Workout and loose weight simultaneously

barger01
barger01 Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is it possible to turn the fat on my arms, legs, and stomach into muscle WHILE loosing the fat. Ive come from 230 in December to 178 as of today. One of the main reasons I wanted to loose weight....was to loose the man boobs and love handles! They are still here....I have lost a lot of thigh fat and my stomach doesn't protrude as far anymore thank god, but I am at a crossroads mentally.

So should I just quit working out for now? Until I cut out all the fat I want to loose and then weight train? I thought I read somewhere...that it is nearly impossible to do both at the same time? When I work out, i feel exhausted, my muscles are swore, and then i over eat. I don't go over my caloric goal, but I am sluggish.

I do not want the be hulk hogan haha. My main goal through all of this, is just to loose the moobs and handles!!! Will exercise while dieting help me tone the area for better results? Or just stick with dieting? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Replies

  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    Is it possible to turn the fat on my arms, legs, and stomach into muscle WHILE loosing the fat.
    No.

    You can't turn fat into muscle.
    You can lose fat to reveal muscle.
    You can add muscle (with the proper diet and exercise).
    You can avoid losing muscle by doing strength training while on a calorie deficit.

    You should not expect to lose fat and add muscle at the same time.
  • reneewl
    reneewl Posts: 16 Member
    From what I understand from my bodybuilding friends, one cannot shred and bulk simultaneously. One requires a calorie deficit. The other an excess. But, by still working out, you can maintain most of what you have, and burn calories. So, don't stop!
  • Tyrone_S
    Tyrone_S Posts: 94 Member
    It is possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, particularly if you have a high body fat percentage and you are new to weight lifting.

    It's generally not as efficient as bulking and cutting, so for for body builders who have been lifting for years and are already pushing their limits they may not find it possible. That's just because their muscle mass is already high and their body fat is already low. Improving either of those stats further requires a fairly aggressive diet and exercise plan and they simply cant engage in aggressive bulking and aggressive fat loss at the same time because they counteract each other too much.

    If you have high body fat and are new to lifting you will get much easier results that a seasoned body builder. You have plenty of energy reserves as fat to provide you a safety buffer and your muscles will respond quickly to exercise.

    Work on a mild calorie deficit to trigger the weight loss. A clean balanced diet with plenty of protein will prevent your body from cannibalising muscle because it will have a ready supply of those nutrients. Your body will naturally tend turn fat before muscle and you can ensure that if you 1) work your muscles so that your body knows they are important and 2) provide your body with the nutrients it would otherwise get from bring muscle.

    This won't work forever and if you want to get your body fat extremely low and/or your muscle mass extremely high you will probably have to switch to a bulking / cutting style of training.
  • barger01
    barger01 Posts: 19 Member
    Thank you all for the feedback! I will just cut back the cals for now and risk a little muscle loss to get to my ultimate goal and then build from that. It sucks you can't kill to birds with one stone!
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    what? seriously? so does this mean i have to stop cardio for good in order to build muscle?
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    Yeah. You can do it. Don't get caught up on scale weight though as that changes a LOT slower. So as far as efficiency, it depends on how you measure it. If you measure it by scale weight, then it won't appear as efficient than just cutting. BUT if you use bf%, lean mass and measurement as a guide, it's pretty damned efficient.
    I am currently working on gaining lean mass and losing fat at the same time. Initially (first month of logging) I lost weight pretty quick. About 14 of my total 17 pounds in the first month to be exact). In the second month I have only lost 3 pounds and if I were using scale weight as a sign of my victory, I would probably give up. Lol. I stayed at the same weight for a month without showing a loss on the scale.
    BUT........I have lost around 7% of my body fat (started at 30%, currently 23%), I have dropped 2 to 3 pants sizes and I have gained around 6 to 7 pounds of lean body mass. In 8 weeks! My muscles are showing great definition, my stomach and back fat are shrinking and I am gaining energy and strength.
    If I went for a straight cut, I could probably have lost at least 25 to 30% more weight by now. But it's more important to me to increase my muscle as I go. I don't even know what my ideal weight is. I am shooting for 15% body fat and see what I look like when I get there, then maybe going a little lower. What my weight is at that point doesn't really matter to me.
    And I am not the healthiest eater.....I try to hit my macros, but I am not religious about it. I have a treat/cheat day (whatever you want to call it) one day a week where I eat whatever I want, up to my maintenance calories. But I will have a soda or what have you occasionally through the week.
    I do High Intensity Circuit Strength training 3 days a week for about 20 to 30 minutes. No need to work out any longer than that as I am reaching an oxygen deficit pretty fast and staying there! I do occasionally (once a week usually) lift REALLY heavy for low reps (like 85% to max) for just a few reps on bench, squats and deadlifts.
    Then I do HIIT one day on the weekend. Usually a combination of Heavy Bag work, burpees and sprints. For 15 minutes.
    If I was better on my diet, I would do even better I know, but I am approaching this as a lifestyle change that I will be able to live with the rest of my life. Realistically, I don't see me NEVER eating a slice of pizza for the rest of my life. haha!
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    Thank you all for the feedback! I will just cut back the cals for now and risk a little muscle loss to get to my ultimate goal and then build from that. It sucks you can't kill to birds with one stone!

    No. From what I understand from your question, if you want to lose the flabby you will need to start a weight training program. You will not look like Hulk Hogan unless you either have the body type that builds muscle easily, or start taking steroids. I went from about 230 to 153 about 5 years ago. I believe I have the pictures posted in my profile, still. I toned up quite well, and gained quite a bit of definition, but didn't gain a lot of muscle mass because of the caloric deficit that I was in.

    The muscle soreness will be quite extreme for the first few weeks, but will slowly get less painful, and the pain won't last as long. Work your muscles to failure, but use proper form to reduce your risk of injury.
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    1) work your muscles so that your body knows they are important and 2) provide your body with the nutrients it would otherwise get from bring muscle.

    This won't work forever and if you want to get your body fat extremely low and/or your muscle mass extremely high you will probably have to switch to a bulking / cutting style of training.
    Pretty much it right there. Make your body know it needs your muscles, and for me build a good Oxygen deficit through EPOC....
    You can do it. At least until you get to lower body fat %
  • xxcatyxx555
    xxcatyxx555 Posts: 184
    having more muscle actually makes you burn more calories according to mayo clinic

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