45yo female beginner wants to lose weight and get stronger

M

mika2020

New member
I’m desperate for help after getting trapped in the Google vortex and hoping this group can offer advice.

I’m 45yo/175lbs/5’9” that loves cardio and has a history of struggling w a consistent nutritious diet. Thanks to sloppy eating Im 15 pounds heavier than I should be. I typically run 1 marathon and 6-7 half marathons a year.

My mom is really sick and her doctor has commented on how critical it is for women to focus on building muscle in their 40s to have better functional health, so here I am. My goal is to get stronger, build muscle, keep running and lose this belly fat.

I have dumbells, the peloton bike and the peloton tread so I can start w strength classes and boot camps, but what’s the best resource for nutrition? Do I need a nutritionist? How much cardio do you when you’re trying to build muscle? I’m so cardio programmed...do you do cardio daily?

Do I count calories? How do I set the target? 40% protein? 30% carbs 30% fat?

I follow the keto diet for 2 years and loved it for long distances, but it made my speed work training nearly impossible.

Thank you!
 
@mika2020 I'm sure you got alot of good suggestions already but I will give you my perspective.

Cardio is good but it's only about 10% of the help. I personally prefer resistance training like elastics and stuff. There is a delicate balance of toning and bulking so alot of research is important. I do weights sometimes but mostly for resistance like when doing squats lunges etc ...

For food I like the under armor my fitness pal app. It will help you monitor your daily intake. Diet is hugeeeeeee like literally 50% of the battle. Everyones body has different needs though. I suggest consulting a nutritionist or your doctor to see what your levels are at and create a diet best for you. I know when I first started I used diets I googled and realized I wasn't getting enough of some things and too much of others. Once I found a good balance things got wayyyyyyy better.

All of this is important but the biggest thing that makes any of it matter is consistency. Your body requires a routine so it can reprogram the way it does things so doing the exact same thing every day every week every hour is critical. If you just do some here and some there you won't see very good results.

So foot note:

-cardio is a warm up. Don't rely on it.
-work your muscles, it's burns more and tones.
-figure out your diet. Consult nutritionist.
-make a routine and stick to it without fail. Cheat days are allowed now and then.
 
@mika2020 It's good for getting your metabolism going so a morning jog can help you burn more throughout the day regardless of what you are doing so it is useful. Always good as a pre workout warm up and cool down as well.

Most people like cardio because it's "easier" but easy action create easy results.
 
@mika2020 Have a listen to the RP Strength Podcasts as well as checking out their free resources and paid app.

I’ve found the information invaluable for sensible diet planning to meet my goals.
 
@mika2020 It’s important for women of all ages to do resistance training. One of the greatest disservices done to women in the fitness industry is the promotion of PED using pro bodybuilders as the primary association we as a society have with “bodybuilding”. Unless you train with drugs for a decade you’ll never approach that level of muscularity nor have any of the side effects associated with the more masculine looking female aesthetic.

What you’re looking for is natural (drug free) bodybuilding (resistance training) done without a competitive end goal. You would do well to find a basic full body programme and try to do that consistently 2-3 times per week (with the occasional week off) indefinitely. Add some cardio to that (walking is good but if you like jogging/cycling that’s fine too). The bodyweightfitness sub has a great recommended routine that will be applicable for months if not years.

For nutrition best would be a whole food diet the majority of the time.

Calories to begin weight loss should be 175 x 14 = 2450 cal. This is a maintenance calorie estimate at the lower end of the spectrum. I would suggest trying 2450 cal for a month weighing yourself (unless that triggers ED patterns, in which case use clothing sizes etc) If in a month you haven’t lost any weight then you’ll know that you were indeed at maintenance calories and you can go from there either by taking your 175 x 13 or simply subtracting 500 cal, whichever you think you can maintain. Weigh again each month and only re-adjust calories when weight loss stalls.

Minimum protein intake should be 1.6g/kg of BW (.72g/lbs of BW) so for you 175lbs x 0.72 = 126g protein per day (equivalent of roughly 150g whey protein using my proteins impact whey). Try to get this from whole food sources as much as possible, supplement as necessary for ease/palatability/financial reasons.

Minimum fat intake should be somewhere around .6g/kg of BW as a low end estimate. Some people favour higher fat intake. If you notice issues with mood or any other hormone based symptom try bumping fat intake up and trading it out for carb intake (the opposite is also true, carbs assist in all sorts of processes.) .3 x 175 = 53g fat per day.

