Lose fat and maintain muscle simultaneously

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shocksession
shocksession Posts: 7 Member
edited December 2021 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone, quick back story. I've been overweight to obese most of my life. A little over two years ago I lost about 42kg (93lbs), I've gained about 6kg (13lbs) back of that. I lost the weight through tracking my calories on MFP and walking. Over the past two years I worked my way up to running and cycling. I'm pretty satisfied with my cardiovascular health and have just started strength training to improve strength. I do however still have some excess fat. My BMI is 27.1 at 175cm (5"9) and 83kg (183lbs).

Ideally I'd like to lose fat (and weight) but maintain my muscle mass and was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice on how to achieve this. I am new to strength training and the gym so I am currently doing full body workouts mostly machine focused 2-3x a week to get comfortable at the gym. I also try to eat a high protein diet (minimum of 132g) but struggle to get that number even at 2000cal a day.

I also live a pretty active lifestyle. I have an office job but ride my bike to work 4x a week, 30min each way. My bike is pretty much my main form of transportation everyday. I also go on walks of about an hour a couple times a week.

Also, Feel free to add me as a friend on here, I could use some accountability buddies !
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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    The three main aspects to achieve your goal is:

    A good strength training routine to provide growth/retention stimulus to your muscles.
    (As a beginner that stimulus required is pretty low and your response will be high.)

    Slow rate of loss.
    (2000 doesn't sound an unreasonable start point but if you lose more than 1lb a week on average I'd increase calories. You are a lot more active than most people so wouldn't be at all surprised if you need to eat more than that. The bigger your calorie allowance the easier it tends to be to hit a high protein target. If you are patient the slower the better the results you are likely to get.)

    A higher than normal protein intake.
    (Noted you said minimum goal but personally I'd be aiming a bit higher than that, with similar stats I aimed for 1g per pound of estimated lean mass as my minimum.)


    The two main things that cause muscle atrophy is not using your muscles and a too rapid rate of weight loss. Losing muscle in a deficit is not inevitable, especially when you don't have a lot of weight to lose.
  • shocksession
    shocksession Posts: 7 Member
    edited December 2021
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    sijomial wrote: »
    The three main aspects to achieve your goal is:

    A good strength training routine to provide growth/retention stimulus to your muscles.
    (As a beginner that stimulus required is pretty low and your response will be high.)

    Slow rate of loss.
    (2000 doesn't sound an unreasonable start point but if you lose more than 1lb a week on average I'd increase calories. You are a lot more active than most people so wouldn't be at all surprised if you need to eat more than that. The bigger your calorie allowance the easier it tends to be to hit a high protein target. If you are patient the slower the better the results you are likely to get.)

    A higher than normal protein intake.
    (Noted you said minimum goal but personally I'd be aiming a bit higher than that, with similar stats I aimed for 1g per pound of estimated lean mass as my minimum.)


    The two main things that cause muscle atrophy is not using your muscles and a too rapid rate of weight loss. Losing muscle in a deficit is not inevitable, especially when you don't have a lot of weight to lose.

    Thank you so much for the advice, I just started but will see if 2000cal is enough to fuel my workouts/day to day, otherwise I might up it also to reach my protein goals. 183g of protein a day seems almost impossible, how were you able to reach that on the daily?
  • kenziestabes
    kenziestabes Posts: 338 Member
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    The term he used was estimated lean mass, which is going to be lower than your actual weight. Omni calculator has a good formula to estimate it. https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/lean-body-mass

    Out of curiosity, I put in the stats you provided, and it looks like your protein intake is on target, depending on gender. Might need to up it a little to 135 minimum if you're male.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,866 Member
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    If you do decide you want to eat more protein, this could be helpful:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

    (Helped me, as a vegetarian, to identify calorie-efficient protein sources I like eating, even though many of the most protein-dense foods are meaty/fishy.)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    shocksession wrote: »

    Thank you so much for the advice, I just started but will see if 2000cal is enough to fuel my workouts/day to day, otherwise I might up it also to reach my protein goals. 183g of protein a day seems almost impossible, how were you able to reach that on the daily?

    Not based on total body weight - although many people do.
    I simply guessed my start weight bodyfat at 25% so lean mass would be 75% of my bodyweight (precision not required).
    Prioritising protein in my meal choices and sometimes supplementing with whey protein helped.
  • shocksession
    shocksession Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks for the useful tips everyone!

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