Another Anavar/Girlfriend situation -- advice needed

[Adam Glasser]

My girlfriend, who is 28, was in excellent shape up until she was 25. Unfortunately, over the past three years, she quit working out and has gained a little over 20lbs.

A little history on her....She has always been very athletic. She was a college athlete and has always had a very fitness-oriented mentality. After college, she started weight training with me and managed to stay in great condition -- better than her college years actually. At 25, we broke up and she lost her motivation to stay in shape and basically gave it all up. According to her, she never lost her desire, but her boyfriend at the time wasn't even slightly interested in working out, so she followed his lead instead of making him follow her.

Long story short, we are now back together after a 3-year off period and she wants to get back in shape. (I've stayed in great shape all this time and she's jealous )

She has never used any AAS before and now she wants to try Anavar at 5-10mg/day.

She's 5'10" 165lbs. Her ideal weight is 140lbs. Her upper body is very skinny. Very thin arms and chest. Very weak upper body. Her legs are amazing. Very toned and muscular. They've always been her best body part by far (thanks to dancing and sports). Even at 165lbs she doesn't look bad. She's so tall that she carries this weight well, but without clothes she definitely doesn't look like she used to and she's a little self-conscious about it.

She's doing two sessions of cardio per day. The first session is immediately after she wakes up in the A.M. and the second session is at night. She usually weight trains for 1 hour per day. She eats 5 meals per day and is consuming about 175-200g of protein per day.

Any advice? Any reason she shouldn't use the Anavar at this point in her life?

 

[KEL]

Anavar isn't a weight loss pill.
If she keeps up the lifting, dieting and some of the cardio she'll be her svelte self in no time.

 

[FitFossil]

...Any advice? Any reason she shouldn't use the Anavar at this point in her life?

Well, I can think of lots of reasons, but I'm also an old fuddy duddy who's always been too chicken to try it for myself. It has nothing to do with "morals" either. I don't compete and am not looking for a lot of muscle, that's not to say I might not reconsider down the road for anti-aging reasons. From what you've said, I think at this point, Anavar would be a waste.

If she's always been athletic and was in excellent shape until 3 years ago, it shouldn't take long to get back where she was, provided she trains hard, eats well, and doesn't shoot herself in the foot w/ all that cardio.

I have a problem with "According to her, she never lost her desire, but her boyfriend at the time wasn't even slightly interested in working out, so she followed his lead instead of making him follow her." It's not her old boyfriend's fault that she quit working out. Even if he didn't want to work out himself doesn't mean she couldn't, if the desire was there.

It almost sounds like she wants to use Anavar as her motivator. She'd get better (and more permanent) results getting the other variables in place first.

 

[Sassy69]

You just got some awesome advice here -- it always seems like popping some pills (diet pills, AAS, whatever) is the quick way back, but if you don't have a solid diet & training regimen, it just really doesn't matter. Because AAS results vary so much on an individual basis, esp for women, its better to consider it relative to your goals. Anavar IS NOT a diet pill. Also remember that she may experience some water retention or get some nice zit action or possibly hair loss. She may also experience some screwed up menstrual cycles and lets not forget that just because she may have missed a period, does NOT mean that she can't get pregnant. Additionally, if she's on birth control, that, by itself, may cause some fat retention simply because that's what female hormones are suppsed to do. Most women going the AAS route with the intention of leaning out will toss the birth control, but will also have to pay attention to some alternative method of b/c during the "off" time.

Generally speaking, anavar is considered the "safest" of the wide variety of stuff you can put in your body (please understand I say "safest" relative to stuff that is still MALE hormones and can still produce unexpected results or consequences you might say.) Also dont' forget that "anavar" in general isn't necessarily safe - you would want to make SURE that the stuff you get is clean (i.e. Ttokkyo pills are generally not considered to be guaranteed to be pure and IP stuff is not guaranteed to be anything) & consistently dosed. We've already identified a few inconsistencies & "misslabelings" (ref: Bratis Labs "ox" was discovered to be 7.5 mg winstrol).

And ultimately --- this is your g/f 's body -- she should be on here asking the questions & educating herself if she wants to put male hormones in her body. Its her body, her results, her consequences.

I think one thing we've all learned about AAS is that its not the quick answer and sometimes it just f's you up when a simple diet & training program will get better results w/o any of the sides of AAS.

I understand where she is coming from -- I've been out of the gym for 3 months due to a new job with a psychotic boss -- no time to go to the gym & I've gotten to the point where I even forget to eat because I'm runnign around so much. Two years ago I competed in 2 natural bb shows and I had been training for one this past summer but just couldn't pull it with my professional commitments. I feel like shit & have gained weight. As much as I'd love to pop some magic pills, I still know for a fact that getting my diet back on track & training will get me where I want much faster & with more consistent results. But yes, it is frustrating as hell. So ya just suck it up and go do it.

Good luck -- I would suggest start w/ spatts' suggestions and go from there. Its winter & now's the time so she isn't getting desperate to dump a pile of weight in 3 weeks for a wild Memorial Day weekend.

 

[b_good_6]

Hey Sassy,
I have a solid diet and training regimen, yet I can't seem to make the gains I want. I was considering taking Anavar to give me an edge, but I’m on BC and wanted to learn the interactions with both, and more affects var has to females. I was hoping for your opinion on what I could change up here. Thanks!!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Diet determines results. If you are not making the gains, I bet it is diet related. Before you turn to Var, post up your diet and training.

