After TRT, I Lost 50 Pounds and 10 Inches Off My Waist
- By Brian Yoshimura
- As told to Austin Letorney
- Medically Reviewed by James Staheli, D.O.
- December 13, 2023
I was walking back to my car after a rec league basketball game when my knees almost gave out.
At 43 years old, I weighed 285 pounds, and my joints were struggling under my weight.
It was a 180 to where I was just 10 years prior. Then, I was in the military—I served in the Marine Corps and the Army—and struggled to put on weight.
The guy limping back to his car was miles away from that lean soldier.
A Dose of Reality
Over the next few months, I found it hard to keep up on the basketball court, and even harder to recover from one game to the next.
To increase my fitness I started doing basic home dumbbell workouts including push-ups, lunges, and biceps curls—with occasional sit-ups—once or twice a week. But I didn’t build muscle or endurance. I didn’t lose fat either.
Soon the fatigue spread into the rest of my life.
I had to chug two Monster energy drinks every morning to start my day. Plus a cup of coffee at around 3 p.m. to get me through the rest.
I was too tired to cook, so fast food became my go-to source of fuel. The employees at my local Jack in the Box knew my regular order—a loaded breakfast sandwich.
The physical and psychological stresses of combat can lower testosterone levels.
TRT can help get them back to normal.
Test your T with Hone’s at-home assessment. If you have low T, our physicians can help you feel better.
I Tried to Change
Once my local gym opened up in the Spring of 2020, I tried to work out four to five days a week but lacked the energy to get more than 20 minutes of work done. I tried to eat healthier—lean meats and veggies—but I lacked the motivation and consistency.
In June 2020, I went to my doctor and asked for a full blood test. I was 44 and didn’t understand why my energy was gone and I wasn’t seeing any workout results.
My doctor said everything was fine for my age, including my testosterone levels, which clocked in at 276 ng/dL.
For the next year I stuck to my workout routine. But the effort I was putting in just wasn’t yielding results.
TRT Transformation Stories
Change Finally Happened
I started researching my symptoms and read about low testosterone. When I saw that 276 ng/dL was below the normal testosterone level for a guy my age, everything clicked.
With further research into testosterone replacement therapy, I found Hone in the fall of 2021. My at-home assessment came back at 224 ng/dL and I started TRT.
Within a month, my energy shot up and my workouts improved. I could lift for 50 minutes and do 30 minutes of cardio, three times a week.
I started tracking my macros, eating 40 percent protein, 40 percent fat, and 20 percent carbs of strictly clean food. I follow what I call a keto-intermittent fasting hybrid. During the week, I’ll skip breakfast and keep my body in ketosis—with help from keto pee strips—and let myself cheat a little on the weekends (the hybrid part).
I cut out the energy drinks and extra coffee, too.
I’ve been on TRT for one year. I’ve lost 50 pounds, dropped a shirt size, and my waist has gone from 48 to 38 inches.
At 46, I feel like a completely different person. Although I’ve stopped playing basketball, I have the energy of someone half my age, workout with more intensity, and actually feel good about my weight.
