Lose Weight, Gain Muscle?

lady_in_weighting

How can I loose weight but still continue to tone up my muscles at the same time?

I presume eating below BMR but consuming high protein sources?

Or am i totally wrong?

Cyclink

It is technically possible to do "at once" but it requires really accurate tracking of your intake and your output (far more accurate that MFP estimates or heart rate monitors can do).

It's a lot easier to cycle weeks: one at a small surplus, one at a small deficit, with a lot of weight training and a relatively high protein intake.

Some people try alternating days, which can work if you really know what you're doing. You don't want a deficit when your body is trying to repair itself from a workout, though, so it's a lot harder to get right.

kdiamond

You never want to eat below your BMR - your BMR is the amount of calories you need just to live, not including activity level...I find these numbers to always be way too low. You take your BMR and multiply that number by your activity level to figure out how many calories to eat. Here's a good site to get calculations: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

You can do a recomp, which is losing body fat while gaining muscle, but this is a very slow process, and you have to eat at maintenance while following a good heavy lifting plan.

KarenJanine

You need to eat below TDEE (not BMR) to lose fat, (i.e. cut).

You need to eat above TDEE to gain muscle (i.e. bulk).

Cycle between these two phases. As a female the most muscle you can expect to gain is 1lb per month while eating at surplus and following a suitable lifting program. Therefore bulk for as long as you require to gain muscle then cut to trim the fat. Repeat until you've reached desired effect.

Or as stated by the PP you can just eat at maintenance (TDEE) in the hope of cutting fat and building muscle simultaneously but results are variable and usually take much longer.