The remainder of you calories would come from carbohydrates. If you use My Fitness Pal or similar i would just set your calories (manually or via the apps internal calculator) then set macro goals to the % closest to the aforementioned protein and fat values then the rest will be carbs. Track your calories & macros until you can accurately guesstimate them without the app. Make sure you hit your calorie & protein targets daily, fat and carbs can be somewhat flexible in the short term, though keep in mind that without being in Ketosis low carb may feel terrible.

The best resource for nutrition is Layne Norton (biolayne on IG). He is a hardline scientist with a PhD in nutrition, plenty of experience researching in that field and an impressive record as a natural lifter, which means not only is he well educated but he has practiced what he preaches for long enough for it to have had record breaking effect.

Hope this helps.
 
@mika2020 Things to note:

It’s going to be very very difficult to burn fat and build muscle. Maybe if you were new to fitness it would be possible but you clearly aren’t a newbie anymore.

Diet is absolutely key here but you aren’t going to benefit from a “fad diet” you need to make subtle changes to your diet over time. For example if you normally drink coffee with milk and a sugar start by changing it up, have it without sugar then have it black. Do that with the rest of your diet over time. Don’t rush it because you won’t stick to it.

Tracking your calories is a must also.

Bare in mind you cannot build muscle while you are in a calorie deficit. You have to be eating more than you’re burning in order for your muscles to grow. Your belly fat may well go away in due course as your body begins to tone but don’t be disheartened if it’s not gone within the first 6 months. If you want to lose the belly fat quicker you’ll need to be in a deficit and at that point I’d forget about building muscle until you’ve lost the fat you want to lose.

You’re also going to need to incorporate some heavier weight lifting into your workout program if you want to build muscle. Start by adding the compound movements (Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Shoulder Press, Barbell Rows) build around them once you start making progress. Jeff Cavaliere (Athlean X) on YouTube is very good for what exercises to incorporate for each muscle group, he explains why you’re going the exercises too which is always good to know.

If you want diet advise I’d recommend getting in touch with a PT in your area, explain what you’re after and getting them to come up with a diet plan for you so you can have an idea of what you need to be filtering over to. As I said above though it needs to be a steady transition over to this diet, if you go cold turkey on your current one you’re more likely to go back to it!

More importantly I wish you Mom a speedy recovery!
 
@mika2020 As far as nutrition goes I recently started Noom and have found it pretty interesting! It helps you track your calorie intake and provides lots of articles about the psychology of why we eat the way we do. It also has a cute interface that encourages you along the way and eventually you’re assigned to a support coach and a group of teammates to cheer you on.
 
@mika2020 I started my journey 6lbs lighter than you and I'm the same height.

I started using MFP to track calories and when I made myself accountable to write EVERYTHING down, I realized how much grazing I was doing.

I've already lost 6lbs with no changes in activity and just sticking to my calorie goal.

I do cardio three to five days a week. You don't build muscle doing cardio. Strength train! It's good for your muscles and bones.
 
@mika2020 Hello! Fellow tall female here at 5'10" - not at all relevant, I just love to rally with fellow tall women.

I wanted to congratulate you on being proactive. I'm currently in nurse practitioner school and I had z e r o idea how important estrogen is to our (female's) physiology. The reason osteoporosis hits postmenopausal women so hard, and why weight bearing activity is so important for us, is due to estrogen's use in preventing bone resorption. Basically, our bodies start a steady decline once the estrogen production ceases. Weight bearing activity when you are younger will help offset the impact on your bones. So great job!

As for nutrition, I eat a shit diet currently. I have an issue with sugar and carbs. HOWEVER when I cut those out (I cut added sugar and simple carbs, but natural sugar and complex carbs were ok) two years ago for the fun of it with my nutritionist, I saw an immediate physical change. If you want to go the calorie deficit/macro way, you can you myfitnesspal app. It's a lifesaver but honestly, I got a little too intense on the macro counting and have a history of flirting with ED. I would say begin with a food log just to see what you currently eat and try to identify if your body is getting enough of carbs, protein, fat, and vegetables then tweak from there.

You don't need a nutritionist but I hired one for a few months just to get more education on nutrition, how my body uses food, what it needs and how to make it work for me, etc. If you can afford it, I would recommend it just for the education piece because you will use that for the rest of your life. However, it is by no means necessary and Reddit can be very educational :) Good luck!

