Stuck - want to lose weight and gain muscle

spikeaudio2
spikeaudio2 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Have dropped almost 20 lbs from my peak, know I could drop another 10 but as I put on muscle the scale isn’t moving… I seem stuck. 20% carb, 40% fat, 40% protein. But I can’t keep up with the amount of calories everyone (and the app) says I should be consuming. Seems like getting lean and gaining muscle can be at odds with each other
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  • sbelletti
    sbelletti Posts: 213 Member
    Maybe track inches vs weight. The scale may not move as you trade fat for muscle, but your body will certainly change.
  • spikeaudio2
    spikeaudio2 Posts: 4 Member
    Thank you. I think switching my macros is my next approach. My waist went from 39” to 35” but I just seem stuck here. Putting on muscle but retaining my belly fat and back fat. So being patient knowing that if I am putting on muscle and the scale is not moving I am probably losing hidden fat
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,370 Member
    How long have you been losing, and how long stalled? How fast are you trying to lose weight now? What is it that's convincing you you're gaining muscle, and over what time period do you feel you've gained what amount of it (roughly)?

    Also, can you clarify what you mean when you say: "But I can’t keep up with the amount of calories everyone (and the app) says I should be consuming."? Are you saying the app and everyone are telling to eat more calories than you are, or that they're telling you need to eat fewer calories than is manageable for you?

    For many people the last pounds are slow to lose, and trying to lose them fast can be counterproductive (in general, and for sure counterproductive for muscle gain).

    In general, you're right, gaining muscle and losing fat are somewhat conflicting goals, but they are possible in some scenarios (typically beginner lifter, good progressive program, small calorie deficit/slow loss, good nutrition, among other things - as you probably know).

    Strength gains can be quite fast at first, and that (plus some pump/water retention in muscle for repair) leads some to believe they're adding muscle, when neuromuscular adaptation (better recruiting/using existing muscle fiber) is really behind the early strength gains. (I'm not saying that's true for you, I'm just chatting about generalities here - don't know enough about you to say anything specific to you.)

    I'd like to help, if I can, but more information would make that more feasible.

    Best wishes!
  • spikeaudio2
    spikeaudio2 Posts: 4 Member
    I have gone sideways for two months… my diet has never been so balanced and lean… I feel like I need to change the rhythm and see if I can get my body to burn fat more instead of storing it.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,954 Member
    spikeaudio2 wrote: »
    I have gone sideways for two months… my diet has never been so balanced and lean… I feel like I need to change the rhythm and see if I can get my body to burn fat more instead of storing it.

    You only burn fat by creating a calorie deficit. This can be through putting the fork down, or exercise, though eating less is usually easier. Balanced and lean has nothing to do with weightloss, and hey, fats are good for your brain, digestion, fatty acids, etc. Thus if you've not lost anything for two months then it's likely you're eating at maintenance. If you've lost, but you feel that you've not lost enough then it's likely wrong expectations.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,370 Member
    spikeaudio2 wrote: »
    I have gone sideways for two months… my diet has never been so balanced and lean… I feel like I need to change the rhythm and see if I can get my body to burn fat more instead of storing it.

    Your diet being "balanced and lean", as others have said, is pretty much irrelevant to fat loss. (It being balanced can be relevant to muscle retention or gain, of course. "Lean" diet is irrelevant even for that. You need some fats in your diet - they're an essential nutrient, in that - like protein - your body can't manufacture them from any other nutrient.)

    There is not a hack to get your body to burn more fat, in any meaningful quantity. Your body will burn fat when you're in a calorie deficit. With some limitations (because bodies are dynamic, i.e., calories in influence calories out), a bigger calorie deficit will cause more fat loss. If you eat relatively more fat, sure, you'll burn more fat . . . but it's primarily fat you've eaten, not extra stored bodyfat materially beyond what your calorie deficit will cause you to burn.

    Various diet gurus will say things other than that. Maybe they have a profit motive up their sleeve? (Buy that book, program, web site advisory membership . . . ?)

    Generally, oversimplifying only a little, you burn relatively more fat (as a percentage of your then-current calorie burn) at rest. The highest percentage of burn during sleep is fat. The more intense your activity, the more you'll tend to burn carbohydrates. It's not an on/off switch between fat & carbs, even then: It's a gradual transition.

    Since the more intense exercise burns more calories per minute than resting, you may burn more calories from fat per minute during intense-ish exercise (smaller percent of a bigger number can still be a bigger absolute number, of course). It's still only going to result in burning stored body fat if there's an overall calorie deficit. You can't much control when the stored fat will be burned, but if there's a deficit, it has to happen sooner or later.

    You can get leaner (less fat) by increasing your calorie deficit, as long as you don't go so extreme that you get fatigued and drop your calorie output (which can be subtle, hard to notice). But if you want to gain muscle, the larger your calorie deficit, the less likely you'll gain muscle.

    If you're not materially overweight, and don't want to do bulk/cut cycles (or are not at a body fat percent now that makes them reasonable), your best bet is probably either a small deficit, good nutrition, and a good progressive lifting program; or maintenance calories or a tiny surplus, still with good nutrition, and that good progressive lifting program.

    It's not a fast process for anyone, takes patience and time. It's probably likely to be fastest for young males with favorable genetics, in a calorie surplus, doing all the right things with nutrition and lifting. The further we are from that, the slower our muscle-gain progress is likely to be, realistically. Strength gain and muscle gain are not synonymous.

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