Can you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

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  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    According to measurements and photos of women my size, it looks like I need to shave another 3" off narrowest point of waist, which will come with losses in other areas. Now, figuring out how to make that happen.

    Unfortuneately, and I'm really not trying to discourage you, as you've done a great job with your weight loss, and I can see you are very "into" tracking your macros and trying to make small adjustments to achieve the best efficiency for your body, you really can't effectively target a specific area and ensure you have no losses in another area. The body will take fat from where it wants to. That may not be exactly where you want it to leave, but your body is like your teenage daughter, she just doesn't listen to you most of the time.

    If you are at a relatively low bf% now, expect this to take a pretty substantial timeframe. The closer you are to a lean body mass, the harder and harder it gets. That's just a simple fact of life.

    Also, I'm not suggesting you get "into" supplements at all, simply that trying to really manage muscle/fat loss ratio gets real scientific once you get to a lean state..if the pros can't effectively do calorie cycling consistently and without ALOT of trial and error, you can imagine the rest of us would probably just get discouraged with the dedication it takes to really get that specific with it.

    I say you're doing a fantastic job, try not to "overthink" it. I know that doesn't help much. But it's the best I can offer.
  • JoanB5
    JoanB5 Posts: 610 Member
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    If you are at a relatively low bf% now, expect this to take a pretty substantial timeframe. The closer you are to a lean body mass, the harder and harder it gets. That's just a simple fact of life.

    This rings very true. It's been slow for me since the beginning since I started at small-medium = could only cut 300 calories per day safely. It's a very slow process. 1-2 pounds per month weight loss.

    I thought that when I got from 26% or so BF to 21%, I'd be just about there. Not so, my friend. Oh, well, everybody needs a summer project, right?
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    If you are at a relatively low bf% now, expect this to take a pretty substantial timeframe. The closer you are to a lean body mass, the harder and harder it gets. That's just a simple fact of life.

    This rings very true. It's been slow for me since the beginning since I started at small-medium = could only cut 300 calories per day safely. It's a very slow process. 1-2 pounds per month weight loss.

    I thought that when I got from 26% or so BF to 21%, I'd be just about there. Not so, my friend. Oh, well, everybody needs a summer project, right?

    I know you probably know this already but:
    Classification Women (% fat) Men (% fat)
    Essential Fat 10-12% 2-4%
    Athletes 14-20% 6-13%
    Fitness 21-24% 14-17%
    Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%
    Obese 32%+ 25%+

    You are almost in the "Athlete" category of body fat. And I think you've done a great job. Keep at it.

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