how do you decide??

pspetralia

From what I have read you can't be at a deficit if your goal is building muscle. My goal is to both build muscle and lose fat. I have been eating at a deficit in order to lose weight, doing lots of cardio. How do you decide how many extra calories you need to consume in order to build muscle? I have lost 28 pounds and need to lose about 25 more pounds, but I would like to focus more on strength training. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!!

Glucocorticoid

Weight lifting isn't only beneficial when building muscle, it's also beneficial when dieting. To avoid spinning your wheels, you should pick a goal. Either muscle gain while limiting fat gain or fat loss while limiting muscle loss. Simply because you pick a goal doesn't mean you are stuck with it forever, you can cycle between them. For women, if your bodyfat is above 24-27%, it's probably better to diet first.

pspetralia

Hmm... my BMI is 28.2, so I guess it is best to focus on losing weight still. Thanks!

salemnye

Well I actually don't follow what MFP has for my calorie deficit. It's like what my BMR is at the lowest point. So what I actually do is eat between my BMR and TDEE and right now (About 2000 a day) I'm focusing on strengthening my leg muscles because I want to run farther and longer and eventually faster.

So with that in mind if I lose weight while gaining leg muscle I'm one happy camper. If I gain weight while losing inches I'm still a happy camper I'd rather be heavier with muscle than skinnier without it

And I've noticed I'm slowly getting more definition in my calves so I'm happy all ready!

Glucocorticoid

Hmm... my BMI is 28.2, so I guess it is best to focus on losing weight still. Thanks!

BMI doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle mass. You can have two individuals with drastically different BF% and yet have the same BMI. Therefore, BMI is useless for your purposes.

reddi2roll

Well I don't know about that. I have built quite a bit of muscle and lost weight too so I don't see the conflict.