Possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time?

skimmy1310

Not all calories are the same, they are processed differently by the body.

Stick to lean meats, fresh veggies and fruit and wholegrain carbs but not to excess.

The body uses carbs mainly for fuel, if you don't have enough it will start to eat into your muscle.

Eat moderate calories of clean food, interval training is excellent for body fat burning and improved muscle, also include weight training to point of failure for muscle breakdown and days of rest for muscle growth.

Its not an exact science but the best strategy for long term success is know you body and what works for you, everybody metabolises differently, consistency is key.

mbow1977

Okay so I read info on the both you and jacksonpt, and you both have valid points HOWEVER moderation is key as well as satiation. What a lot of ppl do is have LF/low cal processed crap that usually hides sugar alcohols or sugars (which are later stored as fat) and load it on because a) they dont look at serving sizes, b) they see LF/low cal, they think its a "free" food and/or c) they eat a ton of it bc theyre searching for the same feeling they get when they eat the real thing, such as whole cream, etc. WRONG! The purer the food, the better. It depends on where a person is starting out. If they are used to eating whole fat butters, creams, etc then initially they should continue to use them but maybe incorporate 1/2 instead (of the real thing) instead of something artificial. Those that don't, like myself, find ways to incorporate other real foods to minimize "fluff" in recipes. I also think everyone is different, and react differently to various intake. For example, I make PB cookies without flour. The PB flavor comes out more and I naturally consume less calories because a) I get satisfied with less bc theyre so flavorful and b) the flour doesnt really do anything for it therefore each cookie has less calories. Or sometimes Ill substitute applesauce for oil in baked recipes. And not to toot my own horn, but Im a great cook, I think that is KEYYYYYYYYYY to long-term weight loss..YUMMY food with less calories. But I dont know if you need to necessarily count. Just go by how your body reacts!! And the less processed foods, the smaller a waist line..No joke!! But again, moderation is key!!

I couldnt agree more, I eat around 40:40:20 Protein:Carbs:Fat and try to eat as much as I can each day usually I aim for 2000 - 2300 at least, the main point is not to eat processed cr*p, or all these foods that pose as fat free that are rammed full of sugar! I too cook everything from scratch which means I know everything that is going into me, it feels good to know that the food you are putting into your body is good wholesome food and will give your body what it needs. Obviously I have the odd day where I eat processed, I am only human, but it is the odd day.

mbow1977

I do feel that my arms and feet are getting lean and tight, but my belly is quite stubborn to show any advance and it is quite annoying. I am not talking about my weight.

I eat around 1800-2000 calories (like 200-400 cal less than i burn), like 40-20-40 c-f-p. I eat 2000-2200 cal on the days I work out though. (I made my diary public, apparently it was not public)

I lift weights 3 times a week as I mentioned before. Do you think I should change anything or is it just because belly fat goes away last?

Here is my measures in cm:


Neck

39.0 on 02/19/13

Waist

92.0 on 02/19/13

Hips

97.0 on 02/19/13

Chest

95.0 on 02/19/13

Triceps

27.0 on 02/19/13

Thigh

55.0 on 02/19/13

Calf

36.0 on 02/19/13

Forearm

26.5 on 02/19/13

Wrist

16.5 on 02/19/13

Seems to me your on the right track mate, just keep doing what your doing but as advised above, just see how your body goes, you may find that you need to reduce cals for a little while to lose a little more body fat and then up again, but Ill echo everyone above, the main key is macros, macros, macros! Good luck man

nathanalgren

Thanks you guys.

Well I never eat chocolate, ice cream, fast food or drink soda etc.. I mean I didnt even have them before starting to my diet or workout which is why my weight was already okay, but then I decided to have bigger arms and shoulder without belly. So I think what I eat is not the problem. Also, as you all suggested, my macros are like usually 30-40 percent protein, 20 percent fat, and rest carbs.

I am curious about HIIT, because I often read that if you lift weights for 3 days a week, you should rest body in the other days. Is it going to hurt my muscle gain if I do HITT for like 10 min (30 sec high intense, 90 secs slow, 5 repeats for example) in the days that I don't workout? What do you think about it?

