Libido loss?
 

Anyone else notice libido loss after you started your routine? What do you think is the cause?

My routine, started in June, is lifting weights at the gym, walking 3 miles a day and eating less. I'm sure it's one of the 3 causing it, I suspect the eating less.

Also those who had libido loss but recovered, when did it go back up? When you hit your target and shifted to weight maintenance, or what?

Thanks.

Mine has been down ever since I started.

It's quite nice really - as a guy - seeing as we tend to think about such things too much anyway!

Initially I put it down to the calorie deficit (which I hear is quite common).

I now put it down to exercise which...ahem...gives me the same buzz even if in a different way. I run 4 miles a day and weight train most days.

So I expect it is your entire lifestyle change.

Don't get me wrong. I definitely feel sexier. I just don't feel the desire to have sex as much. Which is nice, as I said.

I remember reading that people on a very restricted caloric intake lose just about all their libido. So it makes sense that a moderately restricted caloric intake would also impact libido to a degree. I expect that your libido will go up once you boost your calories to maintenance levels.

F.

Ack! I'm so sorry to hear that you're diet and your libido are at odds!

Are you taking birth control pills? That's what killed mine for way too many years...

Ugh this has been my problem as well. Like Ian I feel sexier, but the desire is not there like it used to be. I know for me its the calorie deficit and also when I'm training hard for something it goes down further. When I take maintenance breaks it goes back to normal, so I know its not permanent at least :)

That's some rockin' bod you have, Dottington!

F.

Come on guys...not having the urge to make sexy time all the time is frickin' awesome.

Can someone put a positive spin on this....paaaalease.

If the significant other has an issue with it, they'll just have to work a little harder.

Like we did to lose the frickin' weight!

Sorry....got carried away.

freelance-oh wow thanks! :o

ian-lol! Yes well positive spin.....its great to have so much more free time I can dedicate to sleeping!!! :p haha

i most definitely lost my libido and ahem... it felt different for a long time, not in a good way. Eventually it leveled out but i think my hormones were also a mess and had to up my thyroid. Things are a bit better now but not the way they were and some of it probably is my advancing age!

No, Ian, not a good thing, LOL

Hmmm... looks a little grim, huh? I'll just have to see what happens. Maybe it will work out.

When asked about the loss of his libido, Sophocles was said to reply, "Most gladly have I escaped this thing you talk of, as if I had run away from a raging and savage beast of a master."

I guess Ian does have a point for those of us without a reliable outlet ... but those of us with a willing and eager partner, well, I've heard it said that if you don't take care of your partner, they might find someone else who will ...

Super, I seem to recall you're a 45 y/o male, correct? Any chance you're on a relatively new medication that could be affecting this? (BP meds, anti anxiety, anti depressants are all notorious).

Also, have you had a full hormone panel done? Low test causes a whole host of issues. The trick is you need to see your own results. I know someone who had their GP do a hormone panel, low libido, energy loss, etc. Testosterone was in the bottom quartile, but still within normal, which actually is NOT optimal and can make men feel dreadful. The GP wanted to put him on an antidepressant. He took the results to another doctor who said "of course you feel rotten with testosterone in that range".

I thought exercise was supposed to increase libido but not so much. I've never had much of a sexual appetite anyway, I always have too much on my mind or just plain exhausted from dealing with the roller coaster that I call everyday life.

Interesting! This gives me hope that it will go back up whenever I get to permanent maintenance. I'll have to pay attention next time I take a maintenance break.

I had a low libido the last few years which I attributed to birth contro. Got a new form of bc in December and had a few months where it was back up, but now not so much. So who knows the true cause, but it definitely gives me something to think about.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who doesn't find exercise increases desire.

On balance, finishing a run is better than sex.

At least better than the sex I have had.

Probably doing it wrong.

Actually, when I'm working out and eating well (even at a deficit), I get friskier. My libido has never really been low, but it does get a boost when I'm in weight loss mode.

Well, I have just run 7 miles this evening in the company of good friends.

It feels great.

And the last thing on my mind right now is sex.

Happy place.

Yes, I am a 45 y/o male. I am on beta blockers but I have been on these for many years. Although I had a "male" issue with the drug when I first started on it, it only lasted a few weeks and everything went back to normal.

I did not notice any libido loss until I started diet and exercise. The drugs could certainly be a factor, but the libido loss happened just a couple of weeks after starting diet/exercise and has not recovered.

Guess I'll have to appease the fertility gods with a dancing carrot :carrot:

May I suggest that, if you have a willing partner whose needs you are concerned about meeting, you just do it whether you are feeling it or not? At least for me, going without leads to just not thinking or caring about it much. I spent three years between husbands where I had no sexual contact. Intellectually, I knew I missed it, but it wasn't a driver for me at all. But my husband and I are pretty active, and it seems like I can't even be around him for long without wanting to on at least some level, and I know a big part of that is simply habit. And as my weight drops and my fitness level increases, options open up. =)