Unanswered Its been seven years off, and im struggling

[adammonkey]

Hi Guys

Im really hoping for some advice to get myself back in shape.

The first half of my twenties I was pretty obsessed with training and the gym. When I wasnt training, I was reading about it, thinking about it, talking about it. I never took any chems, I always trained naturally. I basically followed advice from Beyond Brawn by Stuart McRobert, and a good article I found about Antagonist Training. So my training was always built around those big compound moves. I got in pretty good shape, and my body fat was probably around 12%. No six pack, but I looked good in clothes. My chest bulged and my stomach didn't.

Then things changed, I got into a 2 year relationship with someone that didn't really exercise, went out partying and to restaurants all the time. I had a great time living that lifestyle whilst it lasted, but my body fat and weight went up and my muscle faded away. When that relationship broke up I was in a bad place mentally, and often turned to food for a pick me up. I had picked up really bad habits, and that went on for a couple years until I felt better. Then i bought my first house. i was lucky to get onto the property ladder when these days lots of people cant, but this place needed a lot of work so i taught myself DIY and ended up renovating for the next few years. No time for the gym, and often turned to hurried convenience food because I was either too exhausted or the kitchen wasn't usable.

In the past year ive finally got to a point where I can focus on training and nutrition again. Bad news is, the years off have taken their toll, and im clocking in at 35 years old, 13.5 stone and 25% body fat. Im at a point where I hate wearing t shirts because my rounded stomach looks terrible. I've tried really hard to get the fat percentage down but i dont seem to get anywhere. Ive tried cardio sessions, 1,200 calories a day dieting, slimming world, intermittent fasting. Nothing seems to make a dent.

Maybe I've been out of the game so long that Ive forgotten what to do, but i'd really appreciate some tried and tested advice for how to get back in shape. In my view, firstly I should get my body fat level down to something in the mid-teens. Then look more seriously at adding muscle. I've recently rediscovered Stuart McRobert's books and have started doing his full body weights routines twice a week. This works best for me because when it comes to time, I don't have a lot available. I commute for 3 1/2 hours a day for work. I guess I fall into that trap of being a modern working man in his mid-30's.

What should I eat - is there a recommended plan to follow?
Would any supplements help - I tend to have a bit of a greedy appetite?
Am I doing the right type of training?

Any advice greatly received.

Thanks

Adam

 

[HIT4ME]

Hey Adam, great job getting back into working out! I was like you as well. I am 40 now but when I got out of college and into the working world I slowly lost time for working out and got WAY away from it all. Over 10 years I blew up to 300+ pounds at 5'8''. When I was about 32-33 years old I started looking around at my grandmother (who was losing her ability to stand from a chair in her 80's) and my dad (who struggled to walk because his knees were so bad and he was 300+ pounds) and I started realizing that this isn't about looking good - this is about being able to move when you're 70+ years old. It isn't about breathing or dying, it's about being able to get out of a chair or being a prisoner. That was MY reason for change.

Do you have a reason for change beyond looking good? Because, honestly, we all want to look good but it has to be the by-product of your REAL reason.

A lot of this is about building habits over time - don't try to go from 0 to 60 all at once. It took me 5 years to get from 300 pounds down to 165. First I started lifting and didn't care about my weight and 50 pounds came off without much effort over about 18 months. Then I got serious, decided to do a really strict diet and got down to about 180. Then I took a break, got up to about 215, and dieted down again, strictly to 165. Over the past 3 years I've climbed back up and I'm sitting at about 205 right now, but starting to diet down again, slowly.

Start with the basics - log and weigh everything you eat. If you can't weigh it, can't log it, don't eat it. You say you went to 1200 calories - it is REALLY easy to underestimate calories and if you are not weighing then you have no idea. My dad does this - he is trying to lose weight and THINKS he is eating 1,000 calories a day - but he refuses to weigh his food and then wonders why he isn't losing weight.

Lay out a couple days worth of eating for us and lets start there.

