@shanewu93 Not at all. I actually posted it here a week or so ago. So I'll copy it:
The last six months I've been actively dieting (or calorie restricting) and working out. This is what I did:
I'm 5'4" 54 and was 152. I am now 123. In August I stopped drinking wine, downloaded Cronometer, a sleep app, and a heart rate app onto my iPhone and purchased an iWatch. I also use the Apple fitness app. I like Cronometer over Macrofactor because it gives me a breakout of my nutrition. I have a hard time meeting my potassium and fiber numbers and wouldn't have known it without the tracker. (Potassium and sodium balance are important for blood pressure and I've been dealing with some hypertension that has me concerned)
I started walking 8,000 steps a day and then moved it to 10,000 steps a day after about 3 weeks. I often broke it into two sessions, at least one immediately after a meal, which has been shown to help with weight loss. I also started drinking 60 oz of water a day (now this is up to 80-110 oz). I try to drink a huge amount right before a meal because that has also been shown to help with fat loss. (I wanted to see what new research was available since I've been out of the game a while and these were new pieces of information to me so I incorporated them)
I started eating 100-140 grams of protein. Some days I fell short, I've added a Whey protein shake so that I can keep those numbers up. Protein is even more important in middle age as protein synthesis declines. I cut my calories to 1500 (after looking at several TDEE Calculators) and hit the gym 3-4 times a week to lift, using progressive overload, including squats, deadlift, bench press etc. I hardly ever use machines because they just aren't built for people my size.
Outside of the typical vitamins, I supplement with Creatine and added HMB. Creatine helps muscle strength and building and HMB helps prevent muscle loss (I started this one a month ago and should have added it sooner). I also just added Urolithin A. Ladies, I encourage you to look into this supplement even though the research is fairly recent - but it's looking incredibly promising for middle age energy, protein synthesis, muscle building, endurance, energy, mitochondria repair, inflammation, brain fog and memory. I actually didn't even look into it for the fitness aspects but because I'm having inflammatory issues related to menopause and it came to my attention. I just started so haven't been on it long enough to report anything but after 3 weeks if it's useful I will report back here.
I really had no idea how this would go because while I've been fit before I've never been this old or this overweight and everyone said it was harder to lose weight in middle age. My joints, especially pain in the backs and sides of my heels, made walking a challenge sometimes. I think I may have plantar fasciitis in both feet or bilateral insertional tendonitis so I did have challenges. I had to back off the walking some days, and running was out of the question carrying extra weight. I have never really successfully lost weight without weight lifting and some form of cardio. If swimming were an easier option around here I would add it to my routine.
My weight came off at 1 lb a week. I'm now down to 123 from 152 starting August 7th. So it was about 29 weeks. 123 was my original target because when I was 42, I was 20% bodyfat at that weight. However, this time I've lost muscle, around 7lbs of it, after a decade of inactivity and I'm sure some sarcopenia thrown in, so I'm continuing downward to whatever 20% is going to be on me now, while I try to add back muscle that was lost, this will be a recomp where the calories are increased by 100 a week until I get back to 1700-1900 which will be maintenance unless I increase my muscle and activity where it would have to be higher. (which will happen over time)
This has been the hardest and longest I've ever had to work for it. 6 months of calorie restriction is no joke and I did take some breaks for a week here and there over the holidays. I drank wine, I ate without restriction because life is for enjoying. I also enjoyed a meal of whatever I wanted about once every 2-3 weeks. These breaks are important for metabolism and overall mental health I think.
I hope this information helps. I used to be a personal trainer in my 20s and then had a career in health and wellness for over 17 years until I realized I needed some health insurance (yes I'm in the US) and a retirement, so joined the rank and file of government workers where I sat at a desk for a decade. Work from home is in part what made the last six months possible for me. Trying to work out this much while at a desk job would be very difficult. We did purchase a treadmill for the home and some kettlebells, a bench and powerblock adjustable weights for the days getting to the gym was not possible.
feels like the first 20 lbs were so easy