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Ive modestly tried to lose weight my whole life. Ive never been fat, but still had to work to keep my calories low. Im 5' 9", and it took 10 years to go from 17

Ive modestly tried to lose weight my whole life. Ive never been fat, but still had to work to keep my calories low. Im 5' 9", and it took 10 years to go from 170 to more like 160. Losing weight made me weaker and caused me to lose muscle. Ive recently started weightlifting for strength (low reps high weights) and the mindset is totally different. With weightlifting to keep your lifts going up you have to eat more. One standard is 1g protein/pound of target body weight. It turns out it is really hard to eat that much protein and when you do you arent that hungry. Im now trying to gain weight to get up to 190-200. Ive gained 10 pounds back to 170, but it is more muscle than fat. In the end weight is just a meaningless number and building muscle becomes a positive spiral. Losing weight causes a loss in muscle which becomes a negative spiral. Paradoxically you can be leaner, look better, and be stronger at a higher weight.

015a 4y ago
Any advice/links on getting started lifting?
- danial 4y ago
  https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Training/dp/0982522738 https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Train...
- mcnnowak 4y ago
  Generally my advice when people ask me is as follows: 1. In the beginning, going to the gym is the hardest part. Incentive: if you go to the gym consistently for a while you are rewarded with no more post workout muscle soreness, and easy newbie gains. 2. Do compound lifts if you can (squat, bench, deadlift (warning deadlifts are not for everyone, and may not be all that beneficial), pullups/pulldowns.) Add a bit of weight or reps each week. Aim for 3-6 sets. No one will care if you start with an empty bar. If you add reps, if you get up to around 10-12, add weight instead. These number are flexible and there is no right answer. 3. For accessory exercises or things that target single muscles: try a bunch of stuff and try new stuff often. If you don't like it, don't do it. If you like it, work it into your routine. These are generally fun but unnecessary until you hit a plateau/wall in another lift and do some research on what you want to do to get past that plateau/wall. 4. Good form is more important than adding weight. Don't hurt yourself. 5/Bonus. Try watching some cringey YouTube fitness influencers and see if they're doing anything that looks fun and try that. Also follow the golden rule: clean up and put your damn weights back.
  - ghostpepper 4y ago
    Not OP but I would add - keep some kind of written record of your progress - it can be very motivating to look back and see eg. I went 3 days per week for the last 3 weeks, or 3 months ago I could lift X, now I can lift X+30
  - tstrimple 4y ago
    I’m pretty sure the deadlift comment would get you into fights in most gyms with power lifters. I’m curious where you have seen that they aren’t beneficial? Everything I’ve read about them puts them firmly into the “best exercises” category.
    - Brentward 4y ago
      Not sure exactly what they meant, but I assume most arguments in this vein have something to do with form. A well-executed deadlift is a great exercise, but you have to balance the risk of injury, especially for new lifters without a trainer or coach to help with their form.
      - tstrimple 4y ago
        Sure. But I wouldn’t put them above squats or bench or overhead presses as far as risk of injury goes. It feels like an arbitrary callout.
- fknorangesite 4y ago
  The /r/fitness wiki is a surprisingly good resource for beginners: https://thefitness.wiki/ https://thefitness.wiki/
- DantesKite 4y ago
  If you have iOS, I highly recommend the Fitbod app. I've tried so many other apps and I just end up doing all this tedious logging that gets frustrating. But Fitbod just outsources all that away to its machine learning backend. It uses an algorithm to maximize your strength gains and uses the equipment you have at home (or the gym). So even if you only have a few pieces of equipment, it can still create a diverse workout for you. And it has videos for how to do each exercise, which comes in handy more than you might expect. I like it because I don't have to keep track of anything, don't have to do any work in terms of number crunching. It's like having a smart personal coach.
