5’11” Late 30s Gents - Goal of 180lbs
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ercarta
Posts: 74 Member
I’m currently stuck at 235 lbs.
Anyone have a pro-tip for a fellow MFP? Wanting to light up 55lbs of body fat in the next 12-18 months or so.
I work out 2 days for a total of 4 hours a week and that’s all the time I have for the gym. Open to just about anything else.
Go!
Eric
Anyone have a pro-tip for a fellow MFP? Wanting to light up 55lbs of body fat in the next 12-18 months or so.
I work out 2 days for a total of 4 hours a week and that’s all the time I have for the gym. Open to just about anything else.
Go!
Eric
0
Replies
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I’m not a gent and I’m older than you but I am 5’11” and went from 209 lbs to 166 lbs so lost 43 lbs over 10 months. Been maintaining for over 5 years. I can tell you what helped me: eating less is for weight loss, exercise is for fitness and health. Do not rely on exercise to lose weight, you have to eat less to lose weight. continue exercising to minimize muscle loss though! Once you’ve lost the weight, exercising can help you maintain but you still need to watch your calorie intake somehow, there’s just no way around it. I did not follow any specific diet just ate less and I didn’t use a food scale but it can be a very useful tool to help you learn proper portion sizes. Do not drink your calories. If you do, count it just like you would food intake. And be prepared for the long haul, it will take a long long time, you must be very very patient. Just my two cents though, YMMV since you are a guy maybe it’s easier for you to lose than for women 🤷🏻♀️ good luck on your journey!
6 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »I’m not a gent and I’m older than you but I am 5’11” and went from 209 lbs to 166 lbs so lost 43 lbs over 10 months. Been maintaining for over 5 years. I can tell you what helped me: eating less is for weight loss, exercise is for fitness and health. Do not rely on exercise to lose weight, you have to eat less to lose weight. continue exercising to minimize muscle loss though! Once you’ve lost the weight, exercising can help you maintain but you still need to watch your calorie intake somehow, there’s just no way around it. I did not follow any specific diet just ate less and I didn’t use a food scale but it can be a very useful tool to help you learn proper portion sizes. Do not drink your calories. If you do, count it just like you would food intake. And be prepared for the long haul, it will take a long long time, you must be very very patient. Just my two cents though, YMMV since you are a guy maybe it’s easier for you to lose than for women 🤷🏻♀️ good luck on your journey!
I appreciate you, thanks for the feedback. Good for you, what an achievement! 🙌
Anything systematic you implemented to continue eating at lower maintenance level? Things you eat, avoid, foods swapped, cals p/ meal, etc? Perhaps you read/listened to something that shifted your mindset?
Pray tell. 😊
Eric0 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »I’m not a gent and I’m older than you but I am 5’11” and went from 209 lbs to 166 lbs so lost 43 lbs over 10 months. Been maintaining for over 5 years. I can tell you what helped me: eating less is for weight loss, exercise is for fitness and health. Do not rely on exercise to lose weight, you have to eat less to lose weight. continue exercising to minimize muscle loss though! Once you’ve lost the weight, exercising can help you maintain but you still need to watch your calorie intake somehow, there’s just no way around it. I did not follow any specific diet just ate less and I didn’t use a food scale but it can be a very useful tool to help you learn proper portion sizes. Do not drink your calories. If you do, count it just like you would food intake. And be prepared for the long haul, it will take a long long time, you must be very very patient. Just my two cents though, YMMV since you are a guy maybe it’s easier for you to lose than for women 🤷🏻♀️ good luck on your journey!
I appreciate you, thanks for the feedback. Good for you, what an achievement! 🙌
Anything systematic you implemented to continue eating at lower maintenance level? Things you eat, avoid, foods swapped, cals p/ meal, etc? Perhaps you read/listened to something that shifted your mindset?
Pray tell. 😊
Eric
I was looking at a future of obesity related illness if I didn’t change my lifestyle, that was incentive enough! I do not follow any eating plan I just eat within my calorie allowance, occasionally going over for special occasions though so I’m not even that strict. And I started exercising for the first time in my life at the age of 38. When I started I could barely walk around the block or a single flight of stairs, now I’m a runner and running trails up hills and mountains on a regular basis. So nothing special, just small changes that add up to great results and I continue to challenge myself to be better every day! 1 -
Oh, and here’s a post I wrote about eating fast food...
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10733253/wendy-s-helped-me-lose-weight#latest1 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »Oh, and here’s a post I wrote about eating fast food...
