Posted: 2/22/2026 12:35:33 PM EDT
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Basics: - I was 220 lbs at 45 years old and unhappy with how I looked so I changed my lifestyle. - I tracked calories, weighed my food, and ate the same amount daily. Everyday, no excuses. - I exercised daily. I either lifted weights, or walked 5 miles. Everyday, no excuses. - I was 180 lbs. after 1 year of this. Probably 12-14% bodyfat. Fast forward to today, I just finished up a 12 week cut this week, weighed in at 169.8 this morning. I'd say if I'm not 10% bodyfat, I'm 11%. My takeaways: - It's not about diet or exercise, it's about consistency and discipline. Most people can't do it because it's too hard/monotonous after awhile. - Carbs aren't bad. I completely recomped my body while eating potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cereals, granola, fruit, etc. on a daily basis. - It's much easier with support. I could not live this way without my wife. She preps a shit ton of food for me on a weekly basis, and never complains about me going to the gym 6-8 hours a week. - Comes with tremendous tradeoffs. Lots of sacrifice, takes commitment. I loved doing 315 for reps on bench when I weighed 220 lbs, but I'm much happier now with abs, for one of a dozen examples. - Injuries are killers at this age. I've finally, finally given up the ego lifting. That was a very hard thing to do. But joints are more fragile than ego nearing 50. I would never encourage someone with the line, "if I can do it, so can you!" The truth is, most people can't do it, mentally. Most people are mentally weak. Never have and no plans to use TRT, never saw the need. I'm reverse dieting back up to maintenance through the spring and then maybe one more aggressive cut for July vacation. tl;dr: CICO is the truth, carbs mean nothing, you probably can't/won't ever lean down to <10% bodyfat in your late 40's  |
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I am in year 3 of my weight loss and exercise efforts. I went from 225 to 168 and back up to 185 (muscle gain). I am slowly but surely losing some fat but my body really seems to like being in the 12-15% range. I can drop down but it takes some serious effort that my body basically refuses to maintain. So I sort of think that’s just my body’s way of saying this is how much fat we’re going to keep. I would ultimately agree its CICO but I control my calories via fasting. I find its easier to just not eat than count for a 500 cal deficit when it comes to my patience. If I eat 2000 cal a day with a 48hr fast that’s a 571cal deficit average per day through the week. For me its easy to eat dinner Sunday night, and skip Monday completely, eat a dinner on Tuesday, and then normal 2000-2200 calorie intake through Saturday. Typically I have a 1000-1200 cal dinner to break my fast so there is some wiggle room through the week. I have only been feeling the need to do this every other week at most. My weight fluctuations are mostly water based on daily variations in water and carb intake. I modestly control carbs but it’s mindless to me now, lots of carb heavy foods make me feel off. Basically if its a bagged/boxed product from a factory I avoid it as a food. I still eat fruit and vegetables, but grains and beans generally make me feel like shit. My working theory is that its more likely pesticide residue in grains/legumes than the carbs themselves when it comes to my discomfort to those carb sources. |
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Originally Posted By wvfarrier: Im the opposite. I have to eat nearly 4000 calories a day to.maintain my 170lb frame. I work out 5 days a week but have the metabolism of a rat on meth. You have a gift from the lifting gods! I can't even imagine how much food that is on a daily basis. |
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I’m 6’ and 41. Have always had a fairly muscular frame but I got fat. July, 2025: 237 pounds. March, 2026: 195 pounds. I started watching what I eat and lifting heavy again in August. Had a bout with tennis elbow which stopped almost all weight lifting from November to mid February. I was throwing around 50’s like they were nothing before the injury so probably went too heavy too fast. I was walking as close to 10k as I could get. Found a different route near my work where I can only hit 5k a day but with significantly steep hills that beat the shit out of me way more than my flat 10k route did. Eventually I’ll be able to keep the pace to hit 10k with the hills, just not there yet with 15 minute breaks. Elbow is healed but dropping back to 30’s as my go to with the 50’s being an occasional thing for now. Trying to target as many muscles as possible instead of just doing the basics. Cut out soda. Cut out fast food. Eat a salad for lunch with a protein drink. Try to lift weights even 15 minutes a day. Walk even a couple miles. Your body will do the rest. I need to buy a new wardrobe, including a belt and I haven’t been trying nearly as hard as I could. |
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Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: I’m 6’ and 41. Have always had a fairly muscular frame but I got fat. July, 2025: 237 pounds. March, 2026: 195 pounds. I started watching what I eat and lifting heavy again in August. Had a bout with tennis elbow which stopped almost all weight lifting from November to mid February. I was throwing around 50’s like they were nothing before the injury so probably went too heavy too fast. I was walking as close to 10k as I could get. Found a different route near my work where I can only hit 5k a day but with significantly steep hills that beat the shit out of me way more than my flat 10k route did. Eventually I’ll be able to keep the pace to hit 10k with the hills, just not there yet with 15 minute breaks. Elbow is healed but dropping back to 30’s as my go to with the 50’s being an occasional thing for now. Trying to target as many muscles as possible instead of just doing the basics. Cut out soda. Cut out fast food. Eat a salad for lunch with a protein drink. Try to lift weights even 15 minutes a day. Walk even a couple miles. Your body will do the rest. I need to buy a new wardrobe, including a belt and I haven’t been trying nearly as hard as I could. Hell yeah man. Its really not hard. |
