Fat burning advice required...keeping the muscle!

breezedaze

Insanity is far more than cardio!

I did lifting for most of the year...did Insanity for 2 months. I've never done a lot of cardio. I did this over the year and over the year did many different things...I lost the 40lbs first in 4 months. Then I started working out with a trainer.

I ate a lot of protein. I ate a LOT of food! Good quality food. It's been a great year!

I now want to lose the last of the fat. so I can see my muscles better. That's what I need help with and I think I have it. Cut carbs, increase cardio and continue to do resistance. Got it.

20lbs of lean gain for a woman with normal testosterone levels in one year does not compute somehow (I am not sure a man can even gain this much in 12 months, cannot remember the stats, etc on this). Also if your protein ratios are not high enough, then lean gains also do not compute. For each lean mass lb you need a gramme of protein per day to allow for growth and maintenance of lean mass. Not saying you are fibbing (lying) I think your calcs for body fat % and lean mass may be incorrect.

p.s. strength training builds lean mass (lifting heavy), not cardio, which insanity seems to be, not sure as I have never done it.

breezedaze

Don't eat too low of a deficit and continue to lift heavy. If your creating too much of a deficit then you will lose more muscle. I'd say figure out your maintenance calories and subtract around 250-500. 20lbs of muscle is pretty impossible in a year for anybody especially with just 2000 calories since thats probably not much above maintenance if it is, but I don't doubt you have a good bit of muscle to show for your work. 1200 is not going to cut it though. You'll be sacrificing the precious muscle which you worked so hard for.. Aim for a slow loss and just have patience.

Thank you! That is very helpful. I'm guessing at my calories and feel like I might have been closer to 3000...I did not count calories at all..but truth is not much has changed since I started a deficit except I feel really hungry a lot so yeah...something is wrong with the calculations.

I just did a random survey on my facebook. I asked people to guess my weight. Told them not to be afraid to insult me. I asked people who have seen me in person in the last few weeks. The highest guess was 160 with the lowest at 140.

Even if they were being 20lbs kind they're not close to my actual weight really...so.

I know where I was. I know what I look like. I know how I feel and I know how I did it.

I trust the body composition measurements more than I trust strangers on the internet who haven't seen me or didn't see me before. I do not ever trust the scale alone however!

I've got a plan. Thank you everybody!

breezedaze

I am taking supplements in the form of protein shakes and a series of vitamins. I also ate a lot.

I'll just leave this here: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

Yeah..I've read that before. I agree with it.

I've been sitting at around 1400 to 2000 calories for a year.

I've gotten smaller. But I haven't weighed since January. I've lost fat. I know how much was there as opposed to what's there now. I've gained muscle. I can see it.

I personally think you can't lose weight of any kind without a deficit.

Fact remains..I can go into any store and put on a size 8 pants.

And I weigh 198lbs and I'm 5ft 6.

And most 5ft 6 woman at 198lbs cannnot.

So something is different. I personally don't care who believes what. I'm just trying to lose 2

I think there may be an issue with semantics at play here. As you lose body fat, your muscle definition becomes more visible and you can fit into smaller clothing. You can make strength gains and see an increase in size due to neuromuscular adaptations. None of these things, however, equate to creating new muscle tissue.

For example, I've been lifting heavy weights since March. Part of that time, I was eating at maintenance. I've gone from a size 14 to a size 8, so I've lost a fair bit of body fat. I've gained maybe 2lbs of muscle at best, and that's only because I started as a rank beginner. Sure my body composition has changed, but that's due more to fat loss than muscle gain. To really gain appreciable muscle mass, I'd have to eat like a teenage boy, hit the weights hard, and possibly take some "supplements."

ETA: And to answer your original question about losing fat and keeping muscle...slight deficit, weights, adequate protein, perhaps a bit of cardio, and considerable patience

FullOfWin

Go look at 20 lbs of lean steak and tell me you added that to your body.

almc170

I am taking supplements in the form of protein shakes and a series of vitamins. I also ate a lot.

I'll just leave this here: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

Yeah..I've read that before. I agree with it.

I've been sitting at around 1400 to 2000 calories for a year.

I've gotten smaller. But I haven't weighed since January. I've lost fat. I know how much was there as opposed to what's there now. I've gained muscle. I can see it.

I personally think you can't lose weight of any kind without a deficit.

Fact remains..I can go into any store and put on a size 8 pants.

