Confused over muscle gain vs fat loss

lastconfetti

Hi, I'd appreciate some advice if anyone has it. I have read so many articles and forum posts that I am confused. I am very overweight and have joined the gym. I obviously need to lose fat but want to gain muscle too. I am not so bothered about losing weight per se, I just want to be healthier and not so flabby.

What I have done is set my MFP goals to lose half a lb a week on lightly active and am planning to eat better food and try and get my macros in check. I am going to do weights 3 times a week and kettlercise once a week and probably 10 mins of cardio after each weight session (at the moment).

Is the combination of these things going to make any difference or should I be doing something different?

Anniebotnen

First of all, congratulations on taking these steps to become fitter and healthier! It will make a difference , and you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, particularly if you are just starting the weight training. Can you be more specific in regards to how you plan to "do weights"? For how long each session, whole body workouts or split routine, are you planning to follow a specific program, etc? To gain muscle, you need to lift heavy weights and in sufficient volume. I'm not familiar with the kettlercise but assume it involves kettle bells? If so, unless the kettle bells are really light, that may also be considered a weight workout. Four weight workouts per week may be a little too much, especially when you are just starting out - I don't want to discourage you, but I don't want you to overtrain and give up either. Maybe consider a longer cardio session instead, unless the kettlercise is considered more of a cardio workout. Good luck!

Ainar

Just be in calorie deficit and lift very heavy. Since you are new to lifting you will gain muscle while in calorie deficit. So you can gain muscle and lose fat at same time. After you have gained all you can while being in deficit just keep lifting heavy and ate good amounts of protein, that will let you maintain muscle while still keeping losing fat. Then once you are skinny enough to start bulking go in cal surplus and start gaining muscle again, if you will want to get even more toned then.
Full body 3 times a week is very good lifting plan for newbies to build muscle and getting toned. Whatever you do bonus to that is your preference.

TavistockToad

Hi, I'd appreciate some advice if anyone has it. I have read so many articles and forum posts that I am confused. I am very overweight and have joined the gym. I obviously need to lose fat but want to gain muscle too. I am not so bothered about losing weight per se, I just want to be healthier and not so flabby.

What I have done is set my MFP goals to lose half a lb a week on lightly active and am planning to eat better food and try and get my macros in check. I am going to do weights 3 times a week and kettlercise once a week and probably 10 mins of cardio after each weight session (at the moment).

Is the combination of these things going to make any difference or should I be doing something different?

how much weight do you have to lose?

juliemouse83

I pretty much lost most of my weight doing strength training 3 times a week, eating at a deficit, and doing very little cardio. I started out with a full body progressive program (StrongLifts 5x5), and I did freak out when the scale numbers didn't move (and initially went up), but also started taking measurements and paying attention to how my clothes were fitting, and saw the losses there.

Good luck, and enjoy!

lastconfetti

First of all, congratulations on taking these steps to become fitter and healthier! It will make a difference , and you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, particularly if you are just starting the weight training. Can you be more specific in regards to how you plan to "do weights"? For how long each session, whole body workouts or split routine, are you planning to follow a specific program, etc? To gain muscle, you need to lift heavy weights and in sufficient volume. I'm not familiar with the kettlercise but assume it involves kettle bells? If so, unless the kettle bells are really light, that may also be considered a weight workout. Four weight workouts per week may be a little too much, especially when you are just starting out - I don't want to discourage you, but I don't want you to overtrain and give up either. Maybe consider a longer cardio session instead, unless the kettlercise is considered more of a cardio workout. Good luck!

Hi, Thanks for the reply

I am planning on doing a split routine, M,W,F and have been looking at programmes but first need to get a bit more comfortable with the equipment before I start a programme properly. Yes, Kettlercise is a workout class using kettle bells. As a beginner I am only on 4 kilos but it is a full body workout that is predominated by squats (and at my weight that is weightlifting!) it certainly got my heart rate up too. So, I was thinking that leaving my legs day as 3 days after this class. I was wondering about more cardio but I think that is what might cause me to give up as I am unfit and much prefer weights... I kind of want to lose fat by default rather than to make it my aim.