 

[adammonkey]

Hey Adam, great job getting back into working out! I was like you as well. I am 40 now but when I got out of college and into the working world I slowly lost time for working out and got WAY away from it all. Over 10 years I blew up to 300+ pounds at 5'8''. When I was about 32-33 years old I started looking around at my grandmother (who was losing her ability to stand from a chair in her 80's) and my dad (who struggled to walk because his knees were so bad and he was 300+ pounds) and I started realizing that this isn't about looking good - this is about being able to move when you're 70+ years old. It isn't about breathing or dying, it's about being able to get out of a chair or being a prisoner. That was MY reason for change.

Do you have a reason for change beyond looking good? Because, honestly, we all want to look good but it has to be the by-product of your REAL reason.

A lot of this is about building habits over time - don't try to go from 0 to 60 all at once. It took me 5 years to get from 300 pounds down to 165. First I started lifting and didn't care about my weight and 50 pounds came off without much effort over about 18 months. Then I got serious, decided to do a really strict diet and got down to about 180. Then I took a break, got up to about 215, and dieted down again, strictly to 165. Over the past 3 years I've climbed back up and I'm sitting at about 205 right now, but starting to diet down again, slowly.

Start with the basics - log and weigh everything you eat. If you can't weigh it, can't log it, don't eat it. You say you went to 1200 calories - it is REALLY easy to underestimate calories and if you are not weighing then you have no idea. My dad does this - he is trying to lose weight and THINKS he is eating 1,000 calories a day - but he refuses to weigh his food and then wonders why he isn't losing weight.

Lay out a couple days worth of eating for us and lets start there.

Hey
Thanks for taking the time for telling me your story. It's given me some pause for thought and reflection. You're right it isn't just about looking better, there is a health angle too. From a simplistic perspective, having had my weight increase by approx. half a stone a year for the past 6 years is a concern. Because, im trying to turn the tide and haven't yet been successful. The thought of losing that battle means im 14 stone this time next year, 15 stone in 3 years time and approaching 40 years in age. There have been health issues in my family, my sister is 5 years older than me and was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year, luckily she survived it. So as im looking ahead to 40, i dont want to be a typical middle aged guy, that's let himself go and wide open to health issues.

Having not had much success at 1200 calories, ive increased it a bit to approx. 1800 calories a day because some people thought I might have gone too low on the calories. I'm currently eating the following Mondays to Friday (weekends not as disciplined but also not terrible).

Breakfast - 2 x poached whole eggs, slice of rye bread (approx. 270 cals)
Lunch - 300 calorie microwave meal (lasagne, or something similar), bag of side salad (no dressing) (approx. 400 cals)
Afternoon snack - greek yogurt with scoop of protein powder and blueberries (approx. 300 cals)
Train ride snack - 200 calorie protein bar (200 cals)
Dinner - Grilled chicken, or beef, with veg, cauliflower rice (approx. 500 cals)
Dessert - protein shake (approx. 200 cals)
Total - approx. 1870 cals

What do you think?

 

[adammonkey]

Hey Adam, great job getting back into working out! I was like you as well. I am 40 now but when I got out of college and into the working world I slowly lost time for working out and got WAY away from it all. Over 10 years I blew up to 300+ pounds at 5'8''. When I was about 32-33 years old I started looking around at my grandmother (who was losing her ability to stand from a chair in her 80's) and my dad (who struggled to walk because his knees were so bad and he was 300+ pounds) and I started realizing that this isn't about looking good - this is about being able to move when you're 70+ years old. It isn't about breathing or dying, it's about being able to get out of a chair or being a prisoner. That was MY reason for change.

Do you have a reason for change beyond looking good? Because, honestly, we all want to look good but it has to be the by-product of your REAL reason.

A lot of this is about building habits over time - don't try to go from 0 to 60 all at once. It took me 5 years to get from 300 pounds down to 165. First I started lifting and didn't care about my weight and 50 pounds came off without much effort over about 18 months. Then I got serious, decided to do a really strict diet and got down to about 180. Then I took a break, got up to about 215, and dieted down again, strictly to 165. Over the past 3 years I've climbed back up and I'm sitting at about 205 right now, but starting to diet down again, slowly.

Start with the basics - log and weigh everything you eat. If you can't weigh it, can't log it, don't eat it. You say you went to 1200 calories - it is REALLY easy to underestimate calories and if you are not weighing then you have no idea. My dad does this - he is trying to lose weight and THINKS he is eating 1,000 calories a day - but he refuses to weigh his food and then wonders why he isn't losing weight.