 

[velvett]

O M G


I remember this thread the first time I read it.

 

[Sassy69]

OK - here's a recent discussion we had re: b/c and all the fun chemicals:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=523620&highlight=anti-e+birth+control

Its very hard to get a "doctor's response" on this because if you talk to most doctors about women & steroids, they will look at you like you are psycho. There is very very very little published about women & steroids because how politically correct is it to provide grant money for research about something that is for the most part completely illegal and also generally not "acceptable" as a violation of whatever you consider "feminine". All the horse hockey aside, that thread is one fo the biggest discussions we've had about it.

Again I'm not a doc so don't quote me -- it appears that because var (or any AAS) is a male hormone, b/c is a female hormone. In & of themselves, the don't really impact each other, as in there aren't any contraindications directly due to taking one w/ the other. HOWEVER, let's look at what they are trying to accomplish. Var or any AAS seems to just confuse the shit out of your menstrual cycle and will impose amenorrhea ("stoppage" of menstruation that isn't related to natural menopause or hysterectomy). This will essentially interrupt your menstrual cycle. This does NOT mean you also don't experience any of the other side effects of a period - you can still experience cramps, bloat, mood swings, etc just as you normally do. I.e. the blood flow isnt' the only indicator of "a period" or not. Does this also mean you won't get pregnant? I wouldn't put money on it. Even if in the extreme (e.g. long time on anti-estrogens) you are still in various shades of gray between "fertile" and "not fertile".

So with regard to actual interactions, don't think there are any (at least on a large obvious scale). But what is each compound trying to do? The AAS is trying to increase your testosterone levels significantly above what your natural levels are - test-related effects are increased lean muscle mass growth, tendency to reduce bodyfat (NOT AS A WEIGHTLOSS DRUG THO..!!!!!) and then the various DHT-driven androgenic sides - acne, hairloss, lowered voice, inflamation / growth of sexual organs, etc. The b/c is tryign to regulate your estrogen / progesterone levels to induce regular periods but keep the "off" times non-pregnant. This includes the usual estrogen-driven effects as well - can be bloating / water retention, estrogen-pattern fat depositing preference in the hips / thighs/ butt/ waist area, mood swings, etc. So these are two very opposing goals that are goign to be fighting at the same time to induce the effects they do. So to this end, if you are interested in fat loss / muscle mass increase w/ the Var, but u also want to continue w/ the b/c --- they seem to neutralize each other in terms of fat loss and further because you are playing w/ your natural hormone balance, my guess is that your b/c is not going to be reliable. So are you really winning here?

So let's jump to what most people do in practice if they happened to be on b/c or are pre-menopausal and sexually active, but also want to run an AAS cycle. A standard case is a physique competitor. At the end of the day, the point of putting your body thru the stress of the drugs, the diet, the training is to look a certain way on show day. Its sort of an all or nothing approach. If that show day is your ultimate goal,, then any effects from the birth control won't be acceptable - i.e. bloat, fat depositing, etc. So many competitors will go off their b/c regardless of AAS use simply because b/C hinders their goal of getting lean, etc. This then removes the issues w/ conflicting w/ the AAS use if they so choose, and further since they know they've gone off their b/c they rely on a backup method of birth control while they are in contest prep.

So the short answer - if you want to get the most out of yoru AAS cycle, get off the birth control durign your cycle. If you choose, you could continue your b/c but the reliability of it is questionable becaues of all the hormone stuff going on.

Again Im not a doc and this is one of the most classic questions about women & steroid use that has been asked on boards all over the internet for years. Its your choice. Use your head and use a back up method if you plan to stay on your b/c. If you don't want to, then you probably shouldn't be using steroids.

Should you be looking at steroids at all? Based on what you said - what does it mean "solid training & diet regimen"? I call massive bullshit on anyone who says they have to go to steroid use because their diet & training isnt' working. Steroids are simply a SUPPLEMENT to an already existing, consistent and optimized diet & training program. To compare - any competitor can evoke show quality results by staying 1000% tight on the diet & training and constatntly re-evaluating the diet & training to optimize for the desired goals.

That means if your current program isnt' getting the results you want, I bet its not optimized for the results you want. Like D_G said, can you post up your diet & training program? I think you are selling yourself way short if you think the only way you can accomplish your goals is w/ illegal substances. I'm not trying to slam you but I want you to get just how important and amazingly productive an optimized diet & trainign program can be w/o stressing your body w/ drugs.

 

[b_good_6]

I'll post my diet and training ASAP... I would love to hear how I can improve both before taking AAS. I realize that it is not a “magic pill” as do others on this site that probably took it for more gains.

 

[msam76]

Get diet in check first. See how much she can lose naturally. Anavar isn't a weight loss pill and won't help her lose weight. You can add the var after she has lost the weight to help build up her upper body. Start at 5mg ed and if no sides are seem, then you can bump it up to 10mg ed. Sides include swelling for clitoris, acne, deepening of voice, oily skin, increased sex drive (NOT a bad thing). Var has low potential for side effects, but that does not me it is side free. All depends on how she reacts to aas. Everyone is different.