I haven't lifted a weight in 10 years and I've put on 100lbs. Help Please.

[BaconDrips]

I wasn't sure if I should put this in the bodybuilding. or weightloss forums, but say the Over 35 and I figured this would be the place to go.

A little background on me. I did martial arts as a kid though high-school and in doing so jacked up my left knee pretty bad - its fine for every-day use, but I can tweak it fairly easily I wear a brace if I try to do anything active and that seems to keep things in place.

Eight years ago I got back into going to the gym. I was doing a modified version of Starting Strength 3x a week and doing jujitsu on my off days I was feeling great and then my son happened.

Fell completely off the train, ballooned up to 360lbs and the last eight years has just been excuse after lazy excuse and I'm done with excuses. I'm signing up at a 24/7 gym tomorrow and throwing my hat back in the ring.

My joints hurt, my back hurts and I'm miserable. My better half and my doc have both gave me the go-ahead to get back in the gym. So here I go.

I believe I've found an eating regiment that will work for me. Because of my life schedule I need food to be easily accessable. I always take Sundays off to rest from everything, so it's the perfect time to prep meals for the week. So I think I have that covered.

I found the Fierce 5 workout here by davisj3537 which I'll be using.

As far as my died goes, I know Keto works for me with weight loss, but to be honest I find it pretty damn cumbersome to keep up. No matter what diet I finally decide to go with I will be weighing and keeping track of macros. I think this time around instead of going full keto I'm just going to "eat clean". Sorry if my vernacular is wrong, but the best way I can explain is protein, complex carbohydrates, and fats from natural sources (meats, avacado, olive and coconut oil).

Oh, on my rest days I also plan on doing DDP yoga with my wife and she will also be using the same, but slightly modified for portion sizes.

Essentially, I want to start a beginner bodybuilding regime and lose the fat in the process. Am I going about this the right way? Are there any concerns that I may have missed?

[OldFartTom]

Before you try to increase the intensity beyond very gentle, make sure you're medically cleared for exercise

Keto has its fans and many people find it helpful, but the biggest driver of weight loss (and even bigger factor than exercising) are the calories. See: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macronutcal.htm

Start the weights much too light, much much way too light, then aim for really slow progress. Work on very gentle cardio too.

Good luck! Congratulations on starting your comeback.

[BaconDrips]

Yes, thank you. I'm planning g on starting with just the bar and moving up small increments. The last thing I need is to hurt myself and be unable tk work.

[d2mini]

Following a proper program, aware of proper macros and eating whole foods, meal prepping for the week, doctor's clearance, spousal support... sounds like a recipe for success to me!
Threads that start off this on point are far and few between.
Good luck!

[Iceman1800]

What's helped me the most this year is daily tracking and meal prepping. I weigh and measure everything I ingest. I record every macro. I get my meals ready the night before too.

[dragman72]

I feel your pain. I was in great shape and a physical specimen from around 21-25 then one day ------ I stopped. went from a lean 200 up too 355 9 years later.
Keto, And a ton of hard work and I dropped 100lbs in about 6 months. In the year since then I am now averaging around the 200lbs mark and leaner and in better shape than I have ever been in. Just remember keep at it don't let up and don't be afraid to change up the diet and workouts as you progress and get better. I turn 35 in a few weeks and it will be sweet to be over 200lbs with abs and vanes after being so bad for so long.

[pondman]

Your goals seem do able. Keep it all simple. There are no secret pills, just eat right and do the workout.

[BS57]

Be glad you aren't doing it at 61 OP (mine was a 2003 MVA, and total knee replacement a few years later, plus a few other issues). I got passed-around from Dr to Dr with nothing being done to help me. So after turning into a slug for the past decade and a half, I decided nobody was going to help me, but me.

So, I stopped smoking in June, but had appetite issues. Not over-eating, but under-eating. Tried keto since I was already pretty much eating that way. I did good, for a couple weeks, got into ketosis (according to test strips), but then I couldn't do it any longer, my body was craving carbs, so off Keto I went, and binged for a couple days. I was under-eating, 1600 cal at 6'2" and 225 (just under 30% bf). I've been fortunate in that regardless of what or how much I've ate or drank, I never topped 240 pounds. That was living on Symphony bars and Bud (this was 30 years ago).

