Continue to loose fat or strength train?

RJBFiero · November 2019

First a little background. At my heaviest I was 360 lbs. in March of 2018 I started my new nutrition planar 330 lbs. I am currently 220lbs I feel great. I’ve been strength training mostly with dumbbells. I seen some great gains in my shoulders and big gains in my biceps.

Thing is I’ve not been eating for gains. I’m doing on average 200g protein, 50g fat, 100g carbs, 10g creatinine 1000 cal a day I walk on average 15 miles a day at work.

The thing is I don’t want to gain fat. I know I need to eat the cal the fat and carbs along with fiber. I want this gut gone I’m sick of the fat I want the loose skin gone. But I am in love with lifting weights I am loving the burn and reping out to failure. It’s so satisfying I’m also getting closer to my dad which is great he’s 70 years old with 18 inch arms fitness has always been a huge part of his life and now we are bonding more than we ever have. I just turned 43 I know I can still get huge at my age I just don’t want to waste time on the loosing fat. People say you can’t loose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

sgt1372 · November 2019

RJBFiero wrote: »

People say you can’t loose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

This is NOT true, especially if you are a newbie to lifting and still have wt/fat to lose and have never lifted weights to gain muscle b4.

PAV8888 · November 2019

You don't state your height. It is likely you have more muscle than your average cat given where you started. But at 220lbs, unless quite tall, it is also likely that you remain overweight.

Gaining muscle and losing fat is not an on/off switch.

The more strength trained and closer to your genetic potential you are, the harder it will be to gain muscle mass in a caloric deficit.

The less protein you eat, the harder it will be to synthesize lean mass. 200g of protein, by the way, is probably quite adequate, and certainly eating a little bit less or a little bit more will not be THE determining factor on what happens with your muscles and your weight.

The total amount of calories you eat and the deficit you apply WILL influence how much muscle mass you can build. The larger the deficit the harder it is to build muscle mass.

It sounds like you're eating only 1650 Cal a day on average while walking 15 miles+ a day... which at a rough conversion would place your activity level well above MFP's very active setting not even counting deliberate exercise.

It may be time to reduce your deficit to about 500 Cal of expected deficit a day and continue losing at a slower rate while continuing to train.

While "replacing fat with muscle" may be a worthwhile goal (it may even be YOUR goal since you state you want to be HUGE) and may turn you into a highly trained and well muscled athlete, there does exist some debate as to whether carrying a lot of excess muscle such that you remain well in the overweight category is actually as healthy as not carrying as much muscle and being closer to a normal weight level.

In reaching closer to normal weight you may indeed end up with some loose skin, though many people do report that their skin continues to adjust for a number of months (year) after they reach their goal weight.

cupcakesandproteinshakes · November 2019

My advice would be
1 continue to strength train. Always. Follow an established proven programme, not one you made up yourself
2. Continue to lose until you are In The normal bmi range. Have a moderate deficit. Keep protein high around .8 to 1g per pound of body weight.
3. Once you hit a normal bmi you can decide whether you want to eat at maintenance and continue strength training aka recomp. Or cut and bulk cycles. Either option has its pros and cons.

Justin_7272 · November 2019

Read your title, replace the "or" with "and," and read it again.

Sounds like you're on the right track; nothing to stop you from doing both!

Continue to loose fat or strength train?

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