Older, and wondering if you should lose fat first, or gain muscle first?
Sometimes we, as older adults, may look at ourselves in the mirror and decide that we need to change.
(And if you believe that you don't need to, then you're one of the perfect ones, one of God's Angels, and shouldn't be reading anything from a site that calls itself: gro evolve!)
What is growth/evolution?
Granted, if you've been reading anything from this site, you know that you, as an older person, need to actively work on transforming yourself upwards to the next and next levels.
Why?
Simply because taking the default road, especially as an above-50/60 human, your body is subject to a naturally-triggered downward evolution consisting of a strong attraction to the “fun” diseases like
- Sarcopenia (muscle loss due to ageing and/or disuse),
- Dynapenia (muscle function/strength loss -also due to muscle disuse) and
- Osteopenia/Osteoporosis (bone density loss due to lack of sufficient stress on the bones).
Of course improper nutrition also plays a part in helping these diseases progress.
These diseases help promote the disability we see in many of our older compatriots (the “Scouts” that we've mentioned elsewhere, scouts the Universe has sent ahead of us to figure out -and learn about- the terrain ahead of us, as we, the laggards of the group, forge forward into this strange land ahead called Ageing/Aging). Those "scouts" have gone ahead to teach us something...
So we've had a good look at that image staring back at ourselves from the mirror, and have decided that
- We need to get working on our muscle-building (knowing that the muscle strength and bone strength will automagically follow), and that
- We need to “lose some weight” (but to be more precise, we need to lose some of the fat we are carrying).
Seems like a simple-enough goal-setting move...
But wait!
Haven't we heard that our bodies need to be in a calorie-surplus (that is, we consume more calories than our bodies need for homeostasis (to stay as it is)) in order to assist our bodies in the muscle-building process?
Also, don't we know that our bodies need to be in a calorie-deficit (that is, we consume less calories than our bodies need for homeostasis) in order to help our bodies lose fat?
So how do we approach this seemingly-conflicting double-goal: to gain muscle and lose fat, at the same time?
These are two issues that all those who take on the body-building lifestyle are constantly faced with, a two-ball juggle that everyone who wants to build a lean and powerful body has to work at mastering.
My story (and it's short!):
Personally, I have struggled with this problem for much of my adult life, for multiple reasons, one of the major ones being that I was (and continue to be) highly addicted to sugar-sweetened foods.
(Like an alcoholic, I too, am never free of the tendency to regress to over-consuming sweet foods. This is something I will constantly need to battle with, and it is a burden I will continue to bear.)
The other reason is the sad delusion that I have carried with me for years: that because I'm a regular gym-goer, exercising regularly for 5 or more days a week, that I could eat whatever I wanted, in whatever quantities I wanted to. And those extra calories would make no difference.
("More fool you!" did I hear you say? Yes, I totally agree.)
How to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the same time:
Admittedly, you need to eat more calories to support your efforts to build your musculature, so that you can keep yourself strong and dynamic over the coming years.
And you also need to reduce your calorie intake to lose the fat, lean up more, and have a healthier circulatory system supporting your healthier lifestyle goals into your older years.
And therefore, I would point you at what I do: that same old nutrition solution that I would give many people (admittedly, not professionally, as I can only train people in a personal-trainer capacity).
I found that it served my dual-objectives better when I switched to a high-protein diet, something that I, in any case, recommend to all my older followers and adherents.
Let's talk about the big big danger with many people's efforts to lose fat in the older years.
You, as an older person, are constantly heading towards that Disability Threshold, if you are not doing the right things for yourself, as espoused in the groevolve Ageing via Intelligent Design System.
Many older people try to lose weight (to be precise, fat), but end up losing their precious muscle.
This is because they starve the already-reducing muscle mass that they have of real nutrition; they lose some fat while losing a whole lot of muscle at the same time. Remember, most of this demographic are not stimulating their muscles to grow in any way, yes, following the "default road" that most of their cohort take into the older years.
Then, they find that they're feeling weak/er (due to the drastic muscle loss). They conclude that the diet is "not working", and stop their diet (which means going back to the amounts and selections of food that they used to eat).
Now, because they have less muscle to burn off the incoming calories, it becomes so much easier for their bodies to put on fat.
Soon, they find they're getting fatter, so they get back on the same cycle of trying to lose fat (doing the same thing that they did before).
And so starts the downward cycle into further muscle loss and further fat gain.
Granted, it takes time to lose fat.
I found that, sticking to a high-protein diet (and not 'really' counting calories), I took about a year and a half to lose my thicker waist (check it out in any of the videos on this page).
And during that period I didn't resort to any increase in activity, simply working out as I normally did to build and maintain my musculature.
Let me provide you with some more details.
As some of you may know, I make my own yogurt from scratch:
I know what goes into it, trusting that the basic ingredients that I buy from the supermarket are exactly what is written on the packaging:
- Lite milk and Skimmed Milk powder.
- A little live-culture greek yogurt to help with the yogurt-making process.
I reheat the resulting yogurt (using the same double-boiler that I use to keep the yogurt warm while the bacteria are doing their thing) to help solidify the curds even more. Or sometimes I keep the yogurt out for somewhat longer till I can see the whey separate out from the white curd/casein.
Once I can cut the curd with a knife -it's that firm- I know my yogurt is ready to be strained.
I spoon the whole thing into a collander, and keep it out for a day or so, while the whey (and most of the remaining lactose) get drained into the container beneath.
Note, I am somewhat lactose intolerant, so this process doubly helps me: yielding a high-protein and lower carb product, plus elimination of that troublesome lactose. Wow, incredible!
I utilize my strained curd as my main protein source for 3-4 meals a day, only adding small amouts of carbs in the form of salads and fats in the form of olive oil and/or peanut butter.
(Before I go any further, let me say that this could be my "nutrition" for quite some time, though it is boring. However, and for that same reason, I often fall off this wagon, eating anything around that appeals!
I don't claim that this is balanced nutrition, and therefore, supplement with a multivitamin as well as some Omega-3 capsules.)
Of course, I utilize no “extra help” (steroids or growth-hormone) as they're totally dangerous to you (and me) as a sane, scientific and older person looking to grow their musculature, stay physically capable, as well as live a healthy life.
So that's it, my older friend.
Get into the gym, lift those weights regularly, keep your nutrition top-notch, and watch the muscle grow and the fat fall off.
Remember, it all takes consistency, and persistence.
Too many people have trouble getting into a lifestyle that will keep them magnificent, while they age.
There are so many obstacles collected over a life-time, that totally prevent them from even starting to do the right things for themselves.
And hence, the groevolve ageing via Intelligent Design system and community is one of the best resources I would recommend to anyone over the 50, 60 mark who knows that they need to change (and quickly), but find that they're making no headway.
Here's the link. Commit, and change your life.
You should see major changes within 6 months and an astounding difference in yourself within 18 months.
Get in there. Change your future.
Lots of love.
Mel Drego.
