Is there hope?

[paulquest]

I'm 38, 110kg (242lb) 5F8 in height. carrying a keg instead of abs. Not trained well for a few years now.
Want to keep and build muscle but lose weight that has no place attached to my body!
Now that I'm older I seem to have forgotten what to do to achieve this.

What exercise and supplements would you go for?

Please help!

[musikguy72]

No magic to it.
Pick a beginners routine and stick to it. Eat less food than you are eating now. Monitor results. Adjust as necessary.

[EB68]

I agree, no magic supplements just good old heavy lifting, good eating habits and rest will get you what you need. Don't expect to do it in weeks though, months will be needed to acheive your goals.

[drarmament]

Just lift, start light to get correct form, so you can avoid injuries, do some cardio or circuit train, Its a journey, don't get discourage and stay motivated. Eat, not ding dongs or hoho, but real foods. GL

Remember it took years of abuse to get were you are, now it will takes a lifetime of dedication to become who you want to be

[paulquest]

Thanks guys.
I understand there's no magic supplement and it's going to be good old hard work to get back into shape.
Should I still be taking in things like protein shakes post workout, meal replacements etc or just eat cleaner?

[DCSLIMM]

Thanks guys.
I understand there's no magic supplement and it's going to be good old hard work to get back into shape.
Should I still be taking in things like protein shakes post workout, meal replacements etc or just eat cleaner?

I would recommend you start eating clean. Maintain the protein shake PWO, but focus on a clean diet. Real Food > Supplements ALL THE TIME!!

[EjnarKolinkar]

I'm 38, 110kg (242lb) 5F8 in height. carrying a keg instead of abs. Not trained well for a few years now.
Want to keep and build muscle but lose weight that has no place attached to my body!
Now that I'm older I seem to have forgotten what to do to achieve this.

What exercise and supplements would you go for?

Please help!

It might make good sense to find out where your diet is at right now and going forward. Myfitnesspal or similar sites or apps make it easy to record your macros. You can see how much protein, fat, and carbs your getting and what you need to change. There is no substitute for good nutrition, you have to know what's going in matches your goal.

[tryintorebuild]

This isn't a popular answer on here, but Lipo6 is a very good appetite suppressor/energy booster. It's true there are no magic supplements, but cutting back on eating isn't easy for everyone. Lipo6 will not make you lose weight. It did help me overcome the urge to snack. I don't take it now. After a few bottles of it, I had cut my eating back enough that it isn't necessary.
But it does take will power. You have to make sure the food you cut out is the bad food. I know a lot of people that skip meals and then reward themselves with junk food. Look up "Eat this/Not that" online. Check out how many calories your favorite food has per serving and then realize that most grown men don't eat only one serving.

[flatiron]

I'm 38, 110kg (242lb) 5F8 in height. carrying a keg instead of abs. Not trained well for a few years now.
Want to keep and build muscle but lose weight that has no place attached to my body!
Now that I'm older I seem to have forgotten what to do to achieve this.

What exercise and supplements would you go for?

Please help!

Eat less, move more. I am 5'8 and 42. I lost 80 lbs in 2011. If I did it, you can too.

I am no expert, but you can check out my journal that I just started.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=146334033

I wouldn't recommend the same path I took, given what I know now. You will want keep track of your nutrition, and through trial and error find what amounts to a modest deficit in calories. Read these:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=136691851

You will want to lift heavy with a good beginners routine. Either Starting Strength:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=131379243
or All-pros:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=133395553
BTW, buy and read the Starting Strength book even if you elect to do All-Pro's instead. You will not find a better resource for proper form for the major exercises that will/should be a lasting part of your future.

And, lastly you will want to mix in some cardio. You don't need to overdo it, but you do need to do it consistently. My recommendation is to lift 3 days a week, and do some cardio on another (different) 3 days a week. You really don't need to go longer than 30 minutes typically. You can elect to do LISS (low intensity steady state) or HIIT (high intensity interval training) depending an whether you've got the gas and recovery for HIIT.

[michail71]

I'm 38, 110kg (242lb) 5F8 in height. carrying a keg instead of abs. Not trained well for a few years now.
Want to keep and build muscle but lose weight that has no place attached to my body!
Now that I'm older I seem to have forgotten what to do to achieve this.

What exercise and supplements would you go for?

Please help!

MyFitnessPal and a food scale to start.

[mslman71]

Thanks guys.
I understand there's no magic supplement and it's going to be good old hard work to get back into shape.
Should I still be taking in things like protein shakes post workout, meal replacements etc or just eat cleaner?