SkimFlatWhite68

What Sara said
Good luck, keep working out, lift heavy and persist!

dixiewhiskey

Thanks you guys.

Well I never eat chocolate, ice cream, fast food or drink soda etc.. I mean I didnt even have them before starting to my diet or workout which is why my weight was already okay, but then I decided to have bigger arms and shoulder without belly. So I think what I eat is not the problem. Also, as you all suggested, my macros are like usually 30-40 percent protein, 20 percent fat, and rest carbs.

I am curious about HIIT, because I often read that if you lift weights for 3 days a week, you should rest body in the other days. Is it going to hurt my muscle gain if I do HITT for like 10 min (30 sec high intense, 90 secs slow, 5 repeats for example) in the days that I don't workout? What do you think about it?

Everyone has their opinion.. I've read that some don't recommend more than 3x a week.. I train doing HIIT atleast 5-6x a week with a rest day or two in between, I've read of others who do the same. Just listen to your body.

In terms of hurting muscle gain by doing HIIT, I had great muscle gains while weight lifiting + HIIT and I do it for 20 minutes 5-6x per week. I don't really see it hurting your gains at all by doing it for 10 minutes on your non-lifting days.. just make sure that protein is high as you normally would and you are good! You can even aim for 20 minutes, still won't hurt you

savbentley

This is what I do, and it works for me.
I eat at my normal calorie deficit to lose weight. I do about 20 minutes of HIIT training a day, and alternate between arms and legs to give each muscle group a break (switch off every day). I eat a fairly high protein diet. I'm still losing weight, but I am absolutely putting on a substantial amount of muscle. I attribute it to how I lift. Low weight, high rep isn't the way to go if you're looking to burn fat/build muscle. Burn fat with the cardio. Build muscle by low rep, heavy weight lifting.

mbow1977

Thanks you guys.

Well I never eat chocolate, ice cream, fast food or drink soda etc.. I mean I didnt even have them before starting to my diet or workout which is why my weight was already okay, but then I decided to have bigger arms and shoulder without belly. So I think what I eat is not the problem. Also, as you all suggested, my macros are like usually 30-40 percent protein, 20 percent fat, and rest carbs.

I am curious about HIIT, because I often read that if you lift weights for 3 days a week, you should rest body in the other days. Is it going to hurt my muscle gain if I do HITT for like 10 min (30 sec high intense, 90 secs slow, 5 repeats for example) in the days that I don't workout? What do you think about it?

Well Im currently doing P90X which essentially has 3 days strength training, 2 days HIIT and a day of Yoga and a day of rest, its working for me mate.

EvgeniZyntx

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818594-building-muscle-and-losing-fat-at-the-same-time

ETA: belly fat can be very stubborn and often the last to go.

Pretty much this^

I'm posting though for two reasons.
My stats are pretty similar to yours except my target weight is 81-83 kgs (3 to go).

I'm a few months down the road from you in terms of lifting and was thinking this morning that I'm finally seeing belly changes (really wont until those 3-4 kilos go, but some improvement is coming along).

You don't have a lot to lose.
You can either cut quickly and build up from that while doing lifting to preserve mass. A lot of people do that.

My choice was to "culk" as a newbie - eat at a small deficit and weight train (I also run, climb but very inconsistently due to "life") to build up a bit. This is inefficient and I recognize it BUT works for me because a) I needed time to adjust and learn lifting for the long term b) mentally, slow light calorie restriction is just easier as a "foodie".

What happens in this scenario is that what starts as a calorie restriction becomes maintenance and then a slight over eating as you lose. So while you will technically have a hard time bulking with a restriction, over time a slight restriction becomes a slight bulking diet. This is called "spinning your wheels" by some for these lose/gain cycles. Less visible on the scales, strength gains are slower and mentally hard. But it works for me and some people on my friends list are just amazing (but they train harder and more). I'm now at the point where I just need to lose some fat, if I now lose 3 kg with less than 5% of that being muscle loss I'll reach my approx goals. The rest is fitness and tweakery.

Oh, and I eat chocolate every day and Sara eats ice cream. These, in the right quantities, aren't an issue. Hit your macros.

