9 years since I regularly worked out

[1ofthechosen]

As the title says it has been 9 years since I regularly worked out. I was in the military and had to be fit. I got out in 2015 and stopped working out everyday. I am now 31 yo at 6'5" weighing 290ish pounds. I do exercise some but I have decided I want to lose weight and build muscle. A little over a week ago I decided to quit smoking and also cut most processed sugar from my diet. I also started paying attention to my caloric intake and my protein intake. I am down about 5 pounds in 10 days.

My main question is for building muscle I saw a post on here that said creatine is the way to go and get protein from your diet. I am getting between 80 and 100 g of protein right now and I can easily do more while still remaining in the calorie deficit I am on. As for Creatine is the powdered mono hydrate better or should I take the capsules?

Also if I did need a protein powder is there a good brand anyone could recommend that is relatively easy to obtain like GNC or Amazon.

 

[dinafrancis]

@1ofthechosen Creatine just gives you a tiny boost in the gym... it probably won't be noticeable. It doesn't help with weight loss and it's a tiny boost when it comes to building muscle only because it allows for you to get that extra rep or 2 in.

Getting as much protein as possible from your diet is the goal, but protein powder is an easy way to supplement it.

I am getting between 80 and 100 g

100g should be your bare minimum floor. You should probably be getting closer to 150g+ a day

As for Creatine is the powdered mono hydrate better or should I take the capsules?

Either is fine. I think powder is the easiest and cheapest option.

Also if I did need a protein powder is there a good brand anyone could recommend that is relatively easy to obtain like GNC or Amazon.

There are plenty of options out there... but you'll have to figure out what tastes good to you. Commonly recommended is ON Gold Standard, and that's on Amazon. I personally don't like the taste of Sucralose (a sweetener in many protein powders) so I spend a bit more and get one from Transparent Labs that uses stevia instead. But there are many other options. Just a matter of cost vs taste.

Lastly, give the wiki a read over: https://thefitness.wiki/

 

[1ofthechosen]

@dinafrancis Thank you for the info, I am looking into both and weighing my options and for my protein on workout days my goal is between 125 and 200g for my body weight on days I'm not working out I'm staying between 75 to 125g I'm not sure if that's the way to do it but when I was in I'd only supplement protein on intense workout days and on the easy days I'd just take what I got in my food.

 

[dinafrancis]

@1ofthechosen You want to hit your protein goals every day. You need protein while you're recovering, which is like the 36-48 hours after you lift. Just having high protein on your lifting days is doing yourself a disservice. You also very likely never need to go under 100g a day if you really want to make some progress.

 

[mommajulesberry]

@1ofthechosen creatine provides a very small additive benefit mostly to muscle fullness and temporary strength which could translate into long term gains. find the cheapest monohydrate.

ideally 1g/lb lean mass or 1g/cm protein is a good target for building muscle especially on a deficit. im inclined to think you can definitely get away with less but that jacking it up to 190 certainly wont go to waste since you are in a position to be regaining a ton of old muscle.

obv training is the most important part so id just find something on boostcamp for the number of days you want to lift

 

[1ofthechosen]

@mommajulesberry alright cool I am looking for some now I am also going to look into some protein as well. A friend of mine suggested Muscle Egg but I was looking and it is 80$ for 16 servings which is a bit out of my price range right now lol.

 

[mommajulesberry]

@1ofthechosen genuinely go to costco and find something cheap that sounds like it tastes better than shrek booty its all the same in terms of macros

 

[stayfrosty]

@1ofthechosen Honestly, 160-200g of protein would be more optimal for your stats and goals.

 

[1ofthechosen]

@stayfrosty Yeah since this post I went from getting around 100 to around 175 to 200 a day I got some low sugar protein bars (1g of sugar) as well as some protein shakes and I have been using that. I also make Tuna and chicken salad with only a tiny bit of mayo and celery for the protein.