I'm confused weight lifting/cardio/muscle question...

zipnguyen

The peaks in your shoulders look higher to me? I don't know what the weight was in those two pictures but you have to add some in order to even stay the same size. (if you were losing weight/fat)

I was joking. Yes back is much thicker and denser, but I have to do more work to get where I want to be. Again, picking stuff up and putting them back down is the easy part. Nutrition for me was the hardest part.

Well as you can see if you have reviewed this thread, you have to be very specific and clear to some.

My bad... Will add humor or sarcasm div tags moving forward, but poor Jax didn't even get his answers I don't think

heybales

This ignores a fundamental principle in human metabolism. Homeostasis. Muscle is extremely metabolically active, meaning it takes large amounts of calories to support. If you aren't taking in enough calories, and your body has to use fat stores in order to get through the day, the last thing it is going to do is add extremely high maintenance tissue that would require MORE calories to sustain, increasing metabolism. When you're in a calorie deficit the body will actively work to slow your metabolism, hence it stalls adding new muscle mass, and also changes hormone levels to slow down metabolism and calorie burn, to conserve fuel. Remember, the body is designed to store fat, burning fat is considered highly stressful, so the body is not going to respond by building new systems to support, it's going to restrict activity to keep the bare minimum calorie burn required.

Oh, I didn't say you wouldn't have to re-adjust things.

Yes your metabolism goes up. So yes you might have to up your calories to maintain a realistic calorie deficit.
But still a deficit, just at a higher level.

Absolutely no different than eating back just your exercise calories. Still a built in deficit. How is it any different!

So worse case scenario folks hate to see happen after exercise which freaks them out. They workout for several weeks, clothes fit better, but the scale stays the same. (ok, weight gain is bigger scare).
They are losing fat, and gaining muscle. Muscle mass.

And yes, that fits into the 3 exceptions.

Same way anyone on here, and MFP in general, re-tunes your goal calories as you keep entering less weight. It figures your BMR hasn't changed much per pound (probably not correct), and your activity level is the same (perhaps), but since your weight went down, you BMR, maintenance, and goal calories all comes down.

The problem is, after anyone asks that question, most of us can look at their profile and see how much weight they are desiring to lose.
And in the majority of cases, the answer would be - "Yes, _you_ can lose weight and increase muscle - go for it".

For folks like Zip at his current level coming in asking, the answer would then be - "you would have an awfully hard time, and would need to be so diligent and careful"

heybales

Remember, the body is designed to store fat, burning fat is considered highly stressful, so the body is not going to respond by building new systems to support, it's going to restrict activity to keep the bare minimum calorie burn required.

Yes the body can be good at storing fat. And if you put it in a state it thinks it needs energy stores, it will increase fat storage and break down other things for energy.

But if burning fat is such a highly stressful process - why exactly is your main source of energy except when exercising at high levels - fat?

At rest the majority of your lowered energy needs by your muscles is - fat.

zipnguyen

For folks like Zip at his current level coming in asking, the answer would then be - "you would have an awfully hard time, and would need to be so diligent and careful"

@HeyBales - first, I read your bio. Congrats on the newborn. Mine is 4 weeks old. 3 kids total. And yes, I am pretty diligent and careful there are weeks where Layne would say ok, let's increase your carbs 30g. That's easy as that is about 1 serving of brown rice. Then other weeks he says, ok, lets increase your carbs by 5g.

5g!!!!!!! I could literally just walk by the local Cinnabon in the mall and inhale that amount of carbs via the flour and yeast in the air. Whether it will be metabolized is, of course, a different issue.

But yes, it's a pretty meticulous and methodical process. And the fat grams increases can be as little 2g or as high as 10g per week.

So it takes "some" planning.

heybales

I think the weight lifters among us forget who the majority on this particular site would be.

And if someone asks, can I lose weight and gain muscle, odds are the answer would be yes.

Actually, since several folks on here always list 3 exceptions that can accomplish that, but then state no you can't, it really should go the other way around.

Yes you can lose weight and gain muscle, unless you are already ripped and lifting, then no. Only one exception to the rule then.