- the_doctah 4y ago
  Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe is what you will see recommended the most often
- Brentward 4y ago
  For strength training StrongLifts seems like a good program. It used to be highly recommended on the fitness reddits, but I haven't followed them for a few years. Regardless, I think it's a solid program for starting strength training. I do more of a bodybuilding/bro split, but I've been mixing in a couple of heavy days modeled after the StrongLifts plan. It's certainly simple if nothing else. https://stronglifts.com/5x5/ https://stronglifts.com/5x5/
- drumttocs8 4y ago
  Starting Strength, Mark Rippetoe.
- driverdan 4y ago
  Besides the other good suggestions, having a personal trainer demonstrate exercises and work with you to get the proper form is extremely helpful. I worked out for years learning it myself, even doing a bodybuilding competition. I then had a personal trainer for a few weeks through work and discovered part of my squat form was wrong. It wasn't causing harm but was holding back my gains and did increase my risk of injury.
saiya-jin 4y ago
That's not really that great advice - overdosing on protein long term will mess up your body in number of ways. Yes beginners always fixate themselves on this specific aspect (or very similar formula) but it ain't good path to sustainable wellness and health. Let's put aside the super tiny category of professional bodybuilders where its valid approach, which ain't long term healthy place to be in for number of reasons. For most folks doing heavy lifting, normal healthy diet is more than enough, if you get 60-100g of complete proteins in your body, mostly from real food and not just protein powder. You will grow muscles hard depending on the load, genes, active rest and billion other factors. At certain point (quite far from beginning) you should stop increasing weights, because you are removing health benefits more than adding by working out by entering joints / connective tissue injury territory. The best is some place in between, just like with everything else in life. Do some heavy lifting if health allows it - ideally compound free weights (initially with trainer supervision to avoid mistakes that mess up your joints over time), do some cardio, HIIT, get into real sports out there and physical activities that become your passion and you stop caring about chasing meaningless weightlifting numbers. The best side effect of all this is you start thinking much more what you eat, how much and how often. That is the key to good health, good weight and overall setup that can last you well into retirement.
- chordalkeyboard 4y ago
  > overdosing on protein long term will mess up your body in number of ways 1g protein per pound of lean bodyweight is not an 'overdose' and has no ill effects, long term or otherwise. the rest of your comment is good advice.
- gpt5 4y ago
  It's funny that the OP recommended taking 77g of proteins per day (1g per kg for a 170lbs person), while you say that he is recommending too much protein, then proceeding to recommend 60-100g. Edit: I mixed the units.
  - frogulis 4y ago
    OP recommended 1g/pound which is more than double that 77g for a 170lb person. Not saying that the comment you responded to is necessarily right, but they were talking about significantly higher amounts of protein than you.
ancientworldnow 4y ago
The standard is 1g per kg but American lifters got confused and repeat it ad nauseum online until it became heterodox.
jakesgates 4y ago
I started lifting within the past couple years and focused on high protein intake, I found very quickly that if you are trying hard throughout the day to hit 130g+ of protein, there isn't much room to be craving other things. And when I did crave something sweet or unhealthy, I basically told myself that if I first have my big protein shake, and then if I still feel the desire to eat that thing, then I could eat it. But only after having a shake... and most of the time you are so full from the shake or protein bar that you don't care for that desert anymore anyways.