And I weigh 198lbs and I'm 5ft 6.

And most 5ft 6 woman at 198lbs cannnot.

So something is different. I personally don't care who believes what. I'm just trying to lose 2

I think there may be an issue with semantics at play here. As you lose body fat, your muscle definition becomes more visible and you can fit into smaller clothing. You can make strength gains and see an increase in size due to neuromuscular adaptations. None of these things, however, equate to creating new muscle tissue.

For example, I've been lifting heavy weights since March. Part of that time, I was eating at maintenance. I've gone from a size 14 to a size 8, so I've lost a fair bit of body fat. I've gained maybe 2lbs of muscle at best, and that's only because I started as a rank beginner. Sure my body composition has changed, but that's due more to fat loss than muscle gain. To really gain appreciable muscle mass, I'd have to eat like a teenage boy, hit the weights hard, and possibly take some "supplements."

ETA: And to answer your original question about losing fat and keeping muscle...slight deficit, weights, adequate protein, perhaps a bit of cardio, and considerable patience

Actually, I was referring to steroids

TavistockToad

do you know how many cals you need to maintain? if you do, i would suggest you just cut 200 cals from this figure, and make sure you eat back your exercise calories.

breezedaze

One last update! I went through and saw that I was set to lose 2lbs a week! Too much! So I adjusted it and it reconfigured me to 1750 as a goal. No wonder I was hungry!


Glad I caught that and that I was eating my exercise calories!

Off to work out!

Thanks for all of your help.

Cheers!

hippychickuk

I now want to lose the last of the fat. so I can see my muscles better. That's what I need help with and I think I have it. Cut carbs, increase cardio and continue to do resistance. Got it.

Yeah, ignore all the calculations and questions about that. If you want to lose fat, do some cardio, cut carbs, and eat protein to maintain your muscles (protein shakes might work for you if you're a veggie). I don't work out nearly as much as you (I should!) but try to do at least 1 cardio session a week and 2x weight training. Look at interval training (HIIT) as well for more efficient fat burn. Your muscle should help you maintain a great metabolism and do well with the fat burn once you get some serious cardio going.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes!

breezedaze

Yeah...well I don't even take ibuprofen without serious thought. LOL

breezedaze

do you know how many cals you need to maintain? if you do, i would suggest you just cut 200 cals from this figure, and make sure you eat back your exercise calories.

I went back to the MFP profile..they had me calculated to lose 2lbs a week..I set it to 1 and that made a huge difference..I'm going to try that for a bit. see how it goes

monty619

wrote this for someone its my honest opinion on how to keep muscle and lose body fat in the most efficient way..





1. have a small defecit 200-300cals maybe even less (cut slower and longer to keep fat loss going and not hit a plateau as quickly)

2. track calories and macros (macronutrients are just as important to track as calories for the best body composition... fats carbohydrates and protein are all equally important and you need all of them)

3. dont incorporate cardio until later on in cut..(this goes back to #1 and creating caloric defecit small. only add cardio once just dieting fails you to lose more weight then slowly add the cardio to create another defecit.

4. lower volume training (basically go for less sets and train more for strength when preserving muscle as opposed to gaining muscle. what i mean by this is when you are trying to gain skeletal muscle its usually better to do ex. 4-5 sets of bench press 8-12 reps, then do chest flys or whatever... but when trying to preserve muscle mass the volume isnt necessary just need to tell where the muscle to stay "full" by working it out and cell volume is higher when training for strength so it would be more like 2-3 sets of bench for 6-8 reps or something in that manner. workouts should be shorter because you are eating less food and arent going to build any muscle... also working higher volume with less food gives a higher chance of injury.)

5. cheat days (once you have dieted for a few weeks maybe a month then have a cheat day once a week... and what i mean by cheat day, you arent really cheating its just different protocol with more food... so on the cheat day you specifically eat maybe 100-300g more in carbohydrates and lower fat intake slightly maybe 10g. clearly the daily calories will go up but the body will burn more that day anyways because of the heightened metabolism. and only do this day on a heavy lifting day not a sedentary day so either on a leg or back day i would say be best... but dont have a cheat day on a day you dont do anything except watch football.


DIET PROTOCOL GUIDELINES FOR ANYONE TRYING TO GET LEAN AND MUSCULAR

its simple math il explain..

say im 200lbs and my calories to lose weight with small defecit starts off at 2500 calories.

