Can I build muscle while losing weight

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I'm trying to lose another 20lbs while maintaining and guiding a better butt. So I know in order to build muscle you need to eat more calories but I can eat more calories while trying to lose weight right ?

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  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    maybe. but it doesn't really matter. if you want to have a better you'll need to be lifting while losing whether you're building muscle or not
  • juliusgiron
    juliusgiron Posts: 6 Member
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    Well, to be specific you need to rack up your protein. Proteins are the building blocks of muscle so dont just eat high calorie food. After workouts try putting some fish and some lean meat. It will aid in creating your "better" butt! And yes it is possible :)
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited September 2015
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    No. If you are eating few enough calories that you are losing weight, other than some slight newbie gains, you cannot build muscle. There's no amount of calories that is right to lose weight and build muscle at the same time. Eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight, eat more calories than you burn, and lift weights, to build muscle.

    What you can do, though, is keep more of the muscle you already have, and that's significant. When we lose weight, it's a combination of fat, muscle and water. If you are following a progressive lifting program, lifting heavy and increasing the weight over time, you will lose less muscle and more of your loss will be from fat. Since it's much easier to maintain the muscle you already have than to build it, you'll be ahead of the game once you reach your goal weight. In fact, you might find that you're firm and small enough at a higher weight than your initial goal because muscle takes up less space than fat at the same weight.
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
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    Look up recomp.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    Talan79 wrote: »
    Look up recomp.

    Recomp is maintaining the same weight while losing fat and building muscle. It's difficult under the best of circumstances and takes a long time. That's completely beside the fact that the OP clearly stated she wants to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, which doesn't happen.
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
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    My bad, I responded too quickly.
  • DerekVTX
    DerekVTX Posts: 287 Member
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    Listen to the above post, I am just reinforcing. Do cycles of Bulking and Cutting.
  • tjsims88
    tjsims88 Posts: 45 Member
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    SueInAz wrote: »
    No. If you are eating few enough calories that you are losing weight, other than some slight newbie gains, you cannot build muscle. There's no amount of calories that is right to lose weight and build muscle at the same time. Eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight, eat more calories than you burn, and lift weights, to build muscle.

    What you can do, though, is keep more of the muscle you already have, and that's significant. When we lose weight, it's a combination of fat, muscle and water. If you are following a progressive lifting program, lifting heavy and increasing the weight over time, you will lose less muscle and more of your loss will be from fat. Since it's much easier to maintain the muscle you already have than to build it, you'll be ahead of the game once you reach your goal weight. In fact, you might find that you're firm and small enough at a higher weight than your initial goal because muscle takes up less space than fat at the same weight.

    Ok..So I should focus more on maintaining muscle than building right now. Which means I still need to lift weights!?

  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    tjsims88 wrote: »
    SueInAz wrote: »
    No. If you are eating few enough calories that you are losing weight, other than some slight newbie gains, you cannot build muscle. There's no amount of calories that is right to lose weight and build muscle at the same time. Eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight, eat more calories than you burn, and lift weights, to build muscle.

    What you can do, though, is keep more of the muscle you already have, and that's significant. When we lose weight, it's a combination of fat, muscle and water. If you are following a progressive lifting program, lifting heavy and increasing the weight over time, you will lose less muscle and more of your loss will be from fat. Since it's much easier to maintain the muscle you already have than to build it, you'll be ahead of the game once you reach your goal weight. In fact, you might find that you're firm and small enough at a higher weight than your initial goal because muscle takes up less space than fat at the same weight.

    Ok..So I should focus more on maintaining muscle than building right now. Which means I still need to lift weights!?

    In a weight loss scenario, that's correct.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    tjsims88 wrote: »
    SueInAz wrote: »
    No. If you are eating few enough calories that you are losing weight, other than some slight newbie gains, you cannot build muscle. There's no amount of calories that is right to lose weight and build muscle at the same time. Eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight, eat more calories than you burn, and lift weights, to build muscle.

    What you can do, though, is keep more of the muscle you already have, and that's significant. When we lose weight, it's a combination of fat, muscle and water. If you are following a progressive lifting program, lifting heavy and increasing the weight over time, you will lose less muscle and more of your loss will be from fat. Since it's much easier to maintain the muscle you already have than to build it, you'll be ahead of the game once you reach your goal weight. In fact, you might find that you're firm and small enough at a higher weight than your initial goal because muscle takes up less space than fat at the same weight.

    Ok..So I should focus more on maintaining muscle than building right now. Which means I still need to lift weights!?

    Definitely! Keep as much of the muscle you already have as possible. Otherwise, if you want to build more muscle later you'll waste time re-building that lost muscle, which is more difficult and takes time.
  • ghoti_fish
    ghoti_fish Posts: 63 Member
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    I am lifting in a calorie deficit at the moment. How likely am I to see any real improvement in the amount of weight I can lift? Do I need to be building muscle in order to lift heavier?
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited September 2015
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    ghoti_fish wrote: »
    I am lifting in a calorie deficit at the moment. How likely am I to see any real improvement in the amount of weight I can lift? Do I need to be building muscle in order to lift heavier?

    Strength gains are different from muscle gains. You will see strength gains in a calorie deficit. I've personally doubled or more the weight I am lifting for every move over the past 16 months.
  • ghoti_fish
    ghoti_fish Posts: 63 Member
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    SueInAz wrote: »
    ghoti_fish wrote: »
    I am lifting in a calorie deficit at the moment. How likely am I to see any real improvement in the amount of weight I can lift? Do I need to be building muscle in order to lift heavier?

    Strength gains are completely different from muscle gains. You will see strength gains in a calorie deficit. I've personally doubled or more the weight I am lifting for every move over the past 16 months.

    Hurrah! I have some men to catch up with...(and then overtake)