Lose the fat & keep the muscle?

If you want to lose a pound a week, you're going to lose muscle.

Your body deals in mass. If you are catabolic, you lose mass, simple as that. If you are anabolic, you gain mass.

To try to keep as much muscle as possible, you need a progressive heavy lifting program. So heavy, you can only do at max 5 reps at a time.

And eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Good luck!

I disagree that the outlook of fat loss while retaining muscle is that dire.

Yes you should keep your protein levels high, 1g per pound of bodyweight is a good number and yes you should strength train with weights (not sure you need to do super heavy lifting but don't do just very high volume with light weight either). You can lose a pound of fat a week and not lose muscle I've done that in the past, it just means with the caloric restriction and high protein that something like 50% of your calories end up coming from protein.

1g per lean mass. So 130g would be more accurate.

Adequate protein as ones mentioned, 1 g per lb LBM is just fine. If you want more, won't hurt, won't help either.

Strength train.

Most important - reasonable deficit.
If more than 40 lbs to lose, 20% off estimated TDEE.
If 20, then 15%.
If 10, then 10%.

And you will lose LBM - since that is everything NOT fat mass.
You'll need less blood for less volume of you.
You'll need less carb stores to get you around since not doing endurance cardio, which attaches to water.

But you can retain muscle mass if the top 3 things are done.

Some will say impossible, because you are in a catabolic state.

Well, not all the time, you are slightly more catabolic than anabolic, make it slight enough, and only fat is catabolized extra.

What kind of foods do you eat to get that much without going to high in calories?

Chicken breast no skin, tuna, low fat greek yogurt, 1% cottage cheese, and a little bit of protein powder are the main sources I use.

Eggs and egg whites and other meats are also good.

Well .. I have been at this for 8 months now and I have successfully met my goal weight, body fat goals and am now in maintenance.

But tips .. lots of protein, and yes 1g for every lb of lean body mass is the goal here. And .. resistance training on a regular basis.

I personally .. lost 49 lbs of body fat and gained 10 lbs of muscle and lost 8.5 inches at my bellybutton in my journey. It was done by being consistent every week .. and not doing anything too crazy, so yes it is very possible and many people here have been successful at doing so.

Good luck.

Yep, everyone above me has it right. Strength train (heavy), get adequate protein, and keep a slight deficit.

I'm shooting for 1g protein per pound of body weight, but it isn't easy, and more often than not, it puts me over in dietary fat - not calories, just fat, so I still consider it a victory! I know you only need 1g per lb of lean body mass, but if I shoot for body weight I usually get at least lean body mass (my bodyweight is 135 and LBM is 108)

It's the little changes that made the most difference. I try not to eat too many grains but I do really love them. High-protein cheeses like parmesan, asiago and skim mozzerella make good choices, and on a bread with some protein (or at least is whole grain) a grilled cheese isn't a bad option. I now make my mac and cheese with plain nonfat greek yogurt instead of milk or butter (and it's AMAZING). Chicken salad made with greek yogurt and a bunch of mustard is yummy too. Eggs are a good snack choice, egg whites if your calorie goal is low. If you look around the forums you'll find tons of advice on getting enough protein.

Bump!!

Try doing cardio and eating a lot of protein (: Cardio pretty much MELTS fat all over, and protein gives you energy and nutrients.

Cardio doesn't "melt" fat. Calorie deficit does. Cardio just burns more calories per duration vs resistance training with the same intensity. Doing just cardio alone DOESN'T help to retain lean muscle.
One could just do resistance training alone with no cardio, be in calorie deficit and lose weight along with keeping muscle loss to a minimum.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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