weight lifting and losing weight - balance?

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Back2Body87
Back2Body87 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
<I posted this in the newbie section but I realized this is probably a more appropriate place to post this question>

What is the best way to build muscle and definition while also losing weight? Don't you have to increase you calorie intake when weight lifting or else won't your body have nothing to build off of? My fitness suggestion was 1,200 calories a week. But is that enough if I am weight lifting 3 times a week?

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  • qwerty1895
    qwerty1895 Posts: 45
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    Unless you're a complete noob I doubt that is possible. Weight lifting is just used to preserve strength and muscle mass during a cut.
  • Deadlay
    Deadlay Posts: 135 Member
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    Eat a little, don’t lift weights – you’ll likely be skinny
    Eat a lot, don’t lift weights – you’ll likely be fat
    Eat a little, lift weights – you’ll likely be lean and toned
    Eat a lot, lift weights – you’ll likely be big and strong


    Copied from "Old School Trainer"

    Gaining muscle mass while keeping definition takes some personal tinkering I think.
  • wlawhorn1993
    wlawhorn1993 Posts: 16
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    Find your BMI, use a calorie calculator to determine what your TDEE is. Use MFP to make sure you eat your -10%TDEE, eat back your calories from working out. Make sure you eat plenty of protein, 1g per lb of lean body mass. Eat plenty of good complex carbs, fuel for your workouts, make sure you do at least some cardio to keep your metabolism up all day. Sleep a lot! Sleep is one of the primary parts of recovery. Make sure you get your nutrition spot on even on your rest days to maximize recovery.
  • lioooba
    lioooba Posts: 105 Member
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    I do the same atm and it works quite well!

    I eat about 120g of Protein a day and low carb. But you have to train very regular, so you really keep and gain muscles.
    Muscles are the place where fat gets burned, so if you got more you burn more.
    Just don't weigh yourself much in the beginning!

    Feel free to add me, so we can stay in touch!
    xx lio
  • cingle87
    cingle87 Posts: 717 Member
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    Unless you have alot of weight to lose, and if thats a current pic I dont think you have, its going to be extremely difficult to gain muscle above the "newbie" gains while on a deficit, even harder being a women.

    Newbie gains are your body reacting to its new work load, it starts using all the muscle fibres you have to its full potential before it starts to build more. The body needs excess calories to build muscle, so If your TDEE is 2000 for example unless you are inexcess of that, all the calories your body uses will go to normal bodily uses, muscle building is not high on your body priority, keeping you alive its number 1 goal.

    But like I said if you have enough excess wieght to loose, then your body will take some calories from your fat stores and use it to build muscle, this only last till you get to a certain BF%. Im proof that you can build muscle on a deficit, bicepls, delts and tricepls are definatly bigger than when I started 3 months ago, I wholey expect it to stop build when i get further along my weight loss.

    being a women also makes it harder for you to build muscle, women just dont have the right amount and combinations of hormones to build the sort of muscle guys can, thats just way our body have evoled over the years. Can women gain muslce absolutley, is it going to take hard work? damn right.

    Dont let what I've wrote put you off, lifting is the best choice ive made when it came to exercising while losing weight, ask most people who started lifting late into their loss, most people will say they wished they would have started sooner into their loss.

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