Lower Body Fat Percentage, But Gain muscle or weight?

Olivia5001
Olivia5001 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone I'm new, and this is my first post

My question is: Is it possible to lower my body fat percentage, but still gain weight specifically muscle then. Currently I'm 5"2, 97.4 lbs, 18.6% body fat. I want to be about 100 to maybe even 105 lbs, and have a body fat percentage of 15%. The reason why is so that I can have a lean athletic body to where my abs really show through. Currently I'm on day 10 of insanity and have been following the diet plan to the best of my ability. (Goal is about 2400 cal per day). I also have the deluxe version so I plan on incorporating the upper body and weight lifting. Is this possible to achieve the 15% body weight percentage and reach my weight goal of at least 100 lbs? If so what kind of diet would you recommend?

Thanks for your help and support in advance!

P.S. I'm 19 years old

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    You either do one or the other.. the likely hood of cutting fat and gaining muscle is pretty much impossible. You especially will not gain muscle doing insanity. You want a program like body beast if you want to gain new lean muscle. Taking that as an example is a good way to understand how it works. The first 9-10 weeks you eat a surplus of calories. You gain weight which is comprised of fat and muscle. After the 9-10 weeks you drop your calories and go through a cut phase. You would definitely benefit if you add another 10-20 lbs of muscle. You are at a pretty low weight.

    Truly, my first advice get rid of insanity and do a program designed go gain muscle.
  • mikesanch2891
    mikesanch2891 Posts: 3
    I don't think you can pack on pure muscle. What you can do is a lean bulk where you are essentially gaining weight to get stronger , but minimize the fat gain.Then do a cut so you get rid of the fat and therefore leaving you with more muscle. I recommend a dietician so he/she can give you your macros (protein, carbs, fat) that you have to eat in order to get the body you want. Yeah myfitnesspal gives them to you, but with a dietician you are able to skype to ask them questions and they will adjust your macros every week depending on how your body is changing. I got a dietician and he is great and doesn't charge too much (135 for 8 weeks) he answers all my questions, and responds real quick to any questions i have throughout the day.
  • Olivia5001
    Olivia5001 Posts: 2
    I don't think you can pack on pure muscle. What you can do is a lean bulk where you are essentially gaining weight to get stronger , but minimize the fat gain.Then do a cut so you get rid of the fat and therefore leaving you with more muscle. I recommend a dietician so he/she can give you your macros (protein, carbs, fat) that you have to eat in order to get the body you want. Yeah myfitnesspal gives them to you, but with a dietician you are able to skype to ask them questions and they will adjust your macros every week depending on how your body is changing. I got a dietician and he is great and doesn't charge too much (135 for 8 weeks) he answers all my questions, and responds real quick to any questions i have throughout the day.

    Thanks for the advice both of you. I may look into finding a dietitian. I think that may be best to help me stay on track and reach my goals.
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
    It can be done, but it will require an extraordinary amount of discipline.

    You have to eat enough lean proteins. Positively no fast carbs, and no sugars (even from fruit) within 4 hours of bed time. No food at all within two hours.

    Sleep at least 8 hours each night.

    You will need to precisely monitor your diet and eat at only a slight surplus, no more than 250 cals per day. In addition, you need to stay anabolic, which means you can never have burned more calories than you've taken in.

    This means you need to really lock in your RMR and daily activity level, so you will need to use the Katch-McCardle or Mifflin equation to calculate it. Divide it out hourly so you know how many calories your body has used at any given time.

    Positively no high HR aerobics. Only slow, steady state, like walking and then not much.

    Drop the circuit training, like insanity, and go for a muscle building routine.

    Please note, this will not build muscle quickly. It will be a slow process. Your best bet, like others have said, is to bulk up then cut.

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