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Originally Posted By smokinghole: Hell yeah man. It’s really not Originally Posted By smokinghole: Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: I’m 6’ and 41. Have always had a fairly muscular frame but I got fat. July, 2025: 237 pounds. March, 2026: 195 pounds. I started watching what I eat and lifting heavy again in August. Had a bout with tennis elbow which stopped almost all weight lifting from November to mid February. I was throwing around 50’s like they were nothing before the injury so probably went too heavy too fast. I was walking as close to 10k as I could get. Found a different route near my work where I can only hit 5k a day but with significantly steep hills that beat the shit out of me way more than my flat 10k route did. Eventually I’ll be able to keep the pace to hit 10k with the hills, just not there yet with 15 minute breaks. Elbow is healed but dropping back to 30’s as my go to with the 50’s being an occasional thing for now. Trying to target as many muscles as possible instead of just doing the basics. Cut out soda. Cut out fast food. Eat a salad for lunch with a protein drink. Try to lift weights even 15 minutes a day. Walk even a couple miles. Your body will do the rest. I need to buy a new wardrobe, including a belt and I haven’t been trying nearly as hard as I could. Hell yeah man. It’s really not FIFY Cutting fat is simple, but simple /= easy. As mentioned, it really is CICO. Eat less, move more. But it takes discipline and dedication to stick with it. Someone I know, had a weight problem for years. She finally cut the excess fat, and told me, “You were right. It’s all about discipline. Motivation wanes. Discipline is what keeps you doing what you know you’re supposed to do, even when you don’t feel like it”. |
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Originally Posted By jb1001: My takeaways: - It's not about diet or exercise, it's about consistency and discipline. Most people can't do it because it's too hard/monotonous after awhile. - Carbs aren't bad. I completely recomped my body while eating potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cereals, granola, fruit, etc. on a daily basis. - It's much easier with support. I could not live this way without my wife. She preps a shit ton of food for me on a weekly basis, and never complains about me going to the gym 6-8 hours a week. - Comes with tremendous tradeoffs. Lots of sacrifice, takes commitment. I loved doing 315 for reps on bench when I weighed 220 lbs, but I'm much happier now with abs, for one of a dozen examples. Disagree. Eliminate most carbs and the consistency and discipline are much easier. I went keto, no exercise, went from 210 to 162 in 5 months. Now 6 years later I weigh 165 still eating keto. After initial weigh lose I quit counting calories, I eat just like I did when I got fat except without the carbs. Instead of burger and fries, just a burger with no bread. The lack of insulin spike prevents getting hungry longer while eating less. |
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Originally Posted By AR_Dale: Disagree. Eliminate most carbs and the consistency and discipline are much easier. I went keto, no exercise, went from 210 to 162 in 5 months. Now 6 years later I weigh 165 still eating keto. After initial weigh lose I quit counting calories, I eat just like I did when I got fat except without the carbs. Instead of burger and fries, just a burger with no bread. The lack of insulin spike prevents getting hungry longer while eating less. Yeah diet was huge for me. I didn’t intentionally reduce my carb intake, was just trying to eat stuff with more protein and nutrients. I still eat pasta on occasion and have noticed the following. -I fart a lot. -I shit more than once a day. -I lose energy. -If I eat a lot of carbs two days in a row I don’t get dizzy spells necessarily but feel like my balance is shit when I’m exerting myself. Everyone is different of course, but when I go carb heavy I feel it and it sucks. I love pasta.
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Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: Yeah diet was huge for me. I didn’t intentionally reduce my carb intake, was just trying to eat stuff with more protein and nutrients. I still eat pasta on occasion and have noticed the following. -I fart a lot. -I shit more than once a day. -I lose energy. -If I eat a lot of carbs two days in a row I don’t get dizzy spells necessarily but feel like my balance is shit when I’m exerting myself. Everyone is different of course, but when I go carb heavy I feel it and it sucks. I love pasta. Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: Originally Posted By AR_Dale: Disagree. Eliminate most carbs and the consistency and discipline are much easier. I went keto, no exercise, went from 210 to 162 in 5 months. Now 6 years later I weigh 165 still eating keto. After initial weigh lose I quit counting calories, I eat just like I did when I got fat except without the carbs. Instead of burger and fries, just a burger with no bread. The lack of insulin spike prevents getting hungry longer while eating less. Yeah diet was huge for me. I didn’t intentionally reduce my carb intake, was just trying to eat stuff with more protein and nutrients. I still eat pasta on occasion and have noticed the following. -I fart a lot. -I shit more than once a day. -I lose energy. -If I eat a lot of carbs two days in a row I don’t get dizzy spells necessarily but feel like my balance is shit when I’m exerting myself. Everyone is different of course, but when I go carb heavy I feel it and it sucks. I love pasta. It’s always a good idea to find what works best for an individual. I see the best gains/progress while lifting when I get a GOOD amount of carbs in my diet. I gain strength more quickly. Hit more reps, increase the weights for exercise more consistently/quickly. I tried going Paleo for a year. Worked great for staying lean, but I made practically no muscle mass/strength gains for the whole year. |
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Originally Posted By AR_Dale: Disagree. Eliminate most carbs and the consistency and discipline are much easier. I went keto, no exercise, went from 210 to 162 in 5 months. Now 6 years later I weigh 165 still eating keto. After initial weigh lose I quit counting calories, I eat just like I did when I got fat except without the carbs. Instead of burger and fries, just a burger with no bread. The lack of insulin spike prevents getting hungry longer while eating less. Well I guess the difference is that I'm not looking to just lose pounds. I'm only looking to strip body fat. I exercise daily. I lift heavy 3-4 times a week, do 5 mile walks, snowboard, play basketball, etc. I personally, need carbs to fuel all that. Proof is in the pudding. I closed in on 10% bf after my last cut. I was still eating french fries and Oh's cereal throughout. |