Body Building Men and Women - This is a question for you!!!

amberlongsine

Hey all im looking for a mans perspective on fat loss for men. My boyfriend is trying to lose about 20lbs of fat BUT wants to gain that much back in muscle. He works in landscaping and is constantly lifting heavy things and I can already see a muscle toning difference but he doesnt see it yet because he wants the number on the scale to go down and for his stomach flab to go away. I pack his lunches and Im looking for food choices I can put in his lunch box that will help build muscle, rid fat, and boost his nutritional health along with his testosterone (hes complaining of lack of sex drive, energy, and hes always exhausted). I put him on vitamins specific for men and started buying protein bars for his breakfasts. All advice would be great!

Hes 6'1"-2" 240lbs with a medium frame.

How much protein, calories, etc should I make sure he's eating every day?
Any specific supplements or vitamins that will help?

Any and all advice please!!!!

Fithealthyforlife

Hes 6'1"-2" 240lbs with a medium frame.

How much protein, calories, etc should I make sure he's eating every day?
Any specific supplements or vitamins that will help?

This varies a bit from person to person even keeping age, height, weight, and activity level constant. There is no easy answer, only guidelines, and they may be different from his actual needs. There are online calculators, and also the diaries in MFP give good approximations. But the rest is trial and error. Macros (protein, fat, carbs) should generally conform to a certain ratio.

You can tell a bit of this from looking at the person...if they don't gain fat easily, they're likely one of those who needs more calories...and vice versa. But these are only approximations.

zaksdaddy

I would suggest a low fat, high protein diet and cardio exercise for fat loss. I would suggest a snack of 30 or so baby carrots as part of his lunch, 100 calories or so and high in fiber so very filling.

Also, he didn't add the weight in a month so it won't come off in a month either. Took me 18 months to lose 50+ pounds!

saxmaniac

It's difficult to say, he has to do this analysis himself.

However, if he works that hard all day, surely he has a good deal of muscle underneath the fat. All he has to do is eat less calories than he burns, consistently, and the flab will eventually go away.

The thing is, it's really easy to out-eat any exercise. I'd bet that he works hard and then overeats when he isn't. Not all foods are psychologically similar and give the same feeling of fullness (satiety).

I would bet if he just focused on increasing protein, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables... then the high-carb, low-satiety food like grains will naturally fall by the wayside. This is how I lost most of my weight, not by calorie counting or IIFYM, but just by a generalized diet change. Some people swear by paleo, but it's not magic, it just causes a calorie deficit in a roundabout way.

On top of that, if he drinks a lot of calories, that will make a big difference, too.

jwdieter

Should just focus on caloric deficit to lose the 20 lbs, then re-assess imo. Probably could lose 40 pretty easily.

High protein, strength train, etc.

Figure out how much he's actually eating. Or better yet, have him track his food if he's the one who wants to lose the weight.

Also, 6'1 and ripped 240 is ridiculous. He'd be dying out there landscaping.

MatthewLewis81

Look up Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" e-book. I found his system impractical to maintain long-term, but if you can stick to it for 60-90 days, you can get really good results.

However, please note that most people find it very, very difficult to add muscle while losing fat. The body just doesn't work that way naturally - we lose weight when we have a calorie deficit, and we gain weight (muscle or fat, depending on lifestyle) if we have excess calories. Tricking the body to step out of that general rule takes a lot of work and diligence that most people, frankly, can't or won't put into it.

From my own experience, I would recommend that he choose either muscle gain, or fat loss, as a top priority and then work towards that. Once he reaches some of those goals, then he can switch to the other priority.

amberlongsine

What is easier? Building muscle then losing fat or losing fat then building muscle?

jwdieter

What is easier? Building muscle then losing fat or losing fat then building muscle?

He's obviously not serious about bodybuilding, since his girlfriend is asking here and he's not in control of his eating. Does he even lift?

Anyway, I'm guessing his objectives will be mostly achieved through simply reducing his body fat. He'll have more effective strength, be cooler, have more energy, and look a lot better. If he can't do a cut, then he needs to take a hard look at what he really wants.

If at some point he wants to seriously try to build muscles, he can do that by educating himself and focused training and eating.

amberlongsine

Everyone has to start somewhere He doesnt have an account on here and has asked me to help him since he works all day and I have the time. The judgments are unneeded.

phjorg1

Lose body fat first. Get down to 190-200. Then start gaining muscle.

The only real change will be diet. Workout stays the same. Get a proper template like phat or 531. Do SS if he a beginner to listing for a few months first before jumping to the others I mentioned.

strongerbytheday

I suggest that you get on bodybuilding.com forums and read, read, read the stickies! There is so much info! He can choose to cut or bulk first. I suggest cutting to the proper calories and macros according to calculations on bodybuilding. Once you have those calculations you can create a custom goal for him on mfp with the correct ratio of macros. This makes it pretty simple to create a diet that withholds the proper macros. I also suggest a digital kitchen scale in order to keep honest and accurate and he should see some great results! During this time he should start lifting following a training program, something like stronglifts 5x5 (free) is great for beginners. Google it, they also have a free app to track workouts. Good luck!

waldo56

What is easier? Building muscle then losing fat or losing fat then building muscle?

Lose the fat first.

You'll learn the good diet habits needed to not rapidly become a fatso when bulking.

You'll also use up your noob strength gains while cutting. You only get stronger in a significant way when cutting when you are first starting out. After that at best you might make very slight strength gains, at worst you lose strength.

Guys that pick the build muscle route first often become afraid to lose strength or size and end up bulking then never cutting.

Nobody regrets losing the fat first.

6'1" 240 lb, chances are he can lose a good 60 lbs unless he's already fairly muscular.