Can 'Oldish Noobs' Recomp?

Hey guys - new here. Basically wondering how much I should be eating as a 45yo with out any solid lifting history. 6’2, currently 180 and best estimate around 17% body fat. about 6 weeks ago, I decided to kick booze and finally get into real shape. Currently 3 weeks into a “beginner” fullbody program, which I intend to transition into strength after 6 weeks, and then into explosiveness after 12 (I have an athletic goal I don’t want to go through here). I’ve been eating 180-200g protein, 150ish g Carbs, 30-50g fats. Prob 1/2 the protein from shakes. Desk job, and my apple watch thinks my “resting calories” are around 2k/day. I lift MWF, and burn off 350 cals doing moderate walking on incline treadmill the other days.

A lot of “experts” say to cut until your in the 10-12% body fat range. Others say eat maintenance and recomp as a newbie. I’m not sure what impact age has on either of those.

As stated - goals are athletic performance and basically to look good with my shirt off. Probably a little fat-phobic currently so erroring on the side of cutting, but don’t want to waste gym time by not eating enough.

Anyone have relevant experience or could point me in the direction of similar training logs? Also not interested in TRT or drugs at this point :slight_smile:

Eat to support your goals. Start at 16*bodyweight(lbs) = approx maintenance (kcal). Weigh yourself 3-5 days per week in the morning, preferably after a crap & before a meal. If weight is going up, you are over maintenance (surplus), if it’s going down you are under (deficit). Take relaxed pics in the same pose & same lighting every month or so to gauge progress. The app ‘my fitness pal’ is very useful to track calories.

You can recomp, but that will be best achieved by eating very close to maintenance calories & busting it consistently in your workouts. Actual maintenance is different for everyone, so keep that in mind when working with calculations. The scale & the mirror don’t lie.

Good luck, consistency is King.