P.s. hope your mom feels better. It sucks to watch loved ones suffer through an illness.
 
@deeraj43 Thank you so much! I am learning about hormones and the biological condition that reduces our muscle mass as we age. WTF?!! My mom’s doctor is changing the way I think about fitness...I did my first bootcamp today and realized I have a long way to go. Push-ups are freaking hard.

What do you know about Dr. Fung and his theory that Calories In/Calories Out is old science and that fasting is the real answer?

I also dig the tall women rally! 🙌🏼
 
@mika2020 I KNOW. Basic biological science needs an update in my opinion. Like, we should know about our bodies, how they get energy, how our hormones basically run the show in our physiology. It's crazy.

I haven't heard of Dr. Fung or that recent theory. Metabolic activity has a priority scale for energy: carbs, fat, and as a very last resort, protein. We are predisposed to enjoy carbs because they are the cheapest energy, easiest to break down and get glucose ASAP. If you fast long enough, your body will begin to focus on adipose tissue. This is where keto diet is often effective and why there are ketones (metabolic waste of fat) in the circulation. Causes the fruity breath.

I think nutrition is so personal to every body. We have basic physiology shared in our species, but then there is epigenetics, family environment, early exposure to stress causing long term inflammation, etc. So much is variable. If fasting is what allows you to feel your best, I think it's a great alternative. I think of CICO as a really good beginner step for almost anybody who wants to begin weight loss but I'm not sure on the science of TDEE or calculations of it.
 
@deeraj43 Thank you for being so thorough. Dr. Fung wrote the Obesity Code...I didn’t know that about the hierarchy of energy sources but it makes sense. I know that if I eat too much protein it can kick me out of ketosis.

I’m sticking with your advice and starting out with CICO/macros. Thank you so much!! ❤️
 
@mika2020 Don't get stuck in analysis paralysis! There are lots of "right" ways to do this.

Sounds like it would be good for you to start integrating strength training 2-3x/week, and make sure you're getting enough protein. I would just jump in and start doing this ASAP. Do the strength sessions on Peloton that someone recommended or choose any one of the many programs aimed at beginners. Just pick something and do it for 2 months, and then evaluate. You can always change the plan. Your body will tell you if it isn't working!
 
@dawn16 Yes. I have been in a diet/fitness wormhole ALL day.

Is it calories?
Fasting?
Keto? Paleo? Vegan? While 30?

Should I keep focus on long distance running?
Hire a trainer?
Hire a nutritionist?

Lordy. I just want to increase muscle, lose the covid fluff I gained from binge watching Netflix and eat nutritious food.

You have reminded me to keep it simple and keep it consistent. I can do that. Thank you.
 
@mika2020 Btw, cardio is great for burning calories, but it's also great at making you hungry! Weight training has less of an effect on both things, although in the long run weight training will boost your resting metabolism far more. Something to keep in mind.

PS: weight training is crucial for maintaining/improving bone density, very important as women enter middle age
 
@mika2020 In terms of macros (assuming you're not gonna stay strict keto) here are a few steps for building a sensible macro plan. This is really effective if you're used to using software/apps like MyFitnessPal to track your diet.

Step 1: Weigh yourself, and measure waist, hips, and thighs.

Step 2: Figure out approximately how many maintenance calories you need daily, and set 300kcal deficit to start.
sailrabbit.com/bmr/

Step 3: Assign yourself 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, approximately 160g per day (you're not very overweight so you can just use your total bodyweight rather than lean body mass for now).

Step 4: Break that protein intake down into 3-5 portions. Some people like 3 large meals per day. Others like smaller meals and snacks.

Step 5: figure out how many calories you have left for the day (1g of protein = 4 calories)

Step 6: Assign your remaining calories to fats and carbs, in any ratio you like. Favor high fibre vegetables and fruits, beans and pulses, some nuts.

Step 7: Add the foods from step 6 to your protein portions to build meals.

Step 8: Monitor yourself weekly, not daily. Try to measure at the same of the same day each week, preferably after waking and using bathroom, before eating and drinking. Weigh yourself, and measure waist, hips, thighs.

Step 9: Make small adjustments to your calorie intake as needed. If you're not losing weight, take away 100-200kcals from carbs. If you're losing weight quickly, add 100-200 wherever you want. Don't touch the protein intake.

Step 10: Do plenty of short, heavy, compound weightlifting sessions. Favour squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, bench press, rows, pulldowns, and overhead pushing.
 
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