizing food intake I picked up weightlifting (powerlifting+bodybuilding style), which I still do this day (not competitively–screw that lol). But in my early lifting career I was stupidly in a caloric deficit way too frequently (every half year or so). I've gained significant muscle and strength over the years and I'm much healthier now, but I feel like my unhealthy and underfed background has contributed to the current status of my sloth metabolism.
[Supplements]
I'm a minimalist with supps and prefer to keep it that way. I take the following daily:
– recently started 4000IU vit D (Carlson's Liquid D3 - 1 drop topically on my shins)
– 250mg KSM-66 Ashwagandha (I find this helps with stress levels and mood)
– 3-5g creatine monohydrate (one of the few legit research-backed sports supplements, improved physical and cognitive function, no reason not to...)
[Basic Stats] 21 years old / Male / 144 lbs / 5'7''
[Blood Work] <taken on Oct-3-2017>:
TSH: 3.56 uIU/mL (HIGH - RP says this should be <0.4. In that case this is extremely high. Should I be worried about this?)
Total T4: 3.6 ug/dL (below the given standard range of 4.6-12)
Sodium: 142 mmol/L
Potassium: 5.1 mmol/L
CO2: 22 mmol/L
Calcium, Serum: 9.5 mg/dL
Albumin: 4.7 g/dL
Glucose, Serum: 91 mg/dL
BUN: 30 mg/dL (HIGH *)
Creatinine: 1.88 mg/dL (HIGH *)
* I assume bc of my muscle mass, daily creatine supplementation, and protein intake
[Temperature/Pulse]
I've taken my temperature and pulse readings upon waking for the past week and I regularly land around 96 F and 60 bpm. These are clearly suboptimal to say the least.
Given all this info, it would be greatly appreciated if you guys could:
(1) assess my blood work and inform me of anything noteworthy/pressing
(2) recommend changes in diet/lifestyle to put me on a path toward more energy and a strong metabolism
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