gain

This is my 20th or more times to start an exercise program in the last 20 years.  Never had to take it too serious could always eat what I want and had muscle without doing anything ... until I hit 38!!!! (I'm now 44)  I only weigh 115.5 am 5'7 but now I can't see muscle. (I quit drinking alcohol 4 months ago and lost 10 pounds too quickly)   Problem is I want to gain 10lbs back without it being fat. And of course stay consistant with my program.  Any suggestions?

Welcome to your forties! The metobolic changes are bad enough. Add in the hormonal changes and even though our heads are still telling us we're maybe 30 or 35 - the truth is vastly different! The above not withstanding, it is better to be here (even at 44 or 54) than to not be here at all. <grin>

Getting back that 10 lbs won't be al that difficult. The key is simply mathmatics. Figure out what you need to maintain your present body mass (with your present workout schedule, etc.) and you'll come up with a number of calories per day. It's a rough number - by no means carved in stone - but it's a place to start. Adjust your caloric intake upward by between 500 and 750 calories per day from that 'baseline' or maintenance number. Of course you need to do this with decent food. Protein should be about 45 to 55% of it. Carbs about 30 to 40 Percent of it. (Again, whole grains, veggies, etc. Chocolate cake and icecream is not a good idea!) And fats about 10 to 20 percent of the increased amount of food eaten daily.

If you give yourself the nutrients you need, work the muscles out correctly, they will grow. You'll add muscle and very little chance of adding fat. If you really have a propensity to add on fat easily, then you may have to do a little more cardio than you previously did. But even that's unlikely. Most people do not have to up the cardio.

If you can control the diet - still get enough nutrients and proteins - and work out, the body will respond. As you gain muscle, you're going to have to eat more, (not less!) to provide the calories necessary for the muscle maintenance on the newly formed or newly gained muscle. So don't be surprised if you find you're upping that baseline number after a month (or even sooner if you were conservative when you calculated it.)

The above is an abbreviated version of what any good nutritionist or dietician would tell you. I also quit drinking entirely about a year ago. What a difference that made! I never dreamed that the two or three drinks per day made such a difference but they did. I have to eat about every three hours now to maintain my goals for muscle gain and bulk increase. It's not easy to consume all that food! I use a LOT of Myoplex Deluxe shakes, and protein powders, etc. However, slowly but surely it's working. The muscles are getting fuller and rounder. The bulk is increasing. And I haven't gained a single inch in the waist or tush.

good luck!

M

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