It must be muscle

peaceout_aly

This most definitely is true. I went from being 110 lbs. to being 114 lbs. after increasing my lift weight significantly, however I have obviously less fat on my body. Wish I would have taken measurements and had a BMI study done to accurately log everything though.

Gurney_Halleck

47Jacqueline wrote: »

I'm so tired of this. I cannot fathom the complete lack of common sense in someone who says with a straight face that a pound of one thing weighs more than a pound of something else

Who said that?

RoxieDawn

Did anyone consider "newbie gainz" in the beginning of a weight lifting program and also recomping (build muscle and loose fat at the same time per se). Of course newbie gainz taper off after 5-7 weeks, and recomping requires maintenance calories plus a really slight deficit. IF the deficit is too large then a person is not recomping.

It can happen if all the parameters are set right for both to happen at the same time.

Also carbs retain water, muscles retain water and you will gain water weight exceeding way too much sodium. These are three times when water is at bay.

blues4miles

There was a study done recently-ish on a bunch of young men in their 20s who ate 2.4g per their total weight in kg per day while on a drastic deficit for 4 weeks while doing 6 days a week of resistance training (lifting) and high-intensity interval training. (Link here: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2016/01/26/ajcn.115.119339.abstract?sid=78fc4efb-e348-43c3-9701-2a59be984e27) I don't have access to the full steady, but Alex Hutchinson who writes the Sweat Science article on Runner's World talks about it a bit too (http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/gain-muscle-lose-fat).

Anyways, they had two groups both doing the same exercise and same 'cut' in calories. The group that consumed 2.4g per kg of body weight lost more fat and gained more muscle than the 'control' group who was doing all the same exercise and calorie reduction but 'only' 1.2 g / kg of protein. Alex writes about it since as he puts it it's the 'holy grail' where folks lost weight and gained muscle in 4 weeks.

Caveats - they were dudes in their early 20s so you know their testosterone is going to be a lot better than the average person's. 1.2 g / kg of body weight is still a LOT more protein than most people consume, forget trying to do 2x that. Also most people aren't lifting weight and doing intense exercise for 6 days a week.

So yes, I believe a young man consuming enough protein and killin' it in the gym 6 days a week could potentially do the mythical recomp at a calorie deficit. But the problem is, this just doesn't apply to most people. Women and even older guys just aren't going to have the natural aid of the testosterone levels these guys did. And I don't know anyone trying to lose weight who is casually consuming that much protein. Yes some people are, the serious bodybuilders and keto folks know protein is important. But for the rest of us mortals, probably not.