Good luck

nathanalgren

Sara, dixie, savbentley and Mike. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your inputs. I am gonna add HIIT to my trainings and see how it goes.

@Evgeni, Thank you, I dont think just cutting quickly is the right way to go. Btw I don't eat much sweets or ice cream, because I don't really like it (believe it or not). So it is not related to my diet

EvgeniZyntx

Cutting quickly wasn't my choice either. Was just putting it out there. The rest was what I did.

I understand not liking sweets - I have an eight year old that hates ANYTHING sweet - it be fine, but she dislikes greens too. I mentioned that because others read these threads and might think that removing these is necessary. It isn't.

Post up your results and impression with HIIT added. It will be interesting to see.

terilou87

my o/h bodybuilds and he doesnt concentrate on calories. his main priority is protein and carbs unsure why carbs i think he keeps em low, but protein is to keep muscle 2g for each lb of body weight and he has no love handles or flabby bits. hope this helps a little bit

nathanalgren

Okay so far so good. I lost around 1.5kg and at the same time I am able to lift 2-3kg heavier in every upper body lifting exercise. So I take it that I have not lost any muscles. I took my measurements this morning and went on http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ to calculate my bodyfat and the results are so different!

First link gives me:

•Sex: male
•Weight: 163.4 pounds
•Wrist: 6.5 inches
•Waist: 35.82 inches
•Hip: 38.18 inches
•Forearm: 10.62 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 122.5 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 40.8 pounds of fat on your body.
Your body fat percentage is 25%.

Second link:

Here's the information that you entered:
•Sex: male
•Weight: 163.4 pounds
•Neck: 15.35 inches
•Waist: 35.82 inches
•Hip: 38.18 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 131.1 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 32.3 pounds of fat on your body.
Your body fat percentage is 19.8%.

Third link:

Here's the information that you entered:
•Sex: male
•Age: 27 years old
•Wrist: 6.5 inches
•Waist: 35.82 inches
•Hip: 38.18 inches
•Forearm: 10.62 inches
•Thigh: 21.25 inches
•Calf: 13.77 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 136 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 27 pounds of fat on your body.
Your body fat percentage is 16.6%.

So do I have 25% or 16% body fat?

nathanalgren

^^ Anyone?

myofibril

^^ Anyone?

I don't think the actual number matters. It's the trend over time which is more important.

If the number keeps going down which ever method you use consistently, you look and feel better and your lifts are stable then success had arrived.

nathanalgren

^^ Anyone?

I don't think the actual number matters. It's the trend over time which is more important.

If the number keeps going down which ever method you use consistently, you look and feel better and your lifts are stable then success had arrived.

Well that is true, I better just save these numbers and then see how they change in 2-4 weeks.

nathanalgren

Update.

Sex: male
Weight: 159.4 pounds
Wrist: 6.49 inches
Waist: 34.64 inches
Hip: 37.8 inches
Forearm: 10.63 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 123.1 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 36.3 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 22.8%.

Second

Sex: male
Weight: 159.4 pounds
Neck: 14.96 inches
Waist: 34.64 inches
Hip: 37.8 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 130.2 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 29.1 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 18.3%.

Third

Sex: male
Age: 27 years old
Wrist: 6.49 inches
Waist: 34.64 inches
Hip: 37.8 inches
Forearm: 10.63 inches
Thigh: 21.26 inches
Calf: 13.38 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 135 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 24 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 15.2%.

nathanalgren

Looks like I am gaining much more fat than muscle with my lifting program with calorie surplus.
Calorie surplus update.

Sex: male
Weight: 162.7 pounds
Wrist: 6.49 inches
Waist: 35.03 inches
Hip: 37.4 inches
Forearm: 9.45 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 125.1 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 37.6 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 23.1%.

Second

Sex: male
Weight: 162.7 pounds
Neck: 14.96 inches
Waist: 35.03 inches
Hip: 37.4 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 131.8 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 30.9 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 19%.

Third

Sex: male
Age: 27 years old
Wrist: 6.49 inches
Waist: 35.03 inches
Hip: 37.4 inches
Forearm: 9.45 inches
Thigh: 20.47 inches
Calf: 13.78 inches
Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 132 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 31 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 18.9%.

Average 20.3%