Body Recomposition - burn fat, gain muscle, huh?

MireyGal76 · January 2014

I gotta say that I am a bit confused about how this whole 'fitness' thing works...

When I started this ball rolling, I was about 185 pounds and a size 12-14. I am now 165 (ish) and am a size 5/6.

For a long time, I sat at 175 and, while I had been at 175 for quite some time before, my clothes all fit much looser at THIS form of 175 than they did in prior years.

This is me around 180

The answer I have always given is that I am the same weight, but have way more muscle and way less fat than I did. ergo... body recomp.

At 165 pounds... I have way more muscle strength and definition than I have ever had before.

This is me around 165

The changes from the first to the second pic have been done while attempting to eat at a deficit. And while I was actively logging my food, I was pretty successful for the most part at preserving that deficit.** I did allow myself to go over on the days after my massive boxing burns, but that was because i was way under calories the night bevore.

** assuming that I am using the right numbers in terms of daily calories needed vs those burned

When people emphatically state that you cannot build muscle on a deficit, I get confused. Because science wise, this totally makes sense. But experientially, I see what seems to counter that logic in my actual body.

This process has taken me about three years... so...

Questions:
- AM I in fact building muscle a bit on the stretches where I am at a surplus, and losing when I am in a deficit?
- Does that even make sense?
- If I am listening to my body and eating when I am ravenous, is that because my body is demanding more fuel to feed the muscle growth?
- or is the muscle the same, and that is just what 15 pounds of fat loss looks like?

I'm just curious... not wanting to start an argument

jackpotclown · January 2014

I don't think there's an easy answer to any of your questions....you ate better, exercised, and created a deficit....which means a loss in weight....your losses aren't linear, meaning that you didn't just lose 15 lbs of all muscle...there had to be some degree of muscle loss along with water, etc...depending on how your food intake was (higher protein diet lessens the amount of muscle loss) If you were eating at a surplus, chances are you did probably gain some muscle here and there, but unless you took specific measurements and went through extensive body comp testing, there is no real way to determine that.....your body is calling for more food because of general hunger or maybe even a nutritional need, not necessarily that it intends to put on more muscle.....I hope this answers some of your questions, feel free to PM me for further input \m/

Schtroumpfkin · January 2014

*TOTALLY UNSCIENTIFIC REPLY ALERT*
I reckon it was just due to the fat loss and you managed to get the magic recipe right whereby you were eating well and exercising sensibly enough to lose fat while minimizing any loss of muscle. The reason I say that is that when you look at your before picture - even though you were packing a bit extra, you can still see your abs! I reckon you had fairly significant muscle underneath there in the first place.

But then, don't listen to me. I don't have a clue what I'm talking about actually :blushing:

astronomicals · January 2014

Questions:
- AM I in fact building muscle a bit on the stretches where I am at a surplus, and losing when I am in a deficit?
- Does that even make sense?
- If I am listening to my body and eating when I am ravenous, is that because my body is demanding more fuel to feed the muscle growth?
- or is the muscle the same, and that is just what 15 pounds of fat loss looks like?

Yes. Yes it does. No, not necessarily. Unlikely. Id say you probably gained some muscle.

Cutting and bulking cycles are often the fastest way to being leaner and more muscular. You can get a lot done in 3 years if you arent going through serious binges and dieting phases (I.e. yo-yoing).

Looking good.

oBuckethead · January 2014

I'm kind of in a similar boat. I've been losing sizes in my clothes constantly and I can clearly see in the mirror that I'm losing fat but my weight isn't budging.

I rock climb 4 days a week as my primary "lifting / weight days"

Someone once told me that if you're doing a fair amount of weight training your body will in fact start to burn fat instead of muscle if you're on a diet deficit.

I'm not an expert so I have no idea if that's true or not. All I know is I'm definitely losing fat and looking way better so if my weight stays the same, I'm ok with it as long as I'm healthier and feel better.

mustgetmuscles1 · January 2014

First you look amazing!!!! :flowerforyou:

Now. Mass is added in an energy surplus and subtracted in a deficit. Even while dieting you have periods of time in the day where you are in a surplus (around meals). With proper training and nutrients you could manipulate the ratio of fat and muscle change. Doing this on an hourly VS monthly time frame would be extremely inefficient though.

There are plenty of studies that show an increase in LBM while being in an overall calorie deficit for a given length of time. So saying it is impossible is not correct but it is a matter of degree.

The amount of calories you are from maintenance changes the net gain or loss of fat and muscle. If you are in a 500 calorie deficit or a 50 calorie deficit makes a big difference.

It is more of a sliding scale as opposed to an on/off switch. If someone said they added muscle and lost fat while eating at maintenance (the normal recomp) no one would have a problem with it. It may be slow and inefficient compared to other methods but no one would say its impossible.

If they said they added muscle and lost fat while in a deficit then it gets a little complicated. What if the deficit was only a 100 calories? It might change the amount of change in each but you could still end up with a net gain and loss in each. If it was a 500+ calorie deficit then it starts to get to a point where they would barely be able to repair and replace any muscle lost or damage from working out let alone have a net increase.

Granville_Cocteau · January 2014

I've read that in the initial stages of weight loss, it is possible to gain some muscle while losing fat, and maybe also some days as you said you ate more, which created some bulking days throughout your three-year cycle. You probably also preserved the muscle you did build--whether through weights, protein intake or both--so on your deficit days you were retaining muscle and shedding fat.

Great work!

MireyGal76 · January 2014

thank you very much to everyone who has responded so far.

re the abs under the fat... lol, yes this is true... I've always been active, and grew up as a carpenter's daughter. I was his work horse, so I've always been strong. I had this nice layer of insulation everywhere, that did a great job disguising it.

I didn't ever do a clearly defined bulk / cut cycle... some days over, some days under.

@ MustGetMuscles1:

Firstly - thank you!

This explanation makes a lot of sense to me, as I was not aiming for a huge deficit. I think I had my goal set to 1/2 a pound a week the whole time, and was not overly anal about weighing... some days I'm sure I over estimated, some days I'm sure I underestimated. It's more than possible that I was closer to eating at maintenance, if not a very mild surplus.

It also explains why it's been such a gradual (hard fought) change.

Thank you again to everyone!

ElliottTN · January 2014

It appears you already had a relatively muscular base just in your first picture. I'm guessing you have always had a pretty physical lifestyle, maybe not with working out or in that nature. Maybe a product of being a tom boy?

anyway

What that looks like to me is 15 lbs of fat loss revealing a relatively well worked muscle tone.

I imagine you gained maybe a little muscle mass but keep in mind that adding strength is possible and relatively easy without adding mass (to an extent..then you will be forced to add mass to continue to add strength)

In short, what I think you did was jump on a deficit, kill off some mostly fat on your body (congrats on that, its hard to do) and revealed a relatively muscular worked body you already had going while adding to your strength in the process.

MireyGal76 · January 2014

Bumping for info purposes... There was some great info given, and I thought others might find it interesting. :-D

Thanks again, everyone!

Body Recomposition - burn fat, gain muscle, huh?

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