help muscle cut fat

katielhinchey

what are some good food choices when it comes to gaining muscle and cutting the fat i know its good to lessen the carbs and up the protein but what are some specifics?

rjt1000

reduce your body fat by having a calorie deficit, meaning burn more calories each day than you eat. Add muscle by doing weight lifting exercises rather than just cardio. Keep your carbs down to 100g a day. Try to make them carbs from veggies, not grains. Whole grains if you have to have grains. No potatoes, no matter how cooked. sweet potatoes are ok, though. And very tasty.
Fiber and protein with each meal.

Sublog

what are some good food choices when it comes to gaining muscle and cutting the fat i know its good to lessen the carbs and up the protein but what are some specifics?

Any lean cuts of meat. Chicken, Fish, steak, pork.. As well as most dairy products. Cottage cheese, greek yogurt, string cheese, etc.

Matt_Wild

You cannot cut fat and gain muscle since cutting fat means you need to be in a calorie deficit whilst gaining muscle means you need to be in a calories surplus (think of your body like a house, to extend it you need bricks (which is food) and without enough food you can only maintain the house).

Best thing IMO is to get lean (as it will always increase confidence based on the way you look) and then rebound into a muscle gain cycle for a few months but keep things lean. I could always knock you these diets together if you like and will follow a diet...

Olblueiiii

I thought this was a pretty good article:

http://www.wellnessresources.com/tips/articles/how_protein_helps_weight_loss/

MissMaggie3

I lost weight first through circuit training (Jillan Michaels etc) & cardio. I'm now doing more strength training and seem to be managing to build muscle on a vegetarian diet - lots of Greek yoghurt amongst other things (I also eat vegan protein bars and drink hemp protein powder shakes). I'm doing lots of strength training now and am eating about 25% protein, but in grams it is now about 1.5 for each pound of body weight. My carbs are mainly through fruit & veg. I was going to stay at my maintenance calories, which for my height and weight are about 1650, but my body is screaming out for more food - I'm ravenously hungry all the time! So I'm listening to those messages and going with it by eating plenty and not worrying about sticking to a limit. I think I've gained just one or two pounds, but my body fat percentage has stayed the same at around 23%, so hopefully the extra weight is muscle. It certainly looks like I'm building muscle, although it could just be that I'm getting leaner. I really don't want to give up cardio though, as IMO it is good for the heart and lungs amongst other things. I've been advised to go up to 30% protein, but as a vegetarian I think I would really struggle with that. Anyway, it is all a balance, and at least some of it depends on your own body's needs. One thing I'm not sure of is whether it is better to go with the perentage of protein (percentage of your total intake) or grams in relation to body weight, and I'm kind of watching them both at the moment.

fteale

Perform muscle building exercises. You don't grow muscle magically through diet.

Tkwild

You cannot cut fat and gain muscle since cutting fat means you need to be in a calorie deficit whilst gaining muscle means you need to be in a calories surplus (think of your body like a house, to extend it you need bricks (which is food) and without enough food you can only maintain the house).

Best thing IMO is to get lean (as it will always increase confidence based on the way you look) and then rebound into a muscle gain cycle for a few months but keep things lean. I could always knock you these diets together if you like and will follow a diet...

That's really interesting, and quite different to my own personal experience. What studies are you basing that on?

AlwaysWanderer

You cannot cut fat and gain muscle since cutting fat means you need to be in a calorie deficit whilst gaining muscle means you need to be in a calories surplus (think of your body like a house, to extend it you need bricks (which is food) and without enough food you can only maintain the house).

Best thing IMO is to get lean (as it will always increase confidence based on the way you look) and then rebound into a muscle gain cycle for a few months but keep things lean. I could always knock you these diets together if you like and will follow a diet...

^this, but to specify, you CAN build muscle when on a calorie deficit when (according to Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle):
you are a beginner to lifting weights
you are coming back after some time off
you are genetically gifted
Otherwise, you need to choose what you want more, lose fat or build muscle. The above is a great advise.

Matt_Wild

That's really interesting, and quite different to my own personal experience. What studies are you basing that on?

The picture in the profile picture is me. I'm 265lb. I body build for a living as a sponsored athlete for Gaspari Nutrition. The above is strictly correct (from AlwaysWandere) but I was keeping things simple.

Most people aren't any of them and beginners gains only last for 2-3 months. There is also a line of thought that once muscle cells have grown to a certain size that the muscle has memory of growing to said size (either that or they're stretched from oversized growth) and one can regain lost size much quicker than having to make fresh muscle.