Tried a couple things recently, currently trying 40/40/20 (pro/carb/fat), weighing and tracking what I eat, upped cals to 2300. I'm not eating-back my exercise calories, because I want to see how I do in regards to strength vs weight loss. I've dropped a little BF, and slowly gaining some strength back, but by slowly easing back into things (as well as rebuilding a small home gym). I lifted through the 90's, and was in decent shape for my mid-40's, plus I was active. What I need to remember now, is to forget what I was doing then, at least in when it comes to weight.

Anyway, my point to my rambling...you're not alone. Use more common sense than you think you need, especially when it comes to weight. No need to be in a hurry and injure yourself. Concentrate 100% on your diet and form. Since I'm retired, I don't have to worry much about meal prep, as I usually just prep/cook as I need to eat.

Good luck to you!

[Garage Rat]

Yes keep track of your diet and training in a log so you can see exactly what your doing and what works and what does not or stops working for you.
Record all the number for macros and exercises, weights sets,and reps,on your training.
Be accurate with these and set small goals for your self weight and strength wise.
Ease into it and start slowly.

[cdawson360]

Yes, thank you. I'm planning g on starting with just the bar and moving up small increments. The last thing I need is to hurt myself and be unable tk work.

hey I'm just getting back involved in the gym. its a struggle starting off but its all worth it when you push through. I came across this article that had some great information about health tips, exercise, and training your mental to be more healthy. Here is the link feel free to check it out when your get a chance. the product is very useful.

[cdawson360]

What's helped me the most this year is daily tracking and meal prepping. I weigh and measure everything I ingest. I record every macro. I get my meals ready the night before too.

great discipline.

[marinevet63031]

In 2016 I almost died of kidney and blood complications from eating crappy along with the result of gulf war syndrome problems etc. Now, my wife came into the ICU with a ton of my medals from the Marine Corps. I had competed in wrestling and power lifting. Anyhow I weighed in at 205 with 30 + % bodyfat. I was disgusted. I decided no more soda pop or crappy food. My darling wife made me promise to do what I needed to do to get better. That was mid July 2016. Fast forward to September of 1997. I had worked really hard and won my natural pro card.

I am not putting all this to brag. I am putting this to show you that you can accomplish a goal of weight loss and body transformation if you are disciplined enough.

I wish you good fortune, have fun. Start slow be consistent and you will be fine.

[Higgs Bertstare]

If you are looking to lose weight as the main aim start with cardio exercises and diet.

At the start of the year I was 236 pounds (Been as high as 260) and had been sedentary for about the same period as you. I tried to get back into running but as I have bad knees due to sport when I was younger and my weight, they packed it in in under 2 weeks. I also felt that starting with weight training wouldn't give me a good base to work with, so I decided to start riding. Both road riding and mtb trail/downhill riding.

All I did was ride 4-6 times a week for an hour at as high an intensity as I can and adjust my diet. I cut out sugar, potato and bread/wheat and switched to lean meats, fish and different vegetables. I only cut out those things to kick start my weight loss for around 8-10 weeks. Now I eat what I want and continue to lose weight slowly. I am down to 194 pounds and my cardio fitness is very high. I'm now at the point where I want to again introduce weight training to improve strength and endurance.

If you get a good base of cardio all other training and activity is so much easier. Still got 10-15 pounds to go to reach my goal. Btw, I'm in my early 40's. Not a brag, just want to get across that this worked for me.

All the best!

[benjammin5150]

Disabled vet? You probably collect all kinds of benefits from the government due to your "disability" but yet you have no problem lifting weights? Gulf war syndrome? Please!...that war was almost 30 years ago and nobody even died in it.

[HolyEvil7]

Hey mate!! Good job to start. Low impact and slow cardio to start off with and change the diet would help.
Add some SS or Stronglift style training to get the strength back up, don't squat if you'll screw the knee up.

Weigh youself weekly or fortnightly to give youself some encouragement!

[HolyEvil7]

Disabled vet? You probably collect all kinds of benefits from the government due to your "disability" but yet you have no problem lifting weights? Gulf war syndrome? Please!...that war was almost 30 years ago and nobody even died in it.

Dude... don't be like this.
Disabiilty can be mental or physical.
It takes a lot of balls to go fight in a war.

[BaconDrips]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! It's been going great. Meal prep is keeping my in check and it's made life a hell of a lot easier to be honest. I'm getting my strength back slowly, but surely.