Lose the Weight or Lift Weights

cvscott
cvscott Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all,

I'm trying to figure out which goal I should be working towards first. Right now I have about 25 pounds to lose. My ultimate goal is to gain muscle and have a low body fat percentage. I've been lifting weights really heavy the last few weeks and eating alot (1800 to 2000 calories a day and not gaining). However, I am not losing weight, which is discouraging. I know that muscle weighs more than fat and the more muscle I have the more calories I burn at rest, but I'm getting upset with the numbers and not seeing any changes. On MFP it says I need to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. However, if I follow that I won't be able to gain muscle because I'm not eating enough to build muscle. So should I focus on losing the weight first then build muscle or vise versa?

Has anyone had an experience in this area??

Thanks,
Vanessa

Replies

  • BranDiesel_27
    BranDiesel_27 Posts: 46
    A deficit of calories leads to weight loss. A surplus of calories leads to weight gain. Just because you have a deficit of calories in your diet doesnt mean you gonna directly loss body fat. its what you eat and when you eat it that makes the difference between losing pure body fat vs. burning body fat along with lean tissues. I've heard people say they can only have 1500 cals a day. and by time it gets to 6pm they say i didnt eat anything all day really and i still have 1000 cals left to consume. So its like you starved yourself all day? your body needed the energy early on so if they didnt consume anything up until that point your body is gonna tap into its stored energy and take it from there. And then they consume the rest of theihr calories before bed. and their bodies dont need that much energy at that point so some of it gets stored, some of it gets burned, some of it gets filtered out. Portion your calories throughout the day, dont wait until the 5 hours of being awake to consume them all. When looking at what you eat. Your body uses carbs first, then proteins and then fats for fuel. Carb type food should generally be consumed in the morning and after a workout. Fatty foods should typically be consumed before a workout. try to stay away from food that have added sugars. you want food thats gonna provide healthy sources of fuel for you body if you wanna lose weight but maintain your lean tissues.


    There has also been studies done to show that a strict diet that has a deficit of cals can also simultaneously build muscle.

    These are a few key ideas to help you. not every may have the same opinion on this topic as me but it works for me. hope this helps you a little bit!
  • vickiaf
    vickiaf Posts: 59 Member
    You are going to get a lot of opinions on this topic! To answer your basic question of whether to lift now or lose weight first, lift now!

    You will not build significant muscle on a calorie deficit.

    Your weight loss is all about creating a deficit with diet.

    Lifting heavy will help to maintain muscle mass already present.

    Cardio will help with making a bigger calorie deficit (which can be done with diet alone)

    So basically eat at a small deficit (tdee -20% - look for helloitsdan's in place of a road map in the search engine) Lift weights and you will lose body fat while maintaing lean muscle

    Feel free to add me, I have 29lb to lose and am following stronglifts 5x5
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Possible to split the difference and train heavy while eating 1500-1600 cals per week? Or set mfp to 1lb loss per week instead of 2?
  • johloz
    johloz Posts: 176 Member
    Why are you trying to lose 2lbs a week!?! Judging by your profile pic, you don't look very heavy, and 2lbs a week is a lot even for someone who is.

    Calculate your TDEE, minus 20%, then eat that every day. Keep lifting!

    If you want to go by MFP guidelines, change to 1/2lb per week. That's a more reasonable level at which to lose weight, and you won't see significant losses of muscle mass, which is pretty much guaranteed at 1200 kcals.
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    Possible to split the difference and train heavy while eating 1500-1600 cals per week? Or set mfp to 1lb loss per week instead of 2?

    I was going to recommend eating at a small deficit, too, but you beat me to it.

    If you are looking for fat loss, and muscle gains, I also wouldn't worry so much about the scale, but get a measuring tape, or calipers, and track your measurements, or body fat % instead. I've seen a few people, women included, do full transformations without a single pound lost.
  • cvscott
    cvscott Posts: 4
    Well the picture makes me look thinner. My doctor actually told me that I need to lose about 25 pounds if I want to considering having a baby in the next few years. I'm at about 38% body fat, which is not healthy. I put in to lose 2 pounds a week because it seems like everyone I know loses 3-4 pounds and I've never really done this before so I figured 2 pounds would be good. Honestly if I lost .5 a pound a week it wouldn't matter as long as I am losing body fat and losing the pounds in a healthy way. Which the 1200 calories a day isn't enough for me. I did some research and it looks like I can lose 1 pound a week by eating 1450 calories and exercising 3-4 days a week. Right now I lift weights 5 days a week and no cardio. So I'm going to try 3-4 days a week of cardio and add some lighter lifting on 2 of the cardio days. That way I can still maintain muscle and toning while losing pounds and body fat. I will let you know how it works out. Thank you all for the advise! :smile:
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    TOPIC: Lose the Weight or Lift Weights

    Yes.

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