Ps - I don't mean to come across as a smart *kitten*, sorry if I do.

katielhinchey

Yeah actually I would if you didn't mind.

warmachinejt

what are some good food choices when it comes to gaining muscle and cutting the fat i know its good to lessen the carbs and up the protein but what are some specifics?

you can't gain muscle and cut fat at the same time unfortunately
if you mean "seeing the muscle" well then train hard and keep going on your diet and eventually your muscle will be revealed but only what you always had or what was buried under the fat

wmass1

Hitting the weights will help burn the fat but don't you gain muscle weight at the same time?

Sublog

You cannot cut fat and gain muscle since cutting fat means you need to be in a calorie deficit whilst gaining muscle means you need to be in a calories surplus (think of your body like a house, to extend it you need bricks (which is food) and without enough food you can only maintain the house).

Best thing IMO is to get lean (as it will always increase confidence based on the way you look) and then rebound into a muscle gain cycle for a few months but keep things lean. I could always knock you these diets together if you like and will follow a diet...

That's really interesting, and quite different to my own personal experience. What studies are you basing that on?

Read this

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

emmaholmes38

Im always trying to tone up my muscles more but trying to lose weight at the same time mainly just to cut down my fat but no matter how well i eat i just stay the same and just look more chunkier. If I eat less than 1200 calories I dont seem to have the energy for the gym even though I push myself every day. People tell me not to train every day but its the only thing I look forward to after spending all day behind a desk. Any suggestions? I want to loose at least 1 1/2 stone again so i can fight at a different weight catergory.

dinosnopro

You cannot cut fat and gain muscle since cutting fat means you need to be in a calorie deficit whilst gaining muscle means you need to be in a calories surplus (think of your body like a house, to extend it you need bricks (which is food) and without enough food you can only maintain the house).

Best thing IMO is to get lean (as it will always increase confidence based on the way you look) and then rebound into a muscle gain cycle for a few months but keep things lean. I could always knock you these diets together if you like and will follow a diet...

That's really interesting, and quite different to my own personal experience. What studies are you basing that on?

Read this

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

Came in to post this ^^^^

Tasha_Star

You cannot cut fat and gain muscle since cutting fat means you need to be in a calorie deficit whilst gaining muscle means you need to be in a calories surplus (think of your body like a house, to extend it you need bricks (which is food) and without enough food you can only maintain the house).

Best thing IMO is to get lean (as it will always increase confidence based on the way you look) and then rebound into a muscle gain cycle for a few months but keep things lean. I could always knock you these diets together if you like and will follow a diet...

That's really interesting, and quite different to my own personal experience. What studies are you basing that on?

Read this

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

Came in to post this ^^^^

There is a similar post on bodybuilding.com and I can attest to doing this myself. If your protein is high enough and you're lifting heavy enough your muscle mass is going to increase and your fat will decrease. You might not notice a gain of muscle in lbs because you're losing fat at the same time, but you can definitely gain lean muscle mass. Im on a 1200 cal diet (eat back some cal depending on how much cardio i do), I eat a MINIMUM of 120 grams of protein a day (I weigh 120lbs), and i lift HEAVY. its working for me

AlsDonkBoxSquat

turkey, chicken, fish.

Matt_Wild

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

I don't believe those figures in that link for one second. 0.5lb a week? 26lb of muscle over a year? That would be impressive for a geared up athlete, let alone someone cutting fat. It logically doesn't make any sense.

If that guy is Lyle McDonald, he talks a lot of interesting info but some of the info he gives out is weak at best.

rjt1000

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

I don't believe those figures in that link for one second. 0.5lb a week? 26lb of muscle over a year? That would be impressive for a geared up athlete, let alone someone cutting fat. It logically doesn't make any sense.

If that guy is Lyle McDonald, he talks a lot of interesting info but some of the info he gives out is weak at best.

I did a structured program for 10 weeks. They used a machine called "InBody" which used ultrasound to (according to them, my doctor and other supposed experts) give extremely accurate measure of pounds of fat tissue, pounds of muscle tissue, water weight, etc. In 10 weeks of diet and exercise, I increased my muscle tissue weight by 5 pounds and lost 18 pounds overall.

