You're throwing gains in the toilet without...
What You’re Missing When You Rely on Symptoms Alone
I’ve been obsessed with testosterone for over a decade.
Why?
Simple:
I wanted to build more muscle.
I wanted to get stronger.
I wanted to have rock-solid sexual function and a great sex life with my wife.
I wanted the kind of confidence that turns heads and gets things done.
I wanted to be the guy who charges hard at life.
And yeah—I wanted respect. The DHT PowerAura. That “boss” energy people feel before they even hear you speak.
Those goals haven’t changed much.
But there’s one thing that’s become even more important to me now than all the rest:
Fast recovery.
I’ve got a long list of strength, size, and skill goals—and I’m not getting any younger. If I want to train hard, hit PRs, avoid injuries, and not feel wrecked for days, recovery has to be optimized.
The Testing Roadblock (And How I Got Around It)
For 8 years, I didn’t test my testosterone—or anything else, really.
Why? Testing was annoying.
Go to a doctor. Get a referral. Sit in line. Get jabbed. Pay a premium. Wait a week for results. All that effort just to maybe find out things are fine.
But then I realized: I didn’t need a referral—I could just pay cash and get most tests done privately. Simple.
I started small: just LH and total testosterone.
But I quickly realized that’s not enough. LH tells you nothing about cortisol, prolactin, DHEA, inflammation, thyroid, or liver function.
So I started adding tests. Cortisol. Prolactin. IGF-1. Thyroid hormones. Inflammation markers. Liver enzymes. Now I’m testing nearly 20 markers every two weeks during experiments.
And what I’ve learned has been game-changing.
Why You Can’t Rely on Symptoms Alone
A big mistake most people make is thinking, “If I feel good, I must be healthy.”
Wrong.
When you manipulate hormones or reduce inflammation, the changes often manifest slowly, over weeks or even months. You could double your testosterone and not feel dramatically different for 3–6 months. But your body is changing under the hood.
It’s like Dan Koe says: everything is moving toward entropy—decay, disorder, regression—unless you actively fight it.
There’s no such thing as staying neutral. You’re either improving or you’re falling behind.
And this is why testing is essential. Because the only way to know if you’re actually improving (not just guessing) is to measure.
You might feel better after changing your diet—less bloating, better sleep, clearer skin. Great. But is your testosterone up? Is your inflammation actually down? Is your cortisol still sky-high and killing your recovery?
You won’t know unless you test.
Case Study: Milk
Here’s a perfect example.
I started drinking 4–5L of milk a day. Within three weeks, my cortisol dropped from 479 to 317 nmol/L (normal range: 102–535).
Did I feel radically different? Not really. Maybe a slight calmness. But over a year? That drop in cortisol will compound into better sleep, better recovery, less abdominal fat, fewer breakouts, and slower hair loss.
Cortisol blocks muscle growth, lowers testosterone, disrupts sleep, inflames tissues, and burns you out. Lowering it = more gains, better energy, faster healing.
If I hadn’t tested, I would’ve never known milk had this effect.
Now I can keep it in as a strategic food, knowing it helps me hit my hormonal targets.
And That’s Not All Milk Did…
Increased my DHEA-S
Improved the DHEA-S to cortisol ratio (a marker of resilience and youthfulness)
Boosted IGF-1
Increased free T3
Lowered cholesterol, even while increasing saturated fat
If I had listened to the fearmongering around saturated fat, I would’ve missed out on one of the most pro-metabolic, hormone-optimizing foods in my arsenal.
And how do I know all this?
Testing.
Why Testing Is the Fast Track to Progress
I’ve mega-dosed red meat, eggs, liver, oysters—you name it. Milk has had the biggest overall hormonal impact for me. And I wouldn’t have known that without lab data.
Now, I’m not saying you have to run 20 markers every two weeks like I do. That’s overkill for most.
But even just a few well-chosen tests can tell you whether your plan is working—or if you’re wasting time and energy on something that feels good but isn’t moving the needle.
What to Do If You’re Not Testing Yet
If you’re not ready to test yet, don’t worry. Start with the foundations.
That’s exactly what I break down in my EnhancedNatty Phase 1 and Phase 2 system:
What to eat
Which symptoms to track
What results to expect
How to build momentum naturally
And when to start testing
Because symptoms matter—but they’re not enough. You can feel fine and still be running on fumes, with high inflammation or hidden deficiencies.
Everything—from low testosterone to poor recovery—can be traced back to two root causes: micronutrient deficiencies and oxidative stress.
Fix your diet. Fix your stress. Then test to verify.
That’s what Phase 2 is all about.
Want Help Reading Your Labs or Figuring Out Where to Start?
Inside TestoTribe, I help men:
Choose the right labs
Interpret their results
Identify hidden hormonal issues
Find the root cause behind ED, low energy, poor recovery, and more
Design protocols that actually get results
No more guessing. No more spinning your wheels.
If you’re serious about getting optimized, join TestoTribe—where real transformation starts with real data.