First I am biased because I own gyms for a living. Also an exercise physiologist.
If you want to lose fat you need to create a calorie deficit. This can be done by either limiting calorie intake (food) and doing cardio; or just limiting calories. Both have the same effect. Doing cardio alone for weight loss typically does not work.
You also need to strength train, especially if you are 40+. The average person who does not strength train loses 1/2 pound of muscle per year after age 20. At 40, that makes 10 pounds of lean body mass gone. Muscle burns 30-50 calories PER POUND PER DAY just by being there (not counting exercise). That means your metabolism decreased by 300-500 cal per day since age 20.
If you do not strength train when you diet, up to half the weight lost can be muscle mass. This lowers you metabolism further and makes it harder to keep weight off. Cardio/running/swimming does nothing to help maintain muscle mass while dieting.
Not going to get into specific programs, but if it takes more than 1-1 1/2 hours and has you doing more than 12-15 reps per set, it isn't strength training.
Bottom line cut your calories and start a balanced exercise program including strength training. A gym is a good place to start, but there are other ways.
Listen to this man!
There is no magic diet. There is no magic exercise program. There is no magic supliments. Eat less and/or exercise more.
Know this:
First) he number of skeletal muscle fibers in your body is thought to be genetically determined. That hasn't been proven yet, but, thus far, all attempts to increase muscle fiber count by diet, drugs, and exercise have failed. There were a number of studies done by scientists at big-name universities and published in prestigious journals in the 60s and 70s showing that the number of fibers did increase in response to training. The methods used to count the number of fibers were flawed. Those studies have been discredited. And yet you still see them cited. Muscle increase their visible mass in response to training because the existing fibers get bigger. So, when you hear people say that you need to take a certain supliment or exercise in a certain way to build more muscle fibers, that is bunk. This finding has a very unpleasant conclusion which the folks who sell muscle building products and services don't want you know: in most sports, an athlete with more muscle fibers has an advantage. Nowhere is this more true than in power lifting and in competitive body building. As a result, great athletes are born, not made.
Second) Skeletal muscle fibers divide into five types which can be further categorized into just two types: Fast-twitch and slow-twitch. Fast-twitch fibers produce fast, powerful contractions, but they exhaust quickly. Slow-twitch are slower and less-powerful, but they have endurance. It's impossible to prove a negative, but, thus far, nobody has been able to show that any program of diet, exercise, or drugs can change a muscle fiber's type. This is also apparently genetically pre-determined. If your body has all fast-twitch fibers, you will never be a great marathon runner; give it up. No diet, no exercise, no drugs known change it. Most people have a roughly equal mixture of all five fiber types. The occational freak will be virtually entirely one type. One of the fast-twitch fiber types increases in size most dramatically in response to training. If your body has a large number of fibers most of which are that fiber type, then you have the genetic potential to be a great body builder. One of the fast-twitch fiber types is the strongest of all. If your body has a large number of fibers most of which are that type, then you have the genetic potential to be a great power lifter. So, again, we reach that same unpleasant conclusion: great athletes are born, not made.
Third) Skeletal muscles attach to bones. While the exact time is not know, sometime in early childhood, perhaps when you're just a few months old, that position relative to the overall size of the bone is fixed. No exercise, diet, or drugs will move it. Flex your own bicep and look at how close it is to the elbow joint. On some people, the bicep virtually attaches at the elbow itself. On other people, it's almost two inches back. If you want to be a great body building, you must have long muscles attached close to the joints. But, that same trait also makes you stronger overall. So, again, we reach that same unpleasant conclusion: great athletes are born, not made.
Does all of this mean that you shouldn't exercise? Absolutely not. But, be realistic in your expectations. The "fitness" industry and culture tells you that if you're not Mr. America material after using this machine or taking this supliment for six months, then it's your fault; you must be doing it right or training hard enough or taking the right pills or eating the right things. Be realistic.
The guy in the picture is my father
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