Thanks again!

lastconfetti

Ooo, lots of replies now! Thanks so much I am taking note!

I am 5'8, large frame and 228lbs. I'm not so bothered with what I weigh but rather how I look and feel.

Juiliemouse, that is motivating!...can I ask your height and how big your deficit was?

TavistockToad

Ooo, lots of replies now! Thanks so much I am taking note!

I am 5'8, large frame and 228lbs. I'm not so bothered with what I weigh but rather how I look and feel.

Juiliemouse, that is motivating!...can I ask your height and how big your deficit was?

take progress pictures if you're ditching the scales!

lastconfetti

take progress pictures if you're ditching the scales!

Yes, great idea!

RoseSinister

I'm 5'9", medium/ large frame, and weighed 225 at my heaviest last August, so let me tell you a little bit about my progress.

Between August 2013 and January 2014, I lost 10 lbs because I started a new job as a walking tour guide, and so I was suddenly walking up to 10 miles a day (although I average between 3 and 5 miles). I wasn't watching what I ate *at all*, in fact in those months it was a lot of fast food and I was almost certainly in calorie surplus most of the time, but even so I did actually gain muscle definition in my legs, and noticing that in January gave me the impetus to really start taking things into my own hands.

I started making better dietary choices around the 2nd week of the year, and added some 3 lb weights in the morning a few times a week. I didn't lose a lot of weight.

I added stuff slowly. I got a pair of Nordic walking poles and started walking 3 miles or so in the mornings several times a week (with the poles I can keep about a 15 minute mile pace consistently, so it takes about 45 minutes). Then, by mid-April, is was warm enough here in New Orleans to start swimming. I do water aerobics a few times a week, too.

The biggest difference has been in my diet, though- I cut out soda, including diet soda, and WHAM. The weight started just melting off. Keeping my sugar intake on the low side has actually reduced my sugar cravings, and I'm seeing now that my addiction to sugar was really the driving force behind my weight.

I stepped on the scale today and am below 190 (barely! But under!) for the first time in a very long time. My clothes do fit differently. I have a very expensive pair of leather pants that I wore in my early 20's, and they almost fit again. I wear a size 12 on top again. I've lost two inches off my waist, and my arms and shoulders are actually starting to look *nice.*

I'm still a plus-sized person, but I joke to my fiance that I've gone from "standard plus-size shopper" to "plus-size model."

Make small, accumulative changes as you are able and ready to commit. Sometimes the weight will fall off faster than other times. But I've personally seen an incredible difference in less than a year with small changes.

Oh! I'm a really big fan of body weight exercises. I do a lot of countertop push-ups, squats, doorframe pulls, yoga poses, etc. I find I see results faster overall just working against my own balance and bodyweight vs the free weights. I've mostly abandoned those, and just stick to my body weight routine, plus a resistance band.

Anniebotnen

First of all, congratulations on taking these steps to become fitter and healthier! It will make a difference , and you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, particularly if you are just starting the weight training. Can you be more specific in regards to how you plan to "do weights"? For how long each session, whole body workouts or split routine, are you planning to follow a specific program, etc? To gain muscle, you need to lift heavy weights and in sufficient volume. I'm not familiar with the kettlercise but assume it involves kettle bells? If so, unless the kettle bells are really light, that may also be considered a weight workout. Four weight workouts per week may be a little too much, especially when you are just starting out - I don't want to discourage you, but I don't want you to overtrain and give up either. Maybe consider a longer cardio session instead, unless the kettlercise is considered more of a cardio workout. Good luck!

