Can a 50 year old body look as good as a 20 year old body??

The short answer is...

No. 

A lot happens in 30 years.

The body goes through a slow degradation process... 

Hormone levels change....

Weight fluctuates.... 

Skin becomes less elastic. 

Bottom line IMHO - The ability and ease of building lean muscle mass is much more difficult at 50 vs 20. 

However, you can still have a body that looks lean and muscular and fit. 

I've been working hard in 2012 to regain my health and fitness after reaching my highest weight ever of 215 lbs. 

I am ashamed of showing this photo but it gives you some idea of how far I had let myself go and how much difference 30 lbs and a regular workout regimen can make. 
 

Yep. That was me a little over a year ago. 

So, I decided that in 2012 I was going to get back in shape. 

I finished up an 8 month work assignment at the end of February. 

I began my quest for fitness in March 2012 by going on a predominantly meat and vegetable diet while doing a series of road trips in Texas I call Park Hopping. This is where I drive from State Park to State Park and camp out and hike and ride my bicycle in and around the park. 

This was a good start as I lost about 12 - 15 lbs over a 4 week period. 

I had a 2 week work assignment in Germany that I concluded with a 1 week 350 mile bicycle tour up the Rhine River from Dusseldorf to Heidelberg. 

When I got back, I began preparing for a goal I had for several years.... 

To Cycle the Pacific Coast from Seattle to San Diego. 

I did this in a totally self supporting solo bicycle tour that covered 2350 miles while lasting 56 days from early June to early August. 

Since then, I've been sticking to a Meat, Vegetables, Fruit, Nuts, Eggs diet and working out intensely through mostly group exercise classes at a local place called Family Fitness. 

My weight this morning was 185, so I've lost 30 lbs, but more importantly, I've lost weight and gained lean muscle mass at the same time.

So that's a summary of what I've done to get back in shape in 2012. 

But that's not all this post is about. 

As the title implies, the real question is...

Is it possible to look as good at 50 as you did at 20?

I took a few photos of myself this morning and then went back and dug up a few photos of myself at different ages starting when I was 17. 

So let's take a look at 33 years and see what time can tell us. 

Let's begin with a pic from
when I was 17.  You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos because I took a picture of the original picture. 

I was about 168 lbs here with about 5% body fat.  While it's possible to get this lean again, it's just not probable or practical. At that age, I could eat anything and everything all
day long and never gain a pound.  Now I have to watch what I eat and am not able to eat dairy and many other items. 

Now flash forward 2 years to the one and only bodybuilding competition I was ever in. 

I really messed up going into this small, local competition by cutting my calories too drastically.  I was a very muscular 179 lbs when I started dieting. 2 weeks later in this picture, I weighed 166 lbs. I lost a few pounds of fat but a lot of muscle.  Anyway, that was me at 19. 

In early 2001, at age 39,  I was at a high of about 210 and had enough so went on a strict 1200 calorie a day diet while riding my bicycle back and forth to work - a round trip of 32 miles a day. I lost 35 lbs in 4 months getting to a low of 175 which is about where I was in this pic.
 

So what do I look like now
at 185??

Not a bad back double bi...

Here's a similar stance at age 20 at about 175 ... But with more clothes. Check out the hair!!

Do I look as good at 50 as I did at 20?

No.

Can I?

Don't know....

I still got 10 more pounds to lose. 

But I can tell you one thing for sure. 

I know way more at 50 about my body and what it needs and what works and doesn't work....

Than I did at 20. 

And every day I'm getting....

Better.... Stronger.... Faster....

And that's what it's all about. 

Start from where you are...

And strive to be...

Better today than you were yesterday.