I have the same concern. Gaining muscle after forty is extremely difficult. The key is not to just reduce the amount of food. More important is the quality of the food and the fat/protein/carb balance.
Exercise however is the deciding factor. Not hours in the gym. Just a 30 to 40 minute walk every day and some light resistance work combined with sufficient animal protein in your diet is all you will need.
At fifty I was a dedicated gym rat; a lean and hard 180. Now in my seventies, I hover around 140; still lean with good muscle definition and I haven't been in a gym in 15 years.
That has been my experience. FWIW
Yeah, I’ve started to do protein shakes. I never did them before. But the guidelines I’m reading on daily protein intake is way more than I normally eat.
I’m always battling with one injury or another so my work out schedule is one that gets better and better and better day after day week after week. And then I pull a muscle somewhere and I’m out for a week or two.
Apparently I don’t know how to work out without injuring myself.
I was up around 190 six weeks ago or so. Now I’m below 180. I think I’ve got a routine that will get me down below 160. I’m hoping what comes off is fat. I’m hoping too the mix of drugs supplement and diet will remove the plaque from my carotids.