Hi, Thanks for the reply

I am planning on doing a split routine, M,W,F and have been looking at programmes but first need to get a bit more comfortable with the equipment before I start a programme properly. Yes, Kettlercise is a workout class using kettle bells. As a beginner I am only on 4 kilos but it is a full body workout that is predominated by squats (and at my weight that is weightlifting!) it certainly got my heart rate up too. So, I was thinking that leaving my legs day as 3 days after this class. I was wondering about more cardio but I think that is what might cause me to give up as I am unfit and much prefer weights... I kind of want to lose fat by default rather than to make it my aim.

Thanks again!

That sounds like a pretty good plan to me! There is no need to do lots of cardio if you don't enjoy it, you can still lose fat. Just make sure the weights are heavy enough (it should not feel easy, it should feel like a real effort), and that you build up slowly to working out for a fair amount of time. My weight workouts are usually a little over an hour, including warmup and some stretching and foam rolling afterwards.

3laine75

Great plan!

You might be better with a full body routine, rather than a split if you're planning to workout MWF though. (SL 5x5, starting strength, NROLFW or strong curves are some good ones to consider).

richardheath

Some good ideas, and it sounds like you have a sensible attitude, OP.

Weight loss is all about calorie deficit. For most people, what you eat is a lot less important than how much of it you have. Move more and eat less.

For fat loss and for muscle growth specifically however, which seems to be your goal, one needs to get a little more detailed.

First, you need to eat sufficient protein to prevent your body from using existing muscle. Also, if you plan to gain muscle, you need to eat more protein! Generally, shoot for 1 g/lb of lean body mass. More won't hurt, but anything over 1.5 g/lb is probably excessive. Eat enough fat to maintain hormone function etc - generally about 0.4 g/lb lean body mass. Fill in the rest of your calories with carbohydrates, and/or more protein and fat. Make sure your deficit is not too big.

Second, to maintain muscle mass you need to do resistance training. i.e. some form of weight training. To gain muscle mass, you really need to be on a defined progressive lifting program: you have to force the muscles to keep working for the body to devote the energy to them to make them grow. Ideally, this would be a full body barbell based program like Stronglifts, Starting Strength or NROLFW etc. You can start with machines or dumbbells at first to get comfortable, but you really want to look to adding progressive lifting as soon as possible. If you are new to lifting and obese, you are an ideal candidate for the "gaining muscle while losing fat" group (with the right diet and training program!).

Cardio is useful for CV function and to help create a deficit. But to gain muscle, it should not be the primary focus. Lift first, cardio second.

Here's a good link to get you started... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

queenbea77

First off - make a note of your weight, take pictures and also measurements. I have all of this info (but have not shared it with anyone, LOL). I've read lots of people that haven't seen "scale loss" but had seen their inches go down.

I do either Body Pump or the weight machines ( all body parts) M, W & F and it takes me about 45 minutes . On the other day's I do spin. I don't know if this is "correct" by a true body builders standard but it fits my schedule and it works for me now. Of course once I get into it more I might devote each day to a specific body part. What's more important for me is that I'm taking a rest in between these workouts. When I first started using the machines I was doing 3 rep and today I did 5 rep instead and was surprised at the difference it made.

Congrats on making the decision to incorporate a workout plan and for joining us. Keep us posted on how you are doing!

lastconfetti

Wow! So much advice and help! I really appreciate it

I have been looking at the SL 5x5 and that seems like it would be ideal for me... not as confusing as using all those separate machines! This one looks good too so I will have to decide http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/jason-blaha-ice-cream-fitness-5x5-novice-workout

I'm definitely going to get my diet sorted. I'm a total sugar addict and a vegetarian who doesn't get anywhere near enough protein so have stocked up on all the right foods I should be eating (lots of eggs, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, low gi fruit and veg) and bought stevia to wean myself off the sugar.

Richard, the link you added looks great, and the advice has been taken. Thanks so much

Queenbee, thanks for your inspiration! Sounds like you are well on the way!

richardheath

That Ice Cream one looks like Stronglifts with added accessory work. Many people find Stronglifts quite enough without adding anything to it, but if you want to do that (and have the extra half hour or so to spend in the gym), go for it!