FAT-
first we need to find how much dietary fat to eat.. in a perfect world we would like 1/3 of our fat to come from each fat source of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated... but its not that big of a deal in my opinion. how to find out how much fat you eat is you multiply your body weight .25-.3x your body weight so...

.3x200=60g and fat has 9 calories per gram so it is 540 calories so roughly 21% fat macros

Protein-
next with protein you want 1g-1.5g per lb of body weight... you start off at 1g and as you get leaner you will up the protein % slowly because the body will need more amino acids to preserve muscle... so you start off at 200g protein and work your way up to 250 maybe more and that is with an increased defecit..

so 200g x4 (calories per g of protein) = 800.. roughly 31%

Carbohydrates-
to figure out how many carbohydrates you add 800 from the protein and 540 from carbohydrates and subtract from 2500 caloric intake so...2500-1340 = 1160/4 (calories per g of carobhydrate)= 290g roughly 47%..

so macros would end up being 50/30/20 CPF 290g, 200g, 60g ish... luckily you have mfp to do that for you but that is basic guidelines and how to come up with them...

now when lowering calories you take away from carbohydrates only.. so over time the macro ratios change and protein will increase and carbs will decrease and fat will stay relatively the same.

TavistockToad

One last update! I went through and saw that I was set to lose 2lbs a week! Too much! So I adjusted it and it reconfigured me to 1750 as a goal. No wonder I was hungry!


Glad I caught that and that I was eating my exercise calories!

Off to work out!

Thanks for all of your help.

Cheers!

that sounds much better! good luck!

breezedaze

I don't even take ibuprofen without a lot of thought!

I am taking supplements in the form of protein shakes and a series of vitamins. I also ate a lot.

I'll just leave this here: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

Yeah..I've read that before. I agree with it.

I've been sitting at around 1400 to 2000 calories for a year.

I've gotten smaller. But I haven't weighed since January. I've lost fat. I know how much was there as opposed to what's there now. I've gained muscle. I can see it.

I personally think you can't lose weight of any kind without a deficit.

Fact remains..I can go into any store and put on a size 8 pants.

And I weigh 198lbs and I'm 5ft 6.

And most 5ft 6 woman at 198lbs cannnot.

So something is different. I personally don't care who believes what. I'm just trying to lose 2

I think there may be an issue with semantics at play here. As you lose body fat, your muscle definition becomes more visible and you can fit into smaller clothing. You can make strength gains and see an increase in size due to neuromuscular adaptations. None of these things, however, equate to creating new muscle tissue.

For example, I've been lifting heavy weights since March. Part of that time, I was eating at maintenance. I've gone from a size 14 to a size 8, so I've lost a fair bit of body fat. I've gained maybe 2lbs of muscle at best, and that's only because I started as a rank beginner. Sure my body composition has changed, but that's due more to fat loss than muscle gain. To really gain appreciable muscle mass, I'd have to eat like a teenage boy, hit the weights hard, and possibly take some "supplements."

ETA: And to answer your original question about losing fat and keeping muscle...slight deficit, weights, adequate protein, perhaps a bit of cardio, and considerable patience

Actually, I was referring to steroids

WendyTerry420

I'll just leave this here: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

Yeah..I've read that before. I agree with it.

I've been sitting at around 1400 to 2000 calories for a year.

I've gotten smaller. But I haven't weighed since January. I've lost fat. I know how much was there as opposed to what's there now. I've gained muscle. I can see it.

I personally think you can't lose weight of any kind without a deficit.

Fact remains..I can go into any store and put on a size 8 pants.

And I weigh 198lbs and I'm 5ft 6.

And most 5ft 6 woman at 198lbs cannnot.

So something is different. I personally don't care who believes what. I'm just trying to lose 2

Based on this and you age: Your estimated BMR is: 1,555 calories/day*
*BMR based on the Mifflin - St. Jeor equations. Please remember that even the best BMR calculators provide only a best guess and should be used as a guide only.

If you did absolutely no exercise at all then you would need to eat 1866 to maintain your current weight.

WendyTerry420

One last update! I went through and saw that I was set to lose 2lbs a week! Too much! So I adjusted it and it reconfigured me to 1750 as a goal. No wonder I was hungry!


Glad I caught that and that I was eating my exercise calories!

Off to work out!

Thanks for all of your help.

Cheers!

Good deal. That sounds much better for someone who is exercising.