Ive recently started weightlifting for strength (low reps high weights) and the mindset is totally different. With weightlifting to keep your lifts going up you have to eat more. One standard is 1g protein/pound of target body weight. It turns out it is really hard to eat that much protein and when you do you arent that hungry. Im now trying to gain weight to get up to 190-200. Ive gained 10 pounds back to 170, but it is more muscle than fat.
In the end weight is just a meaningless number and building muscle becomes a positive spiral. Losing weight causes a loss in muscle which becomes a negative spiral.
Paradoxically you can be leaner, look better, and be stronger at a higher weight.
Let's put aside the super tiny category of professional bodybuilders where its valid approach, which ain't long term healthy place to be in for number of reasons.
For most folks doing heavy lifting, normal healthy diet is more than enough, if you get 60-100g of complete proteins in your body, mostly from real food and not just protein powder. You will grow muscles hard depending on the load, genes, active rest and billion other factors. At certain point (quite far from beginning) you should stop increasing weights, because you are removing health benefits more than adding by working out by entering joints / connective tissue injury territory.
The best is some place in between, just like with everything else in life. Do some heavy lifting if health allows it - ideally compound free weights (initially with trainer supervision to avoid mistakes that mess up your joints over time), do some cardio, HIIT, get into real sports out there and physical activities that become your passion and you stop caring about chasing meaningless weightlifting numbers.
The best side effect of all this is you start thinking much more what you eat, how much and how often. That is the key to good health, good weight and overall setup that can last you well into retirement.
1g protein per pound of lean bodyweight is not an 'overdose' and has no ill effects, long term or otherwise.
the rest of your comment is good advice.
Edit: I mixed the units.
1. In the beginning, going to the gym is the hardest part. Incentive: if you go to the gym consistently for a while you are rewarded with no more post workout muscle soreness, and easy newbie gains.
2. Do compound lifts if you can (squat, bench, deadlift (warning deadlifts are not for everyone, and may not be all that beneficial), pullups/pulldowns.) Add a bit of weight or reps each week. Aim for 3-6 sets. No one will care if you start with an empty bar. If you add reps, if you get up to around 10-12, add weight instead. These number are flexible and there is no right answer.
3. For accessory exercises or things that target single muscles: try a bunch of stuff and try new stuff often. If you don't like it, don't do it. If you like it, work it into your routine. These are generally fun but unnecessary until you hit a plateau/wall in another lift and do some research on what you want to do to get past that plateau/wall.
4. Good form is more important than adding weight. Don't hurt yourself.
5/Bonus. Try watching some cringey YouTube fitness influencers and see if they're doing anything that looks fun and try that.
Also follow the golden rule: clean up and put your damn weights back.
It uses an algorithm to maximize your strength gains and uses the equipment you have at home (or the gym). So even if you only have a few pieces of equipment, it can still create a diverse workout for you.
And it has videos for how to do each exercise, which comes in handy more than you might expect.
I like it because I don't have to keep track of anything, don't have to do any work in terms of number crunching.
It's like having a smart personal coach.
I worked out for years learning it myself, even doing a bodybuilding competition. I then had a personal trainer for a few weeks through work and discovered part of my squat form was wrong. It wasn't causing harm but was holding back my gains and did increase my risk of injury.