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10733253/wendy-s-helped-me-lose-weight#latest
@monkeefan1974 , you’re a runner dude. That’ll do it! Not sure I’m willing to go there yet. TBD.
How’d you get those images of you running by the way? Looks like they were taken by a drone, were they?
Eric1 -
Good morning @ercarta, 5’11” gent here, not in my late 30’s but mid 60’s and old enough to be your Dad. My goal was 180 like yours but changed it to 177 along my journey, then expressed it as a range of 172-177; 169.6 this morning.
I can help you with comments and I will once I get to work later this morning. Wishing you the best.1 -
@pierinifitness congrats on the achievement! I appreciate you man, looking forward to your input. 👍🏼
Eric0 -
What's up @ercarta
I'm 37 and 6'0", started at 257 months ago, i'm at 214...my goal has been 200 for the longest, but the scale doesn't matter much to me anymore. May i recommend Athlean-X? He will do you much good. He is the best fitness/nutrition specialist on YouTube and it should cost money the things i've learned from him. I've gone from 31%BF to 24%. Give it a look when you get a chance!
Good luck!0 -
mabelsdaddy wrote: »What's up @ercarta
I'm 37 and 6'0", started at 257 months ago, i'm at 214...my goal has been 200 for the longest, but the scale doesn't matter much to me anymore. May i recommend Athlean-X? He will do you much good. He is the best fitness/nutrition specialist on YouTube and it should cost money the things i've learned from him. I've gone from 31%BF to 24%. Give it a look when you get a chance!
Good luck!
Yessir! I will check out Athlean-X as you prescribed. Many thanks my man! All the best!
Eric0 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »Oh, and here’s a post I wrote about eating fast food...
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10733253/wendy-s-helped-me-lose-weight#latest
@monkeefan1974 , you’re a runner dude. That’ll do it! Not sure I’m willing to go there yet. TBD.
How’d you get those images of you running by the way? Looks like they were taken by a drone, were they?
Eric
Everyone always thinks it’s the running 😅 but I was NOT a runner when I lost the weight, I started running after I had lost weight by eating less I can’t stress this enough, if I do not watch my portions I could gain weight easily even with my current running schedule 😬
No drone could keep up with me 😂 bf helps take a lot of my pics, he started running with me just over a year ago 😊2 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »monkeefan1974 wrote: »Oh, and here’s a post I wrote about eating fast food...
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10733253/wendy-s-helped-me-lose-weight#latest
@monkeefan1974 , you’re a runner dude. That’ll do it! Not sure I’m willing to go there yet. TBD.
How’d you get those images of you running by the way? Looks like they were taken by a drone, were they?
Eric
Everyone always thinks it’s the running 😅 but I was NOT a runner when I lost the weight, I started running after I had lost weight by eating less I can’t stress this enough, if I do not watch my portions I could gain weight easily even with my current running schedule 😬
No drone could keep up with me 😂 bf helps take a lot of my pics, he started running with me just over a year ago 😊
Alright alright, noted. Watch the portions, keep intake at a deficit. Running ain't sh#t in and of itself. Copy that! 1 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »monkeefan1974 wrote: »Oh, and here’s a post I wrote about eating fast food...
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10733253/wendy-s-helped-me-lose-weight#latest
@monkeefan1974 , you’re a runner dude. That’ll do it! Not sure I’m willing to go there yet. TBD.
How’d you get those images of you running by the way? Looks like they were taken by a drone, were they?
Eric
Everyone always thinks it’s the running 😅 but I was NOT a runner when I lost the weight, I started running after I had lost weight by eating less I can’t stress this enough, if I do not watch my portions I could gain weight easily even with my current running schedule 😬
No drone could keep up with me 😂 bf helps take a lot of my pics, he started running with me just over a year ago 😊
Alright alright, noted. Watch the portions, keep intake at a deficit. Running ain't sh#t in and of itself. Copy that!
Now you’ve got it 😂 I stopped logging for 2 years after I lost and was already running at that time and I gained 18 lbs back 🥺 I started logging again and lost that regain and now I don’t log often but I do watch my portions and weigh myself weekly to catch any regain early 😁1 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »monkeefan1974 wrote: »monkeefan1974 wrote: »Oh, and here’s a post I wrote about eating fast food...
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10733253/wendy-s-helped-me-lose-weight#latest
@monkeefan1974 , you’re a runner dude. That’ll do it! Not sure I’m willing to go there yet. TBD.
How’d you get those images of you running by the way? Looks like they were taken by a drone, were they?
