Seeking advice for a three-month fat-loss regimen for a 54 year-old.
Hello all. Thank you in advance for reading this, as well as any advice you may offer.
The situation:
I'm a 54 year-old male. I was once (15-20 years ago) very much into fitness and nutrition; was in the best shape of my life when I turned 40. Over the last few years, I've "fallen off the wagon" when it comes to fitness and diet.
About 6 months ago, I decided I'd had enough of being so out of shape, and I completely changed my diet, going back to eating what I know I should, and not eating what I know I shouldn't. I also began walking 5-7 days a week.
I've dropped from 240 lbs to 210 so far.. and I'd love to drop 20-25 more, as, given my height and frame, 185-190 seems to be my "sweet spot." I'd estimate that right now I'm in the 22-25%. The current goal is to get to somewhere in the 15% area.
My current motivation:
My wife, who is very much fit, is in the National Guard, and is leaving next week for a three-month deployment. She's been so patient with me as I've been slacking the last few years, and I would love nothing more than to surprise her when she returns with some very noticeable progress. I'm willing to put in the work, and I'd like to make as much progress as I can in this three-month period.
My questions:
Most of what I know about resistance training is what I learned 20+ years ago. At that point, I was in my mid-thirties, and working out with the goal of gaining as much muscle as possible. Now, at 54, I'm thinking that, while I'd love to gain muscle, I should be focusing more on fat loss, muscle preservation, and flexibility. Do you guys agree with that?
Back in the day, I focused almost exclusively on multiple-joint lifts, like squats, deadlifts, rows, military presses, bench presses, etc. Do you guys think that should still be the center of my workouts?
I know this isn't really a nutrition sub, but I figured I'd ask this, anyway: I've been aiming for a macro breakdown of 40% protein, 30% fat, and 30% carbs. The carbs that I do eat are overwhelmingly fruits and veggies, and when I do eat bread, it's whole wheat. I don't eat donuts, pastries, etc at all. Do you feel these macro targets are consistent with my age/weight loss goals?
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I apologize for the long post, but wanted to ensure I gave enough info to adequately answer my questions.
Any tips/tricks/suggestions you'd like to offer would be greatly appreciated. I kind of feel like I'm having to re-learn all the things I used to know.