Without making this long and sobby I quit working out three years ago, for personal reasons. I used to be super athletic. I ran track and football every year, had the quick feet, big arms, the chest of a stallion and an 8-pack to boot . Now I'm just fat. I lost a lot of muscle mass, and gained lots of fat. Mostly around teh midsection, and it goes all around to the back and sides and everything. I'm only 5'8", I have the frame of a mesomorph, and muscle memory should be on my side. At my peak I was going 6 days a week, alternating between an upper/lower body workout every other day. Obviously, I'm not the same guy. I think of myself as a somewhat blank canvas. I'll have to start off slow, but with proper diet/exercise how long should it take to be able to say: I'm in shape. I don't mean ripped or anything, but having good muscle definition and somewhat of a 6 pack. Think ballpark here. 30 days? 60? 90-120 days?
Some times the truth is discouraging but it takes WAY longer to get back in shape then it does to get lazy and fat. The trick is consistency. Workout consistently 3 or 4 days a week with ample cardio and try to improve your diet subbing healthy shit whenever you wan. (whole wheat instead of white, salad instead of fries, you get the picture.) If you stay dedicated i will say in 3 months you will be seeing definite changes. And then just keep building from there.
Just for the record, 'muscle memory' doesn't exist, your memory of the motion does but muscles ain't doin the thinkin. With weight loss, always think long term. You're not gonna lose 50 pounds in a month unless you commit 1000% percent or go on the biggest loser or something. With real people, with real jobs and commitments, it ain't easy, but it's not supposed to be quick or easy. Bodybuilding.com has tons of 'transformations', showing people losing mad weight and packin on muscle, and what they ate, their workout routines, etc. It does take time though, but it will definitely pay off in the end.
Diet, eat 5-6 small meals a day, start off slow with the exercise, youll notice results first month bro, its not that hard just takes commitment, good luck
You have a genetic advantage as well as a mental one since you already were in good shape. I think you'll start seeing some results in about a month, but it will probably take like 3 or 4 months before you really start looking good. I totally disagree with a year. I was in the same situation a couple years back and it took me about 4 months to go from burgeoning potbelly to 6-pack. 5-6 small meals a day is pointless btw... just do whatever you were doing before-you obviously knew what you were doing
good thing is, it's been shown that if you stop excersizing for a while then start again, you're progress will be turbocharged at first aka you'll notice changes very shortly after starting you're regiment