Eric
Everyone always thinks it’s the running 😅 but I was NOT a runner when I lost the weight, I started running after I had lost weight by eating less I can’t stress this enough, if I do not watch my portions I could gain weight easily even with my current running schedule 😬
No drone could keep up with me 😂 bf helps take a lot of my pics, he started running with me just over a year ago 😊
Alright alright, noted. Watch the portions, keep intake at a deficit. Running ain't sh#t in and of itself. Copy that!
Now you’ve got it 😂 I stopped logging for 2 years after I lost and was already running at that time and I gained 18 lbs back 🥺 I started logging again and lost that regain and now I don’t log often but I do watch my portions and weigh myself weekly to catch any regain early 😁
That's dope @monkeefan1974. I like this. I'm not ready to let go of the meal logging crutches yet but it's something to work towards. You get a
and my appreciation for today's input. 
1 -
@ercarta, following up with my two cents as I promised.
In following your other posts, I've learned that you've been at this for many years and have achieved a respectable amount of weight loss that, honestly, was rather slow given the number of years. Some would say that's good but based on my personality, it wouldn't be fast enough for me. When I began my current journey last August 31st, I set a goal of 5 lbs. per month which I thought was low. My actual monthly weight loss was a little less than that but not much less.
The first first thing I suggest, knowing that you want to lose additional weight, isn't it 30 lbs. more?, is to map out a timeline during which you want to achieve it. Maybe you've already done this but don't believe I'm stumbled across this detail in you previous posts. Then, I would calculate the average daily calories deficit you need to achieve that weight loss and micro-manage it like a hawk.
I don't know what your BMR calories are or lifestyle activities but judging your compositions, my guess is that you sit for living. That's what I do so my calories requirements are low. Exercise is how I up the total.
I responded to another post where you shared what you ate for a day and believe it's poor fuel for a man who wants to lose weight and presumably do so with minimal muscle loss or with muscle gain. So the first thing you got to do is dial down your nutrition to fuel your body and not tantalize your taste buds. There are people here more skilled than me who can make great suggestions. More likely than not, they'll talk about how you need to get so many grams of protein per lbs. of bodyweight. Based on my experiences as supported by objective measures, those guidelines are ones I've not followed and it hasn't come at a cost to me. Everyone is different so you'll need to take this into account.
I'm an enthused practitioner of intermittent fasting (IF) and it has been a great tool in my fitness, health and wellness toolbox, helping me build and sustain unbridled discipline that has greatly contributed to my success. By way of background, I had been fit and weight-appropriate for about 20-25 years (beginning at about your current age) until I got too comfortable a few years ago and dropped my guard. Consequently, and I blame nobody but myself, I fell off the fitness, health and wellness wagon, and gained weight, blowing up to 210.8 lbs. at my peak until I reported to a self-exiled Army boot camp with me as my drill sergeant. Every single day since then, I've been a man on a mission and the results were achieved. This is something, hopefully, you'll be soon saying and based on your current additional weight loss goal, give yourself 6 months.
But, to have success, you need to do a reality check and make sure your desire for this is matched in equal proportions with DISCIPLINE, PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE.
As far as training goes, Jeff Cavaliere at AthleanX is the real deal. Whether his programs will work for you depends. I have a saying that the program has got to match the personality. I prefer to train for athleticism rather than hypertrophy body appearance so I'm attracted to other fitness gurus such as Chandler Marchman, for example, who puts together some kettlebell complex workouts matching my personality. I don't know how you currently train so it's hard for me to make any additional suggestions until I know.
And, as a previously-retired fun runner who is now back in the game, I can tell you that running has made a huge difference. Come to think of it, when I was last lean and mean, running was an integral and important part of my training rotation. Many will say, and I'll agree, that you can't outrun a bad diet (excessive eating), I found that when I had a serious running component to my training mix, I ate big and trained big and probably had the best fitness and body appearance while being in my early 50's. I'm age 64 now.
Now that I'm running again, I've actually gone below the low end of my ideal weight range of 172-177 lbs. so I've got to up my feeding because I have no plans on tapering my running; will be running the Wharf to Wharf run run this summer in Santa Cruz, CA.
Finally, and my apologies for my ramble, during my journey, I found that a 60 minute brisk walk 5 days a week was a very good tool in my fitness toolbox. Only problem is it's time consuming but it was a great tool and looking back on the journals, I had respectable monthly weight loss during the months I had the most walking episodes. Don't need to do that so much now and getting my movement action with running.
