Building muscle while losing fat??

Lyle is correct. You'll maintain your muscle mass with lifting heavy and protein intake, but you won't build on 1200 calories.

If you're new to weight lifting you will get newbie gains even on a deficit.

And 1200 is crazy low!

If you are in fact lifting heavy then you must be fatigued during a workout on 1200cals a day. I'm currently cutting on between 1800-2000cals a day and bulked on 3000cals to add some pretty good muscle mass. And this is with minimal cardio to keep my gains in tact. Although I'm 5'9" so that might play a part in the higher cals. But seriously, feed those muscles in order to grow and for adequate recover too.

I'm a believer in noob gains given the proper training and nutrition. Not on 1200 calories though.

mccindy72 wrote: »

if you aren't getting enough calories, you will lose lean muscle. and it's not a good idea to lose weight too fast.

I had the same thought. Looks like you lost 30 lbs in 2 months. You should probably adjust for a slower rate of loss to minimize muscle loss.

vlovell24 wrote: »

Hello everyone,
Here is my question. I have lost 30lb in the last 2 months, and I have at least 65 more to go. I eat a 1200 calorie diet, do hiit for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I try and get over 100 grams of protein a day to avoid lbm loss. Anyway, can I lift heavy and gain muscle mass while on a deficit? My thinking is that the body will pull the extra calories that it needs from existing fat stores, and as long as I am getting adequate protein then I should be able to build muscle. I am trying to avoid being thin with no muscle mass. But, even Lyle Mcdonald says you can't gain muscle while on a deficit. Thoughts?

At 1200 calories and doing HIIT, your probably not going to gain or even preserve lean muscle. That's too little for any normal sized human being.

Giolis wrote: »

Not as much as if you were in a surplus but still gain.

This.

It is possible. Muscle Protein Synthesis is slowed down during a calorie deficit, but it's not halted. You can still elevate MPS levels by lifting heavy. If you follow a full-body, compound-lift program 3x per week, then you can keep your MPS elevated and you can build muscle, albeit much slower than someone who is eating at a surplus.

But there is a caveat to this: you will have to fuel your body, probably more than you are now with 1200 calories.

You can still eat at a deficit, but you're going to have to fuel your body correctly, meaning adequate protein consumption for MPS, and adequate carbohydrate consumption for energy. You're already doing HIIT... So you're going to want to maintain a modest deficit, not a large one.

If you shoot for too large of a deficit, you're simply not going to be able to fuel your workouts. You'll be hungry, possibly resulting in binge eating and other bad decisions, etc.

I think you definitely want to lift heavy to maintain lean body mass. But don't create unrealistic expectations about gaining a lot of muscle. It can be done, but it's probably not the primary focus while you're trying to cut 65 more pounds.

vlovell24 wrote: »

Thank you for the replies. I do struggle with protein, so I am going to add in some shakes to help. I have a friend that did high protein, 1500 calorie, and very heavy (and dedicated) lifting. He has lost 45lbs, but his muscle is outstanding. I figured that if he can build muscle on a deficit, then I should be able to as well. And, no, he wasn't a lifter before. He started as a sedentary dude, and 4 months later...holy cow.

It can be done, but the it lacks serious longevity. You can't sustain this type of routine. It will work for a lump sum of weight but then you will plateau. If you're lucky you might make it to "goal weight" before it happens, but you'll find it's near impossible to sustain. Not to mention all of the ill effects of severe, sustained calorie deficits: cold extremities, irritability, mood swings, hormonal chaos and even hair loss.
https://chriskresser.com/are-you-an-under-eater-8-signs-youre-not-eating-enough/

Please come by the EM2WL group and find sustainable, healthy way to reach your goals.
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/3817-eat-more-2-weigh-less

LynGrahamKemp wrote: »

This has been a helpful thread. I am on week 6 of weight training and I always have a problem with deciding on my caloric intake. I was at 1900 calories previously and gained 10lbs, but lost 16 inches all over. I'm still not sure where I need to be with my caloric intake, especially since I've incorporated HIIT after my weight sessions, but the comments here are beneficial.

You can take your stats (ht , wt, age, active hours) and plug them into the Scooby Calculator and it will give you approximations of deficit, maintenance and surplus calorie levels!

Calorific intake way too low. Especially if u train hard. Dont forget carbs too u need to have a decent ratio of food. So if u increase one decrease another.. Especially for your sprints u need yummy carbs. I do the same I do interval sprinting & weight lifting il have over 2000 calories a day
The type of training you need to do to build muscle(hypertrophy) whilst building muscle you lose fat anyway so I would increase your calories and train hard !!

You need to check out this thread - one of MFP's finest:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1