45 year old making life changes

S

SlipperySlope

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Hi, I turned 45 this year and 3 months ago I decided to make a life style change. I've been kind of nibbling at the edges of this though process for more than a year now but didn't put it into action. I lost my job and had to look at what I was spending on food. That job loss was the final straw in my nibbling phase. So I cut out all snacks except mixed nuts, fruit and raw veggies. I am nearly vegetarian but not quite ready to make the leap. I rarely eat red meat and I mean rarely. I like fish and eggs, not much into pig and lamb. I absolutely love veggies.

So at 45, I'm 6ft, and down to 210 from 235 in 3 months. I exercise about 15 minutes daily at home. I had a heart attack at 37 and didn't really change my lifestyle other than to quit smoking and started lipitor and zetia. Other than that my diet stayed the same... junk.

For breakfast I either eat a cup of pearled barley with a little honey and almond milk or a smoothie made from Acai berry paste, yogurt, fruit and almond milk.

For lunch I have a glass of Metamucil, a small can of tuna or a bowl of soup.

For dinner I have veggies prepared either roasted with olive oil, or a raw salad w/olive oil and red wine vinegar, brown rice or barley, sometimes a little fish or chicken, maybe baked beans... rarely a grilled burger. Another glass of Metamucil a couple hours after dinner.

Someone said I may not be getting enough protein and that I should consider a protein powder supplement...

I can't afford a gym membership and I don't have money to buy weights. I'm living lean... or trying to.

I take some supplements now instead of the lipitor and zetia. I'm about to have my levels checked to see how that's going.

So I'm pretty out of shape but getting leaner and stronger. I'm concerned that I'm losing some muscle though along with the fat since I'm not weight training and I can't run because of a bad knee. So I'm just doing some situps, pushups, and some Tai Chi that I learned back in my 20s.

Any comments? There is sop much info on this site I don't know where to start!
 
Congratulations on finally making your lifestyle a priority. I think the heart attack would have got my attention.

Your diet sounds awful, and it's not well balanced based on your description. I'm shocked you've only lost 25 lbs over three months eating this way. And yes, you're losing muscle, but not only because you aren't exercising. You're losing it because your body is breaking down muscle to get the proteins you aren't eating. Whoever told you you weren't getting enough protein was probably right. Talk to them some more about what/how you should be eating.

As far as exercise without weights/gym, there's a whole forum here dedicated to that subject. Plenty of ways to exercise besides sit-ups and push-ups.

You're right, there's a lot of information here. Take some time and do the research. That's half the fun.
 
My diet sounds awful? How so? The person who told me to take protein powder doesn't know anything, he simply heard some guy say he's a vegetarian and makes protein powder shakes for breakfast.

So again, what's wrong with my diet, Other than I am probably not getting enough protein?
 
If your worried about protein:

Work out your body weight in Kgs. Then X1.5 or x2 (female or male). This is how many grams of protein you need to be eating every day. A few examples, 1 chicken breast weighing 125g has about 35g of protein in, 1 egg has around 3g of protein in, 100g of nuts, though very high in calorie can have 50g of protein in.

Try to eat real food rather then protein powder if you can, its just better for your body and state of mind and also easier if you go for a meal out and portion control.

With regards to muscle loss, you natrally start to lose muscle as you age once you hit 30. Its a reason why its very important to do resistance training. As your also losing weight, you will lose some from muscle as well as fat, this is normal. But you do have the chance to reduce the degree of muscle loss you are losing...by doing resistance training. I am sure your Tai Chi will help you with mental muscle but not really for your body muscle, its proper hard graft you need- can you rent an allotment- maybe save yourself money by growing your own veg and also building muscle? or take up running/jogging a few days or evenings a week or hiking or something that leaves you slightly out of breath as well as being hard work/heavy. Your muscles build themselves by being overused to the point where they obtain micro tears, you then rest and these micro tears heal and your muscle become stronger, but you need to over work them first and the easiest and fastest way to do this is with weights. You pay to save time or you spend a long time trying to over work them to the same degree without any props, depends where your values are really, your time or your wallet. (Know what I value more!).

Your diet looks fine but you do need to stay active to be healthy, diet is not the only thing.
 
The fact that you need to take Metamucil twice a day ought to tell you something. But by your response, it sounds like you're mostly satisfied with your diet and know you could use more protein. So, stick with what you're satisfied with and enjoy.
 
Thanks to both of you for your input. Much appreciated.

I take metamucil for several reasons, the additional fiber, the psyllium, fluid intake (I'm bad about drinking water and this ensures I get 2 14oz glasses of water) and there's nothing wrong with making your toilet time... smoother. ;)
 
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