Gaining Muscle & *LOSING* Fat?

chloecola
chloecola Posts: 104 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I know there are enough seasoned body builders on here to help me out.

The title is straightforward enough. I've had a trainer since October. Past 2 weeks I've cut out refined sugars and flour. I want to lose 40+ more lbs. I'm 179.2 today and I'm going to judge my goals based on composition so I don't necessarily have a "goal weight" (and knowing darn well I look at least 15 lbs lighter than I am because of my current composition helps).

I like being strong and I like building up my stamina right now. I do a lot of weight training and conditioning. I eventually want to learn to pole dance. I'm trying to increase flexibility. One day one day one day I think it'd be cool to compete in a body building competition. I'm falling in love with being able to make my body anything I want, I think it's so cool.

Is there a minimal I should cut calories to maintain energy?? I eat a very high protein clean diet now. Macros are less of a concern because they're all I focus on. Any supplement suggestions for micronutrients that I can't always get *enough* of or gym advice?? Right now I actually have **more** energy because of the diet change but I'm worried to lose that if I cut too quickly!!
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Replies

  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,471 Member
    How tall are you (just in reference to your weight etc)?

    Have you eliminated refined sugars and flour because that's something YOU WANT to do, or did your trainer tell you to? If it's something YOU WANT to do, go for it, but it's absolutely unnecessary (and if your trainer says otherwise, fire him/her).

    I'm not really sure what you mean by, "Is there a minimal I should cut calories to maintain energy?" If you're wanting to recomp (as you suggest in your title, eg building muscle while simultaneously getting rid of some fat), you eat at, or very close to (usually within a couple/few hundred cals) maintenance. But when you cut, besides the obvious (actual calorie intake vs. expenditure),your macros can play a big part in your energy (or lack thereof).

    You say you eat "clean," but that means very different things to different people (and once again, regardless of how you define "eating clean," it's not a prerequisite for bodybuilding or physique goals). There's no way whatsoever for any of us to know what your micronutrient profile looks like, and hence where you may be deficient. If your calories start getting too low, it's fairly easy to miss out on some nutrients, so IMO, taking a decent multi-vitamin isn't a bad idea (I personally take a women's specific one because it has iron, which I have a history of being too low in otherwise (would get turned away from blood donations etc)). If you don't already, consider getting full bloodwork done as well, just so you'll know have a decent baseline and will know if there is anything that needs to be addressed from the get-go.
  • azuki84
    azuki84 Posts: 212 Member
    gaining muscle and losing fat is easily doable if you're like 25%+ bodyfat
    gaining muscle and losing fat is DIFFICULT if you're like ~10% bodyfat
  • M1986P
    M1986P Posts: 2 Member
    You need to stay in a calorie deficit so a few hundred under your maintenance. You also need to keep your protein intake high so 2g per 1 kg of body weight. You will also need to work out with high intensity and gradually go up lifting heavier weights.
  • azuki84
    azuki84 Posts: 212 Member
    edited July 2022
    GaryRuns wrote: »
    azuki84 wrote: »
    gaining muscle and losing fat is easily doable if you're like 25%+ bodyfat
    gaining muscle and losing fat is DIFFICULT if you're like ~10% bodyfat

    Well, she's a female so if she were at 10% she'd be competing in some physique category and probably ravenously hungry 24/7, and not particularly healthy. Add about 8-10% to those numbers and I'll agree.

    no duh. just add as supplementary. women store more body fat than men (oestrogen/child bearing). this community gets worse EVERY single day with these smart aleck responses
  • keengkong
    keengkong Posts: 83 Member
    azuki84 wrote: »
    gaining muscle and losing fat is easily doable if you're like 25%+ bodyfat
    gaining muscle and losing fat is DIFFICULT if you're like ~10% bodyfat

    That works for me! At 28-29%, I should be able to do both. My goal is to get consistently below 20%. In calculating body fat percent, I just use my scale at home, which will provide a figure. I know the figure isn't perfect, but it is easily available to me.

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