Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Ro
At 5' 11" and 175..........
If I wanted a six pack again I'd basically go vegetarian for few months...
What they did two weeks prior to an event was to eat only Tuna fish packed in spring water and steamed Broccoli - nothing else
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I'm 56 years old, been working out or trying to work out six days a week, come this April it will be two years now.
The largest pair of pants I had when I started was 38" waist, now I wear 31"-32 waist (
two pairs of jeans, different brands). That's a 6"-7" difference I'd like to improve upon. Going to be difficult clothes shopping below at a 30" waist (
or smaller). A problem I look forward to.
I've been bouncing between 175 and 170 for two years as the fat to muscle ratios swapped ends. I don't put a lot of value into what the scale says, the mirror tells me all I need to know.
I am outside any normal measuring convention, only 5'-5" tall, broad rib-cage for my size, wide pelvic bones for any size, short arms, etc..... I'm just squat nothing I can do about that. My frame work is old school body builder, not graceful slinky lanky Men's Heath magazine cover type.
Last time I had a six-pack I was as a young teenager riding my 10-speed bike six hours a day (
God I was bored that summer).
Currently I'm forming a crease down the middle of my belly, at the side are forming a slight shelf inward at the rib-cage, then below 3-4 slight creases starting to form at the sides. I cannot see too much beyond that, just too much belly hair.
I still have remnants of love handles on my lower back/side but they are defined now, no longer swimming in a sea of flesh and skin fat.
The battle between building more muscle mass (
forming a chest) and getting rid of fat is a dancing act which I'm always struggling to take the lead on, but sometimes my body has other ideas.
In general, summer is more cardio, winter more weight training.
Lately I've attempted to increase my protein intake to build up muscle and it's working but it's difficult watching the numbers on the scale go up in the meantime.
I'm getting complements all the time on my progress, and people treat me differently, it's hard to explain but it's all ego building.
Don-Ro's diet examples are great, thanks. It's a delicate thing to cut body fat without losing muscle mass.
I read recently read that putting a heaping table spoon of peanut butter (
or whey power if you can take the bloating) for protein in your morning oatmeal is a good idea. I like the peanut butter much better than trying to add hemp protein to oatmeal (
used in smoothies with good success).
In boxing and UFC matches guys at my height are about 136 lbs, but like I said I'm a more compact and squat package than most. I'd be delighted to be 150-155 again. That's another 20 lbs to go for me, and I think most of it will be dietary changes.
Hard to keep up with aggressive workouts if you don't have enough fuel in your body. So my plan is to get the muscle mass I want, then do what I can to preserve it while cutting out the calories and doing more cardio in the process.
I've been skinny before in my youth and tried to build muscle mass. Now I'm heavier and will try to lose just the fat. I think you can realize your goal from either direction, just takes a lot of learning to find what works for you.
I don't care to have a well defined six-pack, but it would be nice to have more definition and no love handles.
Psychologically I've never identified with bullies and jocks while in grade school, never wanted to build up too much for fear of being and acting like them. Just enough to hold my own was good enough. Now I'm over that and pretty proud that I'm in better shape than any of them that I've met lately. Call me a late bloomer.
When I get my six-pack I'll let you all know, how about that?
It's going to happen.
EDIT:
Opinions on dairy products including milk and yogurt in your diet are welcomed. It's a confusing issue for me.