Do you know exactly (within a reasonable tolerance, a few %) how many calories you ate yesterday and their breakdown in terms of carbs, fat, protein? If you can't answer that question then you can't begin to know what aspects of your nutrition you need to supplement.

"Cleaner" eating never hurts, but it doesn't mean anything in particular w.r.t. weight loss.

[crupiea]

I remember when i started.

I just wanted to get big and strong and lose fat, i figured that there was no need to diet because the exercise would naturally burn the fat and use it as fuel to put on muscle.

i was wrong.

So i figured i would give it a try just for 1 week to see how it went.

i made a list of foods i wanted to eat 5-6 meals per day and went to the store and looked at the calories. Some i had to cross off because they were too high.

So i ended up with alot of frozen dinners, canned goods and the like. i also bought a rotisserrie chicken.

So i ate everything, wasnt hiungry ans stepped on the scale 3 lobs lighter the next week and it was suprosingly easy to do. So i just continued on with it.

This is what i would recommend for you. once you get the diet sorted everything will fall into place.

[dnb]

check out the podcasts at www.fat2fitradio.com or on itunes. You'll get a lot out of these...

[MarkBomberg]

At the age of 34, I got on the scale and I was the fattest I'd ever been. 4 months later, I had dropped 60 lbs and lost 4 inches off my waist. I did it by eating only fresh vegetables and white meat and letting myself cheat for 2-3 meals per week so I didn't go crazy. For exercise, I started out by just walking 45 minutes per night on a treadmill and then added running in the morning. I gradually started adding weights and now I'm supplementing which has resulted in me making ridiculous gains in the weight room now too.
I set manageable bi-weekly goals for myself and only used my own progress as a measuring stick. Once I saw the dramatic progress occurring, motivating myself was easier than I ever thought possible. If you can get through a STRICT first month, your habits become a lifestyle and the rest is way easier than you think. At my current pace, I'll be in the best shape of my life by this Thanksgiving which is remarkable when I consider where I was just 1 year ago.

[KeithTheSnake]

So, I wonder whether the OP has begun.

One problem that so many folks have is that they feel they have to find the "right" diet, or routine, or supplement, or piece of equipment. They can't get anything done without that perfect whatever-it-may-be that will drive their progress. In their quest for this, they lose sight of the simple day-to-day effort required to just eat and train and learn.

Good luck, OP, on your journey. Keep us posted, won't you?

[flatiron]

One problem that so many folks have is that they feel they have to find the "right" diet, or routine, or supplement, or piece of equipment. They can't get anything done without that perfect whatever-it-may-be that will drive their progress. In their quest for this, they lose sight of the simple day-to-day effort required to just eat and train and learn.

I can relate to this. I've known since I got serious about lifting a few months ago that I needed to hone in on my nutrition. But what I read told me to plug in my information into this formula, out would pop my calories/fat/carb/protein needs, then devise a series of meals to hit it, prepare ahead as much as possible on Sunday, and marvel at how easy it was to meet my fitness goals. I'm sorry, but that's a daunting task and the idea of doing all that at once delayed me from getting started for at least a couple months.

Finally this week I started tracking my nutrition. All I am doing so far is logging everything I eat into fitday.com, and noting the calories/fat/carbs/protein as well as my morning scale readings. I am not trying to hit any kind of target yet, just trying to find out what I normally do according to my current habits. I figure in 2-3 weeks I'll assess the data, identify what my targets should probably be, and then figure out what I have to add/sub in order to hit my targets with minimum changes. Much easier to take a phased approach.

[azstrengthcoach]

Just use the same formula you used in the past to get in shape. If it worked last time it will this time

[MyMusclesHurt]

I have not been a part of this forum for long, I wish I had been because information is priceless
My story is I'm. 55, 5'9" carting about 203 Lbs around . April 27,2011 I started a beginner program, I never lifted seriously and my diet was good but not great. My goal was fat loss but somewhere along the way got lost in adding muscle. Today I completed my 180th 90 min workout. I have perfected my lifting techniques and added 13lbs of what I believe is mostly muscle
One mouth ago I started tracking my calories and macros and tweeting my diet. I didn't lose any weight until this week when I got down to 1800-2000 calories (P-200gm, F-100gm and balance carbs)
My message to OP and others is don't be afraid to ease into this. My excerse routine is solid, I know it and my family has accepted it. Now I'm easing into my diet. Hopefully this too will be come solid too
Baby steps people