I can't swear in court that the InBody machine is 100% accurate but it seemed reasonable to me.

skywa

reduce your body fat by having a calorie deficit, meaning burn more calories each day than you eat. Add muscle by doing weight lifting exercises rather than just cardio. Keep your carbs down to 100g a day. Try to make them carbs from veggies, not grains. Whole grains if you have to have grains. No potatoes, no matter how cooked. sweet potatoes are ok, though. And very tasty.
Fiber and protein with each meal.

since when were potatoes bad?
potatoes and sweet potatoes are starchy root vegetables. there's no "one is good" and "one is bad"

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

reduce your body fat by having a calorie deficit, meaning burn more calories each day than you eat. Add muscle by doing weight lifting exercises rather than just cardio. Keep your carbs down to 100g a day. Try to make them carbs from veggies, not grains. Whole grains if you have to have grains. No potatoes, no matter how cooked. sweet potatoes are ok, though. And very tasty.
Fiber and protein with each meal.

since when were potatoes bad?
potatoes and sweet potatoes are starchy root vegetables. there's no "one is good" and "one is bad"

That's exactly what I was going to say. I don't really think that post is credible in the least.

xcrushx28

reduce your body fat by having a calorie deficit, meaning burn more calories each day than you eat. Add muscle by doing weight lifting exercises rather than just cardio. Keep your carbs down to 100g a day. Try to make them carbs from veggies, not grains. Whole grains if you have to have grains. No potatoes, no matter how cooked. sweet potatoes are ok, though. And very tasty.
Fiber and protein with each meal.

since when were potatoes bad?
potatoes and sweet potatoes are starchy root vegetables. there's no "one is good" and "one is bad"

Get'em Sky!

I agree.

There are 4 things I do when accomplishing my goals.

1. Hit fiber intake
2. Try to get a serving of greens and fruit (I will admit I don't always get a serving of greens)
3. Drink plenty of water
4. Hit macros surgically

As long as I accomplish those 4 things I fill whatever foods I want to eat in order to hit my numbers. There are no "off limit" foods, but there are a lot of foods that are 1) Not really worth the macro profile 2) Don't fit into my numbers.

Matt_Wild is also correct. You cannot gain muscle and lose fat (not typically unless you are 1) Extreme beginner or 2) On Anabolic steroids)

I like to tell people that gained muscle and losing fat is like trying to open and close a door at the same time. Your not going to get very far.

I've rambled quite a bit and should be writing a research paper, so I'll stop here. Hopefully that helps somebody lol.

superdrood

Nevermind, misread the quote.

carrie_eggo

what are some good food choices when it comes to gaining muscle and cutting the fat i know its good to lessen the carbs and up the protein but what are some specifics?

To answer your original question: Protein-at least 1g per pound of lean body mass, fat- 0.35-0.45g per pound of total weight, fill in the rest however you like. Eat at a slight deficit (~0.5lb per week loss). Add heavy resistance training- heaviest weight that you can do 6-8 reps in good form. You will get results with this, let's not argue the whole gaining muscle while losing fat question......:flowerforyou:

JennLifts

You cannot cut fat and gain muscle since cutting fat means you need to be in a calorie deficit whilst gaining muscle means you need to be in a calories surplus (think of your body like a house, to extend it you need bricks (which is food) and without enough food you can only maintain the house).

Best thing IMO is to get lean (as it will always increase confidence based on the way you look) and then rebound into a muscle gain cycle for a few months but keep things lean. I could always knock you these diets together if you like and will follow a diet...

That's really interesting, and quite different to my own personal experience. What studies are you basing that on?

Your "personal experience" is going to confuse people. It's not common unless certain circumstances which were listed right under your original post. Not to mention means of doing so, aren't always the safest. Or the easiest to stick to. Or ....I could go on.

rjt1000

reduce your body fat by having a calorie deficit, meaning burn more calories each day than you eat. Add muscle by doing weight lifting exercises rather than just cardio. Keep your carbs down to 100g a day. Try to make them carbs from veggies, not grains. Whole grains if you have to have grains. No potatoes, no matter how cooked. sweet potatoes are ok, though. And very tasty.
Fiber and protein with each meal.

since when were potatoes bad?
potatoes and sweet potatoes are starchy root vegetables. there's no "one is good" and "one is bad"

Potatoes are a unique vegetable in that your body's blood chemistry reacts to potatoes (no matter how cooked) almost exactly the same as it reacts to straight glucose. Potatoes cause a rapid rise in blood sugar which leads to your body dumping insulin into the blood stream to counteract the fast rise of blood sugar. Your blood chemistry doesn't react the same to other veggies or whole grains. They take longer to lead to increase in blood sugar and the increase is not as high and spread over a longer period of time. So the insulin reaction is not as harsh either. You can check the info on most websites related to diabetes research.

AWelden2012

Bump for later.