36M 5’5/5’6 207-ish lbs need help getting started

[annamoon720]

I’ve done nothing but gain weight since turning 30 and getting married and I’ve got to change

What’s do I need to be aware of nutritionally compared to when I was younger? My goal is to put on a lot muscle and lean out and just feel better than I ever have

I don’t have access to a gym or free weights currently (hopefully I will in a few months), are there any good programs I can follow for body weight resistance? I’m not good at just winging it

What should my calories goal be? I plan on hitting 1gr of protein per pound bars minimum

Edit: forgot to mention I got a walking pad so I can try to get 10k steps 5 days a week during work

 

[cph]

@annamoon720 I personally know that I do better starting with diet and losing a majority of my excess weight before starting weight training, but I’m female. When I’ve tried to recomp, the evidence of change is less obvious and I get distracted.

 

[annamoon720]

@cph Thanks for sharing, part of me feels like it may feel slower at first but if I put on muscle…in theory it should raise my metabolism, right?

 

[cph]

@annamoon720 Yes, but if you want to put on muscle you have to eat more, but if you want to lose fat you need to eat less. Essentially you’re doing both half a**; losing weight slowly or staying the same and building muscle slowly. I’ve read a lot of articles about how it’s better to cut then bulk because you’ve “trained” your body to be more efficient and it will want to build muscle. There are a lot of articles if you google “should I cut or bulk?”

 

[annamoon720]

@cph Thanks, do you know if the “Eat 1gr of protein per lb of weight” thing is for my current weight it goal weight?

 

[cph]

@annamoon720 I’m sorry, I do not. I’ve weight lifted, but I’ve never had to worry about putting on muscle, I tend to build it easily.

 

[undergodsmercytoo]

@annamoon720 Start with your diet. We tried the whole 30 and dropped 10 out of the gate. I stopped drinking. Both of these things have been big wins.

 

[annamoon720]

@undergodsmercytoo Is whole 30 a diet plan? I already don’t drink and don’t eat sweets. It’s just the daily fast food at dinner that gets me in guessing… even tho I try to be conscious of how many calories in taking in… which really isn’t a lot

 

[undergodsmercytoo]

@annamoon720 Track your calories for a day, you’d be surprised, it’s almost always more than you think. Fast food is the death of any good meal plan. It’s hard to run any sort of deficit when you can easily eat a full days worth of calories in one fast food meal.

 

[sannobil]

@annamoon720 Count your calories. Eat a lot of protein. Don’t eat fast food. Get used to making meals you can eat for a few days for those times you don’t feel like cooking after work.

Do cardio. Steps are good but you’ll need to get your heart rate up. Even a brisk walk for 20-30mins 5 days a week will do wonders. For strength training and other cardio options, check out r/bodyweightfitness. A lot of great programs and advice there.

Apps can help you set calorie goals. MyFitnessPal and Lifesum are great options.

 

[annamoon720]

@sannobil How brisk we talkin? I set my walking pad around 3mph and it gets me sweating a lot for the hour lol

 

[sannobil]

@annamoon720 That’s perfect! How long have you been doing that for?

 

[annamoon720]

@sannobil Probably 5 times out of the last 2 weeks, but I’m working at doing it every weekday- I try to get 2 sessions of an hour in each workday.

 

[sannobil]

@annamoon720 That’s great. Keep up the good work, and don’t be afraid to take a day off if your muscles and joints get weird. They’re getting used to a new activity.

 

[uzezi]

@annamoon720 Calories completely depends on the individual and look into callisthenics.

 

[questioner1]

@annamoon720 The best thing I did was to learn weight control by diet alone. Getting your diet sorted out so you are not working against yourself is the best thing you can learn as you age. For me middle age was just not figuring out that I couldn't keep doing the things I did when I was 25. It is hard to look back now and know how much I was working against myself by not eating properly. So for me that is where I would start as it has had the biggest impact on my life and health.

 

[jacusmc18]

@annamoon720 I'm 36F 5'5 and maintain about 120 on about 2,000 calories a day. I work out but have a desk job and my diet is pretty uhhh sloppy to say it nicely.

Try eating 1800 calories a day and see if you lose weight. When I'm trying to slim down I usually aim around there, much lower and I feel like I'm gonna die of starvation.

Being heavy is a lot of work so you probably have a great muscle base! Bodyweight stuff you can focus on pushups, monkey bars, pullups, situps, squats, yoga.