Lay out a couple days worth of eating for us and lets start there.

Hey
Thanks for taking the time for telling me your story. It's given me some pause for thought and reflection. You're right it isn't just about looking better, there is a health angle too. From a simplistic perspective, having had my weight increase by approx. half a stone a year for the past 6 years is a concern. Because, im trying to turn the tide and haven't yet been successful. The thought of losing that battle means im 14 stone this time next year, 15 stone in 3 years time and approaching 40 years in age. There have been health issues in my family, my sister is 5 years older than me and was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year, luckily she survived it. So as im looking ahead to 40, i dont want to be a typical middle aged guy, that's let himself go and wide open to health issues.

Having not had much success at 1200 calories, ive increased it a bit to approx. 1800 calories a day because some people thought I might have gone too low on the calories. I'm currently eating the following Mondays to Friday (weekends not as disciplined but also not terrible).

Breakfast - 2 x poached whole eggs, slice of rye bread (approx. 270 cals)
Lunch - 300 calorie microwave meal (lasagne, or something similar), bag of side salad (no dressing) (approx. 400 cals)
Afternoon snack - greek yogurt with scoop of protein powder and blueberries (approx. 300 cals)
Train ride snack - 200 calorie protein bar (200 cals)
Dinner - Grilled chicken, or beef, with veg, cauliflower rice (approx. 500 cals)
Dessert - protein shake (approx. 200 cals)
Total - approx. 1870 cals

What do you think?

 

[HIT4ME]

Thanks for laying that all out!

You are on the right path. I have some guesses where you are going wrong, but let's start first with -

1. How tall are you?
2. Guessing you are male because of the name Adam, but just to confirm - male, right?

The good news is it doesn't sound like 13.5 st is way gone and we should be able to get this in line.

My first guess is - you didn't list out your weekend meals, and there is a reason. LOADS of people do this. They can stick to a diet for 5 days while they are at work, but then the weekend comes and they give themselves rope.

The problem is, even a single cheat meal can RUIN an entire weeks worth of work - especially when your caloric deficit is only around 500 or so calories/day.

So, let's say you eat 500 calories a day below maintenance for 5 days Mon-Fri. Then Saturday comes and you are pretty good but then at night you go out to eat and you go to Olive Garden - you eat a little soup, a couple bread sticks, some chicken parm, have a couple beers and maybe a piece of cake.

Well, that one meal just had 2500 calories. You just made up your entire deficit for the week in one meal. No joke. Then on Sunday you think you did pretty good and ate your 1850 calories but let yourself have 2 donuts, it's the weekend. Your 500 calorie deficit for the day just became a 100 calorie surplus.

I am not saying you ARE ruining everything with one gluttonous meal (but I have done it a lot) - but pointing out that you track for a reason and when you are not tracking or weighing, it is EASY to blow an entire week's work with a few slices of pizza here, some candy there, etc. Don't take the weekends off.

And part ofthe reason you are taking weekends off is because your weekday diet is not set up to let you feel like you are not suffering. We should make somefood choice changes there so that it is more enjoyable - less protein powder for instance. Food will be more filling and satisfying...but I fall into the protein powder trap at times because I want to be so strict with my macros and only eat lean protein...but that strictness kind of backfires, so I get it.

I will have some more thoughts on some very minor changes your diet if you are up for it, but I think you are mostly on the right path so you are way ahead of most people. You will get this right.

 

[HIT4ME]

Also, there is no such thing as not losing weight because you are eating too little. That is dogma on the internet and it justifies people not going into a caloric deficit. Even Ethiopians keep losing weight until they die. I never stalled on 600 calories/day for 6 months.

But I think your situation does call for more calories most likely and I am guessing that 1850 mark is a good starting point.

 

[roidsarebad]

Also, there is no such thing as not losing weight because you are eating too little. That is dogma on the internet and it justifies people not going into a caloric deficit. Even Ethiopians keep losing weight until they die. I never stalled on 600 calories/day for 6 months.

But I think your situation does call for more calories most likely and I am guessing that 1850 mark is a good starting point.

