45M, started lifting in January. 9 month update
January: 103kg, 36% body fat by the scale (so probably 30 something real), could not do a push up, back hurt sitting down. Sat in the gym car park twice before going in. Posted about it in the anxiety thread.
Today: 86kg. Waist 112cm to 94cm. Bench 70 x 5, squat 95 x 5, deadlift 130 x 3. Did 12 push ups this morning. Back does not hurt.
What I did, since people keep asking in DMs:
Months 1-2: Machines only, 3x a week, same 6 exercises. 2400 kcal (calculator said 2600 to lose slowly, I rounded down). Walked 7k steps. Lost 5kg, most of it water and shame.
Months 3-5: Moved to barbell with a trainer for 4 sessions to learn squat and deadlift. Still 3x a week. 2300 kcal. Steps to 9k. Lost 6kg.
Months 6-9: Full body 3x, added a 4th day of just walking and stretching because my hips were tight. 2200 kcal. Protein 160-170 most days. Lost 6kg. This phase was slower and I nearly quit twice.
Things I got wrong: trying to run in month 2 (knees), cutting carbs in month 4 (felt awful, lifts dropped, went back), weighing daily and reacting to it (fixed by the weekly average thread on here).
Still 10kg to go by my own target. Not in a hurry. For the 40+ people reading: it is slower than the 25 year olds but it is not slow. 17kg in 9 months is not slow.
You were in my anxiety thread in April saying you sat in the car park too. Reading this 5 months later is genuinely the best thing I have seen on this forum. 17kg. Mate.
Your thread was part of why I walked in the second time, so. Thanks.