015a 4y ago

Any advice/links on getting started lifting?

danial 4y ago
https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Training/dp/0982522738 https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Train...
mcnnowak 4y ago
Generally my advice when people ask me is as follows: 1. In the beginning, going to the gym is the hardest part. Incentive: if you go to the gym consistently for a while you are rewarded with no more post workout muscle soreness, and easy newbie gains. 2. Do compound lifts if you can (squat, bench, deadlift (warning deadlifts are not for everyone, and may not be all that beneficial), pullups/pulldowns.) Add a bit of weight or reps each week. Aim for 3-6 sets. No one will care if you start with an empty bar. If you add reps, if you get up to around 10-12, add weight instead. These number are flexible and there is no right answer. 3. For accessory exercises or things that target single muscles: try a bunch of stuff and try new stuff often. If you don't like it, don't do it. If you like it, work it into your routine. These are generally fun but unnecessary until you hit a plateau/wall in another lift and do some research on what you want to do to get past that plateau/wall. 4. Good form is more important than adding weight. Don't hurt yourself. 5/Bonus. Try watching some cringey YouTube fitness influencers and see if they're doing anything that looks fun and try that. Also follow the golden rule: clean up and put your damn weights back.
- ghostpepper 4y ago
  Not OP but I would add - keep some kind of written record of your progress - it can be very motivating to look back and see eg. I went 3 days per week for the last 3 weeks, or 3 months ago I could lift X, now I can lift X+30
- tstrimple 4y ago
  I’m pretty sure the deadlift comment would get you into fights in most gyms with power lifters. I’m curious where you have seen that they aren’t beneficial? Everything I’ve read about them puts them firmly into the “best exercises” category.
  - Brentward 4y ago
    Not sure exactly what they meant, but I assume most arguments in this vein have something to do with form. A well-executed deadlift is a great exercise, but you have to balance the risk of injury, especially for new lifters without a trainer or coach to help with their form.
    - tstrimple 4y ago
      Sure. But I wouldn’t put them above squats or bench or overhead presses as far as risk of injury goes. It feels like an arbitrary callout.
fknorangesite 4y ago
The /r/fitness wiki is a surprisingly good resource for beginners: https://thefitness.wiki/ https://thefitness.wiki/
DantesKite 4y ago
If you have iOS, I highly recommend the Fitbod app. I've tried so many other apps and I just end up doing all this tedious logging that gets frustrating. But Fitbod just outsources all that away to its machine learning backend. It uses an algorithm to maximize your strength gains and uses the equipment you have at home (or the gym). So even if you only have a few pieces of equipment, it can still create a diverse workout for you. And it has videos for how to do each exercise, which comes in handy more than you might expect. I like it because I don't have to keep track of anything, don't have to do any work in terms of number crunching. It's like having a smart personal coach.
the_doctah 4y ago
Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe is what you will see recommended the most often
Brentward 4y ago
For strength training StrongLifts seems like a good program. It used to be highly recommended on the fitness reddits, but I haven't followed them for a few years. Regardless, I think it's a solid program for starting strength training. I do more of a bodybuilding/bro split, but I've been mixing in a couple of heavy days modeled after the StrongLifts plan. It's certainly simple if nothing else. https://stronglifts.com/5x5/ https://stronglifts.com/5x5/
drumttocs8 4y ago
Starting Strength, Mark Rippetoe.
driverdan 4y ago
Besides the other good suggestions, having a personal trainer demonstrate exercises and work with you to get the proper form is extremely helpful. I worked out for years learning it myself, even doing a bodybuilding competition. I then had a personal trainer for a few weeks through work and discovered part of my squat form was wrong. It wasn't causing harm but was holding back my gains and did increase my risk of injury.

saiya-jin 4y ago

That's not really that great advice - overdosing on protein long term will mess up your body in number of ways. Yes beginners always fixate themselves on this specific aspect (or very similar formula) but it ain't good path to sustainable wellness and health. Let's put aside the super tiny category of professional bodybuilders where its valid approach, which ain't long term healthy place to be in for number of reasons. For most folks doing heavy lifting, normal healthy diet is more than enough, if you get 60-100g of complete proteins in your body, mostly from real food and not just protein powder. You will grow muscles hard depending on the load, genes, active rest and billion other factors. At certain point (quite far from beginning) you should stop increasing weights, because you are removing health benefits more than adding by working out by entering joints / connective tissue injury territory. The best is some place in between, just like with everything else in life. Do some heavy lifting if health allows it - ideally compound free weights (initially with trainer supervision to avoid mistakes that mess up your joints over time), do some cardio, HIIT, get into real sports out there and physical activities that become your passion and you stop caring about chasing meaningless weightlifting numbers. The best side effect of all this is you start thinking much more what you eat, how much and how often. That is the key to good health, good weight and overall setup that can last you well into retirement.

chordalkeyboard 4y ago
> overdosing on protein long term will mess up your body in number of ways 1g protein per pound of lean bodyweight is not an 'overdose' and has no ill effects, long term or otherwise. the rest of your comment is good advice.
gpt5 4y ago
It's funny that the OP recommended taking 77g of proteins per day (1g per kg for a 170lbs person), while you say that he is recommending too much protein, then proceeding to recommend 60-100g. Edit: I mixed the units.
- frogulis 4y ago
  OP recommended 1g/pound which is more than double that 77g for a 170lb person. Not saying that the comment you responded to is necessarily right, but they were talking about significantly higher amounts of protein than you.

ancientworldnow 4y ago

The standard is 1g per kg but American lifters got confused and repeat it ad nauseum online until it became heterodox.

jakesgates 4y ago

I started lifting within the past couple years and focused on high protein intake, I found very quickly that if you are trying hard throughout the day to hit 130g+ of protein, there isn't much room to be craving other things. And when I did crave something sweet or unhealthy, I basically told myself that if I first have my big protein shake, and then if I still feel the desire to eat that thing, then I could eat it. But only after having a shake... and most of the time you are so full from the shake or protein bar that you don't care for that desert anymore anyways.