Sorry for the ramble. I take your posts and the way you communicate as sincere and will be more than happy to help you in your journey. Send me a PM if you'd like to do an e-mail address exchange for more one-on-one discussion. Until then, enjoy your youth; wishing you the best.3 -
6'0" 37yo here. This is my second time losing on MFP. My first time around was in my early 30's. I started at 229 and ended up 4 lbs shy of my goal weight of 180. This time around, I have a lot less free time, and I've noticed a few things. Started at 221.5 and currently at 193.
1) Your body gets used to your workouts if they remain the same. In 2013, I was swimming two miles a day, six days a week, and playing pickup basketball for about an hour and a half two times a week. I started to notice the losses were not as significant about two and a half months in, and so I changed up my sets in the pool by adding HIIT laps and sprint sets. When I noticed the slowdown again, I added a mile to my swim and changed up my sets again. Now I can't really add any extra time or play basketball, so my only option is to change my sets. It still works, just not as quickly as if I had extra time. Take what you can get when you can get it.
2) I ate 1500 or fewer calories each day, and never ate back my calories. Between this low calorie intake and early mornings in the pool, I was tired all the time. I had a lot more free time, and I took naps every day. Now I eat more and cannot take naps. I'm working on quality of nutrition rather than simply calories in calories out method this time around, and I eat back some of my workout calories. It's slower going, but I'm not as tired. That said, if you eat a deficit every day regardless of whether you work out, you will lose weight. You just need to figure out your BMR first and adjust intake calories based on whether your day is a workout/non-workout day.
3) I'm older, and my metabolism is beginning to slow down. I take what the scale will give me. Don't worry about it if you don't reach your goal because worrying is stress, and stress activates fat storing hormones which will make the scale not move as quickly as you want it to, which will make you worry.
One last interesting thing of note: some of my clothes, e.g. jeans, suit, and button up shirts that I wore when I was 184 fit as well or better now at 193. I chalk this up to not having lost more fat and less lean muscle than last time, but that may be speculative.
2 -
@ercarta - I’m 5-11 started at 235 in April of last year was at 185 by October- so 6 months -I cut down to 1500 calories a day because I didn’t exercise at all - I’m only with in the last month started hitting the gym - I did nothing special. But stayed within my calories most days - only thing I cut was calories drinks I didn’t drink calories period - I’ve been maintaining since October- you can do it man just eat less - and track everything2
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@ercarta - I’m 5-11 started at 235 in April of last year was at 185 by October- so 6 months -I cut down to 1500 calories a day because I didn’t exercise at all - I’m only with in the last month started hitting the gym - I did nothing special. But stayed within my calories most days - only thing I cut was calories drinks I didn’t drink calories period - I’ve been maintaining since October- you can do it man just eat less - and track everything
Wow! Great results @Cowsfan1! Thanks for sharing your method to success! 🤙🏼
Eric0 -
6'0" 37yo here. This is my second time losing on MFP. My first time around was in my early 30's. I started at 229 and ended up 4 lbs shy of my goal weight of 180. This time around, I have a lot less free time, and I've noticed a few things. Started at 221.5 and currently at 193.
1) Your body gets used to your workouts if they remain the same. In 2013, I was swimming two miles a day, six days a week, and playing pickup basketball for about an hour and a half two times a week. I started to notice the losses were not as significant about two and a half months in, and so I changed up my sets in the pool by adding HIIT laps and sprint sets. When I noticed the slowdown again, I added a mile to my swim and changed up my sets again. Now I can't really add any extra time or play basketball, so my only option is to change my sets. It still works, just not as quickly as if I had extra time. Take what you can get when you can get it.
2) I ate 1500 or fewer calories each day, and never ate back my calories. Between this low calorie intake and early mornings in the pool, I was tired all the time. I had a lot more free time, and I took naps every day. Now I eat more and cannot take naps. I'm working on quality of nutrition rather than simply calories in calories out method this time around, and I eat back some of my workout calories. It's slower going, but I'm not as tired. That said, if you eat a deficit every day regardless of whether you work out, you will lose weight. You just need to figure out your BMR first and adjust intake calories based on whether your day is a workout/non-workout day.
3) I'm older, and my metabolism is beginning to slow down. I take what the scale will give me. Don't worry about it if you don't reach your goal because worrying is stress, and stress activates fat storing hormones which will make the scale not move as quickly as you want it to, which will make you worry.
One last interesting thing of note: some of my clothes, e.g. jeans, suit, and button up shirts that I wore when I was 184 fit as well or better now at 193. I chalk this up to not having lost more fat and less lean muscle than last time, but that may be speculative.
Thanks @ElBence!0
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