This is so true. I personally lost quite a bit of weight on a pretty decent deficit, but stalled and maintained for a few weeks. Dietician upped the calories and I’m losing body fat again.

OP, good for you for getting back into it. Losing weight can really suck but stick with it. It’s already been discussed, but the health benefits alone are great motivators to keep plugging along.

 

[manifesto]

Hey OP, have you had your hormones tested?

I'm close to your age, and recently had to start TRT...

If your hormone levels are in the trash, this could make losing weight and changing body composition almost impossible

 

[adammonkey]

Morning guys

Just to answer the questions...yep, male, and im 5 foot 10 tall.

I haven't had my hormones tested but perhaps I should look into this as an option, if only to discount the possibility of that being a source of the problem.

Adam

 

[manifesto]

Morning guys

Just to answer the questions...yep, male, and im 5 foot 10 tall.

I haven't had my hormones tested but perhaps I should look into this as an option, if only to discount the possibility of that being a source of the problem.

Adam

I would. ASAP

 

[HIT4ME]

Morning guys

Just to answer the questions...yep, male, and im 5 foot 10 tall.

I haven't had my hormones tested but perhaps I should look into this as an option, if only to discount the possibility of that being a source of the problem.

Adam

Never bad to get additional info, but no matter what, if you are eating in a deficit, truly, you will lose weight.

Keep us informed of your progress!

 

[adammonkey]

Just thought I'd post an update.
I am keeping a closer eye on my diet, and have now joined beachbodyondemand. Because as ive said I have limited time because so much of my day goes to my long commute. So ive started adding in Insanity or another HIIT session most days. Hopefully this has an impact.

 

[redtrek]

Just thought I'd post an update.
I am keeping a closer eye on my diet, and have now joined beachbodyondemand. Because as ive said I have limited time because so much of my day goes to my long commute. So ive started adding in Insanity or another HIIT session most days. Hopefully this has an impact.

Sounds great, man. As far as my experience goes, consistency is everything. I'm also 35 and recently went down 30+ lbs pretty smoothly. It was mostly due to having no cheat days and doing tons of boring cardio, but I believe anything will work if you stick with it, esp on the days you feel like slacking off.

 

[DR.D]

Aging means lower endocrine status. I know that's oversimplifying things, and it's not all about hormones, but I'd suggest getting a T7 profile from your doc. Low thyroid can be a common cause of stubborn weight loss. Low T does it too.

Otherwise, the fellas here have already given you excellent advice. In fact, i think HIT4ME is my new hero! That's some very significant weight loss.

 

[Derek Wilson]

Hey Adam, great job getting back into working out! I was like you as well. I am 40 now but when I got out of college and into the working world I slowly lost time for working out and got WAY away from it all. Over 10 years I blew up to 300+ pounds at 5'8''. When I was about 32-33 years old I started looking around at my grandmother (who was losing her ability to stand from a chair in her 80's) and my dad (who struggled to walk because his knees were so bad and he was 300+ pounds) and I started realizing that this isn't about looking good - this is about being able to move when you're 70+ years old. It isn't about breathing or dying, it's about being able to get out of a chair or being a prisoner. That was MY reason for change.

Do you have a reason for change beyond looking good? Because, honestly, we all want to look good but it has to be the by-product of your REAL reason.

A lot of this is about building habits over time - don't try to go from 0 to 60 all at once. It took me 5 years to get from 300 pounds down to 165. First I started lifting and didn't care about my weight and 50 pounds came off without much effort over about 18 months. Then I got serious, decided to do a really strict diet and got down to about 180. Then I took a break, got up to about 215, and dieted down again, strictly to 165. Over the past 3 years I've climbed back up and I'm sitting at about 205 right now, but starting to diet down again, slowly.

Start with the basics - log and weigh everything you eat. If you can't weigh it, can't log it, don't eat it. You say you went to 1200 calories - it is REALLY easy to underestimate calories and if you are not weighing then you have no idea. My dad does this - he is trying to lose weight and THINKS he is eating 1,000 calories a day - but he refuses to weigh his food and then wonders why he isn't losing weight.

Lay out a couple days worth of eating for us and lets start there.

Right and Covered everything here.